Chapter 4.

Rule 1: Look the part.

"Now that you have agreed to seduce the player. The first rule is basically just dressing the part" Kim said as she jumped up and down Holly's bed.

"Well, calm down. I only just agreed. What's the rush?" 

Holly replied while setting up the menu for the new week on her laptop.

They had few orders for the week so there was time for the menu to be updated as so many people had added a few ideas in the suggestion box she kept in the bakery.

"I think we need to call Charlie. We need to go shopping for lingerie. And normal clothes. I don't see anything jaw dropping here" 

"Charlie?"

"I want her to know you agreed" Kim replied with a bright smile.

Kim stood up from the bed and rummaged through Holly's closet for a while.

"You don't even have a two piece bikini! We definitely need to go shopping" Kim called out from the closet.

"What about that lingerie set you had before. For that lingerie company you modelled for. They had some nice pieces" 

"I threw them out. Mark said they portrayed a sex doll fantasy that was stereotypical and misogynistic" The lie slipped from Holly easily, it was something Mark would say.

Holly loved the collection, they had pieces for plus size women that really made her feel sexy.

Too bad she accidentally burned it when Mark broke up with her.

Accidentally in the sense that she was mad that she had wore one the night Mark broke up with her and Mark had said a few words about the lingerie claiming they looked distasteful and all. 

Kim came out of the closet with an eye roll as she leaned on the door frame.

"I'm so glad you broke up with that phony" 

"Kim. He's not a phony." 

Kim raised her eyebrows as she walked towards Holly.

"Really, the guy says he's all about women empowerment, feminism, bla bla bla, pretended to be fine with you being curvy and then marries a Brazilian hoyyo who aspires to be a model and got breast implants" 

"Maybe it's true love?" Holly asked, anxious to leave her conversation about her ex boyfriend in the past.

She considered her relationship with Mark to be one of the most serious relationship she had ever had in all her twenty eight years of living.

Mark was an academic, he loved intelligent conversations and having strange hobbies like polo and puzzles. He didn't drink coffee because he found it damaging but found a cigar or two per month to be refined and healthy.

He never made reference to her weight because according to him, appearances never mattered because they were ephemeral in his words. 

And their break up according to Mark had been mutual because he felt that the emotional connection they had was strained and he could no longer function properly as her boyfriend.

Few months later he announced his engagement to some Brazilian model he met in Brazil and he brought her back to America.

Maybe he was a phony, Holly thought as she connected the dots. He basically did the opposite of everything he told her. It was as if he became a completely different man when they broke up. Dated a woman that was completely different from the kind of women he dated.

"Yea. True love through instagram. Let's give them six months. At least it's a long engagement" Kim commented.

Holly didn't pursue the matter any further. No matter what she thought about Mark, Kim would still find her arguments in support of him biased.

"We need to go shopping" Kim stressed.

"Okay! Fine! Fine! We'll leave now" 

Provacateur was in the Upper West side. And while Kim swore about how good their lingerie was, Holly bit her nails as she worried about the price.

"Look, sooner or later, you're going to spend money on clothes. You can't look like a hobo for the rest of your life" Kim whispered as they walked into Provocateur.

The mannequins adorned with several obscenely indecent lace scraps were all skinny as Holly noticed. The designs ranged from white and feminine to sleazy see-through.

A tall woman with ink black hair approached them with a smile.

"Welcome to Agent Provocateur, how may we help you today" she said in a voice so honeyed and sultry that it sounded seductive.

"We're just looking for a few pieces. You know..." Kim replied as she winked at the woman.

"Well, you're at the right place. We just had some new additions from popular brands"

"Anything in mind?" The woman turned back to Kim as she walked back to the closets and they followed sheepishly.

"Well, we're looking for the full sexy lingerie set. Like full cage harness and punk Goth fashion" 

Kim demonstrated with her hands as she tried to describe it.

Holly did not understand a word that Kim was saying but she kept quiet and watched her best friend with amusement.

"Ah, full dominance. I like it" the woman replied as she winked.

