This story took place during the first month after I opened Lindsay's Lace, a small Lingerie shop.
A woman came into the shop and selected a floral silk robe, black stiletto heels and a pink silk teddy. She went past the changing area as she passed the section of the area her nicely muscled calves were clearly visible below the half wall. She strutted into the open with the robe tightly tied about her waist. Her male companion nodded favorably at her as she turned for him to look at the robe. He obviously liked the shoes that she was wearing. I tried not to stare but caught surreptitious sidelong glances of her as she stood in the opening. The boyfriend got up from his seat and stood and she apparently opened her robe (his body blocked a clear view for all but him). He murmured and nodded approvingly.
The guy looked to be about 20 to 25 years old and seemed like he might have to stretch a bit to keep up with his girl's shopping habits.
As his girlfriend returned to the changing room, I approached him and asked, "How would you like to get some free merchandise?"
"Nah, that's ok, I don't want no credit card sign up."
"No, no, nothing like that. I just wondered if maybe your wife would be interested in earning a merchandise credit for helping us produce some marketing material."
"She ain't my wife, man, but what do you mean about marketing material?"
"We are a new shop so we'd like to get some endorsements from real customers in the form of either statements or photographs that we might place into our advertisements."
"I never seen no advertisements for this place – been empty for months – we were just curious about what was coming in here."
"We advertise in a number of channels, some are pretty mainstream like local radio and newspaper and others are in more select publications."
"We offer a range of discounts and promotional merchandise credits in proportion to the assistance we receive." [This sounded pretty good, I thought as I was making it all up as I went, and was not fully sure where I was headed with this myself.]
"You talking like free bras and thongs or what?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"So like if my lady says she really likes the silk robe, you give us a discount?"
"Well, for a straightforward product endorsement like that I would give you a flat 10% discount on your entire purchase."
"Shit man, excuse me if I say so but, that ain't no nevermind to me."
"Say again?"
"Dude, 10% off ain't worth my time o' day. Why don't you find yourself some old grandma buying support hose who thinks that is worth her time?"
At that point the girlfriend came back out wearing the same robe and shoes but had apparently changed the lingerie underneath. She says, "Is that your friend or do I have a fan?"
"No baby neither one, just some dude trying to get free publicity."
I blurted out, "I think you misunderstood. We don't take anything for granted here but I would be happy to discount your purchase if you provide us with a nice endorsement."
"Yeah 10% - big fucking whoop," the impatient young man spit out.
Defensively I interjected, "Actually that is the minimum discount we offer but we certainly are prepared to offer better rebates for additional marketing assistance."
"What sort of better rebates are you talking about?" the young lady replied.
"Babe, we don't need this shit, let's just get going," the impatient gentleman snarled.
"Look Miss, Miss...., I'm sorry... I missed your name," I stammered.
"My name is Samantha. What you got in mind 'Please let me help you - Brad'?" she read from my nametag and then she added, "James, shut up and listen to what the man has to say."
I blushed at her mildly mocking tone but was emboldened by her apparent interest, "We provide free merchandise for marketing photographs for select customers." [It was completely possible that at some point I would consider this but at the moment I was totally pulling this out of thin air. Having just opened, I wasn't so sure discounts were the most prudent means to help this venture achieve solvency].
"Select meaning me in this case?" she queried.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that."
"What sort of deals do you have?"
"That sorta depends."
"Depends on what?"
"Depends on whether the photos can be used in our marketing materials."
"Hey man, I'm a professional. You trying to scam me?" the guy responded.
"I'm not sure I follow."
"Look man, we do a little what you call erotic photography. This type of clothing really helps."
I was a little taken aback and stood gaping for a couple of seconds. "Maybe we should talk privately. Would you be so kind as to step into my office?"
James nodded at Samantha and they came into the back room that doubled as an office and storage. They pulled up chairs and I grabbed a pad of paper.
I began, "Well, this is an interesting situation. I am not sure where to start but I definitely think that professional photography is an important facet of marketing."
"Well, I have a damn good Nikon with a tripod, three zoom lenses, and filters. I've got a pair of light umbrellas and I'm hoping to buy some backdrops." James volunteered. "I mostly do amateur-style stuff at the apartment."
