Page 13 of Afternoon Delight
“I guess the first question is whether you’re interested in finding something for yourself or if it’s something you and a partner would use together?”
“Probably just me. For now,” she tacked on faintly.
“Sure, um...” I scanned the array of vibrators. Shit, there were a lot of choices. “Maybe ask yourself if you want something, um, internal?”
It hit me that I was assuming she had a vagina—but I didn’t know that. Damn, this was complicated.
“Do you have any allergies? To latex, for instance? I think most of these are silicone.” I picked up the box to read the back. Cans of soup these were not.
“How loud is that one? I have a roommate. And does it come in blue?”
“I would have to check.” I was still trying to figure out what it was made of.
“Is it really two hundred dollars?” Her voice squeezed into a whisper.
“Because of the Bluetooth, yeah. But we have others that aren’t so expensive.” I knew I had seen something like it. I scanned for it.
“I don’t think I can choose right now.” Her face was a mirror of the confused overwhelm accosting me.
“No problem. I’m glad you came in to look around.” Letting her leave without buying anything tasted of failure, but: “I’d much rather miss making a sale than sell you something you don’t like and can’t return. I hope you’ll come back when you have more time.”
She nodded and took a few steps toward the door.
“I’m Ali, by the way.”
“Hi, Ali. I’ll come by for coffee one day soon.”
“Sounds good.” She smiled and reached for the door. “Bye, Meg.”
It didn’t feel so much like a failure now that we were friends.
“Oh,” Ali said as she almost bumped into someone coming in. She held the door open.
Zak? My heart gave a little skip.
Nope. Mom.
Chapter 6
Meg
“You need to wash the window,” were the first words out of Mom’s mouth.
I would have been more annoyed if she’d been wrong.
“I was waiting for it to warm up outside.”
“So... June?”
I fetched the spray and a paper towel since I had meant to do the inside of the glass while I was dusting. I gingerly stepped into the window display. Up close, the winter grit on the outside of the glass was even worse than I’d realized. I’d also need a step stool to reach the top of the window from the sidewalk.
“What on earth made Georgia want to open a store like this?” Mom asked with a note of disdain as she wandered, purse hugged tightly under her arm.
“I think she wanted to provide a place where people don’t feel judged.” I looked over my shoulder.
Mom held my stare. The silence thickened before she returned to browsing.
“What are rabbits and cages?” She turned the small tented sign on the table I had just uncovered.
