Valentine’s Day at The Pink Taco

My job at The Pink Taco is generally quiet. A large percentage of our regular customers slink in the doors and back out without much fanfare. But about the 12th of February, suddenly the store is filled with people who would generally not be seen in a sex shop. I was being asked questions about the most intimate of things… After explaining for the fifteenth time that day what the function of vibrating nipple clamps was, I was pretty sure my head was about to explode.

About twenty minutes before closing, I had sold approximately two hundred fifty porn DVD’s, every edible panty in the store, and a gross of batteries. I was really happy that I’d had the foresight to order three times as many toys as I would normally order. It may have been one of the better decisions I'd ever made. Madame Anjee was a little irritated when she saw the invoices; but that had all melted away when on the 12th when the till had rung out with a record day. Only to be supplanted on the 13th by an even larger till. And the 14th was completely in line to be even more impressive. In fact, on Valentine's Day, she'd had to run to the bank to deposit all of the money we'd already made by noon. She had smacked my ass and told me that I was her favorite minion. That was saying something indeed. I didn't really mind the extra attention, just the bruises from her constant pinching of my ass.

It was twenty minutes before closing and I found myself standing in the center of a large display of butt plugs and anal beads discussing size and experience level with a very nervous looking young man. To be honest, all of my experience in this section came from listening to Madam Anjee. Sometimes, I had to wonder if all of her stories could possibly be true. I could never figure out when she slept because to listen to her stories it seemed she never actually went to bed to sleep. I watched her moving back and forth behind the counter wondering where all of her energy came from. Suddenly, I realized that my customer was asking me another question.

"So, umm..." he said his eyes darting around to see if any of the other nervous people milling about were listening. "If I buy these, would you suggest some sort of lubricant?"

"For something that size?" I asked my eyes taking in the enormous butt plug and anal beads he'd picked up. "Absolutely! Now, I'm not sure what you're looking for, but we have a lot of really nice flavored lubes. Or if that isn't important, we have some that are a little less expensive..." I guided him over to the wall of lubricant.

"Can I ask you a semi-personal question?" The man asked his voice taking on a semi-hysterical edge. "Have you ever tried any of these?"

"Actually, yes." I said smiling trying to be as gentle and reassuring as I could. "We had a tasting party one night here in the shop. And I think that the chocolate and cherry chocolate are my favorites. But if you're not into sweet, the plain cherry is really tart. And the cinnamon is good, but it's a little warm for certain things, if you catch my drift."

"Oh, okay." He said softly. His eyes scanned the wall, before he quickly grabbed a two or three of several different flavors. He thrust what he held in his hands towards me, then wiped his hands on his jeans. I'm not sure he was even aware that he'd done that. But really, I was used to that. A lot of people wanted to know how I could possibly work somewhere that seemed to attract the dregs of humanity. But to be honest, the customers here were no worse than the customers anywhere else. Even the sleazy guys who stood in the magazine section and fondled themselves weren't all that bad. I called them my special needs kids. "I'll take all this."

I had to bite the inside of my lip to stop myself from laughing. "Great, I think you've made some good choices here. Would you like some toy cleaner with this?"

"Do I need it?" He asked a look of panic crossing his face.

"Well, you don't need it," I began slowly very aware of the fact that Madame Anjee was standing about three feet away from me, smiling as I up sold. "But with what you're buying, you'll want to keep them clean."

”Good idea," he mumbled. "Give me some toy cleaner."

"No problem," I said throwing the cleaner in with his other purchases. I hurriedly rang up his items because I could see that he was just about to bolt. There is only so much that a person can take before they have to just get out of dodge. So to speak.

The bell over the door jingled. I took a quick look up to see Martin walking through the door. I sighed. Without a word, he walked over to the tip jar and dropped a crumpled five-dollar bill into the tip jar. Without a pause in ringing up the pile of items in front of me, I lifted up my shirt and showed Martin my nipple ring. Martin winked salaciously at me before turning away and heading for the magazine section. Martin was definitely one of those with the most special of needs. The customer standing in front of me blushed an impressive and deep pink. I was afraid he was going to choke on his gum. "Okay, your total is $45.34."

