previous:

Mrs. Cavendish adds, “I remember you. That is what you wore. You and your sister were there, she had on that harem girl costume. She looked cute but I’ll bet she was cold. My goodness, you must have been about ten then. How time flies.”

She nods her head and continues to reminisce as mother quietly tells me, “The cords are in the kitchen, in the broom closet.”

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Admin Note: Originally published on BigCloset TopShelf by T D Aldoennetti on Sun, 2008/11/02 - 6:43pm., Air Force Sweetheart -- TacPzlSolGp Chapter 08 is revised and reposted on Wed, 2009/12/09 - 01:39 PM ~Sephrena

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now:

Chapter 08
 

Carefully extracting myself from Mrs. Cavendish’s unfocused stare, I go to the kitchen. After I find an extension cord, I rush back up to my room and plug in the fan. Turning on the TV, I drop the exercise tape into the VTR and start it after the TV warms up. Turning the fan on low and the volume on the TV up enough that I can hear it, I begin my ordeal. I leave my door open to allow air circulation, so I hope the sound doesn’t disturb them downstairs. The girl appears on the screen and in a minute the exercises begin. Girls flow even when they exercise.

I find myself trying to exercise with the tape and at the same time hold in my tummy and keep my head erect and shoulders back. Am I ever out of shape. I thought I was doing pretty good, but the women on the tape run circles around me.

I need to do this two or three times a day. The tape is only half an hour long but by the time it finishes, so am I. I’m soaked.

I take my robe and go into the bathroom. Putting my hair up, I try to get a shower cap over it, then decide it needs to be washed as well. Peeling off the suit and dropping it into the sink I step into the shower and begin scrubbing myself down.

After ten minutes, I’m feeling pretty good. Now I concentrate on my hair. That isn’t so easy, I have a lot of it and washing, rinsing and conditioning it takes longer than it did to clean the rest of me. I finish and dry the hair enough that it isn’t soaking me as I dry off. My skin dries quickly as I pat myself with the towel, but there’s still a trickle of water dripping down my back. My hair is still very wet.

“Lucy?”

“Yes, Mom?”

“Are you decent? May I come in?”

“Come on in, Mom.” I turn toward her as she enters and ask, “Mom, how do I dry my hair? It’s soaking me and I’m afraid to use a dryer because I don’t want to damage it.”

“Here. We wrap a towel around it like this, to catch most of the water then, in a few minutes, we’ll brush it out as we allow it to dry. Lucy, take that stinky bathing suit out of the sink and put it downstairs in the wash. Have you no sense at all?”

“Sorry, Mom. I wore it into the bathroom and threw it there just before my shower. I didn’t plan to leave it there.”

“I should hope not. Head up, Lucy.” I raise my head again and throw my shoulders back, sucking in my tummy.

“That’s better. Every second, Lucy, every second.”

“Yes, Mom. Mom? Could I borrow some deodorant? I forgot to purchase any and I need one with a feminine fragrance.”

“All right, just this once. But tomorrow you purchase your own. Also, since tomorrow we are purchasing the gowns, you will need to carry a bit more money with you.”

“Maybe we could come back just after lunch to get more?” I don’t have room in my purse for more than what I carried today.”

She thinks about that and gives her okay. “Tomorrow we will purchase your gowns first thing, so there is time to have them altered before you need to leave.

“You had best wear your uniform. That will lend more urgency to our requirement for rapid alterations. Once we have the gowns, matching shoes and clutches then we will see about furs. If we are careful we may be able to get away with only two furs. The four additional gowns and two furs and accessories are likely going to be somewhere around two thousand or so.”

I suck in my breath when she says that.

“Don’t be surprised. You’re trying to buy everything in two or three days that a woman acquires over four to ten years or even more. You’re just feeling it more since the money is going out all at once. The Army will just need to understand that. They must have had some realization since they gave you $8000 to do this.”

“They were going to give me a lot less but I told them it couldn’t be done for less.”

