Hollis
“Hello!”a young, pretty woman greeted us brightly. I stole a glance at Bates to see if she piqued his interest, but he was too busy scanning the garments in the store to even notice her.
“Hi,” I replied timidly.
“How can I help you?” she pressed, her smile becoming brighter each passing second.
“What’s the sexiest thing you’ve got in this place?” Bates asked as he draped an arm around my shoulder.
I glanced up at him again and smiled when I saw that he was still scanning the display closest to us.
“What about this, Holls?” he questioned as he reached over and grabbed a sheer black nighty and matching lace thong.
I rolled my eyes.
It wasn’t obvious to him, but to me he was trying too damn hard, and I knew that if he didn’t ease up on it soon, I’d lose my temper and ruin our day out.
The one I didn’t even want to go on.
“It’s pretty,” I agreed softly as I rested my head against his shoulder, “but I don’t know how comfortable I would be in that.”
Bates kissed the top of my head before he put the garment back then looked at the salesgirl expectantly.
“What’s the sexiest thing you’ve got that my gal would feel comfortable in?” he amended, and I chuckled.
“Well, we carry a wide variety of intimates,” she began as she led the way through the store, “and honestly, comfort is one of the very things we pride ourselves on. Although…”
Her voice trailed off and I began to chew my lower lip nervously, wondering what it was that she was possibly thinking at the moment.
“Sometimes, it’s best if just us girls do the shopping in situations like this,” she said to Bates with a twinkle in her eye.
With a shrug, he removed his arm from around my shoulders, raised my hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “Spend whatever you want, Holls. I’m gonna go check out that culinary place next door. I’ll meet you there, okay?”
I nodded as I pushed myself up on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Bates blushed, which was so unlike him, but I think he knew that the young lady trying to help us was right.
“Give ‘em hell, Holls,” he told me with a grin as he reached into his back pocket for his wallet. Handing me a fistful of cash, he winked at me proudly, before he turned and walked out of the store.
“Holls is your name?” the young lady asked me politely.
“Hollis,” I corrected quietly as I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
“My name is Nala, like my nametag says.” She paused to gesture at the small, oblong, silver-colored pin attached to her shirt. “Is it okay if I call you by your first name?”
I nodded as I glanced toward the store entrance, suddenly wishing that Bates hadn’t left.
“So, as you can see, we have a huge selection of intimates. Is there anything in particular that you’re looking for?” she asked in a cheerful tone as she led the way through the store.
My head hung low, my shoulders were slumped, and my chin was damn near on my chest as I trudged along quietly behind her.
Bates would be so upset if he saw the way I was behaving, but since he wasn’t here, I didn’t have to hide my feelings.
Not that I made it a habit with him; he just always thought that someone ‘as beautiful’ as I was should always walk around with my head held high, shoulders back, and ‘owning’ any room that I happened to walk into.
When Nala stopped walking, I bumped into her, felt my face turn red with embarrassment, then I took a deep breath.
Maybe it was time to act like the girl that Bates believed in so much.