New Hope, Pennsylvania is a quaint, beautiful little tourist town hard by the banks of the Delaware River, in close proximity to the more-well-known Washington's Crossing (gee, guess what happened there, history buffs?).
New Hope is an eclectic place with eccentric characters who either reside there or hang out frequently at the numerous cafes, coffee houses, fine and casual restaurants, and enjoy a wide variety of stores ranging from antiques to high fashion.
Perched high up on the hill, a block or so from the main 'drag' (and believe me, 'drag' is an accurate euphemism to describe the attire of the majority of the crowd on the sidewalks of Main Street on weekend evenings), there is a small boutique that offers a variety of, shall we say, multi-gender costumes and devices designed to facilitate an evening or three of adult-themed entertainment. I'm going to name it, for the purposes of this saga, "Erotique Boutique", to avoid any representations to the real thing, heaven forbid.
Besides, I like my store name better than theirs, and this way there can be no copyright infringement disputes. 'The name has been changed to protect the innocent, any similarities between this story and real life is purely coincidental', blah, blah, blah.
Anyway, a shopper interested in all things carnal could certainly find pretty much whatever one was looking for to fulfill their wildest fantasies. Just to clarify, as George Costanza once said (I may be paraphrasing here), "I have a staunch record of unblemished heterosexuality," and I recalled during my one or two brief visits to the shop that they had an extensive womens' lingerie section, featuring garments that would make the photo editor of the 'Frederick's of Hollywood' catalog blush.
So, it was with this simple, altruistic intent in mind, to purchase some surprise gifts for a woman 'friend-with-benefits' of mine for an upcoming getaway weekend, that I entered the small shop on a sleepy Autumn Wednesday in mid-afternoon.
I probably stood out like the proverbial sore thumb, dressed as I was in my button-down Polo shirt, a pair of olive Dockers, and tassle loafers. I must have looked like I just stepped out of the alumni tent of nearby Princeton University's lacrosse game tailgate or a Charles Grodin look-alike contest. Call it business-casual with a decidedly preppy slant, definitely not the norm for most of the sometimes, um, peculiar mix of patrons, admittedly. But, as they always say in retail, never judge a customer by what they're wearing.
I tried to enter and browse discreetly through the racks womens' apparel ranging from titillating to downright salacious, but it was like a blue-eyed redhead trying to cross into the U.S. at the San Ysidro border crossing, I kinda looked, uh, different. The heavily tattooed store manager, like a watchful Department of Homeland Security Marshall, took immediate notice and honed down on me.
If she held a walkie-talkie, I could just imagine their internal security code parlance for my ilk: "Preppy middle-aged hetero in Aisle Three. I'll handle this one myself, girls. Probably will just settle for a box of extra-small condoms and a 9-volt battery, I know the type, he'll say it's for his smoke detector."
To be blunt, she was a bit of a visual conundrum herself. She looked to be a few years younger than myself, perhaps late-thirties or early forties, and she had a very pretty face with big blue eyes, reminiscent of Courtney Cox with spiked purple hair, jet-black heavy goth eyeliner and a nose piercing, if you can make that reach. I did. She was about five-five, and thin, but with nice, full, natural breasts. "Just a skinny chick with big boobs," as she called herself later in an accurate self-description.
She wore a white, sleeveless, midriff cotton top, a surprisingly generic shirt when you consider the endless possibilities that were on the shelves all around her every day. Multi-colored tattoos of indiscernible figures covered her the right side of her neck, and it appeared, down the entire right side of her torso, which then made a hard left turn and wrapped around her navel and flat tummy in a rainbow of whiling hues. The revealing blouse showed that she had a bleeding heart with a flaming arrow through it that was etched into the top of her left breast ("Never, ever get red", I once overheard a dermatologist tell a patient who came in for a removal consultation. "It just doesn't come out"), and an adorable little teddy bear on her right. Lucky cub.
