Shopping and keeping a promise.

See, case in point, no one really cared that I went into a lingerie store. I was nervous at first, fearing I’d get weird looks from women, but no one really looked my way more than once. Of course, I went in with two other girls, so I was partly justified in being there.

Mila didn’t need to buy bras, but she still browsed and decided to pick a couple. I was hoping to just wait on the side, but Mila gestured for me to get closer.

“Don’t stand all the way there. Help us out,” she told me. “You’re the one who’s gonna enjoy these, in the end.”

I half expected Noelle to get embarrassed by that comment, but instead she picked two hangers with two sets of underwear and showed them to me. “What do you think? Which one should I get?”

The one on her left was of deep blue lace, and it was cute, but… “Isn’t this one kind of small?” I asked her.

“No, it’s fine,” she said.

“Really?”

“These are balconette bras, Oliver,” Mila told me. “They look smaller because there’s less fabric for what would be the cleavage area. They cover just above the nipples and are meant to be used with low and wide neckline dresses. They also push your chest up a bit.”

“Oooh, I get it.” I nodded. “But… you don’t use dresses with low necklines, right?” I asked Noelle.

“I mean… I could,” she said, pouting. “Want me to?”

“I want you to be comfortable.”

“Then I’ll only wear sweats from now on,” she said, turning away from me while still pouting.

“...You still look sexy in sweats, though.”

“...” Noelle sighed, then turned around and showed me the two sets of underwear again, her cheeks reddening. “Come on! Pick one!”

I smiled. “Alright. The blue one.”

Noelle smiled, satisfied, and left the other set of underwear back in the rack.

“Is it still that hard to accept that we just want to look sexy for you?” Mila asked me, muttering lowly so as to not be overheard.

“...I don’t want you to feel like you have to go out of your way to cater to my whims and likes,” I told her.

Noelle sighed. “This is part of why I love him so much, but it’s also frustrating.”

“Right? Sarah always complains about the same,” Mila said.

“Um… S-Sorry,” I told them.

Noelle chuckled. “Oliver, if we ask your opinion, it’s because we want it. Isn’t that obvious?”

“And making you happy makes us happy. You can understand that, can’t you?” Mila added.

“...” I suppose I could. “Alright, I’ll try to loosen up…”

Mila kissed my cheek. “That’s all we ask.”

“...so damn jealous,” we heard someone say behind us.

Mila, Noelle and I stiffened, but we didn’t turn to look.

“Right? I wish my husband was that thoughtful.”

Two older women walked past and looked directly at us. “You girls have no idea the diamond you have there. Take good care of him,” one of them said.

Having already been caught, Mila gave up and smiled at the older women. “Don’t worry, we know. And we do.”

“Good!” The women laughed as they went to pay for their things, leaving the three of us feeling fairly embarrassed.

“We got a little carried away,” Noelle said, giggling.

“They didn't mind, so it’s fine,” Mila said.

The girls also paid for their things and we started looking for potential gifts for Mila’s dad, finding nothing until I finally got the text I was waiting for.

-Eric: We’re in the mall. We’ll be going to the food court in 15 minutes.

I tensed up a bit. It was time.

The plan, if you could even call it that, was simply to make it seem like we had casually ran into each other at the food court and hopefully sit down to eat at the same table. All I needed was a brief moment to try to read the mind of Eric’s girlfriend and confirm what her feelings for him were. Considering recent experiences, I felt fairly confident about it, so my biggest source of nerves was the possibility of confirming Eric’s fears.

He was afraid his girlfriend was seeing someone else behind his back. I’d hate to be the one to confirm something as heartbreaking as that, but… I promised.

Mila, Noelle and I went to the food court, got lunch and found a table big enough for 5 people. It was crowded, but eventually Eric did find us.

“Ah. E-Eric…!” I called out, and as I almost stammered over my words, I realized how awful this ‘plan’ really was. Just ‘pretending’ we had casually run into each other made me feel all awkward. Thankfully, we had our secret weapon with us.

“Oh, wow, what are you doing here?” Mila asked him, smiling as he approached with his girlfriend next to him.

“O-Oh, we were just… you know, shopping,” Eric said, smiling awkwardly. Yeah, he wasn’t any better at this than I was. He turned to his girlfriend and introduced us. “Um… I went to school with them, Maya. Oliver and I… were in the music club together for a while.”

The girl smiled at us. “Hello! A pleasure.”

She was the same girl I had seen him with before. A bit chubby, voluptuous, about my height. Long black hair, dark jeans and a black T-shirt with artwork of a band I didn’t know, purple lipstick. Not sure if Goth or Metalhead, but it didn’t really matter.

“So? What have you been up to Eric?” Mila asked him, moving her chair to the side. “Come on, sit with us.”

Eric looked at Maya, and the girl nodded with a casual smile. “I don’t mind.”

“Thanks,” Eric said, relieved.

The two sat down at the table with us, and I could tell that, while Noelle was holding it in, she wasn’t exactly comfortable. We both knew it would happen, but she had agreed to come with us when I asked her.

See… If Eric wanted me to see if his girlfriend was being faithful, I figured I might as well check him, too. I would see if he really had gotten over Noelle as he claimed.

Patreon.