15 Marina

By agreeing to go to the event with Dani, I had no idea what kind of headache I was signing myself up for. I thought I had a suitable outfit for this occasion, but I didn’t take into account one very screaming fact — I’m a breastfeeding mother of two children, and my current breasts simply do not fit into my old dresses anymore! And my hips have become… wider!

Reluctantly, I had to accept the unpleasant truth that I needed to go shopping. And so I wouldn’t get bored and would have a good adviser, I suggested that Marina go with me. If there’s one thing she definitely knows, it’s beautiful clothes.

My friend was delighted, energized by the upcoming shopping, and immediately took me under her wing. She announced that you don’t go to such events wearing just anything, and that we needed a good designer store.

While we rushed through the mall toward our intended destination, I mentally estimated how much money I was going to lose in this session. Oh, Danil! You’ll owe me like a collective farm owes the land!

For a long time we wandered among mannequins and racks of clothes. I tried on tons of different outfits, unable to choose.

“Look, loooook!” the blonde approached me enthusiastically with a bright red silk dress. “This is exactly what you need!”

“Not really,” I bring my friend back down to earth. “A bra isn’t meant to be worn under this dress. And I definitely need one. What if the milk comes in? On silk you’ll clearly see two wet spots.”

“Oh, you’re such a pain!” — I’m a pain?! — “You’ll pump well and all your problems will disappear…”

“I don’t want to risk it…” — but Marina cut me off, squealing and bouncing.

“This! This is the one, for sure!” she presents me with exactly the same gorgeous dress, only in burgundy and made of fabric with tiny sequins that shimmer beautifully under artificial lighting. “You’re not getting away from this one! It simply must be yours!”

Handing me the dress, my friend pushes me into the fitting room. I admit, the dress turned out to be absolutely stunning.

As if it had been tailored especially for me, it hugged my hips and had a high slit up the leg. The top had thin straps and draped in an intriguing cowl neckline over my chest, which fit comfortably into the outfit and was emphasized in a very tempting way.

“EVEN if something does happen, it won’t be noticeable behind all these sequins! And if anything, you can just run to the restroom and fix the consequences.”

Damn, I really did like the dress, and it fit me perfectly.

“Ugh, fine!” I gave in. “Sometimes a woman needs to spoil herself.”

Oh, how stupid I was to think our shopping trip ended there! That unstoppable blonde dragged me around the boutiques for much longer—though I didn’t really buy anything else for myself. But her? She was impossible to stop! She promised our final destination would be a lingerie store.

“You do understand that your Danil isn’t just inviting you to this event for nothing,” Marina lectured the moment we burst into a department full of seductive sets. “So we need to pick you matching lingerie.”

“But I won’t even need a bra with this dress,” I objected, and Marina rolled her eyes.

“And what about panties? You planning to wear your mom ones? Or the ones from your pregnancy?” she grimaced, though I completely disagreed with her.

“I have beautiful, expensive, new lingerie! That is one thing I never skimp on!”

There were a few other girls in the lingerie store. One of them immediately caught my eye because of how stunning she was.

A tall, slim brunette with a gorgeous figure and lip filler—but done tastefully, without excess. Everything looked harmonious.

“No, not that!” Marina tossed at me before running between the rows, searching for something. I just sat down on a little couch, exhausted. My feet were buzzing, and it was already time for me to go home. The boutique wasn’t very big, so whether you wanted to or not, you could hear everyone’s conversations.

“Snezha, look. Do you think this set will suit me?” the beautiful brunette playfully asked her red-haired friend.

“Everything suits you, darling,” the said Snezha laughed. “As if Demon is going to examine your lingerie…”

“He’s actually an aesthete,” the brunette smiled with a perfect, snow-white grin. “He likes a beautiful picture.”

“Oh, Mila, pick whatever you want for your aesthete,” the redhead snorted, and the brunette smirked slyly.

“Excuse me,” the dark-haired Mila suddenly turned to me. “Could you please tell me which set you think would suit me better? Some of my friends are practically choking on their own envy because the handsome man invited me to meet him and not her.”