1. A Very Particular Shop
Abigail swept her chestnut hair away from her damp forehead and fanned herself with her handy, fold-out underground map as the train rumbled through the dark tunnels of the central line. The walk from her flat to the station had been enjoyably warm in the early summer sunshine, and it was even warmer down here beneath the city in the airless, tightly-packed carriages. She was pretty confident she knew which station to get off at, and how to find the little shopping area her friend had described, but she hadn't been in the city long enough to leave her map at home, even though carrying it made her feel like one of the tourists.
She'd been here nearly two months now after passing her law degree with flying colours and getting a position as a trainee at one of the city's leading law firms, and she was still a little dazzled by the bright lights of the big city. There seemed to be so much to see and do, a huge variety of sights and theatres and trendy pubs and restaurants. Such a different world to the small provincial town where she'd spent the previous twenty-one years of her life.
She'd been lucky that Sarah, an old school-friend of hers, had recently moved here too. Sarah had been here just over a year and never seemed to tire of taking Abigail out to some newly-discovered bar or hot new nightclub. She never seemed to tire of trying to find a boyfriend for her either! Abigail had already been talked into dates with Brad (tall and quite good-looking but a little too self-obsessed) and Joseph (quite sweet and polite, but not really her type).
In fact, none of the men she'd met recently seemed to be her type. Perhaps it was because she'd been to a series of all-girl schools, or maybe she was what her mother called a 'late developer' but the fact was she'd never had what Sarah would describe as a 'real' boyfriend.
Anyway, somehow her friend had talked her into another blind date with a guy called Robert, who Sarah had described a 'real hotty', although Abigail seemed to remember her saying something similar about Brad and Joseph.
It was the date with 'hotty' Robert which had prompted this shopping trip.
Abigail smiled as she recalled the scene. It was her fault really; she should never have asked Sarah's opinion on what to wear, especially after a couple of glasses of wine. They had very different styles. Her friend's philosophy was 'if you've got it, flaunt it' which she demonstrated by wearing a wide variety of short skirts, tight dresses and clingy, low-cut tops. Although Abigail had to concede that her friend had the curvy figure to carry it off.
Abigail on the other hand, preferred less provocative clothes, and she often found herself almost apologising to Sarah about her typical, practical choice of either jeans or sensible knee-length skirts with tights coupled with a casual long-sleeved t-shirt or blouse.
"But you've got such great legs, Abby! Why are you hiding them?" her friend would complain, causing Abigail to roll her eyes.
Things had gotten even worse when Sarah had insisted to see what underwear she was planning to wear.
"Come on, it's a first date, I seriously doubt we're going to get that far," Abigail said, leaning back on her bed.
"Come on, that's not the attitude! What if you really hit it off? What if he's the man of your dreams?" she asked as she rooted through Abigail's underwear drawer.
"Sure, the man of my dreams," Abigail said despairingly, as she finished her white wine."Oh, I don't know. Maybe the white ones?"
"These old things? You could hardly call these white any more. How long have you had these?" Sarah said, extracting a pair of cotton panties and matching bra between her thumb and forefinger.
"Okay then, maybe the red set, they're kind of sexy."
"Oh, come on, you can do better than this," Sarah said, grimacing theatrically as she held up a rather tired-looking burgundy bra.
"Well, I don't know, I've had other priorities you know. What with finding the flat and the new job and everything," Abigail said, throwing up her hands. "Sexy underwear has hardly been number one on my list of things to do."
"But you got such a sexy little body, Abby, I just don't understand why you don't get some slinky undies to go with it. For special occasions, like all these hot dates I keep organising for you."
"Alright, alright, I promise I'll get something a bit sexier in time for my next date, okay?" she replied, holding up her hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Well, good. I know just the place to go as well."
So Abigail had agreed to take a day off work and visit the little shopping district Sarah had recommended just to end the argument, although now she was here she found herself looking forward to having a whole day with nothing to do except a little casual shopping, buying some unnecessarily expensive cappuccinos and perhaps even take the long scenic route home through the park.
-
Sarah might be annoying at times and she wasn't always the most reliable in her judgement of 'hot' men, but Abigail had to admit she was something of an expert when it came to shopping. The little area she'd recommended was vibrant and colourful and full of interesting-looking shops and intriguing little cafes.
There were plenty of clothes shops: high street favourites like Marks and Spencers and Primark but also some smaller, independent boutiques. Full of the excitement of the novelty of having a whole day to herself, Abigail got a take-away coffee and wandered the streets, enjoying the rich taste and lingering by shop windows.
She could have just gone to Debenhams or Next but as she had plenty of time she decided to stroll around some of the smaller streets.
Sarah had told her that there were some interesting little speciality boutiques, so she happily drifted along the pavements, making the most of the sunshine as she randomly navigated the tight little streets, quickly losing track of time. After a while she realised she was completely lost but just then spotted an interesting-looking little shop. The sign above read "Honeysuckle Lingerie" in butterscotch-coloured letters against a lavender background.
She paused by the window, admiring the display of lacy little thongs and delicately-engineered brassieres in rich colours like crimson and emerald. Many of Abigail's friends like Sarah seemed born to shop for this sort of stuff but she was always a little nervous, a little intimidated by these more upmarket shops. She took a deep breath and pictured Sarah urging her to shun Primark and try something new as she boldly pushed the door open.
"Good morning!" the lady behind the counter said with a friendly smile.
"Oh, good morning," Abigail mumbled.
"Do take your time, let me know if you need any help," the woman added cheerfully.
The shop, which had appeared so small on the outside, turned out to be much larger inside.
There were aisles and aisles of expensive-looking underwear stretching back towards the rear of the store. She meandered around feeling a little lost, dizzy at the bewildering variety of styles and colours and materials.
Abigail had never been one for exotic, racy underwear, preferring to stick with safe, white cotton Marks and Sparks briefs and as she shuffled past rows of from primary-coloured cotton bikini-style briefs, silky grey French knickers and trendy-looking boy shorts, she quickly realised that she had no clue what she actually wanted. She began to wish that she'd dragged Sarah along to give her some advice.
She paused by a row of slinky teddies running a finger over the silky material, then blanched when she looked at the price tag.
"Can I take that?"
It was the woman from behind the counter; she'd suddenly appeared beside Abigail as if by magic. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, her platinum blonde hair scraped back off her face and held in a tight, neat bun, the trim curves of her slim figure emphasized by her perfectly fitting dove-grey suit, the jacket cinched neatly at the waist, the trousers clinging snugly to her hips and long legs. She seemed a little taller than Abigail, although that was probably the result of her perilously high black heels.
"I'm sorry?" Abigail said, feeling confused.
"Your coffee cup, have you finished with it?"