Her thighs and ass were molded into a black leather miniskirt and I knew she couldn't have any panties on under that garment, it just looked like the prototypical no-panty skirt. Her ebony-painted toenails were encased in black 4-inch high heeled shoes which caused her tight, little ass to jut out even more.
It's funny, despite all the extra-curricular 'noise' all over her face and body, I was attracted to her from minute one, and not just because of the eroticism of her whole package. In fact, my attraction was almost in spite of that. When we made eye contact, even before we spoke a word to each other, her eyes had a delicate kindness that betrayed the hardness of her exterior appearance.
But more than that. It was clear that she was sizing me up as a potential, though implausible sex partner in the same manner, the contrast between my suburban middle-age professorial look and her cosmopolitan, prurient flamboyance made me somewhat of an enigma to her, waiting to be unwrapped and examined.
How did I perceive this so early on? Very simple. My dick was rock-hard, it's a great prognosticator.
Yep, I had a very strong instinct that we were going to be lovers, our unlikely pairing of worlds colliding at the pelvis, again and again. I just didn't know it would be in the next twenty minutes.
"Can I help you with anything?" she asked cordially, approaching me as I perused the teddys. Now, if that isn't a woman that wants it, I don't know what is. (Kidding, readers, just kidding!)
"Yep, hi," I replied, just as friendly, trying to decide where not to stare, at her bountiful tits or her countless tattoos. I failed on both counts. "Um, I'm looking for some sexy ideas for one of my girlfriends. I have some things in mind already, but I could sure use your expertise, thanks."
My phrasing 'one of my girlfriends' was very much intentional, and not at all untrue. If she was going to use her tattoos as an intimidation factor, I was willing to use whatever weapons were available to me in the always-present battle of one-upmanship between the sexes.hey, besides, the best way to get woman's interest is to let her know that you're already attached. In my case, with several paramours.
Her smirk in response to my rather arrogant opening line was non-committal. I wasn't sure is she was amused, annoyed, skeptical, repulsed, or a combination of all of the above, but at this point in our fledgling conversation, she sure wasn't going to lose a sale.
She hesitated, pondering which tone to take. My comment obviously merited some return interrogation if we were going to consummate a business transaction, after all, right?
"ONE of your girlfriends?" She laughed softly, almost mockingly. "Tsk, tsk, naughty boy, and you look so innocent, too. To what do you attribute your irresistible charms?"
I picked up a silk bustier and caressed it with seeming nonchalance, not looking at her, and dropped the checkered flag to indicate the race was beginning. "Start your engines!"
I held the sexy garment up in front of me and closed one eye and gazed at her from behind the transparent fabric, as an artist would size up a model that he was planning to paint, to see if this was an acceptable accoutrement in which to adorn her.
"Oh,' I said off-handedly. "I'm very hung." I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye as I acted as if I had an interest in another garment, and reached for it, this one a pink babydoll. "Like a horse, supposedly, according to two of them."
She was back on her heels now, she most certainly wasn't expecting this out of a guy who looked like he was caught in a hurricane in the J Crew outlet.
I continued on, stifling a yawn, turning to her now, taking inventory of her hot, lithe body. She unconsciously crossed her tattooed forearms across her ample chest. "The other two just pant and pass out a lot, but I'm guessin' that means they concur." I shrugged. "Kind of."
She took a half-step backwards, and for a brief moment, I was indeed wondering if she was going to summon security. Then, she threw her head back and erupted in uproarious glee. "Oh, my, GOD, you are a freakin' trip!" She bent over at the waist, holding her side in a belly-laugh, and in doing so, I got a great peek of her big, firm tits beneath the tank top.
She held out her hand, still convulsing. "My name is Marianne, I'm the store manager here. Boy, I wasn't expecting that! If you don't mind me sayin' so, you look like such a straight-arrow." I noticed the silver tongue earring in her mouth as she laughed. I never had a woman with a tongue earring before, I didn't know they were still in fashion. But I always wondered if the urban legend were true........