Panties for Sale (34 page)

“I can’t believe you like this,” Joseph took another sip of
Alex’s tea.
 
“It’s just like the tea my
mother makes in Tunisia.”
   

Alex sighed, “It’s a little piece of heaven.”
 
Every time she breathed in the aroma of mint,
lemon verbena and green tea, she felt her whole body relax.
 
She looked across the table at Joseph and
smiled. They were sitting outside, on the Starbuck’s patio on Front St,
enjoying the beautiful late summer afternoon.
 

It was Alex’s afternoon off.
 
She didn’t care what Angela would say.
 
Joseph had asked for her number and she gave
it to him.
 
She could do that.
 
It was a free country, right?
 
And so when he called to ask her to meet him,
to spend the afternoon with him, she said yes.
 
Hello?
 
Of course.
 
So what about the fee?
 
She didn’t care about the money.
 
It was Joseph.
 
This went beyond money.

“So, where was I?
 
Oh
yes, you want to know about my grandparents?”

Alex nodded.
 
Joseph
was really starting to open up to her.
 
She had trusted him, treated him like a real person, not just a client
and he was starting to share his life with her. And really, did she ever need
an excuse to enjoy listening to Joseph’s deep gorgeous voice?

“My grandfather, was a very rough man. Is that right?
 
He was always getting into trouble.
 
You know, fighting and arguing.
 
And he stole things, like a gangster.
 
Yes, that’s the word.
 
He was like a gangster.
  
He was a member of something like the mafia.
 
But, no, not the mafia, but something like
this, in Tunisia, you can’t imagine.”

“So, anyways, the story,” he winked at Alex and smiled
showing the dimple she adored.
 
“My
grandfather one day was in a fight, and he was being chased by the police.
 
Maybe he killed the guy he was fighting, I
don’t know,” Joseph shrugged, “but it was bad.
 
Very bad,” He paused to take a sip of his cappuccino.
 
“The fight happened really late at night, or
maybe I should say really early in the morning.
 
There weren’t many places to hide at this time, because the stores
weren’t open and the streets were still empty.
 
But he had to hide because the police were looking for him.
 
So, he hid in a temple.” Joseph looked at
Alex and laughed.
 
“He just walked in,
kneeled down and pretended to pray.
 
Can
you imagine?
 
He stayed at the temple all
day.
  
He didn’t want to go outside, in
case the police or the gang was looking for him.
 
He didn’t eat.
 
He didn’t sleep.
 
He forced himself to sit and pretend to pray
all day.
 
Only this way he thought he was
safe.
 
Who would hurt a man praying,
yes?”
 

Joseph shifted in his seat and took another sip of his
cappuccino. “At the end of the day, the priest of the temple was going home to
eat.
 
He noticed this young man.
 
He remembered he had seen him very early in
the morning when he had arrived, and he had noticed that he had stayed all
day.
 
Wow, the priest thought, this man
must be a very good religious man.
 
He is
praying all day.
 
I will invite him to
dinner.
 
And so he asked and my
grandfather of course, accepted the priest’s offer.”

“Of course,” Alex laughed and shook her head.

“Why not?”
 
Joseph
shrugged his shoulders. “My grandfather was a smart man.
 
He knew he would be safe walking through the
streets with the priest and anyways, he was very hungry.
 
But, he went back with the priest to his
house and sat down to eat dinner.
 
At
that time, the men of the house eat dinner first, the women of the house serve
them. The other girls of the house would cook the meal and after the men had
eaten, they would eat in the kitchen. That’s just the way it was.”

“Ok,” he stopped to smile at Alex, “I know, you think
different.
 
But this is the true
story.
 
So, the women, they were supposed
to stay out of sight, especially if their father had a guest.
 
But the youngest daughter was curious and
kept peeking out of the curtain at the guest.
 
One of these times, my grandfather saw her.
 
She took his breath away.
 
She was the most beautiful girl he had ever
seen.” Joseph leaned over and kissed Alex on the cheek.
 

 
Alex smiled.
 
She loved when Joseph told her stories.
 
His dark eyes would flash and
 
sparkle. Of course, his stories always had a
most beautiful girl, you can’t imagine, Alex laughed to herself.
 
How did this happen?
 
How did she meet this completely intriguing
man?
 
God, he was so sexy.
 
She watched him in his elegant clothes, his
strong hands and long fingers.
 
It was
hard for her to sit so close to him long enough to listen to his story.
 
Her body was trembling.
 
Every inch of her was just aching to touch
him, to kiss him, to undress him and to lie naked beside him, wrapped up in his
arms.
 