He dug through his wallet first pulling out a credit card and then thought better of it. He handed me a crisp fifty-dollar bill. I started to hand him his change, but he shook his head. "Keep the change." He said before grabbing his bag from my hand and practically running for the door.

He yanked the door open and practically knocked someone over with his haste to get out of the store. I looked up and saw a vision. There in a green silk, slip dress stood the woman I loved. Right now, my car was dead. So, Lola had been picking me up from work. I managed to get here under my own power, but she didn't like the idea of me walking the four miles home. I was expecting her, but not like this. Lola was dressed in the short, silk Japanese-style dress I'd bought her, teetering on impossibly high heels, her long hair swept up and off her neck by a pair of ivory chopsticks. She looked every inch the geisha. She stumbled slightly as the customer rushed past her.

"Hello gorgeous!" Madame Anjee called as Lola made her slow and careful way over to the counter.

"Hello Madame." Lola said smiling at me. Her makeup was beautiful and carefully applied, but being such a novice at makeup, she had red lipstick on her teeth.

"Lola, baby, you've got lipstick on your teeth." Madame Anjee said grabbing a tissue out of the box. "Here, blot. It will help so that it doesn't rub off on your teeth."

"Thanks." Lola said a smirk on her lips. "Really, I need to come and take lessons on how to be a girl from you."

"Anytime baby..." Madame Anjee began just as an enormous crash filled the store. Someone had just knocked over the enormous display of blow up dolls. "Damn!"

"Don't worry, I'll get it." I said rushing around the counter and over to the pile of Suzy Cheerleader and Poke 'Em Paul’s. I squatted down as I began the process of making them into a pyramid of sorts again. As I worked, I noticed a pair of very sexy legs strutting towards me. Lola had gone all out; even her toenails were painted. She was not a girly girl and I loved that about her. She could be ready to go in under ten minutes. She was low maintenance, which was better than Zac's wife who was no maintenance or Isaac's fiancé who was the highest of the high maintenance. But the way she looked tonight was fun and unexpected and a true turn-on.

"Hey sexy," I said as she squatted down next to me, helping put the boxes of blow-up dolls back in order.

"Hey, Taylor..." Lola whispered softly as she leaned in close and nipped at my ear. "What do you say we blow this popsicle stand?"

"Well, as enticing as that invitation is, I don't know if I can leave early today." I said standing up and pulling her against me.

"Doesn't it just seem wrong that you are stuck working, helping the less fortunate, when you have someone ready willing and able right here?" She whispered as she lifted her leg just enough to put a little extra pressure on my nether regions.

"Wow, well... With an invite like that." I said softly as my hand slid down her back to her ass. The smooth line of the silk dress let me know that underneath it, there was nothing. The idea of all that flesh just barely covered by the barest slip of silk made me smile. "Let me ask Madame."

I walked over towards the counter. I must have had a look on my face.  The second she saw me smiling she rolled her eyes. "Go, get out of here!"

"How did you know that was what I was going to ask you?" I stammered.

"Because, when a girl comes in to pick up her boyfriend dressed like that with no underwear on, I know that there is only one thing on her mind." Madame Anjee said raising an eyebrow. "Go, scratch that itch my boy."

"Thanks!" I said reaching over the counter and grabbing my bag and jacket. "You won't be forgotten for this!"

"You can go?" Lola asked.

"Yes, the madam is in a singularly good mood." I said as I helped her balance. Her ankles were shaking terribly from the high heels. "Lo, I just have to say that you look stunning."

"So, you like?" She said twirling once for me.

"Well, yes." I answered catching her up in my arms and turning her slowly. "I find it unbelievably hot."

