It was morning. A dark, boring, cloudy morning. Mandy lightly groaned and sat up in her bed. "At least I have a reason to get up today." She stood up and went through her closet, taking out her usual attire of black skinny jeans and a long sleeved black laced shirt. The shirt made her arms visible. She pulled out a black cami from the dresser drawer and tossed her white bra in the laundry. "Blah..blah..blah." She drawled.

Mandy walked down the hall to the bathroom and closed the door to shower. She then walked out with a towel around her chest and got dressed. She posed many times in the mirror and put on her name tag.

Yes. After two months of searching for a job she finally found one. It was at a shop which sold mostly women's apparel. Corsets, lingerie, high heels, and makeup. Her five foot three inch height and small figure got her once or twice mistaken for a manikin. It was awful. She hated being judged and told to be something she wasn't. A typical sweet and sour personality. She loaded her black messenger bag with her phone, sketchbook, wallet, and of course, food. Mandy loved to eat, although she couldn't gain weight no matter how much she did.

She quickly ran to the kitchen cupboard and filled her bag with three energy bars, a king size bag of m&m's, a medium bottle of soda, and a few packs of peppermint gum. She then hurried to the front door, put on her black keds, and started walking down the street. The store was only ten minutes at most from her place.

She walked through the front door to find her manager Brian in goth attire similar to hers and wearing heavy eyeliner. "Sup Mandy?" He looked up from cleaning a glass display case of body piercings. "Hiya." She spoke in her usual monotone as she normally did. "What's the plan today?" She put her hands in her pockets. "Corsets are fifteen percent off and heels are twenty percent." "Cool." "Hey." He put his elbow on the glass and rested his chin on his hand, smirking at her. "What's your underwear size?"

Mandy smirked back. "Shut up." "Kidding." "I bet you were." She squinted her eyes. "Why don't you start putting out that new rack of corsets?" He pointed to it as he spoke. "Got it." She walked over to it and Brian stared at her butt. "Nice ass." Mandy couldn't help but blush. It wasn't out of the ordinary for him to tease her. She walked behind the counter and set down her bag. "Kiss it." She was obviously kidding. "Please?" Brian's face lit up. "No!" She cackled. He gave her a playful puppy dog look.

Mandy began putting away the clothes while keeping a conversation. "Man did you hear about what happens backstage at Slipknot concerts?" "Yeah I saw the documentary last night. Those poor spiders haha." "Dude nobody likes spiders." She smiled. The store door opened and a small beeping sound went off. Mandy continued her task as Brian greeted the customer. "Large..Large..Ahah." She muttered as she put them away. "Not in a million years would I fit in this." She shrugged.

"Hello." A warm British voice spoke. Mandy climbed down from a small ladder and turned to face him. As always, she hated being judged so she didn't dare do so in return. The man wore black heels, fishnet stockings, black panties, a black corset and his hair was quite curly, also black. He wore black eye makeup and shiny red lip gloss as well.

"Hello, I'm Mandy..with a 'y' not an 'I'.." She smiled and cleared her throat. "..How may I help you?" He smiled and took her right hand, softly kissing her knuckle. "Enchanté." Mandy blushed. French always seemed to amuse her. "I'm looking for a corset with a little more...'wow!' " He moved his hands, imitating a rainbow. "This one is so..'not wow'."

Mandy smiled and took out a tape measurer from her pocket. "Ahah. Do you know which size you're looking for?" He shook his head, a little unsure. "I don't. I'm sorry." "That's quite alright." Mandy stepped on a stool to measure his chest "Arms out please." He did so and cleared his throat. She muttered a few words herself. "My name is Frank." Mandy half smiled and moved the tape around his waist. "Nice to meet you. You are a large.." The girl hopped down and put the tape in her pocket. "A..large? I was a medium the last time I was here." He nervously bit one of his black painted nails and turned away. "It's cool. You're fine the way you are. Haters are going to hate. Don't listen to them." Mandy looked through the rack and Frank smiled. He believed the same, but secretly felt hurt when insults hit him. "Do you feel comfortable with who you are?" Mandy took out a black and red corset with glitter. "I don't." She said quietly and showed the corset to Frank. "Interested?"