Sighing, Alex tried to concentrate as Joseph continued. “My
grandfather returned many times to the temple, almost every day.
 
He wanted the priest to like him and think he
was a good man.
 
And each time the priest
would invite him to dinner, he tried to catch a glimpse of the beautiful girl.
All dinner he would hardly eat, he was so busy watching for her.
 
She was so beautiful,” he clicked his tongue,
“you can’t imagine.”

“He decided he must marry her.
 
He sent his mother over with presents to the
priest’s house to arrange this marriage with the beautiful girl’s mother.
 
This is how they did it then.
 
The mothers arranged it all.
 
The bride and the groom didn’t see each other
until the wedding day.
 
Of course, the
marriage proposal was accepted and preparations for the wedding began.
 
On the day of the wedding, my grandfather was
so excited.
 
He waited so anxious, so
happy, while his new bride, in a how you say?
 
White cover?
 
You know, over the
face?”

“Veil?” asked Alex.

“Yes, ok, veil.
 
So
the new bride was wearing a long veil.
 
She walked into the temple. And everyone was so surprised.
 
Her dress was so beautiful.
 
She was slim and walked so gentle.
 
Oh!
 
She must be very beautiful, they all whispered to each other.
 
My grandfather was so happy.
 
You could see his teeth shining at the back
of the temple.
 
Finally, the wedding
ceremony was finished and my grandfather could lift the veil and see the face
of his beautiful new wife.
 
He lifted the
veil so quickly; he was so excited to see his beautiful bride and to kiss her
beautiful face.
 
But wait” Joseph paused,
“who was this?
 
She was ugly.
 
So ugly!
 
This wasn’t the bride he had asked for.”

“What?
 
What
happened?”

“Well,” Joseph sighed, “you see, since my grandfather had
sent his mother to arrange it, the mother of the bride had insisted the oldest
daughter must get married first.
 
My
grandfather’s mother was so worried to make a match because she knew her son
had many bad habits.
 
She saw him, every
day, going to temple and she was so relieved. She knew he was trying to be good
and she knew the priest’s family would keep him on the right track, so,” Joseph
shrugged, “she agreed.”

“Joseph” Alex scowled, “that is an awful story.
 
You are terrible.
 
That is not true.”
 

“What?” Joseph laughed, “it is true.
 
My grandmother was a good strong wife and had
11 children.
 
I should know.”
 

“But, your grandfather didn’t marry who he wanted.”

 
“Such is life,”
Joseph shrugged. “He had a good life.”
 

“I guess.
 
Anyways,”
Alex reasoned, “if the youngest was so beautiful, the oldest couldn’t have been
that bad looking.”

“Oh yes, she was ugly.
 
So ugly!
 
I know.
 
She was my grandmother.”

“What an awful thing to say,” Alex laughed and punched
Joseph on the arm.
 

Chieko pushed open the doors to the Eaton Centre and walked
inside. She had really grown to love shopping in Toronto.
 
Sure, it didn’t have the excitement of Tokyo; the flashing neon lights
or the frantic crowds, but Chieko thought the Eaton Center had its own vibrant
energy.
 
She loved the spacious airy-ness
of the tall windowed ceilings with the flock of wild geese suspended in their
flight north.

It was so interesting to Chieko that so many nationalities
could come together in such a small place, wandering, talking and laughing. The
myriad of native languages, the cascading fountains and the classical music
created a strange but harmonic melody. “Excuse me. Sorry. Sorry. Excuse me.”
Chieko thought it was funny that no one seemed to notice that everyone was
different, everyone just seemed to expect it.
 
The gangs of unruly Filipino boys with their pants falling down,
strutting along in wild packs calling out to the Latino girls that glided by in
tight jeans and tighter tops, spoilt rich girls with long blonde pony tails,
acting so above the scene in their lululemon track suits tucked into their UGG
boots, carrying tiny purses and yelling into their cell phones on speaker,
small groups of Muslim women, their faces hidden behind wrapped cloth, walking
at the edge of the crowds to avoid eye contact, tiny wizened Chinese
grandmothers in old style sneakers pushing full wire shopping carts, trying to
avoid the large shopping bags of wealthy married women with their high
hair-sprayed hair, leather pants and diamond rings, the groups of confident
black women with immaculately coiffed hair in elaborate curls, twirls and up
dos, thick gold earrings, their large muffin tops swaying as they carried their
babies on their hips, shouting at their wild haired youngsters that run ahead
dodging through the legs of businessmen rushing to catch their
 
next appointment, trying not to spill their
coffee over the rushing Jewish men with tall black hats and overgrown side
burns styled into ringlets, pushing their way past obnoxious overweight American
tourists in white sneakers and white sport socks, guzzling bottles of coca cola
and orange soda while old balding Italian men just sit on the benches with
their sport coats unbuttoned, sighing as they watch the hectic world go by.

