Late August, 2017, Los Angeles, California.
"I don't think this is going to be what you think it is." I explained to a slightly annoyed Milana Vayntrub.
"Oh c'mon! I'm not trying to show myself off." Milana mumbled through a mouthful of free shrimp. We were invited to an investors meeting in downtown Los Angeles and I was of course reluctant to go. I was talked into coming by Milana a few days before and now we were looming over the snack bar and blatantly staying away from the rest of the crowd.
"Milana, I don't mean to be... crass, but you're... y'know." I made an hourglass outline with my hands. Milana hid her smile with her hand. Milana wore a simple, conservative black dress with short sleeves and matching black heel boots. Despite her outfit not being intentionally showy, I was very aware of her natural compact curvature. It was impossible not to. Her hair was chopped up in a wild and wavy bob with bangs above her eyebrows that accentuated her cute doe eyes.
"Listen," Milana swallowed. "It's lingerie made by women for women. It's not about sex."
"It literally is. Lingerie and garter belts are for romantic candlelight evenings."
"Those are not inherently sexual." Milana lied. I stifled a laugh.
"Yes they are. Let's say you... someone got ready for a nice date and decided to throw on a little dress over some lingerie." I said.
"Yeah."
"The entire point of the date is for the man to see what's underneath the dress. The only reason you, this person, would be removing the dress is because the date went well."
"I'm aware."
"Sooo... It's about sex. Seeing your body, erm, I mean seeing that person's body is sort of the prize. The allure. The end point."
"Hm, seems like you'd like a little show." Milana smirked.
"I was just giving an example."
"Well I was going to run some ads. Really get this thing off the ground, but I obviously don't make nearly as much money as you."
"So you need me to fund this operation?"
"Yes. I'd also like for your direct input. Besides what you just explained of course."
"Pictures?"
"Sure, sure. I was thinking of more of a... hands on sort of thing." Milana said. Her smile was subtle but I knew where this was leading.
"Hands on? So the lingerie has been made?"
"Yes. I have the prototypes."
"What's the pull aside from all those people that already fantasize about you when you're in a sweater and khakis? I'm almost certain a majority of those people are men."
"That's... That's not the point. Well, it is. Listen, I understand sex appeal, alright? When I'm working for AT&T I'm not the eye candy. It's for goddamn phones. I'm not supposed to be the eye candy anyway, but what happened, happened. I had a conversation with some of my girlfriends and I was told to lean into it. Give the people what they want. Now I need money and a man's perspective." Milana explained, crossing her arms over her chest.
I didn't really know what to think. I also didn't know if she expected me to not want to ravage her in a sexy underwear set.
"So when is all this gonna happen? At my house or yours?" I asked.
"So you're in?"
"Yes."
"Thank you!"
"But let's say I don't like it. Then what?"
"Then I'll scrap it. I'm an actor." Milana said with a ridiculous posh accent.
"Also, you can come to my house. I don't feel like driving to wherever the hell your house is out in the sticks." Milana smiled.
"I don't live in the sticks."
"You don't live amongst others."
"It's for privacy."
"Sure..." Milana swatted my shoulder playfully before looking around the room. Crowds of people in fancy dresses and tuxedos were talking amongst themselves, a sea of jumbled chatter and fake laughs.
"Y'know... The prototypes are in my car. We can leave now." Milana said.
"Why'd you leave them in the car? Isn't it precious material?"
"Nope. Right now it's stuff my friend and I put together. Not the fancy-shmancy stuff." Milana laughed.
"Can we really just leave?"
"Yes. Watch." Milana grabbed my hand and we both sauntered off towards the hallway at the end of the room. We took the elevator down to the parking garage and Milana clicked her keys to find where her car was. We both made our way to a red prius and packed ourselves inside.
"See. Nothing. It's just attendance. Say hi to one person and that's that." Milana explained as the car stuttered to life.
"Damn..." I laughed lightly.
"What?" Milana asked while pulling out of the parking space.
"Just thinking about the amount of time I could've saved in the past with these fucking parties if I'd known I could've just walked out whenever."
"Hey, If you just left whenever you wanted we would've never met." Milana gave me a fake pout when we got out of the parking garage.
"That's true." I met Milana at a similar Cali party a few months ago. I, just like everyone else, recognized her as Lily from the AT&T commercials. We sparked up a casual conversation to alleviate the boredom and from then on we've been friends. I know it seems hard to believe, but we are just friends. Friends drive other friends to their homes at 11PM to judge their burgeoning line of lingerie, right?
Right.
"Do you want me to give you a ride back here so you can get to your car? When we're done of course."
"You don't have to do that."
"Then how're you supposed to get back home?"
"I'll get an Uber to get back downtown."
"An Uber at this time of night? Oh sorry, I forgot you were the monopoly man." Milana joked.
"Funny." I said flatly.
"I mean... you could always stay over. Leave in the morning." Milana said softly. I gave her the best side eye I could muster.
"Don't- Not like that!" Milana blushed.
"Uh huh." I snorted.
"No. Not like that. I'm serious. If you give me the green light we can't. Even if you don't, we can't."
"Can't what?" I asked despite knowing exactly what she was talking about.
"You know." Milana said.
"I don't."
"Sex. Have sex." Milana finally spat as we turned into her neighborhood.
"Why? Not saying I don't... respect your wishes." I asked
"Two things. The moment you see me in the lingerie, we're officially business partners. If we were to have sex, someone would be abusing their power. Second, we're... well aren't you taken?" Milana asked.
"I'm not. My... girlfriend is out of town. The business thing doesn't make any sense. We're friends first, right?"
"Look Jason," Milana parked in her driveway and gently held my hand. "I know it seems... odd. But I told you I needed a male perspective. If I did this with my girlfriends it'll either get torn to shreds or I'll just get non-stop praise."
"That's fair." I said, clearing my throat. Milana gave me a small grin before exiting the car. We made our way inside her home and the first thing I noticed was the amount of space. She didn't have much furniture in her living room or kitchen. No plants or busts or anything. Really just the bare minimum. It was clean, just somewhat barren.
"This is it. I'll grab the box from the trunk. You go upstairs and once you get to the end of the hallway take a left. Sit on the bed and wait for me."
"How many are we going through?"
"I've got about four."
"Alright." I shrugged as I started up the first step.
"Hey, Jason? Thanks." Milana smiled at me.
"No problem." I smiled back. As I made my way upstairs I imagined how good Milana would look in a sleek lingerie set. I shook those thoughts from my head, knowing that right now I was her business partner.
Friends don't fuck each other. Business partners don't fuck business partners.
I sat on the edge of Milana's king-sized bed. I kicked my shoes off and removed my suit jacket, leaving me in a white dress shirt and jeans.
"You in there?" Milana asked with a knock at the door.
"Yup." I responded.