The Long Walk

He stood partially hidden in the lee of a support pillar, pulse racing and palms sweating, trying to work up the courage to take the next few critical steps. In front of him lay his goal, the purpose of his quest, the final destination in his self-conscious meanderings through the lingerie department. At this boundary, the displays of flimsier undergarments gave way to their more staid and functional counterparts. It was fascinating and terrible at the same time.

Full size mannequins dotted here and there sported all sorts of uncompromising foundationwear, both one piece garments and combinations of separate components, while truncated torsos on raised platforms displayed individual items. The sales staff attended diligently to the few customers that had found their way to this secluded corner, all fully occupied with their own affairs and oblivious to the mortified young man lurking on the perimeter. He felt like some adventurer of old, stumbling across an unexpected clearing in the depths of a hitherto unexplored jungle and finding a previously unknown tribe going about their daily activities, their arcane behaviour a mystery to the outsider.

But this wasn't a mystery to him - he knew exactly what he was here for. What was now needed was for him to bite the bullet and take that final step. On the far side he could see what looked like large chests of drawers. He watched as these were occasionally pulled open to reveal their contents - rows and rows of boxes, presumably ordered by style and size. The bras were over this way, and the one on the far side seemed to contain the girdles. That was his destination. But getting there would require his walking across the full length of the corsetry section, in plain view of everyone, and that was where his courage was presently failing him. Another thought nagging at the back of his mind was that he wasn't entirely sure about sizes. He knew his waist size from the clothes he was wearing, but, should he use that size when buying women's clothing, or ought he to err on the high or low side? Deep down he knew he would have to ask one of the shop assistants, and this was the part he really dreaded.

Every time an assistant finished dealing with a customer and seemed to be free, he braced himself to step forward and approach her. His breath shortened and he felt light-headed at each such moment, and the delay inevitably resulted in the assistant in question moving off to attend to another customer. It was just as well - anyone in this part of the store being approached by an awkward, short-of-breath young male would be more likely to summon security that offer to help.

This was ridiculous! had he come this far just to falter at the final hurdle? He took a step back to hide behind the pillar on the lingerie side of the invisible border and compose himself. A couple of passing customers looked at him, the older one with disapproval and the younger one with amusement. He blushed as she smirked at him. He was starting to draw attention to himself and it was making this harder than it needed to be. Closing his eyes for a few seconds, he took a few deep breaths...and stepped back out of the shadows to view the scene. There were fewer people than before, all still engrossed in their own activities. It was now or never. His mouth went bone dry as he readied himself. Taking a final deep breath, he stepped out into the light and began his long walk...