“Good for you. With any luck we may find gowns which are appropriate but are on sale or discounted. That will help. The gowns and jewelry will be the greatest expense and will be used the least. We’d better pick up a lot of inexpensive jewelry so you have a good selection to match into the mood of various situations as well fitting whatever outfit you intend to wear at the time. Real jewelry will need to be worn with your gowns. Pearls and diamonds are the basics. I need to see you in a red gown. You look good in the red blouses and sweaters so a red gown might be….”

She is looking at me and I see the wheels turning.

“What, Mom?”

“Take off that skirt and blouse and come into my room.”

She goes out headed for her room and I wonder what she has on her mind. I hang my blouse and step out of the skirt hanging it as well before placing the shoes in the closet next to some of the others I have in here then I’m off to Mom’s room dressed only in my undergarments and hose.

As I enter I see she has one of her gowns out on the bed. She gives me a red satin slip to put on and then I try on the gown. It’s a little snug but zips. The length could use some improvement, I stand about eight inches taller than Mom. She has me turn around several times as she looks at my appearance. This gown is not strapless and covers most of my chest while leaving my arms exposed. I catch a glimpse of myself in her mirror. Not bad, but I don’t like the hue, even though I remember it looks great on Mom.

“You might look good in red, no make that burgundy. Yes…. If we are able to find it, I think Burgundy would be a good choice for you. The rubies might be hard to find. I wish we had more time, like about three years. I could have you ready to marry a prince with that much time. This husband of yours, is he a diplomat or a military liaison or what?”

“I don’t know, Mom. They haven’t told me much yet. I won’t be briefed until sometime after the surgeries. The test was conducted on the spur of the moment when Uncle Phillip and Aunt Julie took me to the Embassy as their niece. He’s a general over there so he gets invited to the various functions.”

“So you basically were there as the niece of a Military Liaison.”

“Why. What difference does it make?”

“All the difference in the world, sweetheart. A wife of a high ranking Military man would be likely to be shunned by the other women more than one who is the wife of a diplomat. As a result she would need to look more enticing, be more friendly with the other wives and would be more likely to be approached as a possible source of military information.

“The wife of a diplomat would not necessarily need to look as enticing but would be expected to have more expensive gowns and jewelry. She would likely be approached as a source of political as well as possible military information. As the niece of a General you were expected to look beautiful but not be a source of any information, someone who likely has no intelligence background at all, and is an unlikely source for any useful information.”

“Geez, Mom. How do you know so much about all this?”

“Been there, done that. Remember, your father was Air Force, and when we were in Europe, we would frequently be invited to various State functions, since he was the adjutant on one of our bases over there. When you are out, it’s important to keep your wit’s about you, even if you are just shopping.

“For instance, someone might say something so innocuous as ‘The Rhein is beautiful this time of year’ and an answer given automatically might be, ‘my husband mentioned he might have a chance to see the Ruins of Castle Rheinfels next week when they are there on maneuvers.’

“With that short sentence, a great deal of information has just been given to a potential enemy. The place and approximate time a military unit will be present.

“You must guard everything you say, and listen to everything however unimportant it might seem.”

“Geez, Mom. You just made me think of something I overheard at the Embassy get-together. I need to go to my room and prepare a report. Please unzip me.”

I write up the additional information which a few days ago had not seemed all that important to me, but has just now ‘clicked’ into place stipulating what was said, to whom it was said and which American wife made the error. The response, as well, which was returned to her and which now has taken on far greater importance in my mind. I am just beginning to connect how some of the Intel which is obtained in the field is learned and sent on for me to analyze.

Geez, being a field agent is really different from being an analyst. Mom’s smart.

I’m about five pages into my report when Mom comes in. I turn the sheets over and she kisses me good night, “See you in the morning, Lucy.”

“Night, Mom.”

I finish the report and haven’t quite decided how to get it to the General. It must happen though. Now I prepare for bed, move the TV and VTR so I may watch from the bed. I push Happy over to one side, out of the way, then turn on one of the movies to watch as I lay there.

The next morning I awaken to find the TV quietly hissing at me and the VTR stopped. Somewhere during the movie I fell asleep. I guess that accounts for my dreams all night. I was sucking in my tummy and throwing my shoulders back all night giving ‘come hither’ glances to some unseen individual, undoubtedly a male.

