The next morning, all the eight Astarte nuns were in the nunnery's garden, waiting for John and Jane to take their measures. As the garden was within the cloister, everybody was in his/her birthday suit -- luckily, the weather was mild.
John noticed that the nuns' waists and butts were apparently identical, so he proposed Jane to measure them first. She agreed, so he took the tape measure, and ordered the nuns, "Stand up! Fall in! Dress right, dress! Left face!"
"Sorry for commanding you," apologized John, "But it's now easier to measure you."
"You're welcome," answered abbess Chang Lequ, and John could easily determine that all the nuns shared these measures:
- Hip: 30";
- Waist: 22";
- Underbust: 32" -- so their bra size number was 36.
Apparently, the previous abbess Diletta only accepted such women as nuns; but all other measures were different -- in John's words:
- Chang, Lequ -- height 5'5", overbust 40", D-cup;
- Rosenthal, Edna -- height 5'7", overbust 42", F-cup;
- Soro, Antonia -- height 5'3", overbust 44", H-cup;
- Lilienblum, Greta -- height 6'1", overbust 42", F-cup;
- Uhuru, Mary -- height 6'2", overbust 43", G-cup;
- Ljapunova, Svetlana -- height 6', overbust 42", F-cup;
- Kernberg, Rivka -- height 5'6", overbust 44", H-cup ;
- Gandhi, Tanya -- height 5'5", overbust 40", D-cup.
Jane disclosed her own measures -- height 5'5", overbust 45", I-cup". She shared her other measures with the nuns.
As the list was now complete, John ordered, "Fall out!"; the nuns came back to their duties, except the abbess, who went to town together with John and Jane (after getting dressed, obviously).
At Martha's, Chang Lequ gave the saleswoman the shopping list - with the nuns' sizes and their names, as they had to be embroidered on the clothes.
Veronica, the saleswoman, was very friendly and even offered a 30% discount, and free embroidery -- as the nunnery had ordered 480 pieces of clothing, it was a golden opportunity, which Chang Lequ immediately seized.
But Jane became somewhat suspicious; she saw the Rebbetzin (the Rabbi's wife -- the lingerie shop was near the synagogue) with her last child among the customers in the shop, went near her and asked, "Shalom, geveret; eizeh yeled nechmad! Kamah achim yesh lo? -- Hi, madam; what a pretty boy! How many brothers does he have?" "Shiva' 'asar -- Seventeen."
"Haim hamokheret notenet lakh hanachah? -- Does the saleswoman give you a discount?"
"Ken, 'esrim achuz. Lamah at shoelet oti? -- Yes, twenty per cent. Why are you asking me?"
"Ki zeh muzar shehamokheret notenet hanachah shel shloshim achuz leminzar 'im raq 'asarah anashim, wehanachah shel 'esrim achuz lemishpachah 'im 'esrim nefashot! -- Because it's strange that the saleswoman gives a 30% discount to a nunnery with just ten people, and a 20% discount to a family with twenty souls!"
The Rebbetzin laughed and whispered Jane, "Zeh lo muzar. Kulam yode'im shehi lesbit -- It isn't strange. Everybody knows that she is lesbian."
So, Jane thought, Veronica was trying to seduce the nuns. They were allowed to have sex with other women, but could be Veronica a good partner for them? When she, John and Lequ came back to the van, she shared her knowledge with them and asked the permission to probe Veronica -- as a nonhuman, she risked considerably less than any of the nuns in having a relationship with her.
Lequ answered that the nuns were allowed, not encouraged, to have lesbian relationships with outside women -- and that Jane needed not pry into Veronica's life, as the nuns were able to look after themselves.
John replied that it was a pity that so big busted a woman like Veronica (40E) was a lesbian, and that he wasn't jealous about his wife's lesbian encounters. So, Jane could have a story with Veronica if she wished so.
Jane rejoined that she wasn't doing that out of lust, but of genuine preoccupation for the nuns. John and Lequ laughed, and told her that, as she was an adult, she needed not justify herself, and could do whatever pleased her.
The next day Jane went alone to the shop, and asked Veronica how much would it cost to have her lingerie embroidered. Veronica answered that she needed to see the pieces of clothing to make an assessment, and Jane told her that, as she hadn't thought about bringing some, she could only show her the underwear she was wearing.
"If you're serious," Veronica said, "We can go to the closet."
"That's OK," Jane replied.
The closet was big enough for two people, and Jane took off her shirt and skirt. As she was going to remove her bra, Veronica stopped her and said, "The bra is of the wrong size. You'd better buy another set of bras."
"Wrong size? How is it possible?"
"You're wearing a 38H bra, but the size that really fits you is 36I. By the way, it somewhat conceals your beauty, while our models will emphasize it without being vulgar."
"Do you really think that another bra would make a difference?"
"I'll bring some to you. You'll see it yourself."