It puzzled Kira why Lin would have asked her to be her bridesmaid. It wasn't as if the two women outright disliked each other, but it was safe to say that they had nothing in common. Aside from the small detail that Kira had slept with Lin's fiancé some months before (they were both certain she still didn't know) the pair were simply acquaintances.
Kira double-checked the address on the card Lin had given her and stepped into the men's store, feeling out of place. The well-groomed clerks unnerved her and she felt naked in her skirt and blouse. Mahogany furnished and moodily lit, the large upscale tailor's reminded her of daddy's cognac and carved pipe. She stood in the middle of the masculine store, looking around and unsure where to start.
"Can I help you, Miss?"
A chiseled brunette in an impeccably cut suit approached her, his voice smooth as his silk tie. He was ridiculously handsome and did nothing to ease Kira's nerves.
"Uhm, I'm here to get a suit. For myself." Kira managed.
A brief and barely registered look of amusement flickered over the clerk's face. "And what occasion is it for?" His liquid voice did not betray him.
Kira shifted her feet. "Well, my friend Lin is getting married and I'm supposed to be a bridesmaid. But she's a bit... weird. She wants us all to come in suits instead of dresses. She said it'd make her stand out more... or something."
Her discomfort was obvious from the slight flush creeping up her neck. "No need to be shy." The clerk said, and boldly stepped forward to take her by the arm. "It's a liberated world, after all. My name is Robert. Come into the back, and we'll get you fitted."
Kira nearly slid to the floor at his touch but managed to follow him towards the store's change rooms. She had always been shy around men and her cheeks blushed easily, but today she felt the heat rising from more southern coordinates.
The change rooms were six wooden divides along either wall with privacy provided by heavy velvet curtains. In the centre was a small step platform positioned before three angled mirrors, for doing measurements. Before them were two plush armchairs. The clerk led Kira to the step and had her stand on it. She suddenly became blatantly aware that there were no other customers in the store.
"Now, what sort of cut did you have in mind?" Robert asked, and took out a measuring tape from the drawer of a small side table.
"Uh... I don't know? It's supposed to be body-hugging, I think." Kira tried not to pay attention to herself in the mirrors, a sight that was increasingly making her more self-conscious. Some of the other clerks in the store had begun drifting towards the change rooms, to see what the fuss was all about.
"Double or single breasted?" He asked, and flicked out the roll of measuring tape with a gesture of his wrist. The end of it snapped in the air like a whip a foot away from Kira's thigh.
Kira looked down at her endowed chest. "Uhm... Double? I guess?"
Robert grinned, this time openly at Kira's shyness and lack of knowledge. Her naïve expression was going to make this all the more enjoyable.
"Well then, we'd better measure you. Spread your arms and legs, please."
Kira froze at his words. Spread her arms? Her legs? She caught another glimpse of herself in the mirror and saw her arms clinging to her sides. She wanted to leave.
"Oh, don't be shy now." He assured her, gently. "We'll finish up quickly."
Kira awkwardly assumed a standing spread-eagle stance. She was wildly aware of the draft that crept up her short summer skirt.
"Bryan, if you could help me record." He beckoned to one of the other clerks. A dapper young man picked up a clipboard and flipped a page. He readied his pencil.
The measuring tape slid over Kira's shoulders, tickling her warm skin with its cool vinyl touch. "Shoulders, 41." He moved on to her arms, encircling her forearm and then her wrist and dictating measurements to Bryan. Other clerks began to linger about, watching with mild interest. Kira could see their eyes in the mirror, following the measuring tape, examining and evaluating her body. She bit down the heat rising in her face but could not deny the dampening that began in her panties.
How was this possible? Kira's heartbeat quickened. She hated being looked at, hated being the centre of attention, and yet here she was, clearly aroused. Her stomach churned with a mixture of shame and a dim fire. The measuring tape and soft brushes of the clerk's fingers skirted over her skin, igniting it and giving her goosebumps.
"Chest, 92." Robert announced in a businesslike tone. He lingered there a moment, his wrist just barely brushing her erect nipples. Kira's thin bra did nothing to help conceal her arousal.
"Lower your arm for me please. Waist, 72. Yes, that's good. Just turn a little that way please, stand straight. She's a 36 there. And up again, thank you."
Kira barely registered his words, her limbs giving in to his gentle prodding and soft encouragement as he turned her this way and that, her every centimeter on display. Her eyes in the mirror were fixed on the faces of the clerks that stood but a few feet behind her. One came to sit in one of the two plush armchairs, gazing at her with an unreadable expression.