In Tokyo, it was always easy for Chieko to spot the foreigners.
You could see them standing at least a head above the crowd, their light
coloured hair and skin so distinctive, their manners awkward, like a tall
lighthouse precariously standing on the edge of a cliff while the ocean waves
crashed and whirled around it.
  
Chieko
used to think it was funny how even though no one would never stare directly at
the strangers, everyone watched them closely, always curious to know more about
them.
 
But here in Toronto, Chieko didn’t
have to be so polite.
 
Everyone was different
and nobody cared.

Chieko stopped in a corner by the Indigo book store, leaned
against the glass window and reached into her purse pulling out a folded
letter.

My dear oriental pearl,
Chieko

I must apologize to you.
 
I am being taken to London, against my
wishes, by my poor misguided wife.
 
She
believes a trip to London will not just restore our spirits but add a bit of
romance into our marriage.
 
As you can
imagine, I have my doubts.
 
Although,
thanks to you I know everything shall at least be in good working order!
 
I shall miss our weekly appointment
terribly.
 
They have become the highlight
of my dull weeks.
 
I may have to book you
twice when I return.
 
That delicious
thought alone will make my week fly by!
 
Please spoil yourself in my absence.
 
Perhaps buy something a little naughty?
 
I will dream of seeing you modeling what you decide to buy for me when I
return.
 
That vision alone shall keep me
in good spirits all week, in spite of my wife.

XX Carl

Inside the envelope was 5 crisp 100 dollar bills.
 
Chieko sighed, she would actually miss Carl
that week.
 
She liked spending time with
him.
 
Ever since their break-through,
Carl had become a different person.
 
He
was clever and witty.
 
And kind.
 
He listened to her when she talked and asked
about her life and how she spent her days. Chieko couldn’t help but feel a
small twinge of jealously.
 
Carl was with
his wife.
 
Spending the week with her in
London.
 
She wished it could have been
her on that trip to London.
 
Inside, she
knew it was better if Carl spent time with his wife and worked things out with
her.
 
Of course.
 
She was his wife.

But that didn’t stop Chieko from looking forward to his
return. And she already knew exactly what she was going to model for him.
 
A red jacquard bustier with black lace
trim.
 
She had tried it on weeks before
but couldn’t justify spending so much on a piece of underwear.
 
Now, thanks to Carl, she could.

Chieko looked up just in time to dodge a family of shoppers
coming out of the Roots store with their hands full of dark green paper
bags.
 
She stepped over to the side and
noticed the heavy silver doors of Tiffany’s.
 
Why did that sound so familiar?
 
Oh yes, Chieko remembered.
 
The
silver necklace that Alex always wore from Joseph.
 
It was from Tiffany’s. “I deserve a necklace
from Tiffany’s” Chieko muttered.
 
On
impulse, she turned and grabbed the door handle.
 

“Hello.
 
Welcome to
Tiffany’s,” a tall man behind a clipboard stopped Chieko as the heavy silver
doors closed soundlessly behind her.
 
“Name, please.”

“Excuse me?”

The man sighed impatiently.
 
“If you would like someone to assist you this afternoon,” he said, “your
name must be on the list.
 
I will put
your name down and our next available associate will come and collect you when
she is available.”
 

“Oh, ok, thank you,” Chieko said.
 
“My name is Chieko.”

“Thank you,” he wrote ‘Chico’ down carefully in the next
empty square on his chart.
 
Before Chieko
could correct him, he turned and walked away.
 
Left alone, Chieko looked around the quiet store.
 
She stepped up to the glass counter and
stared at the large diamonds, admiring the way they twinkled in the lights and
imagining how beautiful they would look on her fingers.
 
She leaned further over the glass but Chieko
couldn’t see any prices attached to the rings.
 
How much were they?
 

“Hello. Chico?
 
Can I help you with something special today?”
A kind older lady walked down the aisle with a smile.

“Oh yes,” Chieko nodded, “thank you.
 
I’m looking for,” she paused.
 
What was she looking for?
 
A ring?
 
A pair of earrings? A necklace?
 
Yes.
 
“A necklace.”

