Rhia Jones walked along the street, lost in thoughts of Dorothy. Her mind frequently turned to her roommate and lover these days. "Lover." It was such a new, strange concept to the eighteen-year-old. Despite owning a body anyone would say was made for sex, Rhia had not been terrible interested it during high school. She had gone on dates because she felt it was expected of her and had indulged in making out with the boys for much the same reason, but when it came to actually "doing it," she had always refused. During her first couple of months of college things had continued the same, until the fateful night when she'd come back from a date with a "groper," only to end up in Dorothy's arms. Rhia didn't worry over being a lesbian. She had fallen in love with Dorothy and they slept together and made love and it felt wonderful and that was it.
One thing did bother Rhia, however. Dorothy was always very careful in their love-making not to put her fingers past Rhia's still intact maidenhead, despite Rhia's telling her she didn't mind. "No, now fingers aren't the proper method for popping your cherry, baby," Dorothy always said. "I don't have the right equipment or I'd do it in a second." She showed Rhia any number of ways to make love without deep penetration, but Rhia remained frustrated.
A man clutching a brown parcel darted out of a storefront into Rhia's path. "Watch it, girlie!" he snapped, then scuttled away down the block.
"Well, excuse me!" Rhia huffed. She looked up at the sign over the store. "The Perfumed Garden." Curious, she stepped inside.
The store was narrow but very deep, and filled with shelves and display cases and clothing hung on make-shift racks. It took Rhia a few moments to realize that everything had a sexual orientation. She felt her face grow warm but before she could turn to flee, a woman stepped out from behind one of the tall cases.
"Can I help you, my dear?" the woman asked in a low, sultry voice.
Rhia felt her blush deepen. "No, well, I... I just..."
"Yeah, I know, you're just looking," the woman said, her voice losing its seductive timbre. "Everyone says that, 'Just looking, just looking.' Well, if you see something while you're just looking, honey, give me a yell. My name's Edna." And with that she disappeared behind the case again.
Startled, Rhia stood there for a second. Then laughing quietly to herself, she started looking around. The shop had an amazing amount of inventory. There were books with titles like And Mommy Makes Three, Aunt Rita's Great Danes, Nurse Jenny and Linda Loses Her Cherry. A copy of Chekov's The Cherry Orchard sat next to the latter title, someone's misunderstanding. Video tapes were crammed in among the books, some with slip-cases, some without. Their titles were as weird as the books. The clothes were equally strange, ranging from ordinary lingerie to garments Rhia thought she'd need an instruction manual to be able to put on. There was a box of panties on one shelf, the word "edible, various flavors" scrawled on it. And finally, in a glass showcase, a collection of dildos that ran the gamut from frighteningly huge to weirdly high-tech.
"You interested in one of those, honey?"
Rhia nearly jumped out of her skin. Edna was standing right behind her. "Well, I... I just..."
"Yeah, I got it. If you are, though, don't bother with that crap, that's just the cheap stuff we keep up front for the 'just lookers'."
Rhia took a step back, fully prepared to make an exit, but then laughed and said, "Actually, I am interested."
Now it was Edna's turn to stare. "You are?" Rhia nodded. A smile lit up Edna's face. "Then come right along with me, dearie," she said, taking the girl's arm. As they passed to the back of the store, Edna bellowed, "Harry! Watch the front, I got a customer!"
At the back was an open - well, a more open area. Edna motioned Rhia to a ratty-looking but surprisingly comfortable couch. "Now, is this for you, for a friend, or are you planning to share?" Edna asked. Seeing Rhia blush - the third time in fifteen minutes - she smiled and said, "Now, don't be bashful, dear. Believe me, I've heard it all."
Swallowing, Rhia said, "Share."
"Okay. I don't see you as the double-headed sort," the older woman mused. She scratched her head. "I think something anatomically correct, but not in the Ripley's Believe It Or Not category." Edna grinned. "Your average vagina is only about five inches deep, you know, so anything over that's a waste of money and you could hurt yourself. Amazing what people will believe, I swear." She went to a cabinet and took down a trio of boxes. Setting them out on the coffee table in front of the couch, she began opening them. "This is your basic model, nice feel, pretty durable." She set out a tan dildo about five inches long. "You didn't want vibrating, did you?"
"Uhm, no, I think not."
"Didn't think so. Anyway, this is the basic, then we have the 'Mandingo.'" She held up a slightly longer phallus, this one gleaming black. "Wait, you did say 'share,' didn't you?" Edna made a face and went to the cabinet again. "I think you'll like this." She opened an unmarked box and took out pale-colored dildo. It looked much the same as the first one but sported a set of balls at the base and had an arrangement of straps affixed to it. Edna held it up to show Rhia how the straps formed a bikini-like garment. "Adjustable to size within reason, meaning if the other person wears bigger than a size twelve, you're out of luck. The cup has a nice foam lining. Completely washable, too, though it's not exactly dishwasher safe."
Rhia tried to suppress a giggle. "It looks... interesting."
"The balls? I don't know why they put those on," Edna said. "It's not like they work or anything."
"No, I meant... it curves, kind of, doesn't it?"
"It does, yes. They do, you know. Some of them."
"What do?"
"Cocks."
"Oh, well, sure, I..."
"Dearie, don't be embarrassed. I've been screwing around for forty years but I wouldn't swear to have made a complete survey," Edna chortled. "I have run into one or two nicely curved ones, though. Or three or four. Whatever."
Rhia put out a hand. "May I?" Edna handed the strap-on over. The girl looked it over, feeling the firm yet pliable plastic, weighing it in her hand. She felt quite strange and yet quite determined. "I'll take it," she declared.
"Good. I'll wrap it up." Edna took it and slipped it back into its box. "It's forty-nine ninety-five, with tax, fifty-two ninety-five. We don't take checks but you can charge it." She grinned. "Don't worry, honey, the charge will say 'Edna's Fine Used Clothing.' That's what we used to do before this. No money in used clothes."
***
"Hey, baby." Dorothy smiled at Rhia from the couch where she was lounging reading a book.
"Hey." Rhia hung up her coat and crossed the living room of their dormitory "apartment" to her lover's side. Kneeling next to the couch, she gave Dorothy a big hug and a kiss. "I've been thinking about you."
"I like it when you think about me like that," Dorothy laughed. Looking at the shopping bag next to Rhia, she said, "Shopping, were you?"
"Uh huh." Rhia nodded. She reached into the bag. "I got some cherry Coke..."
"Ick, do you like that stuff?"