"I'm Sylvia by the way" 

Sylvia picked a few lingerie and she brought them over to them.

"You're a size six right?" She asked Kim who shook her head vigorously.

The woman had assumed that the lingerie shopping was for Kim and not Holly.

"Oh no! No! It's not for me. Its for her!" Kim spluttered and the woman turned to Holly who gave her a small smile.

It was a truly awkward situation as a few seconds of silence between the three of them lasted until Sylvia broke it.

"I'm so sorry. I just assumed it was her since she was doing all the talking" Sylvia nervously said and added a strange high pitched laughter.

Holly joined her.

"It's okay. I get that all the time."

Sylvia awkwardly dropped the lingerie as she walked deeper into the store and came back with fewer pieces of lingerie than she held before.

"Oh boy" Holly said under her voice as she spotted a light purple bikini set that looked like something her Grandma would wear.

"These are one of our best designs. They're not only made to be sexy but also comfortable" 

Holly resisted the urge to laugh.

There was nothing sexy about looking like a grandma. Or being comfortable, Holly was positive sexy and comfortable didn't go well with each other.

And the only sexy set out of the lingerie she brought over was a red lace satin padded cup lingerie body suit.

"I'll take the red one." Holly said as she held it up.

"You sure? They all look kind of plain to me" Kim said with distaste curling at the ends of her mouth as she held up a lingerie piece like a rag.

"Are you sure that's all you're taking?

This one comes in black" Sylvia pointed at the light purple bikini set that was the ugliest of them all. It even had large bows at the sides that looked unbelievably childish.

"No thanks! I think we're good" Kim replied as she tugged on Holly's shirt sleeve.

Finally out of the lingerie store, Holly decided whether or not what she was doing made any sense at all.

She was spending money on lingerie that she wanted to use to seduce a man she wasn't going to bed with.

"This doesn't sound like a very good idea anymore" she said as they both stood at the sidewalk looking to stop a cab with a bag of overpriced lingerie in Holly's hand.

"Really? You can't back out now. You already agreed to do this" 

"Yea but it's stupid! I'm spending money for what? To seduce some man!" 

Holly's outburst earned her an eye roll from Kim.

Kim moved closer to Holly as she held Holly's shoulder.

"You're looking at it the wrong way. Think of it as a personal development on the areas that you're lacking. For example, your clothing department is an absolute eye sore, I mean you almost wore leggings out to shop today. And you have zero experience with men despite the fact that you're pushing thirty" 

Holly laughed.

"And you're the one with all the answers? You have man problems Kim." Holly retorted in anger as she walked a few feet away from Kim.

"I know. And I admit it. Maybe Charlie can help you in that department since she's happily married. But I'm helping you out with what I know. And it's fashion and how to look fabulous" Kim said as she stepped back and twirled for Holly.

She was right in that department. 

Kim Evans was beautiful.

She was leggy and sassy. Her red brick dyed hair made her stand out in the crowd along with her baby blue eyes. Her face was all sharp angles and brutal perfection.

She wore outfits that displayed her assets in the best way possible. And everywhere she went she was always followed by catcalls and whistles.

She always knew the best makeup brands to use, the best places to shop and the best places with mad discounts.

"So where to next?" Holly finally asked Kim as she manage to hail a cab.

"Well, clothes of course. Maybe or maybe not go to the spa. Don't worry, I'll pay for the spa and pedicure." Kim crooned as they got into the car.

"Where would you get the money to pay?" Holly asked suspiciously and Kim shrugged. Kim was always selfish when it came to spending her money. If it wasn't hers, she was always happy to share.

"I got a big bonus. And I'm willing to splurge a little on you" 

After hours of trying different clothes, going to different stores and a mini pampering, Holly fell on her bed in exhaustion surrounded by bags that she dropped off in her apartment before leaving for the spa.

Kim had been more specific during their shopping as they went only to stores that catered for all sizes.

The lingerie part was hopeless but Kim thought it best to order some online.

That would be another day, Holly thought as her eyelids got heavy with sleep.