"What do you typically charge for a shoot?" I asked as if I knew what "a shoot" actually entailed.
"Well, I actually don't run a photo studio like Sears. I sell web site subscriptions for a strictly amateur site and well, actually, I'm just getting started with this. I don't actually take pictures for like paying customers."
"Since this is all new to you, I guess that makes us even." I responded. "Anyway, I was thinking that perhaps you could set up your equipment back here and we could take merchandise photos in-house for our advertising flyers. If you were to use the room for other photography I guess I might have to charge or something."
"What do you mean by ' charge or something'?" James asked.
"Maybe Brad wants to see girls putting on panties while he watches," Samantha offered.
I blushed and groped for a response.
"I don't think Brad is getting any. Why don't you open that robe and see if Mr. Businessman likes his products with your package," James instructed.
Samantha stood and opened her robe and moved closer to me. I could smell her perfume and her full silk-clad breasts were just inches from my face. I stammered, "I think you definitely do justice to our merchandise." Her curvaceous form was definitely appealing; her ample breasts and curvaceous hips were made for sex.
"She's even better without your 'merchandise', buddy." James added.
At this Samantha dropped the straps of her teddy off of her shoulders and let her lovely round globes free. "100% real, makes you want to touch doesn't it?" As she sat just a few feet from me, the urge to touch was definitely strong but I was also in the middle, at least I thought I was in the middle, of a business arrangement which seemed to be getting away from me. After giving me an eyeful she put the top of the teddy back in place covering her mounds with silk.
My voice cracked as I responded, "I, ah, I think that, um, I think that you and the photography. Let me start over. I think that we can arrange to do some photography. I mean, James could do some photography in exchange for some free clothing and access to the room for photographing."
"Maybe you should pay us," James opined.
"I think we should start out strictly on a barter basis," I suggested.
"What is a barter basis?" Samantha asked.
"Does that mean you trade stuff on the black market or some shit?" James added.
I realized that these youngsters were greener than I was and had no idea what I was suggesting so I amplified. "By barter basis, I mean that instead of exchanging money you exchange goods and services."
"So you want to exchange lingerie for a blow job or something?" Samantha blurted.
Again I was stunned by her brazenness and meekly responded, "I was thinking more on the lines of exchanging photography services for the usage of the studio." (Suddenly my marketing mind had converted a cluttered storage room with a beat-up desk into a photography studio). I was intrigued that the idea of giving a blowjob seemed natural to Samantha rather than extreme. At 44 years of age, my ideas of normal were obviously different than these kids' ideas.
"What about free merchandise?" James reminded.
I bravely upped the ante, "Maybe for more adventurous photography some concessions for merchandise could be arranged."
"So like for a money shot you'll let me have the teddy?" Samantha offered.
"A money shot?" I ignorantly quipped.
"Yeah, I mean like if I show you my spread pussy, you let me have the teddy," Samantha added. She looked at me with great earnestness in her sultry dark brown eyes. She shifted in her seat, raised her bare knee through the robe and folded her arms.
My pulse quickened. I imagined this very attractive girl jumping up on the desk and showing me her cunt all in the line of business. My head was spinning – she hadn't actually suggested doing it quite like that – implied it maybe... How quickly this had progressed way beyond where I had imagined it might.
James ended the awkward silence caused by my delayed response. "Seriously, I think we could do business together. We really could get our web site off the ground if we don't have to pay for a studio and can get props for the photos and we could tone it down to make sure you get photos that are PG enough to put into advertising."
"I think that makes sense," I replied.
"Maybe later today I could bring in some of my equipment. I'd need you to sign some sort of agreement so that you can't keep my stuff if I leave it in here. I don't want to get shafted," James added.
I responded, "I have some sample contract verbiage from the lease here that I could adapt without too much trouble."
"All work and no play makes Brad a dull boy." Samantha commented.
I looked at her quizzically.
"Do you like shaved pussy?" she asked.
I was floored by her brazen question and was dumbstruck yet again. I looked her in the eye and saw desire in her expression.
"I have yet to meet a man who didn't like a shaved pussy." She added.
I swallowed hard and sat silently like a mute.
"I think what Samantha is saying is that you never really answered if she could have the teddy," James added. "What do you say we make a deal?"