Ding!
Still gnawing at the end of my pen, mind racking the PR crisis in front of me, I lazily grabbed my phone but before I reached it, my best friend, Willow, snatched it like a cheetah. She plopped down in the plush chair across from my desk and squealed.
"Oh my gosh, Diana! You've got a Catch! He looks like a hottie too!" she exclaimed, quickly unlocking my phone and swiping through his profile and pictures at lightning speed. "Let's see, he's 24, a tech entrepreneur, loves coffee..."
I sighed and reached over the desk, yanking the phone out of her hand to see for myself. His name was Peter and he sure was a hottie from his pictures. He was the geek-who-worked-out kind of hot with lean, subtle muscles and a baby six pack. He grinned from ear to ear that showed off his pearly white teeth and crinkled the corners of his eyes, and his auburn hair was on the longer side which he left tousled in any direction, giving it manicured yet wild beauty. After ogling him for a few more seconds, I clicked on his initial message.
Peter: I'm new to this whole Sea thing and thought you were gorgeous. I'm sorry if this is too forward but I had to know if you'd like to meet tomorrow?
I inhaled a little at his sweet compliment and replied with a yes, my fingers fumbling around the keyboard for a few minutes. Willow had gotten me into the whole dating app thing last week when she caught me at our apartment lounging on the couch with a fresh pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream on Saturday night. She, of course, was getting handsy with her latest Catch, an investment banker, I think.
"Look, your first date since like, what, college?" Willow asked, swiping the phone and looking at Peter again. My phone dinged again with another message.
"'I'll take you out somewhere nice. Wear something for the occasion. Winky face,'" Willow squealed, taking my shoulders and gently shaking me. My head whipped back and forth and my mocha brown fishtail slapped against my boob. She quickly released me and texted him back, her fingers flying at the speed of light. "Just made your date a little hotter," she smugly said, showing me the screen.
Diana: I'll wear something nice on top, but something naughty underneath ;)
"Willow! What the hell!" I shouted, taking the phone away from her and shutting it away in my desk.
My phone pinged again and Peter's new message read: Wow, I can't wait for our date then, Diana ;)
"What! It's just a little bit of fun. Look, he likes it," Willow replied with a giggle. "Besides, you have to have something right?"
My mind flashed through my very organized closet. It was mostly white button up shirts, long, oversized sweaters, tan slacks, a few dresses, and very, very plain t-shirt bras and granny panties. My cheeks burned a little. It wasn't that I was against lacy, sexy lingerie or anything. I just grew up pretty conservative and I never really went on dates. Like Willow said, this was my first date since college, which ended two years ago.
"Not... really..." I mumbled, picking up the pen and gnawing on the end again.
"Oh no! My poor, innocent Diana!" Willow cooed. She scuttled around the desk and pulled me to her voluminous chest, my head pushing into her pillowy flesh. "How about we go do some girl shopping after work?" she continued.
"Ms. Sanders! Where are you?! Get back to your desk!" a male voice, our boss, bellowed in the hallway.
"Shit, Mr. Evans. Caught again," Willow giggled before letting go. She quickly gathered her papers and left, flipping her curly blond hair behind her back and calling out, "I know the perfect place!"
--
The perfect place was a low, grey, two-story brick building wedged between tall skyscrapers. It was rectangular with a huge window on the first floor and three smaller, arched windows on the second floor. In the first floor window, a cluster of velvet chairs gathered around a low wooden table with men's magazines spread out while in the second-floor windows, three different lacy lingerie sets were shown off in low, seductive lighting. Above the wooden arched door a lit sign read 'Lulu's Lingerie Shop' and underneath it was an illuminated 'Closed' sign.
"Come on," Willow urged, pulling the door open and pushing me through. The lobby room was empty with only the small drone of sports on a wall television to keep it company. On the back side of the room, there were two doors: one for the restroom and another for employees only, and an entryway protected by a thick, black velvet curtain.
"Hello, Lulu!" Willow sang into the emptiness. Silence answered for a second before soft clicks of high heels behind the curtain became louder and louder. A slender hand grabbed the edge of the curtain and slowly pulled it to the side to reveal the source of the clicking.
"Willow! How nice to see you!" a petite, blonde woman shouted. I inhaled a little, instantly intoxicated by how beautiful she was. Her golden hair flowed down her back like a blanket of sunshine, her face was small yet defined by a sharp jaw and perfectly sloped nose with a slight upturn, and her big, caring brown eyes shone like golden sand glistening in the sun. "And who's this?" she inquired, her perfect face tilting to the side as her eyes slid towards me. When her eyes met mine, I exhaled under my breath while my heart began to thump wildly, a shock of timidness shuddered down my body and out of my toes.
"This is Diana, Lulu! My best friend! She has a hot date tomorrow and desperately needs the help," Willow replied, grabbing my shoulders and pushing me forward. I stumbled a little over my own feet as I stopped in front of Lulu. Standing in front of her, we were the same height, a whopping five feet, two inches. As her eyes glazed over my body, I did the same to her. She was a few years older than us but it was hard to tell by the way she dressed and her tight body. Lulu wore a black embroidered tank top that accentuated her smooth, tanned skin, a loose, flowy blush pink skirt tied around her waist, and open-toed black high heels made her legs look long and slender. As I looked back up to her face, her plump, pink glossed lips twitched into a slight smile and she reached over and grabbed my hand. A small spark flew as her soft hand wrapped around mine and gave a reassuring squeeze.
"As you already know, my name is Lulu. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Diana. I'm so excited to help you. Let's get started." Lulu gave me a closed mouth smile, the laugh lines around her mouth deepening for just a second before she quickly turned around and led me through the black curtain and up a set of dark stained stairs.
When we got to the top, my jaw dropped as everything overloaded my senses. The second floor was transformed into a sex goddess's wardrobe. The lights were dimmed low and the soft glow bounced off the two large, dark wooden tables in the middle of the room. A few torso mannequins on each table sported an array of lingerie from cute to kinky. Metal rods lined two of the walls with extras of all the lingerie and a bright, pink light in a doorway pointed towards the dressing rooms. Next to the doorway, a few round, red velvet ottomans lined the wall along with a full length mirror and next to the stairs, the registers sat on top of a matching dark wooden table with a lit showcase. Slow French music lulled throughout the room, the emotional, smooth voice wrapping around my body and making me swoon.
Lulu let go of my hand and spun around with an elegant, calculated twirl, her hands running over the billowing skirt and showing off the curve of her thin waist to big bottom. My heart fluttered again as her movements captivated me and I caught a whiff of her sweet, flowery perfume. "Welcome to my paradise, ladies," she announced. Lulu grabbed my hand again and swept me to the full length mirror. "Now, let's see what we can do about you, Miss Diana. Please undress."