Jill leaned against her car, looked at her watch, and then looked over her shoulder at the cigarette and adult novelty store's "Closed" sign. She had driven halfway across town in an effort to not be recognized. She still couldn't believe she'd agreed to picking up the party favors for her daughter's best friend's bachelorette party.
Other than the finger-sized vibrator Jill acquired in college almost 20 years ago, she had never used or seen an adult phallic toy. But that was exactly what the bride-to-be wanted to hand out as gifts to the 20 or so women invited to the party. Jill reminded her that some of the women were as young as 18, but some were as old as 60. The bride-to-be was firm on what she wanted. She even provided Jill with a list of various vibrators and dildos so there would be an assortment.
Jill looked on the Internet, but couldn't seem to find exactly what was on the list. She looked through the phone book and only found three adult novelty stores in town. Two of the three were in bad parts of town, but one was not far from the airport, and was more of a tobacco store than a porn shop. Jill decided to start there.
She called first, and read off a few of the toys on the list. The gentleman that answered the phone thought he had a few in the stockroom, so it wouldn't be a wasted trip.
From the corner of her eye, Jill could see the "Closed" sign being flipped to "Open."
Time to get on with it.
The storefront appeared clean, bright, and smelled of tobacco. In fact, Jill was a little worried she had gone to the wrong place. The bell clanged as the door closed behind her. A short, small-framed man with horn-rimmed glasses instantly appeared from the back of the store.
He almost tripped when he looked up to see Jill. She wasn't the usual clientele.
At 38, Jill looked good. Some would say too good. She married right after high school, and had her daughter less than a year afterward. After her pregnancy, Jill worked hard to maintain a healthy physique, and at first glance, she could easily be mistaken for a girl in her 20's, especially at work. Her daughter became increasingly independent over the last few years, so Jill had more time to do some of the things she had always wanted.
Her husband had been promoted to a position requiring more time abroad than at home, so Jill looked into selling real estate as a way to fill her time. Selling houses was better than watching soap operas in Jill's book, and it paid better, too. With a little help from some veteran agents, her good looks, and dressing for success, Jill made enough in a year to pay for the new Lexus parked outside.
She had left the office at 4pm, hoping the tobacco store would be open while it was still daylight. Her work clothes were tasteful, but also just a little bit sexy. Her coworkers showed her data on how sex sells, even in real estate, but none of them admitted to having done more than tease in order to make a sale. Jill had gone as far as letting an older gentleman grope her ass while she showed him a $1M home, but she never went any farther. Unlike some of her coworkers, she never had to.
The storeowner seemed to stop dead in his tracks as he took in the sight of her. Her high heels, long legs, short skirt, and open blouse were completely foreign to him outside of the magazines and videos he pandered. Her radiant red hair and deep blue eyes sparkled in the setting sun peering through the shop's windows.
"Can I help you, missy?" the storeowner asked.
"I don't know. I think I might be in the wrong place." Jill answered sheepishly.
"Not if you're the lady that called an hour ago, asking about some dildos." He acted as if he talked about them every day.
Jill nodded, her face turning red from embarrassment.
"Follow me." The storeowner walked toward the back of the store and through a black curtain.
Jill's heels clicked as she stepped though the opening to the back part of the store. The floor was unfinished cement -- much noisier than the carpeted floor in the tobacco part.
Jill had never been in an adult novelty store, bookstore, or video arcade. To say that she was surprised would be an understatement.
She had heard from her husband and his friends about the kind of men that would hang out in such places. For the moment, she was relieved that she was the only customer.
Jill looked at a few magazines, DVDs, and then found a wall full of various phallic shapes. She had never seen anything like them. She was particularly impressed at the size of some of the toys.
"Do women actually use these to masturbate?" Jill asked.
"Sometimes, men too." The storeowner smirked.
He handed her three boxes. "I pulled these from the back after you called. It's all we have on your list. You'll probably have better luck finding the rest at the other places in town, you just have to be careful."
