Ripped at the Seams by Nancy Krulik

Author:Nancy Krulik
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 2004-08-24T04:00:00+00:00

Twelve

Sami hadn’t been exactly honest with Celia about Beneath the Sheets. At least not in the tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth sense of the word. Yes, Beneath the Sheets did sell lingerie, but that was where the comparisons with places like Victoria’s Secret ended. Beneath the Sheets also sold other items that were meant for the boudoir—things Sami had never seen before.

“What’s this used for?” Sami asked Lola as she draped a feathery boa on a hook during her first week of work.

“Don’t worry about that, hon,” Lola had said in her gruff, smoke-tinged voice. “If a customer asks you for it, shell know what to do with it.”

Sami had blushed and gone over and rearranged the lace panties (some complete, some not so much), and had tried to make a display of teddies and baby doll pajamas that was both “pleasin’ and teasin’,” as Lola liked to say.

Sami had deliberately left out the more sordid side of Beneath the Sheets during her conversation with Celia. She’d had a feeling that her best friend wouldn’t approve of her working in a place that sold the kind of merchandise that Lola made available for her customers. And if Al had found out—well, he’d have been on the next plane to New York, ready to drag Sami back to Elk Lake. Al and Celia weren’t prudes, by any means, but Sami knew this wasn’t the kind of shop either of them would ever step foot in. And that was just Al and Celia. Sami didn’t even want to think about her father’s reaction to all this.

In fact, Sami herself had been shocked when she’d first arrived to apply for a job at Beneath the Sheets. But after a couple of days, Sami had actually grown accustomed to the place. She consoled herself with the knowledge that at least she was able to be around clothing, even if it was just lingerie. And Lola gave Sami a lot of artistic freedom, asking her to design the window treatments for the shop, and to create displays inside the store. Sami spent hours at her new drafting table, laying out ideas for the displays. There was a certain creative excitement in being able to do that. And Lola’s enthusiastic encouragement for her projects was a welcome salve for her bruised emotional well-being.

Sami loved working with Lola. She was what Sami’s dad would call “a tough old broad.” Lola was a genuine native of Greenwich Village, born in the 1950s and raised there during the height of the wild ’60s hippie era. Lola was one of the last holdouts of a time gone by. She had a peace sign tattooed on her shoulder, and a yin-yang on her back. She liked to play old Janis Joplin albums in the store, and still wore her long, gray frizzy hair in pigtails. Lola also took great pride in the fact that her bell-bottom jeans were totally vintage—and right from her own closet.

Lola

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