“Were you looking for gold or silver?” Chieko
shrugged.
 
She hadn’t given it that much
thought.
 
“Let me just show you a few
chains and you can decide,” the saleslady reached under the counter and gently
picked up a silver necklace with a dangling rose pendant.
 
“This is from our platinum collection.
 
It is a platinum rose covered in diamonds.”
 
She spread the necklace on the counter top
for Chieko to inspect and moved along the display picking out another necklace
with a letter A pendant.
 
“This pendant
has 19 diamonds. Of course, you can custom order your initial.”

“How much is this one?”
 
Chieko asked twirling the tiny A around her finger.
 
The saleslady reached under the counter and
pulled out a small Tiffany’s catalogue.
 
She flipped through the book until she found the letter pendant and
pointed to the price listing.
 
$1500.00.
Chieko gasped.
 
She couldn’t afford to
pay that much just for a chain.

“Oh, I like this one,” Chieko pointed to a slim silver
necklace with a solid silver heart pendant further down the counter.

“Wonderful choice!
 
That is from our Open Heart silver collection,” the saleslady said as
she took the necklace out of the display case.
 
She unclasped the back and waited as Chieko held her hair up.
 
Then she wrapped it around Chieko’s
neck.
 
“That is one of my favorites,” the
saleslady said warmly holding up the silver rimmed hand mirror so Chieko could
see for herself.

“Sugoi.
 
It’s
perfect!” Chieko moved the solid heart so that it lay perfectly in the hollow
of her collar bone.
 
“How much is
it?”
 
The saleslady flicked through the
catalogue, discretely pointing out the price of $420.00.
 
“I’ll take it.”

As the saleslady prepared the necklace; wrapping it up in
blue tissue, inserting it into a small blue box, and then tying it with a white
satin ribbon, Chieko reached into her purse and took out the $500 Carl Roberts
had given her.
 
She ignored the small feelings
of guilt that wanted to lecture her about buying such an extravagant gift for
herself.
 
She could have easily bought
the cheap lingerie outfit and saved the rest.
 
And, Chieko doubted that a silver necklace was what Carl Roberts had in
mind when he told her to buy something for herself.
 
So what?
 
Chieko smiled and took the small blue parcel from the saleslady.
 
It was the perfect present.
 
She had been working so hard.
 
And she never spoilt herself.
 
This was the first thing, besides clothing
that she had bought.
 
And how beautiful
was it? Anyways, Chieko knew Carl would love it just as much as she did when
she modeled it for him wearing nothing else.

Chieko almost skipped out of the shop.
 
She couldn’t help it. She felt so
exhilarated.
 
How interesting is
life?
 
It can seem so difficult.
 
And then when you think it can’t get any
worse, the clouds open up and the sun shines all over you.
 
As she thought over her past year, Chieko was
amazed at all that had happened.
 
Would I
have ever imagined myself here in Canada, in Toronto, buying myself a silver
necklace in Tiffany’s?
 
Just a few months
ago she had been so miserable and depressed.
 
She didn’t even know Angela or that there was such a thing as an escort
in Canada.
“And look at me now!’
 

Chieko stopped dead and spun around.
 
Her stomach sank.
  
It couldn’t be, could it?
 
But there was no mistaking that familiar low
voice.
 
And that laugh.
 
Loud and hearty and oddly high pitched for a
grown man.
 
It was right behind her.
 
Chieko spun around and easily spotted his
head towering above the crowd.
 
Had he
noticed her?
 
Chieko didn’t think
so.
 
Not yet.
 
He seemed to be occupied with the girl beside
him.
 

Lowering her head and pushing her hair down to hide her
face, Chieko ducked through the crowd.
 
She pressed her face against the glass of a shop window and tried to
pretend that she was completely engrossed in, what was she looking at?
 
The new DragonFighter 6?
 
Her hands were shaking but she forced herself
not to turn around.
 
In reality, it was
only a few seconds, but to Chieko, it felt like hours.
 
Finally, she turned around and frantically
scanned the backs of the people in front of her.
 
There.
 
The green baseball cap.
 
On
backwards.
 
That was him.
 

“Chieko, stop.”
 
She
warned herself.
 
Stop now.
 
Turn around.
 
Let it go.
 
But she couldn’t stop
herself.
 
She had to know more.
 
Keeping her eyes glued on the back of his
broad shoulders, she hurried through the crowd to catch up, and then she
followed the pair as close behind as she dared.
 
She felt dizzy.
 
She could barely
breathe.
 
She thought for sure her heart
was going to explode right out of her chest.