"What do you mean?" Jill asked, more curious than worried.
"I mean those places are in a little rougher part of town. You might want to rethink your outfit. Tone it down a bit." He said, looking at her hardened nipples pushing through the fabric of her blouse.
Jill could see him staring at her breasts, but wasn't offended. She was used to it.
She was a real estate agent. She knew the town.
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Jill politely smiled as she walked towards an opening on the far wall.
Lights flashed around the doorframe. Through the door was a hallway with several doors on either side.
"What's in here?" Jill asked.
"Those are preview rooms." The storeowner almost laughed as he answered. "A few years ago, that was where you could take a video tape and watch it before you bought it. The previous owner upgraded for DVDs, but nowadays, you can watch the same stuff at home, on your computer. Only people that go in there now are just interested in anonymous blowjobs through the glory holes. Cops keep cracking down on it, making me board up the holes, but the low-life's figure out a way to make new ones. Plus, it's a real pain in the butt to keep the floor clean."
Jill walked down the hall and opened one of the doors. Inside the booth, there was a plastic patio furniture chair, an ashtray, and a monitor with coin slots and a channel button. She looked down and found she was standing in a slimy substance, and then carefully stepped out of the hallway and back into the store.
"Surreal" was all Jill could muster.
The storeowner looked into the booth after she stepped out. "Ahh crap. I'm really sorry about that. I thought I cleaned them all out last night." He quickly stepped into a utility room and started running the water to fill up a mop bucket.
"I guess I can ring you up and get you on your way, missy," the storeowner paused. "Unless there's anything else."
"No. I mean yes. I'll just pay for these. Thanks for the... tour." Jill said.
"That'll be $157.80," the storeowner said matter-of-factly.
Jill blinked hard.
"Seriously?" Jill asked, her face turning red again. "For three dildos?"
"Yep, you got some good ones, there, I imagine. Whoever made up your list must be pretty particular. Hope she enjoys 'em." The storeowner smiled, and waited.
"They're not all for one person. They're supposed to be party favors at a bachelorette party." Jill handed him two hundred dollar bills.
"A party, huh? Dildos and vibrators? How times have changed." The storeowner handed Jill her change.
Jill quickly walked out, got in her car only after fumbling with the keyless code for what seemed like an eternity, and sped home -- to her side of town.
A few days went by before Jill got up the nerve to call one of the two remaining adult novelty stores. They were strictly porn shops -- no tobacco sales taking place there legally. She tried calling during the day, but there was no answer, a busy signal, or a recording asking her to leave a message.
When she finally did get through, the voice on the other end of the line scared her enough to hang up.
"Bitch, I ain't got time for yo' shit. You wanna fuckin' dildo, get your ass over here and find you one," the proprietor yelled into her ear.
Jill hung up a second later. She was shocked and felt just a little humiliated.
With only two weeks before the bachelorette party, she knew she was running out of time. She quickly called the last adult book and video store in the phone book.
"Sure, we have some of those," a man answering as Sammy said. "We might even have all of those. We don't close until 4am."
"I'm more interested in what time you open," Jill explained.
"Well, we got inventory tomorrow, so I'll be in early. Maybe around noon. That work?" Sammy asked.
"That'd be great!" Jill said, later realizing she probably sounded too excited.
Remembering what the tobacco storeowner told her, Jill decided to really dress down. She found an old pair of sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and flip-flops. She didn't realize she had forgotten to wear a bra or panties until she was halfway to the adult bookstore. She never wore a bra or panties when she wore those clothes - because she normally wouldn't be caught out of the house in those clothes.
After several wrong turns, Jill finally found the seedy-looking adult book and video store. Trash was strewn across the sidewalk, and she strongly considered turning around and going home rather than leave her car parked on that street.
She bit her lip and looked around. The neighborhood looked deserted.
Jill stepped out of the car and quickly walked to the store's front door. Locked.
She pulled on it several more times until a short, bald, and slightly overweight black man unlocked the door.