An undersized round man with a crown of hair around his head walked in, immediately bumping into the table and spilling the withered hand, despite the almost half inch thickness of his glasses.
"Oh god -- sorry." He stammered into the musty air of the shop. The two women turned when the door opened, and he hadn't looked in their direction at all. Sasha wondered who he apologised to.
At that moment, a thick purple curtain, heavy with gold beads and sequins, parted and a woman Sasha assumed to be Madam Soltar appeared from behind it. Although heavy set she moved with delicacy and grace and Sasha thought immediately that there was some sort of undistinguished beauty about the woman. Penny pulled at Sasha's t shirt encouraging her to move further into the centre of the room.
But the small round man beat them to it, running to the counter, to talk with her immediately.
"Madam Soltar, I am sorry that I am late. I got caught at work by that boss I can't stand, you know the one, and I hate to keep you waiting, but I had to do what he says. Maybe we can curse him or something because..." he held the bottom of his tweed jacket, feverishly stroking and pulling at the seam between the end and the first button.
"Hush. It is a problem because I have other clients."
Madam Soltar swept her hand with the grace of a ballet dancer across the large area in front of her bosom till her hand pointed in the direction of Sasha and Penny.
"These were before you."
Even though it was dark, Sasha looked into the eyes of Madam Soltar and she swore there was a flash of puzzled recognition in them.
Penny moved in front of Sasha. "No no, we're in no hurry. I mean, how long will you be? We can look around your fascinating shop for thirty minutes if you want to help this man. We are here on a fun errand."
Sasha sighed deeply behind Penny to indicate her irritation but it had no impact. Penny didn't even turn around.
"Your friend is troubled. She doesn't want to be here." Madam Soltar seemed to be trying to look around Penny at Sasha. However, Sasha thought she'd been the cause of enough anxiety for Penny, and besides the shop was fascinating. Another thirty minutes could easily be eaten up in here.
"No no, I'm ok. You guys do what you need to do and we can push our appointment back for a while."
The little man, still working the hem of his coat, twisted his wiry mouth into a strange line that Sasha supposed was a smile, and exhaled loudly.
"Then... I mean then... Madam... its settled. I can still take thirty minutes?"
"Same price because you were late."
He'd looked back toward Madam Soltar, but Sasha could hear the relief in his voice. "Yes Madam. Thank you madam."
Looking again toward Penny, Madam Soltar said in her thick unidentifiable accent, "You both get hour for thirty minutes cost. Because you kind to this little man." From behind Sasha saw Penny nod.
The little man twisted his way around the counter, mumbling his thanks to Penny and to Madam Soltar in turn till he disappeared through the curtain with Madam Soltar behind him.
Penny whirled around. "Thank you so much. It gives us a great chance to explore this shop! I want to take a look at some of these books."
Immediately she grabbed for "The housewives guide to cursing her neighbours".
Warmed by her friend's happiness, Sasha turned her back on the books ready to explore other sections of the shop.
With the adjustment of her eyes to the darkness, Sasha could see her way around. Small alcoves lay unevenly against the farther wall, each one sitting against the other creating a wall of fascinating little dens. Flimsy chiffon curtains separated off each section, surrounded by unlit wires of fairy lights. As if on cue, someone hit the lights and the room was suddenly lit with the smaller strings of lights and tables lamps dotted about the room.
"Aha! Now I can read!" said Penny emerging from one of the further corners of the room having just turned on the lights. She made her way to a large table near the door with a pile of books stacked high up on it; found an empty chair and sat, instantly pouring over instructional text on how to inflict the most damage on her neighbours.
Sasha walked toward one of the alcoves and pulled the delicate curtain to the side. Little shelves held candles of every different size and shape, small books describing candle magic and petite candle stands. She replaced the curtain and moved to the next nook.
Parting the curtain here, revealed tarot cards and oracle cards in every imaginable size shape and incarnation. Again the shelves held books about how to read tarot, how to train yourself as a reader for others and how to use the tarot for your own therapy.
Another typical little magic shop after all -- nothing special on this side -- all the same old stuff.
Then, something caught her eye at the next small booth.
With a less transparent curtain, Sasha couldn't quite see through it properly, but she was sure she'd seen a vibrator. Moving quickly to her right, she parted the curtain at the point she'd seen through, to reveal seven strong shelves filled with sex aids.
The Vibrator that caught Sasha's eye stood proud and thick in deep purple with a heavy suction cap on the bottom. Sasha imagined it being used in almost any position with that sort of suction; it could cling to a wall, the floor or any hard surface so a woman could balance herself over it driving it in hard as her own heat level dictates. Wide eyed Sasha took in the rest of the shelves. Lubes, condoms, vibrators, dildoes of every shape, taste, colour and size filled the overstuffed shelves.
However, something was different about this stock. Not like the usual supplies in sex shops, this stock wasn't covered in half naked women designed to titillate men, it was covered in images of men in various states of arousal from fully clothed in a dinner suit all the way through to ejaculating over a camera lens as the photo was taken.
Sasha eyed the goods, letting the curtain slip closed behind her. She ran her hands over the shelves, fist picking up this and then picking up that, looking with longing at the pictures of naked men that filled the small area. She found it hard to get passed the suction cap vibe however. That was a product she needed to buy.
"Woah... what have you found here?"
Penny stood behind her with the curtain open again.
"Check this out! I'm definitely getting this one!" Sasha clutched the large purple vibe as if it threatened to take off and leave her alone forever.
Penny stepped into the small alcove with her friend and began exploring all the delicious toys on the shelves.
"How would Gilbert feel about you mucking about in front of pictures like this and wanting one of these to take home?"
"He'd love it. He gets off big time when I come on my vibe. Man look at this."
Penny turned to her friend holding a thick black dildo, wide and long, that would have no trouble massaging every spot on the anatomy.
"Woah. Could you REALLY take that one home? And he wouldn't even be threatened?"
"Maybe not that one." Said Penny carefully placing it back on the shelf as if it were a great and profound treasure. "But I am so getting one of these. And how sexy are they? I've never seen any of these brands. It all looks as though they are specifically designed for women -- or something."