I find I have a slight hint of beard so I shave it off while I am in the bathroom.

Carefully cleaning my face after I shave and smooth again, I begin dressing in my nice stockings, underwear, shaper and bustiere. The only reason I need the shaper is to lift my derriere a little and to tuck the little there is of my male organ. I guess that won’t be necessary in a few weeks.

Sitting at the vanity I begin my makeup, but then remember I will be in uniform today, so I go wash my face and start over. I must be much more careful today and barely use any makeup. Finally brushing off the excess and adding a light touch of mascara I lean back to check my appearance. I NEED the proper cosmetics.

TODAY!

Finally, I put on my uniform skirt and pat it down to lay flat in front. Head up, shoulders back rings in my mind as I attempt to achieve a more feminine appearance. Slipping my feet into the shoes I sit once again at the vanity mirror and begin brushing my hair. After fifteen minutes, it seems more under control. I carefully put it up into a French curl then check that my cap will sit properly. This will do. I slip my way into a blouse, then place my jacket and cap on the vanity chair to prevent hairs from Happy finding their way onto the jacket.

Examination of my uniform purse shows me I have room for more money than my civilian purse will hold. I am able to put three thousand in this purse. That should be plenty.

I go out to see if Mom is awake but she is still sleeping. Quietly I take my tape downstairs and turn on the TV, select channel three, and then start the tape. It had wound out last night when I didn’t shut the VTR off, so it was necessary to rewind it this morning. Searching through the tape, I find that I really didn’t see much of it before I fell asleep. I rewind it to start at the beginning again.

Geez, a woman may place so much expression into her face. Small physical changes yield big changes in meaning. Looking from the corner of her eyes while raising only one eyebrow just a little and with a slight hint of a smile on her cheeks but not her mouth shows subtle interest in possibly meeting the male and perhaps a date. Bring the smile to her mouth and make it more pronounced on her cheeks while lightly squinting her eye just a little and she’s asking for a sexual liaison in some quiet motel room. Finesse is terribly important.

“Good Morning, Lucy.”

“Oh. Hi, Mom. Geez, I never realized how much expression a woman may place into her face and the way she holds her body. I feel like I’m a neophyte.”

“In a way you are, sweetheart. Watch the tapes and place what you learn into careful action while I’m around to get you out of trouble. That will give you some practice which you desperately need. By the end of the week you may be able to remain undiscovered but you will need many more months of practice before you will be accepted as an educated and practiced lady. It will take a lot of work. Keep at it every minute. Head up, Lucy.”

I lift my head once again and hold my shoulders back and my tummy in.

“Improving.”

We go out to Denny’s to eat breakfast. Mom says Janet will meet us at Macy’s at 11:00 but first we are going to Gowns Plus to see what they have. This afternoon we will look at jewelry. We finish breakfast about 8:30 and each take a few minutes in the powder room before driving across town to G.P. to check things out. I gained a few stares while in Denny’s, mostly from other women.

At the store we are browsing and while I like almost everything, Mom doesn’t see what she is looking for, everything is too young or too old. We speak with a sales girl about my needs and after a minute of conference she goes in back, returning less than five minutes later with a roll-around rack with gowns hanging on it.

Mom spots a rich green one right away and after checking the size (one too large) tells me to try it on to see how it looks. I nearly faint at the price tag ($300). I try it on anyway. I like the colour and as we figured, it is too large. Doing my best to hold it properly in place, I go out to show Mom. She has me turn around in it a couple of times before asking how quickly it may be altered. The sales girl says two weeks, “Take it off, Lucy. We are going elsewhere. The embassy ball will be done and gone before they may finish it.”

The sales girl asks us to “wait a moment please,” and rushes into the back to find the owner. A minute later they are both out and the discussion continues. The owner hasn’t seen me nor my uniform since I am still changing out of the gown, meanwhile the owner and Mom talk. Finally I exit the changing booth carrying the gown which I hand to the sales girl. Now the owner turns and notices me.

A surprised look and smile comes over her face followed by, “No, you aren’t Janet. Who are you?”

“I’m her sister Lucy.”

