She's Not the Only One

Shopping was actually surprisingly painless, despite it being deep into the holiday season. It probably helped that we stuck mostly to the liquor and grocery stores. Mostly. Because we got through the list of party necessities pretty quickly, I directed Farah out on a side trip out to the... seedier part of the mall.

"What?" I feigned innocence at her inquisitively raised eyebrow, "I figured you and I needed to start stocking up on this sort of stuff if our little endeavor is to succeed."

And with that, I took my harem leader by the arm and we stepped into 'Eliza's Adult Novelties & Delights'.

Farah was instantly like a kid in a candy store... a very perverted kid in a very perverted candy store. I had a couple items in mind, so while I looked for what I wanted, Farah ran from aisle to aisle, loading up her arms, then a basket, then a second basket with costumes, handcuffs, 'personal vibrators', and other items to boggle the mind. She even tried to use the puppy dog eyes to get some more shopping time, but I pointed out we had groceries in the car that needed to get home. Though, I did offer a potential return visit. We could barely see over the counter once it was all piled up.

"Well, well, well. John, are you putting together your own perverted toy box?" I instantly recognized the unseen voice behind the counter.

"Eliza! I didn't know you'd be in today! How have you been?" Farah was more than a little surprised when a tiny little woman ran out from behind the counter to hug me.

"I've been doing great. You always said this town was full of pervs, and now I'm making bank off them." She looked over the pile of toys on the counter, "What's with the shopping spree? You doing some last minute shopping Christmas shopping? You going to... stuff some stockings?"

"No, nothing like that, Eliza."

"Uh-uh."

"I'm serious. Nothing like that. E, this is Farah, we met at school when they made her my roommate. She's Saudi Arabian, so when we became really good friends she imprinted on me and..."

"And now you have your own little harem to stock," Eliza finished, before turning to my companion, "Farah, it's really nice to meet you. You got lucky with this idiot."

"It's so nice to meet you too, Eliza. Yeah, I could have done worse. How do you two know each other?"

"We ran track and cross country together," I answered. "E was two years ahead of me in high school."

"Yeah, John and I hung out a lot at those meets. Always seemed like we did more riding on the bus than running. Anyway, this store is kind of John's idea, and or fault. I knew college was never going to be for me, and John was the one who came up with the idea of leaning into my Hong Kong heritage and opening my own little toy store. Even helped finance it when his daddy played chicken with a bull. I guess that entitles you to the co-owner's discount, huh John?" Eliza asked as she scanned and bagged our items.

I tried to protest at that, "Come on E, you know that's not necessary."

"Might not be 'necessary,' but I'm doing it. You know just how well we're killing it here. Besides, I saw the way this cutie ran through the aisles. You'll be back. By the way, did you grab any batteries? Most people forget. and then their new vibrators don't vibrate."

"Ah... I'll be right back," Farah stammered as she ran off down the aisles.

"Nothing but batteries, please!" I shouted as she paused at a display rack of bullet vibrators. Turning back to Eliza, I whispered, "Could you put these in a separate bag? They're a surprise."

"Oooh... yeah, these will be a surprise. Very good choice. Quick, put them in your jacket, she's coming back. John, tell your sisters happy birthday for me, will you?"

Eliza, Farah, and I chatted for a couple minutes before we had to break it up and head home. As I loaded up our purchases Eliza pressed a business card into Farah's ear and whispered, "Let me know if you're taking applications. I always kind of had a thing for Johnny."

I was as surprised, though not quite as much as Eliza looked, when Farah pulled her in for a kiss, saying simply, "Oh, you're on top of the pile. I'll be back before we return to campus. Come on John, we've got a party to setup!"