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Jerk
If I thought going with Carocery store was an education in the collective lust of wo with him to a mall filled with holiday shoppers turns out to be an education in the collective lust of the entire human race
Everyone stares at his Heads swivel in his wake like weather vanes in the wind Mouths hang open People stop in their tracks and gape
It’s so creepy that after a few hours of it I’m ready to jump out of my skin
"God, how do you stand it?" I ask under le-eyed wo like vultures for the better part of twentyto each other as they follow us from rack to rack in the dress departh the rack with an expert eye Every once in a while he’ll pull so out, then put it back after a brief inspection and move on Apparently he has a very specific idea of what he’s looking for
"The ogling" I nudge him with my elbow
He looks up and sees the women When he smiles at them, they freeze Then they perfor hysterically like a pair of silly teenage girls, though they’re obviously both over fifty
"I hardly notice it any, then withdraws a red dress frorowl of pleasure "This one" He tosses it at
I drape the dress over h, it et doesn’t bother you?"
"Comes with the territory, lass This kind of rare, extraordinary beauty has a price" He sends lad I’m not beautiful I’d wind up a hermit if I had to deal with this every ti the neckline of the dress overStartled, I look up into a pair of hazel eyes, intense and unblinking
"The only reason you don’t have to deal with it is because you don’t notice it," he says, his voice low "And the only reason you don’t notice it is because you’veyou’re fat and plain"
My lips part, but I’m too shocked to form a sentence He takes my silence as permission to continue
"Since alked into this store, I’ve seen at least half a dozenat you Yes, you," he repeats when I start to protest "If you want an exaht Three o’clock Lad in the leather jacket with the red scarf Look"
He glances up, and I follow the direction of his gaze Sure enough, there’s a guy across the aisle in a leather jacket with a red scarf looking right at me He’s tall, with nice hair, and a nice face He’s actually kind of cute
When he sees us both looking at hilances away, cheeks ruddy He turns and pretends to browse through a display of stacked sweaters
"It low Like thethe sun’s rays If the sun didn’t shine so brightly, the ht sky like a dead lu hell," he mutters, and storms over to another rack I follow at a safe distance and watch with growing alarh the rack, eyes black and lips thinned, his entire body bristling
A youngon his lapel stares at Caister When he seesat him, he bites his lip and puts his hand to his throat, like Cowabunga, girlfriend, is that big, glorious beast yours?
I should introduce hi, I approach the Mountain and brave the stor to take away frolares at ht now I’ely pulls a dress froaze over it, and tosses it in eneral direction I have to leap a few feet to catch it before it drops on the ground