The discussion commences once again until the owner understands I am leaving in only a few short days but I need a gown or two for embassy functions and that I am leaving the country at the end of the week. What? Well, it’s a good cover story.

The owner asks, “May I have a few minutes? I’ll see if we can rush this. Take a look around and see if there is anything else you like.”

Mom goes back to the rack and looks several times at another gown which tends toward the magenta. After checking the size she has me hold it up so she may look to see how the colour goes with my skin tone.

About this time the owner returns and says, “Yes, they will charge an additional $25 to have it done in two days but we can do it. The seamstress said she will charge extra since she has a number of other things going right now. By the way you don’t want that gown,” pointing to the one I’m holding before me, “The colour doesn’t go well with you at all. I have something in back which might look better if you need something near that colour. Hold up the green one, would you?”

The sales girl gives me the green one and the owner takes a look, shaking her head up and down.

“The one in back is much better. Let me bring it out so you can try it on. If it fits, then we will mark both of them to be altered. What size do you wear?”

I tell her the size and she goes to see if they have it, returning a couple of minutes later with a gown landing nearly squarely in maroon. I hold it up and Mom nods her approval, “take it in and try it on, Lucy.”

Mom is dickering with the owner about shoes and handbags to match the colour of the two gowns while I change again. Finally I return to the showroom and look at myself in the mirror. Not terribly good, kind of baggy here and there. The owner call the seamstress out and she pokes and pins and pulls and pins and generally makes the gown look like something other than just material. It transforms under her hand to become something really nice. I twirl in front of the mirror, gently so I don’t dislodge any pins, and decide I like it. Turning to Mom, I see she is smiling also.

The owner will have the shoes and clutch dyed to match. I try on shoes until we find a pair which fit nicely then they take two boxes down since they will need to dye another pair to match the green gown. Mom asks for a small swatch of the coloured cloth from each gown so we may match the jewelry. I change to the green gown and we repeat the pinning process with the lady poking and pulling here and there again transforming a gown from simple material into something really nice. We discuss price. The green gown, shoes and all comes to $350 including the extra $25 charge. The maroon one is $75 less since it had been unsold on the bargain rack and was about to be returned. I now have two new gowns, accessories and petticoats for $650 including tax. Scary.

Nearly a quarter of the cash I am carrying has now been spent for just two gowns.

I give the sales girl $600 down leaving just $50 due in two days. I move the $50 to one of the zippered pouches so I will remember it is allocated. They give me a receipt which also goes into the pouch and Mom and I are on our way to the next store. We have about half an hour available to shop before meeting Janet so we go check out perfumes.

I fall in love with one fragrance and Mom says it will be okay to use as my main fragrance for all situations. This simplifies my life a bit.

“Just use it sparingly when you are in uniform and go a little heavier when you are in your gowns. It’s a good fragrance for you.”

The bottles are 3.2 ounces. Mom tells me, depending on use, that amount will probably last me, “about two to three weeks, maybe more.” I figure the amount I need for ten months and come up with roughly 20 bottles. At $19 each that is another shocker.

The sales girl tells us the manager won’t let her sell us that many because it will deplete too much of their stock in just one sale of that fragrance. She looks like she is about to cry. She must really want the sale. Mom asks to talk to the manager for a minute and tells the girl she is not going to complain, “not to worry.” The manager comes out and we try to explain my departure problem plus the lack of nice perfumes and cosmetics on bases overseas.

After a minutes the manager catches on and has the girl check to see how many bottles they have of that fragrance. While she is back doing that I ask if they have the fragrance which Aunt Julie likes. Turns out they have four bottles but it is not called for much. They are going to put it out on clearance just to get them out of the store. The girl returns and tells the manager there are twenty bottles in the back and three up front so he decides he will let the twenty go at $16.50 a bottle. He offers me the four bottles for Aunt Julie at the same price. They were marked $30.

Before Mom says anything, I tell him, “Sold.” He has the girl bring up twenty bottles of my perfume and they dust off the boxes of the four I am giving to Aunt Julie then package them all. I count out $411.84 (including the tax) obtain my receipt and we are on the way to the car with my treasures.

