House of Syn - Chapter 1
"I can do this," Valen muttered to herself as she walked along the street. "I mean, I don't need anyone to go to the porn shop with me. I am independent."
It was slightly after midnight on a Friday night, and as usual, Valen had no date and no prospects. Her only two friends were busy with their boyfriend or newborn baby. She had watched all the movies she owned, played all her favorite video games for hours, and checked for updates on all her favorite online Manga series. In short, she was bored. Really bored. And a little horny. And when she got like this, she usually just bought a new toy. Because getting an actual date was something that never happened for her.
The only problem was, this time she would have to go to the porn shop alone in a new neighborhood. She had just moved to this town and she knew that there was a toy shop called "House of Syn" close by her apartment complex. It looked pretty upscale, and it was located on a busy street. But she had never been in there.
'I hope this shop is not creepy,' she thought, as she waited at the light, right across from the store. The store was lit up in bright purple neon lights, and she could hear rock music coming from the speakers outside the storefront. The place always had music going on, so as to draw in people, she guessed. 'I hope no one talks to me in there. I just want to buy something interesting and leave.'
It was drizzling that night, and she hadn't brought her umbrella. This just added to her discomfort. No one else seemed fazed by the rain, though. On the busy street, groups of college kids roamed in drunken packs, laughing and yelling. Couples kissed and held hands. Winos gathered to drink and sing old songs on the street corner for spare change. Everyone had something going on tonight. Everyone except her.
Valen had always thought when she was a kid that she would grow up to be thin and pretty one day. Well, she was 24 years old now. She had achieved being thin, due to discovering she had about a dozen food allergies, but pretty was a status that still eluded her. Even though she was no longer fat, the boys just didn't come flocking like she'd hoped they would. She guessed that it was never going to happen.
The light turned green and she crossed the street, then made her way into the shop.
Bright and adult-oriented items assaulted her vision as she walked in and was met face-to-face with a wall of things shaped like penises. Penis straws, penis cake pans, penis board games, penis bars of soap, etc. To her right was a row of costume hats, racy lingerie, and exotic feather boas.
A mumbled greeting came from the guy behind the register.
"Hello," she replied, and looked over in the direction of the voice. There she saw the most divine creature she had ever laid eyes upon, seated behind the counter. He was slouched in a chair, reading a Tattoo magazine and looking bored.
Even though he was sitting, she could tell he was likely a tall man. He was well-built and had shoulder length straight hair as black as night. He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt with a horror pattern on the front. It clung to his stunning pecs like a second skin. Tattoos colored his bulging biceps and continued down his forearms to the wrists. He had well-defined cheekbones and a pert perfect nose, which was accentuated by a nose stud. His square manly jaw contrasted perfectly with his gentle cupid's bow lips. He looked like a dream.
Valen immediately wanted to turn, duck, and run back home. She could not shop in here with him ! Hot guys made her nervous! This guy was the epitome of hot, and that meant she was the epitome of nervous!
'Maybe he just won't pay me any attention,' she reasoned with herself. 'Hot guys never do. I'll just be in and out. Simple.'
She did a quick check of her appearance. Her dark hair was pulled into a ponytail with a claw, and it had gotten a little messy from the wind, so she smoothed it. She had on no makeup, but that couldn't be helped now. She had on her ・fat jeans,・ some of the jeans she'd owned back when she was fat. They were baggy on her now, but comfy. She had rolled them up to be capris and then threw on some vintage sandals with cherries on them. The shoes were okay, but the jeans were a disaster. She was wearing a band t-shirt, but no bra underneath, meaning she probably looked tragically flat-chested.
'Should've brought a hoodie to hide in,' she fretted. But it was obvious that the hottie behind the counter was way too engrossed in his magazine to even spare her a glance. So she walked on, past the register, to the toy section which was in the back of the store.
In this section everything was in categories. There was an area for dildos, an area for bullets, an area for stimulators, anal toys, and rabbits. She had heard of rabbits and all of their stimulating qualities, but she thought that was a little too much going on for her. Plus they were all expensive. Around two hundred bucks. Quite a commitment for an item she wasn't even sure how to use.
She looked at the bullets.
She looked at the bullets for a long time.
They had attachments. What did attachments do? Did you put them on your clitoris or insert them into the vagina? She didn't know. And she for damn sure wasn't asking the hot guy. She glanced back at him, furtively. He was still reading that magazine. Did he not have enough tattoos already?
She really wanted to ask him what bullets did, but she didn't want to talk to him.
