Retail Therapy

See, you never know who or what you might meet when you are shopping. I remember an old cartoon in Mad Magazine where the shadows of the cartoon characters sort of reflected who they really were. The cartoon had a lady looking over the fresh veggies at the grocery store and there was a man standing beside her and his shadow was looming over her with its arms in the air like a monster from the Saturday night movies on TV. After seeing that, I always wondered about people in places like Walmart or the mall and tried to imagine people in the mall and see what they really were.

It is also strange to see people out of their environment. Sort of like a little kid that sees their teachers out in the world. When I was a kid, I always thought the Janitor just stowed the teachers away in cabinets at the end of the school day, taking them out the next morning to do their thing. Until I became a teacher, I never realized how close to the truth that really was, with all the prep work and grading they have to do. But I digress.

I hadn't actually thought about that cartoon til I got an email from Viking'sLover. She said that she was at the mall, browsing at the Shoe Horn, taking in the latest foot wear when she caught, from the corner of her eye, an oddly familiar face. She had just turned down another aisle and Viking'sLover, being the type of person she is, followed the tall fleeting figure with long blond hair around the corner. The lady counselor.

How strange to see her there, her strange eyes looking at the shoes and her pale face looking amused, disgusted and full of pleasure as she ranged up and down the aisles, looking at one pair of pumps and then another, picking some things up and examining them and ignoring others, like anyone else. How bizarre!! Finally, after screwing up her courage, she went up to the woman.

"Hi," she said to the lady counselor. At first she had a blank expression on her face and Viking'sLover felt like an ass. Of course she would not recognize her, she being out of her element as well, without the context of the group to identify her. But then the lady counselor smiled.
"Good evening," she said. "How are we doing this evening?"
"Great!" said Viking's Lover, relieved. "And yourself?"
"I am well," she said, companionably. "I am looking for a pair of shoes. I recently ruined a lovely pair of pumps and my...Boss...has consented to replace them for me."

Viking'sLover stepped back a little to take in the lady counselor. She was dressed in a lovely straight skirt of some wonderful silk linen blend in coffee and a gun metal blue sweater and shirt set. It made her pale skin even paler and her eyes brighter blue. Her feet were encased by a pair of beautiful Jimmy Choo pumps in the same gun metal blue of her sweater.

"I like those shoes," said Viking'sLover.
"Thank you," she said. "Jimmy Choo, I love all his shoes, they are so comfortable." She continued looking at the shoes, not seeing anything that she liked. "Are you busy? I was thinking of sitting down for a while, perhaps you would like to join me, have a chat."
"Sure," said Viking'sLover.

They left the store together and went to the central food court. The lady counselor strolled, as if there was nothing else as important than walking that stretch of space. She strolled so slowly that Viking'sLover had to slow her steps, so she did not seem rush the lady counselor. Viking'sLover went and got herself a cup of coffee at the Coffee Pot and watched the lady counselor sit down at a small table in a dimly lit little alcove but a spot where she would have full view of the court. Viking'sLover paid for her caramel mochachino latte and walked over and sat down.

"You aren't having anything?" she asked.
"No, I just like to sit and watch people. Do you ever do that? Just sit a watch people?" she asked.
"Sure," said Viking'sLover.
"I have always loved watching people," said the lady counselor. "Seems as though I have done this very thing for decades."
"Where are you from, originally?" asked Viking'sLover, blowing on the coffee's surface sending a waft of the coffee to the lady counselor who seemed to drink the scent.
"I come form England originally, though I have been more years than I care to count in America," she said. "Things were very different then, of course."
"How so?" said Viking'sLover.
"Well, women were not as they are now. They were restrained and ruled over. But these days women are very free," she said. "And then I met the lead counselor and he opened up a whole new world for me. He liberated me."
"Are you two together?" she asked.
"You mean are we lovers?" Viking'sLover nodded. "Not for what seems ages now, but I have a certain loyalty to him. In fact we had gone our separate ways for many years until he summoned me back to his side to help him with the bar. I was ready to come back though. He and I have a familiar humor."
"What did you do when you weren't working with the lead counselor?" asked Viking'sLover.
"I did a number of things. I worked in fashion and clothing, I worked in another bar, I worked in the arts, many things," she said. "But I was bored with my life when I got the call, so I packed up and headed out. That is the thing about our kind, we don't make too many attachments and we love to travel and be stimulated by the sights and sounds of new places, new people."
"You say he liberated you? In what way?" she asked.
"Well, women were expected to behave one way, but when he freed me, he taught me that there were many ways to be a woman, that a woman could be as strong and aggressive as any other man. As a woman of your time, do you find yourself constrained by what the world says you are supposed to be?" the lady counselor asked.
"A little. Though I think more is expected of women than ever before. We are supposed to do it all: spouse, children, career, all at once and any woman who doesn't do it all is somehow looked down upon. Men can be who ever they like, but women still have to conform," said Viking'sLover.

The lady counselor looked away and at the crowd. Her eyes went from person to person, observing the young girls at a table squealing over some bit of silliness, older, matronly looking women slurping down sodas or coffees, trying to keep a list of things going on in their heads, men, looking around at the women and themselves, people busily on their way from one place or another. Finally, she looked back at Viking'sLover.

"I have never sought out the company of anyone who is not as I am," she said. "I always felt...above those who were not like me, but since I have met you, the people of the group, I have been interested in connecting with those who are like you."
"Well, I suppose you might say we are ordinary people," said Viking'sLover.
"No, not ordinary," said the lady counselor. "You are all quite different. Passionate. Full of life," she said the last word like a caress, with a strange sense of longing about it. "People haven't ever really been that way for a long time."
"Well, we are sort of different," said Viking'sLover. "Being who we are and how we met you and the other counselors."
"People used to be more alive, and then there was a time when people took life for granted. Now, apparently, the times have changed and there is more life to you," she said meditatively. "So where should we go now?"

The evening was surreal but it was the most fun she had ever had. The lady counselor finally found the perfect shoes to replace her ruined ones. Betsy Johnson's, in mauve, with an ankle strap. When they parted ways, the lady counselor leaned forward and brushed her lips on Viking'sLover's cheeks, first the right and then the left and bid her good night.

Sometimes all a girl needs is some retail therapy.