Everything goes into the back after I pull one bottle, then we drive to Macy’s to meet Janet. As we reach Macy’s parking lot I liberally spritz myself with my perfume. “I love it, Mom. I won’t normally use this much when in uniform but I need to feel a little more feminine just now.”

“It’s a good fragrance for you, Lucy. There’s Janet’s car. Now we need somewhere to park.”

“Hold it, Mom. There in the next row. Let me out and I’ll go stand at it so you may go around.”

I rush over to the spot as Mom drives down the aisle and then turns coming back up to me.

I move out of the way so she can pull into the spot. She locks the car and we go in to find Janet. As we browse the gowns I find one I like, however, the sticker shock is too much for me. The sales lady says the price includes the petticoats, matching shoes and handbag. It also includes the alterations. The three of us go into a huddle. Even though the gown is nice (very dark blue almost black) I don’t like the $449 price tag.

“Mom, that’s a lot more than I paid for either of the other gowns even if I include the cost of the accessories and the extra charge for alterations.”

“Lucy, go try it on and then we’ll decide.”

“At this price, it had better look stupendous.”

I reluctantly take everything in to try on. I don’t like the idea because if I like it then I might purchase it and I simply don’t want to spend that much money on one gown. I still have furs to purchase, expensive jewelry, cosmetics and more. I finally have changed and go back out to the sales floor. Checking the mirror I note it really does look good. Mom and Sis confirm that. And that’s before the alterations.

“Mommm.”

“I know, Lucy. It’s quite a dilemma isn’t it. It does look good. Too bad we can’t get a discount because we are also purchasing a fur or two.”

“You can,” the sales lady tells us, “Let me hold this, and if you find a fur you like then the combination of the two is 15% off. That’s just today. Didn’t you see our sale in the paper?”

“No, we were out early and didn’t look. Is there a coupon?”

“No, you just have to tell us like you just did and the price of the fur must match or be greater than that of the gown and we will take 15% off both. Go up and look at our furs then return and we’ll have the floor manager ok the discount.”

I think about that, the gown will still be more than I just paid but I will have about $70 knocked off the gown and maybe about the same from the fur.

“It won’t hurt to look, Lucy.”

“I know, Mom. What if I purchase two furs and two gowns. Is it 15% off everything?”

“Two of each? No, then you are likely into another category and if they are roughly the same value as this gown then you would receive 25% off everything.

It depends on the total price. The discount pricing places slightly more weight on the value of the furs, since gowns are usually less expensive.”

I do some quick thinking. “Wow. Mom, let’s go look, I think I have enough with me to do it. Afterward we may have lunch then I’ll pick up more of my savings so we may finish shopping.”

Turning to the sales lady again, “How much extra to have the gowns altered in two days. I’m leaving the country and need the gowns quickly for embassy functions.”

“I don’t believe there is any extra unless they are falling behind, two days is our normal turn around. If you need them in one day then it is $50 extra for each gown.”

“Good, let me change to my uniform and we will go look at furs.”

I rush the change while Mom and Sis are looking for another gown. Mom finds a white one which looks fabulous with very small metallic silver beads all around the upper torso with fine sprays down into the upper skirt. I ask for it to be held along with the dark blue one. The price is $100 less than the blue one we already selected.

Upstairs, we tell them we have two gowns selected downstairs and are up to look at furs. They call down and receive the tentative ticket number and total value of the gowns. Then we begin.

“Have you owned a good fur before?”

“No. These will be my first. I need them, as I will be attending a large number of social functions during the next year.”

“I see. Perhaps we should look at the various furs and learn the differences in texture and care before you make a decision as to those you would like. We should also go into the styles in which they are available, such as capes, jackets and coats, short or long.”

We spend the next half hour receiving an education into the world of furs. Mom and Sis are listening as intently as I am.

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To Be Continued...        © 2008, 2009 by T D Aldoennetti & Rénae Dáºmas. This work may not be replicated or presented in whole or in part by any means electronic or otherwise without the express consent of the Author (copyright holder) or her assigned representative. ALL Rights Reserved, including but not limited to ownership of Characters, final content decision, and more. This is a work of Fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional and any resemblance to real people or incidents past, present or future is purely coincidental. An Aldoennetti Original.