He tilted his head. "Do you have green?" Mandy nodded and pulled out a green one with glitter instead. "Here you are. Anything else?" Frank smiled at her. "Underclothes." Mandy led Frank over to that section of the store and knelt down to measure his hips. Frank ran his fingers through her hair but she didn't mind too much.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Mandy stood up reading the tape. "I don't. Any color you fancy?" She half smiled. "Black. With lace." He turned away to cough and tried to change back to the subject. "Why not?" Mandy scrolled through a rack of panties. "I just don't see the point. I tried that a few years ago and I was just played with. Nothing was taken seriously." She pulled out a pair and showed him. He forced a smile and took them. "Will that be all?" He frowned and led Mandy to a corner of the store.

"Please don't touch me." She looked into his eyes. "I'd like you to come over to my place. I want to talk with you." "That's very kind but I'm not interested." She started to walk away but his arm stopped her. "If you were mine, I wouldn't break up with you." Mandy cleared her throat. "That's cute but I'm not ready for a relationship. You'll find someone." Mandy led Frank over to the check out and Brian left for the break room to leave them alone. "I want you." He looked at her with a serious face. Mandy rang up what he bought and softly smiled. "Twenty-five forty-eight is your total." He gave her thirty and she placed the change in the bag with the clothes. "Four fifty-two is your change. Have a good day." She weakly smiled. "Mandy.." He looked into her eyes, leaning on the counter. "What's up?" She cleared her throat. "Excuse me." His hand was placed on her chest and she shuttered. "Please don't touch me." His hand didn't move and she scowled at him. Frank's eyes widened and quickly pulled his hand back. "Thank you."

"I'll..see you later I suppose." He smiled at her and she shivered a little. "B..Bye." She cleared her throat and looked around the place to tidy up. "He seemed to care about you a lot." Brian walked out from the break room and towards the cash register with a smirk. Mandy fixed her top and sighed. "I love his makeup. Wish I had that profession." She smiled. "Hey." "Yeah?" "Look at me." She turned her head while putting clothes back on hangers. "Yo?" He looked at her kind of sad. "I care about you too. I want you to be happy."

"I am happy. There's a roof over my head and I'm breathing." She forced a smile and continued to straighten the clothes. "I meant relationship wise. You should find someone who loves you for you." He looked at her, concerned. "Eh.." She shrugged. "..I'm not really interested." "I'm setting you up." He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "No Brian, Please don't I swear." She ran over to try to hang up the phone, but his hand pushed her back. "Yeah hey it's Brian. I got a date for ya for tomorrow night."

She walked away totally embarrassed and went to the bathroom. "This is not good. Now what do I do?" She groaned and splashed her face with cold water. Mandy walked out glaring at Brian. "I hate you." "I know." He smiled. "It'll be a blind date at the bar at six thirty Saturday night." "What?! Dude you know I don't drink!" "Woah. Calm down. They serve non-alcoholic beverages too." She groaned and continued to work. "So what are ya gonna wear?" "This better not be with your brother." "What's wrong with my brother?" He faked a scoff.

"Nothing. I just don't want you to get jealous." She smirked and walked over next to him. He blushed and ran his fingers through her hair. "I won't. Promise." Mandy smiled and leaned in to kiss him. Brian grinned and puckered his lips. Their lips meet and kissed deeply. He snuck a hand under her shirt onto her stomach. "Oh baby." His finger slowly circled her belly button. "You saw nothing." Mandy looked at him with her eyes half closed. "Never said I did." He smirked and continued to kiss her, moving his hand onto her breasts.

They went back to work for the next few hours until closing time. "Well today wasn't busy." Mandy shrugged, walking out the door. "Really wasn't. So whatcha going to wear tomorrow night?" She shrugged. "I dunno. Is a dress too top notch?" Brian locked the shop door and turned back to her. "Not really. Unless it's a ball gown or something stupid like that." "Yeah." "I'll pick you up at around six." "Alright Night dude." "Night gurl." He grinned and kissed her forehead. "You missed." Mandy playfully pouted. "Oh, I'm sorry." He smiled and kissed her on the lips. "Night." "Night."