The shopping trip was every bit as bad as Simon expected. He spent so long browsing in the lingerie section of the first store, trying to pluck up the courage to select the items he needed, that he was approached by an assistant who asked if she could help. He immediately regretted his impulsive reply of, "No, thank you, I'm only looking." It made him sound like a pervert, so he hurriedly moved out of that shop and into the one next door.
Learning from his mistakes, he decided to be more decisive in the second shop and quickly selected a pack of five cotton bikini-style panties, in pink and in his size, which he dropped into his shopping basket. Wasting no time, he moved along to the bra section and then to the racks holding the white bras. Even amongst these white bras, the choice was bewildering with masses of garments in different sizes and slightly different styles--some underwired, some not, some seamless, some not, some with front fastenings, some back fastening, some strapless, some multi-way, some conventional. It took several minutes of searching, during which time his anxiety levels went sky high and he felt himself panicking before he spotted bras in the right design and sized 38C.
He picked one up to make sure it was right. As he was holding it up, he nearly wet himself when there was a tap on his shoulder. Turning quickly around, he was horrified to see James standing there, someone in the same football team as him. "What, what are you doing here?" Simon nervously inquired.
"You're asking me what I'm doing here?" responded James, with a shocked look. "I could ask the same of you. But it's my girlfriend's birthday next week so I buying her some sexy lingerie." He delved into his basket and pulled out a lacy red bra with a matching thong and suspender belt. "What do you reckon?" he asked.
"Lucky girl--lucky you!" Simon replied in all honesty. James looked at him and clearly wanted to know what he was doing.
"Er, I'm also buying lingerie for my girlfriend. It's her birthday soon," replied Simon, wondering how crimson he had gone.
"It's a bit plain, isn't it?" said James. "She won't be pleased when she sees what you've bought her. And pink knickers!" Uninvited by Simon, James had reached into his basket and pulled out the pack of briefs. "Not only boring, but a different colour. Women like to have every matching--and things that are very sensual and sexy. You're making a big mistake with this lot, Simon. You'll end up in the doghouse. I'll tell you what. Let me help you choose something."
"No," replied Simon, deeply concerned with how the conversation was going. "She wears this sort of stuff to work. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and this is exactly what she wanted. I said it's really dull, and I wanted to buy her something more glamorous, but she wouldn't hear of it. She said she had to have this plain stuff and that we should be saving all the money we can for, er, for when we get married. So I've no choice but to buy her this, James, more's the pity."
"I didn't know you were getting married--you've kept that quiet! I hope she wears something sexier than this under her wedding dress," laughed James.
"Don't tell anyone we're getting married—it's still a big secret and you're the first to know," explained Simon, worried that this news might leak back to Emma.
"Mum's the word, mate," said James, putting a finger on his lips. "I'll leave you to it."
Simon breathed a deep sigh of relief as James moved away in the direction of the cash desks. Quickly, Simon put three T-shirt bras of the right type into his basket before moving on to the camisole section, all the time keeping an eye open for anyone he knew and particularly for James. Choosing the camisoles was easier and slightly less embarrassing for him. And once in the basket, they covered the panties and bras.