'Why not? What do I have to be embarrassed about? This is business. I mean he is way...wayyyyy out of my league. His league is like on another planet in a separate universe from my league. I shouldn't even be nervous at all. I'll just make it quick...'
She slunk over to the counter and waited for him to look up from his magazine. He took his sweet time in doing so. When he did look up at her, she forgot what she was going to ask. He had the most beautiful eyes. They were a dark chocolate brown with a dreamy quality, and they were rimmed in a touch of soft black liner.
"What's up?" he asked, closing the magazine and giving her his undivided attention.
Again, she wanted to duck and run.
'Don't do it! Be strong,' she encouraged herself. 'You're not Valen The Fat Girl anymore.'
"Um...I was just wondering, what exactly a bullet does? Like is it, um, for internal use or external?" she asked, keeping a serious tone.
"Most of them are external, but some are made for either," he said, in a bored tone.
That was apparently his full explanation on the matter.
"O-kay," she said, and immediately left his line of vision.
As she was walking back to the bullet area, she then noticed the huge sign above the area that explained what bullets did, and that they were for external stimulation of the clitoris, but that some were made with retrieval cords for insertion.
'Damn, I am stupid!' she thought, really embarrassed. 'Why didn't I see it? Why did I have to go and ask that stupid question?! He probably thinks I can't read!'
As she looked around she noticed that every section of toys had the same kind of sign, explaining what they did and how they were used.
Her embarrassment was complete.
'I'll just pick something and go,' she decided.
She looked for about a half hour that felt like eternity. She could not decide what to get. And whatever she bought, he was going to see it!
'It's no big deal, he sells this stuff every day, he won't care,' she tried to remind herself. But every time she picked out a toy, she thought it was too embarrassing for him to see. Too big. Too small. Too kinky.
She had to get something, though, cause if she left with nothing, she'd look cheap. So far she'd already accomplished looking illiterate. She didn't want to add cheap to the list.
'Who cares?' she thought, getting frustrated. 'I will never see this man again. I'll just get what I want.'
She picked out a Red Devil, a thick 8" red gelly vibrator that looked like it could send her straight to heaven.
She went to the counter and put it down. The hot guy picked it up, still looking bored and entirely unaffected.
"Do you need batteries?" he asked.
"Huh?" she asked.
She was too busy staring to pay attention to what he was saying.
"Did you want some batteries?" he repeated, gesturing behind himself to where the batteries were lined.
She really didn't want him thinking about her using this new item she'd bought in any way. The question alone made her nervous.
"Oh, I have a whole shitload at home," she said, without thinking. "I mean, not for vibrators though, just for like the TV remote and my Wii!"
"Ohhhkay," he said, looking at her like she had ten heads. Then he took it out of the package.
"W-w-what are you doing?" she asked, trying not to panic.
"Testing it to make sure it works," he said, in that same bored tone.
She watched in horror as he unscrewed the cap, inserted some batteries and turned it on. It started vibrating like mad as he changed the vibration settings, and she felt like she was going to die of embarrassment. And also, it weirded her out knowing that this super hot guy was handling her vibrator, which she was going to fuck herself with shortly.
'This is so wrong!' she thought. 'So so wrong!'
But he didn't look like anything was wrong at all. Satisfied that the product worked, he repackaged it, rang it up and bagged it.
"Thirty six fifty," he told her.
"Huh?" she replied.
He looked at her like he was questioning either her sanity or her cognitive ability. Maybe both.
"Your total," he said. "It's $36.50."
"Oh. Oh, sorry," she said, and rummaged in her purse for her wallet and credit card.
"It's alright," he said, but he sounded like it really really was not alright.
'God, he probably can't wait for me to leave,' she thought, as she handed him her credit card. Her reproach for herself was at an all-time high.
He handed the card right back to her and pointed out the little pad where she was supposed to swipe it herself. It was right there in front of her and she hadn't even noticed it. She giggled in embarrassment.
"Sorry, didn't see it."
He just looked at her.
And a blank stare from him was pretty brutal, considering that chiseled bone structure he had going.
She quickly scanned her card and put in her pin number. The three seconds it took to process the transaction seemed like hours. Years, even. When it finally flashed "Approved" she sighed in relief. She needed out of here. She could barely wait for him to hand her the receipt.
"Thanks!" she said, and grabbed the bag.
"Uh huh," he said, and went back to his Tattoo magazine.
She high-tailed it out of the store, thinking 'Man, I did not know guys that hot even existed . Too bad I was such a dumbass and totally annoyed him...'
When she got home she told herself that she absolutely was not going to think about the hot guy at the porn shop while she pleasured herself with her new toy.
But in the end...she did.
Then she did again.