Casual browsing (Darien pt 4)

The woman was walking through the store, pausing every few steps to check an item here, lift up some clothing there.

Andrew couldn’t take his eyes off her.

It wasn’t that she was stunningly beautiful, although she was definitely attractive. It wasn’t that she was dressed in some provocative way; she was practically wearing ‘Mall Mom Casual’ from the fall collection of Macy’s. It was something else.

Maybe it was because she kept throwing little glances back at him. Wasn’t she? Or was she looking beyond Andrew, to something else? He kept looking back over his shoulder only to see nothing there of interest. Then when he’d look back, she’d be on to the next item, walking down the next aisle.

There was no-one else in sight, no other customers to serve. She was the only person in the store, apart from him. He wondered if he should talk to her. Most customers didn’t want to hear from Andrew but then – very few customers came in solo. She was browsing a lot. Maybe she was looking for something specific.

And it was his job to help her, right?

He summoned the courage to speak, almost shout, across the store to her position. Trying hard to maintain an even pitch and low timbre, he half-yelled “Ma’am? Is there anything you need help finding?”

She glanced back at him, smiled and shook her head. He nodded, looked away – then turned his head back, just slightly. She was browsing a rack of fall items that had come in recently. Dresses. Various colors.

She lifted one of the dresses out on its hanger – black, he noticed – held it against herself for a moment, the material draping across her, somehow revealing her curves much more than her denim jacket or jeans. Then she smiled (Did she look at him?) turned on her heel and kept browsing.

Andrew followed her with his eyes as she wandered deeper into the store. What was it that they’d told him in training? Solo customers can be a problem. Shoplifting, he remembered. It didn’t make a lot of sense in his brain, as surely those customers would be more obvious, but… it was enough of an excuse to walk around his counter and tentatively follow the woman, right? He wouldn’t get close. Wouldn’t bother her. He’d just be ‘around’.

He closed the distance between them, tidying a display here, adjusting a piece of signage there. Looking busy. Looking normal. He was paying more attention to her than he was to the store, so didn’t notice she had passed through swimwear and was standing in front of a small display of women’s lingerie, contemplating.

Which was when the sole of Andrew’s sneaker rubbed against the tile floor, emitting a loud squeak.

The woman turned her head, casually, almost as if she expected him to be standing there.

“What do you think?”

Andrew had to take a second to allow his brain to connect to his mouth. She was asking his opinion.

“Of – of that?”

He raised a finger, trying his best not to look like a complete idiot, but also wanting to make sure the attractive woman wanted his opinion on the bra and panties set on the mannequin in front of both of them. Said bra and panties were black, lace-edged and featured various sheer mesh panels in strategic positions. Just looking at them for more than a few second made Andrew nervous.

She said nothing, but just nodded, her eyes flicking away from him for a moment, like she was stifling a smile. Andrew felt the heat rising in his face again.

“They’re nice, I guess,” he said, annoyed at himself for sounding so unsure, so lacking in authority. “They sell pretty well,” he added, as if that made up for it.

“Well they should, they’re right here in everyone’s face,” the woman said, apparently ignorant of the potential for double meaning. Andrew’s face wasn’t, as he felt heat rising in his cheeks.

“Would you like to try them on?” Andrew left his body for a second. He’d said that? “I mean, would you like to try anything on. Anything at all. In the store.”

Again, the woman didn’t notice or just didn’t react to Andrew’s clumsy phrasing. “Actually yeah, I think I would,” she said. “If I grab a few things would you help bring them back to the dressing room?”

“Yeah I can do that,” Andrew said, because he knew he could, in theory, do that.

“Let’s go then,” the woman said with a little laugh. “We’ll start with that.”

She pointed at the bra and panties set, then walked off, her scent drawing Andrew with her again.

“Oh and don’t forget some nice pantyhose,” she said over her shoulder. “The expensive ones. Don’t skimp.”

Feeling like he was in a dream, Andrew went looking for the requested items. He had a feeling this could be a big sale… and even if it wasn’t, he still wanted to keep talking to this woman.