Chapter 15

August 25, 2018 (Saturday)

Author: Char Sanderson

[Figuring that what I would be covering for our journal while at Armoire would be long and complex, I dictated many notes into my phone to assist with my subsequent writing of this installment of our journal.]

Most of us arrived by Armoire’s back door just before 10:30. We went to the back door rather than the front because Katherine thought it would be better not to parade all however many of us through the store. Meka, Celeste, and Liya took the Suburban to pick up our lunch at our favorite Indian place. Katherine said she’d have another table or two added to those in the breakroom. She had also had Delia come in at the store’s opening with Alyssa. Oddly, even though we have seen Delia, most of us have yet to meet her. Alyssa has told us that Delia’s younger than her, but out of college. What we’ve seen of her suggests that she’s at least sort of cute, but we have not seen her well. However, we do know that she has “red” hair and is tall and slender. Katherine met us at the back door.

“Come on in. I chocked the door.”

I told her, “It’s so good to see you. It’s been just too long.”

She smiled at me, then said, “You’re a goofball. I love that you’ve become so much more open with all of us because I love that I now get to see the real you, rather than the girl I met early this year.

“I like it, too. What’s with Delia coming in early? Are we finally going to meet her?”

“Yes. I also brought Alphonse in, today. He works only part-time here; he’s otherwise self-employed.”

When Beth came up to us, Katherine put on a serious face and said, “I don’t see how we’re going to be able to deal with all these girls without more floor help. I suspect which you’ll pick, but I see two choices. Either you can all have a typical time here, with nudity, etc., and it takes forever, or Delia helps Alyssa and you don’t get the typical Saturday experience here.”

“I got to talk to Delia once, and she seemed pretty cool. Can you and I ... discuss this with her?”

“You think?”

“I have a hunch, that’s all.”

“Given how accurate your hunches have been...”

That surprised me, as Beth has never said anything remotely important in my hearing about Delia.

Katherine was hesitant but continued, “I need to get Mare squared away, but I’ve got a few minutes, at least. Is Emma coming to watch over her?”

“Yes, but the builder she works for called her in this morning as they’re running behind on a remodel. She’s hoping to be here for lunch, but not as soon as lunch gets here. Liya added to our order for her. She called me right after you left home.”

“Okay. Let’s go beard Delia.”

I went with them since I had volunteered to write the journal entry for this visit. I suspect my entry will be quite long, perhaps the longest entry so far, not that that’s saying all that much. So far.

A guy, presumably the aforementioned Alphonse, was benignly hovering over a middle-aged woman who was in, surprisingly to me, the fetish portion of the floor. I shook my head as I told myself that it was not just 20s-something people who were interested in such. We found Delia in the, as Alyssa likes to call it, unmentionables section.

“Delia, you remember Beth. Yes?”

When Delia nodded, Beth said, “It’s nice to see you again. Delia, I’d like you to meet Char Sanderson. Char, meet Delia Fitch, who has worked here for just about a year. Char is like most of the rest of us, a soccer player.”

She and I nodded at each other, but I almost laughed at the banked fire and not-well-hidden amusement she was feeling. I suspected I knew what caused her amusement, so figuratively shook my head at further evidence of Beth’s incredible ability to read people. Because of that, I exchanged a bit of chit-chat with her, and some of that smile she was keeping back crept through her shields. Goddess! I could imagine she would look incredible with that smile at full beam width, and I shivered.

Beth said, “We have something of a problem. We brought a bunch of our friends this time, and if we’re going to be able to get out of here in any kind of timely fashion, Alyssa will need some staff help, but Katherine must deal with some other stuff and get Maren set up and going.”

“Oh, right. I’m looking forward to seeing how the customers react to her.”

“Katherine is willing to assign you to us but is concerned because we have something of a special relationship with Alyssa.”

“Yes. You’re more than just customers to Alyssa. She really likes you girls.”

My senses twanged again at the slight stress Delia had put on the adverb, and, again, I marveled at Beth’s near-psychic abilities.

Beth smiled in response, presumably to that stressed adverb, and added, a bit more quietly, “We have a preference for ... let’s call it clothing-optional, and Alyssa is happy to indulge us.”

Fuck! I was, as Rhee says, bang on about that smile. Her whole face glows with it, her eyes crinkling, her freckles perhaps a bit more obvious. If she were ever to turn that smile directly on me, I would probably melt.

