ALL NOVEL 55. Shopping (Part 1)
Aurora offered a chocolate to everyone who sat around the small coffee table and watched with a hint of satisfaction as she saw everyone sink into their seats looking both more relaxed and overjoyed at the taste of the confectionery. Even Ben, someone who like her, when she was a guy, did not like chocolate that much, and clearly appreciated the divine chocolate.
Deciding to take another for herself, Aurora once again felt the calming sensation washing over her as the flavour danced along her tongue, the calming aspect while not as potent as before, still took a little of the returned tension out of her shoulders.
Roxanne was the first to speak, the contentment almost radiating from her as she stared up at the ceiling, clearly still enamoured with what she had just tasted.
“Next time you get some more, you have to share, ok? That was truly the best chocolate I have ever had.”
Marie having snapped out of her slight trance by the sound of Roxanne’s voice chimed in.
“I have to agree, my eyes have been opened. Normal chocolates will never be quite the same again…”
Ben looked over the three women who all sported contented smiles with a raised eyebrow, he looked to be quite satisfied but not quite as captivated.
“Man, while I admit that was good, I guess chocolate is definitely more of a women’s thing. But I see what you mean about the calming feeling, it’s definitely something you needed… Aurora.”
Aurora and her close friends spent a brief time talking and sharing a couple more of the chocolates she had received from Fortuna, their conversation interrupted by Harold who had come to let them know that everything was prepared for their departure.
They made their way down to the front of the manor house, being joined by Hilda and Regina, where they found a black Rolls Royce Phantom Limousine waiting for them.
The vehicle had belonged to Aurora’s father, being his first choice whenever he had to attend a social event or when travelling with his close friends.
That is not to say she didn’t make use of it, the limousine had been used by her quite a bit in the past as well, since a vehicle with so many seats was just so convenient when travelling around with a large group like she was now.
Seeing the familiar vehicle once again looking noticeably newer than when Aurora had last seen it brought a rare pang of sadness as she thought of her parents, but she quickly suppressed it as she entered the opened back door, offered by her chauffeur Baker.
The trip into London was quite short for them, since the Manor was just on the city’s outskirts it did not take them long to enter the busy flow of daytime traffic that always congested the streets of the historic capital city.
The trip seemed thankfully pass quite quickly to the group as their discussion had turned to Caelus Online where they had shared what experiences they did not have a chance to on their trip back from Woodspike Forest or while at the Inn.
Before the group was aware they had pulled into the Selfridges multi story car park. The building housed one of the main quite well renowned Oxford Street department stores in London, famous alongside other such stores like Harrods.
The Rolls Royce came to a stop as everyone carefully got out of the car and into the car park. Stretching her legs, Aurora began to feel a little excitement at the idea of dressing herself in whatever clothes took her fancy.
Her feelings were expectedly conflicted, however she had learnt years ago to embrace the positives as best she could because they became far more scarce as the influence Caelus Online held on the world grew.
Regina was the last to get out of the Rolls Royce as she looked to Aurora for confirmation to lead the way.
With a brief nod, Regina raised her voice slightly so that only their group could hear.
“Alright, since the appointment is in an hour, we shall start by visiting a couple of lingerie stores. Ben, I imagine that since trying anything on will be private, instead of sitting around waiting you would likely prefer to wander around, yes?”
Ben gave a contemplative hum before answering.
“Sure, I won’t be much help. Guess I can go have a look and see if there are any decent new trainers.”
Roxanne also spoke up, glancing at Aurora as she spoke.
“Unless Aurora needs me, want me to tag along Ben? That way you don’t end up wandering around by yourself, bored.”
Aurora gave a thumbs up in response as Ben replied, an appreciative smile on his face.
“Sure, I don’t mind.”
Following that little exchange, they all walked into the department store, splitting up as Aurora, Marie and the two maids now in casual clothes walked to the escalators upstairs while Ben and Roxanne walked off elsewhere.
Aurora casually looked about the store as they walked, the floor was filled with various brands most of which were designer and felt that little hint of excitement again.
Her thoughts then changed to where they were going for their first stop, briefly stalling as she realised that it was going to become quite awkward. It was not because she was going to be inside a women’s underwear store, she was not an awkward young boy for the god’s sake, she had gone lingerie shopping with her ex, Lilly, after all.
No, what was the issue was that she had only gone shopping with her ex girlfriend. They were quite open about what they found sexually appealing and had occasionally gone to pick out something for the other to wear when they were getting frisky in the sheets. The people she was with however had no idea of her tastes, let alone what she actually wanted to wear. If she was too liberal with her purchases here, one of her close friends and 2 maids would undoubtedly end up gossiping about how overly sexual her choices were, or that she had picked out the kinds of knickers an old granny would wear, or that she had gone too far by just grabbing a box of nipple covers and fled the store in shame.
Aurora was shaken out from her thoughts that were spiralling and becoming decidedly more outrageous as she mentally tried to distract herself from the scantily clad manikins that were now becoming much larger as they walked into the store. Aurora looked about as she pondered on how to handle her current situation.
Marie who was walking next to her managed to solve the dilemma in her head as she made a suggestion.
“Well, we should probably start with some simple underwear for comfort, then get you some sports bras and then some of the fancier items.”
As Aurora was following where Marie was pointing, the shorter girl stretched up on the tips of her toes to whisper in her ear.
“I know you are still getting used to the whole woman thing, but take it from me, the fancier items give you a major boost in confidence, so don’t hold back because you feel embarrassed. I’m wearing something quite risqué right now, you know. You will appreciate the advice later on.”
Aurora almost gave Marie a double take, noticing a rare cheeky smirk paired with a wink playing on the girl’s face. Out of all the women Aurora knew, she was the last person she would have expected to wear that form of underwear, either because of her cheerful and generally innocent personality she has always displayed, or because she tended to lean towards wearing baggier jumpers. Aurora assumed this was because she was self-conscious of the weight she was wearing.
But if even Marie had such a selection of underwear, then surely nobody would think twice if she did as well?
It was at that moment Aurora had a slight epiphany. She realised that one of the things that was mentally holding her hostage was that she was assuming everyone would be judging her like she was still Chester, causing her to be more restrained in her actions. While that may still be partly true for her close male friends, it was clear Marie and Roxanne didn’t seem to care much either way, treating her like a woman as she appeared while also respecting that she was a guy last week and was still coming to terms with her new situation.
So, Aurora didn’t need to think about how others would perceive ‘Chester’ acting in her new reality since she was now outwardly and if what Fortuna had said about her soul, inwardly, a different person. And besides, beautiful women could get away with more blunders and openly liking questionable things just because they were beautiful, so while it would take some effort to get her head around, she had more freedom from being looked at like she was a weirdo.
