The Sweetest Honey

The mall

(Clara’s point of view)

I wake up when the alarm goes off, and I slam my hand down on it.

“Rise and shine!”

Wendy says at the top of her lungs. Why is she so damn perky? Oh that’s right, she is going shopping. I don’t hate shopping, but I never have gotten to do it because I never have money to spend. Lots of my clothes have been from second-hand shops and church rummage sales.

“Let’s just freshen up before we go. I want to shop for some nice body scrubs and hair products for you to shower with.”

Wendy says as she stretches out. I get up and use the bathroom first. I brush my teeth and hair. Then I wash my face and applied some deodorant. I walked out so Wendy could do her business. I decided to just wear some Jean shorts that are a bit beat up and a black open back halter top I got last summer. Since Wendy is taking a while, I have decided to do a French braid. Wendy walks out and starts to dig through my, well, our closet. She comes out dressed and sits on the bed.

“If we work again by Monday, we should be able to each spend about five hundred dollars today.”

Wendy says nonchalantly.

“Five hundred each!” I yell

“Clara, I should have told you by the time I left my father I was paying most of the bills and rent. He was drinking away all of his pay. That is why I fear he will try to come after me. He knows the amount of money I can pull in. That’s why I am so happy to have you here to take off some of the burden.”

Wendy is holding her face in her hands and is sobbing now.

“Wendy if you are scared, we can easily add more security here. I love you, Wendy. I won’t let anything happen.”

I put my arm around her.

“Please stop crying. we are about to go shopping, remember.”

With that, she is perking right up. I watch as she gets up and throws on some flip-flops. “What are you waiting for? Clara, the mall is waiting for us.”

I can’t help but smile. I get up and chase her to the car, and we are off.

When we get to the mall, it is really packed because of it being the weekend. Wendy’s eyes look in every direction, and there is excitement all over her face.

“Let’s go to the food court first, Clara. I am starving.”

She says, grabbing my hand and dragging me. I just then realized I had no idea when I even ate last. The food court has so many choices, and I have the money to get anything I want.

“How about we just get some subs, so you will still be hungry by the time you go on your date?”

“That works for me. I love Italian subs, and I haven’t had one in so long.”

We walk up and get our food. It hardly takes any time for them to make our subs. We both get large cups and go to the soda fountain for our drinks. I decide on some sweet tea, and Wendy mixes a bunch of different pops in her cup.

“There is no way that tastes good, Wendy.” She puts the straw in my face. I give in and take a sip. It is weirdly not bad.

“ok, that is just luck.”

We walk over to the first table we see, and I begin to scarf down my food down.

“Clara slow down. You are going to choke.” “Sorry.” I mumble with a mouth full of food. I grab my drink to help wash it down.

“Clara, I am not trying to be mean when I say this, but when you are on your date, maybe you should pace yourself with the food.” I do feel a little embarrassed, but I am glad she is telling me this before I make a fool out of myself.

“I don’t think you are mean. I am glad you said something, actually.”

We both finish up and toss our trash.

“Let’s go to Bath and Body first, I will find you a scrub that makes your skin so smooth he will be dying to put his hands all over you.”

The store was close, so I won’t argue. I can’t help but think about what his hands would feel like going up and down my body.

“Girl get your head out of the gutter. We have very little time and lots to get.”

My face starts burning with embarrassment. I clear my throat

“I like this scrub.” She looks at it.

“I think we can do better than that.”

I watch her work her super shopping skills around the room. She walks around as I am just standing here like a lost lamb.

“This is perfect, Clara!”

She walks back with a whole matching set of body scrubs, wash, and lotion. I look at them, and they are all sugar cookie themed “Isn’t this a bit out of season?“

I ask, feeling unsure.

“They are, but I think it will help you stand out from everyone else, and they are on clearance for 70% off”

“You had me at Clearance.”

We both crack up.

“Should we go check out?”

“No we need one more thing for your hair, Clara.”

I tilt my head to the side. What is wrong with my hair? Wendy is doing her magic, and she comes back with some leave in conditioner made for wavy hair.

