Kinga entered the room, unbuttoned her coat and hung it in the wardrobe. She kicked off her shoes and placed them tidily on the carpet against the wall. She set her bag down on the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. Yes she was nervous of course she was, but she had made her decision and was adamant that she would see it through. She undressed, folded her clothes neatly and walked naked into the bathroom to turn on the shower. As she stepped into the cubicle and let the steaming water engulf her, she closed her eyes and thought back over the sequence of events that had led her here.
The first parcel arrived by post last Thursday, exactly a week ago to the day. She had collected it from the postman as she was rushing out of the door, late for work again as usual. She opened the door of her BMW and slid in. She tossed the package onto the passenger seat, turned the key in the ignition and backed out of the parking space.
Traffic was a nightmare, mothers taking kids to school, blocking the roads as they dropped their precious cargo off. That was all she needed. She arrived at work stressed, frustrated and late. She picked up the package and clicked the button to lock the car doors. En route to her desk she grabbed a coffee from the machine before flopping into her chair.
She sipped at her coffee and picked up the little packet and turned it over in her hands. It was wrapped in plain brown paper and addressed in fine felt tip pen. K. Jones. The postmark was London and she did not recognise the handwriting. The wrapping paper was neatly folded and closed with sellotape, cut she noticed not torn. Kinga tugged at the paper causing a small tear at the corner. Exploiting this, she peeled off the wrapping to find a small white box. She lifted the lid, removed a layer of tissue paper and pulled out a blood red, satin G-string.
A small smile cracked across her face. She rummaged through the box looking for a note, but found nothing. Bemused she began to run through all of the possibilities as to who could have sent her this gift. Michael, M as she called him, a throwback to a 1990's Bond movie. Maybe, but the box was a bit formal. Then she discounted him as he was away for 2 weeks in the States and this was sent locally. The new guy in the office? Hmmm maybe, she even hoped so, but so far he had shown little interest despite her thinly disguised, flirtatious comments. Who then?
She sat spinning the garment on her index finger when her colleague Lauren walked in. "What's that?" she enquired. "Nothing" Kinga mumbled as she whipped her hands under the desk and felt herself blush.
Kinga was blushing again as she remembered. She was out of the bathroom and had fixed her make up using the full length mirror. She dried her hair then sat on the bed, opened her bag and took out all of the items she needed for the evening. As she sat there she thought back to the second parcel.
This arrived the following day, the Friday, again as she was leaving the house to go to work. The wrapping and handwriting were the same but the parcel a little bigger and flatter. She was far too curious to wait until she got to work, so she took it from the postman and went back inside the house to open it.
Sitting at the kitchen table she slid a knife under the wrapping and cut. The knife sliced through the paper to reveal a pair of black, nylon, hold-up stockings. The branding was French, La Perla, and the nylon looked sheer and dark. Once again she searched but found no note.
Carefully so as not to damage the fine material, she unwrapped the stockings, examined their texture and tested their sheerness by stretching them over the back of her hand. As she did so she caught a glimpse of her watch, 8:45. Shit she was already late again. The mystery would have to wait. Kinga rose from her chair and walked into her bedroom and dropped the stockings onto the top of her chest of drawers next to the box containing the string, before rushing out of the door to go to work.
The day had passed quickly and Kinga was tired when she arrived home.
It was the colour she first noticed rather than the objects themselves, deep red and shiny which seeped into her peripheral vision. She had to look twice to makes sure that her eyes were not playing tricks on her and they weren't, for neatly placed on her doormat sat a pair of graceful-looking stiletto shoes. The shoes were positioned so that they pointed out, away from the door; close together, but not touching. The bright red exterior was perfectly complimented by jet black, leather interior. The heel was tall, about three inches she estimated, and the shoe finished in a point that looked so sharp that you could punch a hole in your leg if you stumbled in them. Kinga picked one up and looked around in a daze, half expecting the bare-footed owner to rush down and take them from her before scurrying away. Of course nobody was there.
Inside her bedroom she stood with the shoes in her hand, looking at the stockings and the box containing the string. Who the bloody hell is sending me this? She wondered. She placed the shoes almost reverently on the floor, then took off her coat and let it fall onto the bed. She then unbuttoned her blouse slowly and slipped it off of her shoulders. Her bra followed and she felt her chest expand free of its restraint. Then she deftly reached around to the side of her skirt and unzipped it. It dropped into a crumpled heap around her ankles and she stepped over it. Last to go were the light tan M&S tights and her panties, which were both pulled off together and seem to knot as she sat on the bed and tugged them off of her toes.
Kinga then picked up the new hold-ups, stood and rolled them carefully up her legs. First the left leg and then the right. The fit was perfect. She then stepped into the string and pulled it up over her thighs and settled it into place across her hips. She walked to the mirrored wardrobe and turned first left and then right, admiring how the colour contrasted against her pale skin. Carefully she then stepped into the stilettos and crouched down to fasten the slim leather straps across the top of each foot. She knew even before she had placed a foot into either of them, that the fit, like the string and the stockings, would be perfect. She was not disappointed. Kinga felt her confidence rise as she grew with the added height of the shoes.