With her eyes staying on Beth’s, Delia said, “I’d love to help them out, Katherine.”

Katherine replied, “Once again, Beth has the right of things. I must tell you that the girls are among our very best customers and that if I find out you’ve ... distributed any knowledge of them to anyone outside of the girls, you’ll be looking for a new job.”

Her smile’s wattage dropped only a bit, but she looked into Katherine’s eyes, let the smile wink out, and said, “I understand that, and you ... and the girls can trust me. If I may, I’d like to add something.” When Katherine nodded, Delia said, “I don’t mean anything at all by this except to point out that I’m trustworthy because I’ve never told anyone this. You’re involved with all of them, although I’m not positive as to how or how much.”

Katherine stared ... not daggers, but little, bitty, pointy things, perhaps needles, at Delia for a bit. Delia’s expression never changed from the twinkly-eyed, banked smile.

“Okay. Thanks, Delia. I appreciate your discretion.”

Delia glanced over her shoulders, causing me to look, too. The customer was still in the fetish section and, as far as I could see, no one else had entered the store.

“Katherine, I like working here and you’ve been good to me, particularly early this year.”

“And that’s why I bend at least a bit over backward for good staff. They’re hard to replace and I did not want to have to replace you.”

“Thanks. I’ll keep anything I learn inside my head.”

Katherine nodded, stared at Beth with an odd expression for a while, then said to Beth and Delia, “I’ll be with Mare for quite a while, but if you need me, text me. I’ve got my phone on vibrate. Delia, keep the breakroom door locked. A few of the girls are picking lunch up for everyone. Liya will contact Beth shortly before they arrive; please let the others in. I suspect there will be plenty, so if you like Indian food, feel free to help yourself.”

Delia nodded at the various directions and cracked a portion of that smile at the mention of the food.

As Katherine departed, I took the opportunity to tell Delia, “Your smile’s incredible.”

In return for the compliment, I got to be the focus of that smile. Holy ... Fucking ... Hell!

When Delia and Beth began heading for the break room, I pulled my figuratively hanging tongue back into my mouth and followed them.

When we stepped into the break room, Katherine called Mare to her and asked, “How’re you feeling?”

“Nervous.”

“I understand, but there’s no real reason to be so. You’ll do fine. However, as soon as you’ve eaten lunch, come find me in my office, and we’ll get you started. You won’t be doing any actual modeling for quite a while. Until then, you’ll be on the floor with me learning about the various departments and how and where to stock shelves and displays.”

Mare took a long, deep breath, then said, “Thanks, Katherine.”

Quietly, Katherine said, “Hang with our sisters and have lunch. Actually, I’ll come get some lunch at some point, then we’ll begin going over everything. Don’t eat or drink too much. If you get thirsty later, you know where the water fountain is. If you get hungry, I’m sure there’ll be some leftovers, and you know where the fridge is. I know my admonition not to be nervous won’t help, but perhaps this will.”

Katherine then pulled Mare into her and plastered a deep kiss onto her mouth. Mare returned it in spades.

More than a minute later when their mouths separated, Mare said, “Great. Now I’m nervous and horny.”

She grinned widely at the resultant chuckles and laughs and the gleaming look from Katherine.

I noticed that Beth, Delia, and Alyssa had their heads together, so headed their way, and when I arrived, Alyssa was saying, “ ... free to disrobe or not, however, I’ll be naked. Realize that if you opt for nudity, these two lovely guys will see you. I know you’re not particularly a guy fan, but they’re both wonderful guys and won’t leer at you.”

While Alyssa was still talking, Beth got a text, which she checked, and then quietly said, “Food is incoming in a few minutes.” She raised her voice to say, “Everyone, Meka and crew are almost here. We’ll need four volunteers to help ferry the food in here and another two to put the tablecloths we brought on the tables. The fold-out table is for the food.”

While various sisters headed to the back door and others, including Beth, began dealing with tablecloths, Alyssa and Delia headed to the back door.

Beth sidled over to me and whispered, “I saw you react to Delia’s incredible smile. She’s freaking lovely.”

“That’s the truth, at least when she lets that smile out to play. She’s the type of girl who, except for the freaking red hair, boys and even a lot of girl-loving girls might overlook ... until she looses that smile. I’d bet with that smile, she could get most boys ... and middle-aged men to do whatever she wants them to do.”