“This will boost your waves and leave your hair knot free so he can run his fingers through it.”

She is thinking of so many things I never even had a chance to worry about.

“I grabbed a few things for myself already, so let’s check out.”

We go up to the register check out and leave. Wendy points to a boutique a few stores down across from us.

“We are going there next!”

She says with a sly smile that makes me feel uneasy.

“What is that store?” I ask.

“You will see!”

She grabs my hand, and she pulls me in quickly like I might run away. I see bras and thongs and lots of different lingerie.

“Wow! Wendy, is this for work? because this can’t be for my date. You know he isn’t going to be seeing anything on our first date, right?”

“No Clara this isn’t for work. You need to get some new bras that can support that heavy bust you have, and you need to throw out them granny panties you wear. You need to feel confident from the inside out tonight.”

I stand there speechless with my arms crossed over my chest.

“Come on, Clara, He might not see them tonight, but don’t you want something for when you are ready?”

I let out a huff.

“OK but let’s not go overboard. I still need to buy an outfit and possibly shoes.”

She squeals and grabs a basket. I find some bra and panty sets that are buy one get one free. I grab a red set and a black lace set. I walk over to the thongs and grab a few cute ones. Wendy is off finding her own stuff. I decided to grab just one more bra since I am about halfway through my budget just getting these. I see a beautiful white lace one that leaves very little to the imagination. Why not get it. I throw it into my basket and walk over to Wendy.

“Hey I am done.”

She grabs my basket and pulls out the black lace set.

“You have to wear this tonight it will be perfect under anything, and it will let your skin breathe.”

I grab my stuff back from her.

“I will wear it as long as this is our last discussion about it.”

She imitates, zipping her lips.

“Are you ready to check out, Wendy?”

“Yup let’s go.” We walk up to the counter and hit the bell for service. The fitting room is close to us, and I can hear a group of girls giggling . One voice sounds familiar. I look over at Wendy and point to the fitting room, and put my hand up to my ear, gesturing for her to listen.

(Girls, my man is going to go crazy when he sees me in this).

(Viv he will drool when he sees you in that.) “Oh no, Wendy, I think that Vivian is in there.” I whisper to her. Before she can answer, the cashier makes it to the register. We hand her both baskets.

“We will be checking these out together.” Wendy says in a quiet voice. While she rings them up, we can still hear Vivian talking about pouncing on some guy. Wendy whispers in my ear.

“I feel bad for that man she is about to attack. I hope he won’t have to get a rabies shot after.”

I bite my lip, trying my best not to laugh until I die. We hand the cashier the money, and we grab our bags and run. We make it out of the store and round the corner. We finally break down with laughter, causing people to look at us like we are nuts or something. Once we cool down, we walk into a dress store. “Wendy don’t you think a dress is too formal?”

“Not a sundress.”

She points over to a wall full of sundresses. We walk over and start to dig through the layers of them. So far, nothing seems right. A lot of them have fruit printed on them, and some are so long I would trip all over it. I turn around and start looking through another rack when I spot it. The only black dress. I pull it out, and it has gold sun , moon, and stars printed all over it. I hold it up to myself, and it feels a bit short.

“Wendy what do you think?”

“Clara it matches the necklace you have on and looks good with your hair color. You need to get it.”

“Do you think it is too short?”

“Not at all. You need to show off them legs of yours. Plus, look at the straps. They are thick enough to cover your bra straps, but they still show off some skin.”

“I think this is the one, but I don’t know what shoes to wear?”

“Let’s check out the summer shoes they sell over there.”

We walk over to the other side of the store and take a look at what they have. It isn’t a big selection but they are all for hot weather. Wendy picks up some black wedges with tan on the top. They are beautiful. “How about these, Clara?” I grab them and try them on. They are a bit tall, but they make my calves look great. I hold the dress up, and they look good together. “That’s it Wendy let’s check out and go home.”

I look at the time, and it is already past 3. “Shoot let’s hurry!”