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“Hello, Lila?” I call out.
When no response comes, I call out one more time. “Of course. Get me in here and abandon me,” I grumble to myself as I step out to see if I can see her.
I shriek when I see Coco sitting on one of the benches outside of the dressing room. He’s staring at my door and smiles in a way that sends chills up my spine. My hands come up to cover my breasts when his eyes fixate on them and he doesn’t look away.
“Coco, what are you doing here?” I sputter.
“You were taking longer than I expected so I came in to look for you. I asked the girl at the front and she said you were in the dressing room. So, I just came here to wait.”
“Why didn’t you say anything when I called out for her?” I ask as I hop back inside the dressing room and close the door behind me.
“My name isn’t Lila,” he says with a chuckle.
Even with the door closed, I feel uncomfortable stripping with him there.
“That bathing suit looked just right, in my opinion. Step back out, and I’ll take another look,” he drawls when I don’t say anything.
My heart begins to race and I try to hide the panic I’m feeling when I say, “Can you go see if you can find Lila for me, please?”
“If you need something, Lu, you can just ask me and I’ll get it for you,” he says in a tone that is full of so much innuendo and suggestion that I feel like he can see through the wood of the door that separates us.
“That’s okay. Can you just get her, please?”
He doesn’t respond right away and I’m afraid he’s going to refuse when he says silkily, “No problem. Be right back”
As soon as I hear his footsteps receding. I rip the swim suit off my body and throw my shorts and T-shirt back on. I leave the dressing room and go back to the rack where I got the swimsuit, grab a black one and then beat a path to the register.
When I get there, the girl at the register gives me a friendly smile and says, “Did anyone help you with your purchase?”
“Lila abandoned her station, but I got what I wanted,” I say as I hand her the bathing suit and my debit card. I know I’m being rude, but I just want to get out of there.
Her smile falls as she takes my card. “But if it doesn’t work, you can’t return it.” All of her earlier friendliness is gone. I’m glad. It makes the transaction go a lot faster when she isn’t making small talk. I’m heading for the door when Coco steps into my path. I stop short of running straight into him.
“Where’d you go?” he asks, his friendly, affable demeanor back in place.
I’m not fooled. The way his eyes raked over my body earlier made his real intentions clear. I don’t return his smile. I don’t want him to think that his attention is welcomed.
“I got what I needed. I just need to run to the grocery store really quickly. I’ll meet you in front in fifteen?” I say as I dash past him.
“I can take your purchase to the car for you,” he says with his hand held out for my shopping bag. A vision of him sniffing my bathing suit’s crotch flashes into my mind and I clutch the bag closely to my chest.
“No, thanks! I got it. See you out front.” I turn and practically run out of the store before he can respond.
When I step into the cool interior of the grocery store, I realize how overheated I am.
The way Coco looks at me has me freaked out. I’m not what anyone would call beautiful, at least not in this town. I’ve got a little too much meat on my bones to be considered ideal. I’ll never wear a size zero, nor do I want to. I know there is something about my body that men like. I’ve heard the catcalls. I’ve fended off the gropes at stores and in restaurants where I’ve worked. The thought of having to deal with this from Coco every time I need to go somewhere creates a ball of dread in the pit of my stomach.
Shit. I need to find another driver.
I speed through the aisles. Grabbing the items on my list without checking to see what’s on sale. And in less than ten minutes I’m out of the store. I think about calling an Uber but decide that would be too dramatic. I’ll just pretend to be on the phone the entire time I’m in the car.
He’s waiting for me at the curb when I step outside. I pull my phone out and pretend to answer it. He opens the door while I fake a conversation with Jessica and avoid eye contact. Our ten-minute ride home is a special kind of hell. I pretend to talk to Jessica about a trailer I just saw for the new Marvel movie. Every time I glance up, I see Coco watching me through the rear view mirror.
When we pull up outside my house, I’m ready and have the door open before Coco can come to a complete stop.
“I have to use the bathroom. See you later!” I call over my shoulder. I sprint up the stairs, open the sliding door and step inside before he can even respond.
I rush to my bedroom and only then do I let myself indulge in the panic that’s been running riot inside of me. What the fuck was that? Thank goodness I don’t need to leave the estate again for at least a few more days. I’ll send Liza an email in the morning about getting a new driver assigned. I rush into the shower and wash off the feeling left behind from the way Coco looked at me.