"Ah, I see." She said sliding deeper into my embrace. Her head tucked perfectly under my chin when we slow danced like this. "So, what you're saying is that you love this look more than my usual look?"

"No, I never said that." I said smiling at her baiting me. "No one wears a pair of jeans quite like you."

"Good, cause this may not happen again for a long time." She sighed into my chest. She put her arms around me and pulled with all her might. So, there we stood in the parking lot of Madame Anjou’s Pink Taco slow dancing to music that no one else could hear under a full moon on Valentine's Day. I took her and dipped her back, eliciting a burst of laughter from her.

"Get a room!" Someone yelled from a passing car.

Her laughter increased. Soon we were both standing there in each other's arms just laughing. Happy to be together. "Ah, man... I love you."

"I love you too." She said pulling back and taking my hand. "Let's go home."

"Okay." I said happily following her. I had slid into the passenger seat when it hit me. "Oh damn."

"What?" She asked as she gently urged her vintage VW Bug to life.

"Zac called and asked if I could drop some diapers by." I said putting my hands to my forehead. "And I know if you step foot in that apartment you'll be swept away by Talon."

"Is that a bad thing?" She asked looking at me with big eyes.

"Well, a man can get jealous." I said teasing her as her car did its version of speeding down the street. If it hit 35 mph, we were fairly flying. "I mean you so obviously adore another man. It's just hard to watch you moon and coo over him. I mean, you strip him down every time you get your hands on him..."

"But he's so perfect..." Lola began a faraway look in her eyes. "I mean, very few men have a body like his."

"Thank heavens!" I protested. "I mean, wouldn't I look funny if almost half my height were in my head?"

"True," she said as she pulled into the 7-11 down the street from Zac and Scar's apartment. "And thank heavens your belly button has fallen off and that you no longer need Neosporin spread over the head of your penis..."

"Ouch!" I said in mock pain as she pulled on the emergency brake. "Zac said that he actually cried the whole time they were doing Talon's circumcision. It was just the idea of having anything like that done to such a delicate part of his body. Scar thought it was in empathy of the pain, but no... Lola, promise me that our boys won't have to go through that." As I said that the smile seemed to melt off her face. "Did I say something wrong?"

"No," Lola said quietly. "It's just..."

"Just what?" I asked worried that I'd somehow offended her suggesting that one day we'd have children. We'd never even talked about marriage, let alone kids.

"It's just..." she stopped a pained look on her face. "How long have we been dating?"

"Umm..." I said thinking back to how many birthday and holidays we'd spent together. "It will be three years next June."

"And you love me, right?" She said her finger tracing the pattern of bright flowers on her dress.

"Of course!" I said wondering where all this was going. "I can't even imagine my days without you in them. I love waking up next to you more than anything in this world. It makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world to know that you are mine... Or I think you are..."

"Then, why haven't we ever talked about getting married or having kids?" She asked. "Zac and Scar are married and have a baby and they've only been together a little over a year. Isaac and Marta have been engaged for a year and that was after they had only dated a year. Are you afraid of me?"

"What?" I asked totally confused. "Of course not! What a question!"

"Then you must be afraid of commitment." She reasoned.

"Not at all." I protested. "I just... I guess I just never thought we needed to talk about it... I just figured that one morning we'd wake up and both of us would know it was time."

"Really?" She asked her voice hopeful.

"Yes, I just figured one day one of us would just say "today feels like a good day to get married." I didn't think you'd want to be engaged forever..." I said watching her face carefully. It was hard to read in the semi-darkness of the 7-11 parking lot.

"Taylor, today feels like a good day to get married." She said in all seriousness.

"Are you asking me to marry you?" I asked perplexed.

"Yes, I am." She said reaching into her purse. She pulled out a simple gold band. "I was going to take you home and make mad monkey love to you before I asked you, but..."

"So, are you saying the monkey love is out?" I asked watching her roll the ring back and forth in her hand.

"Not necessarily," she began. "But one answer just might put me off the desire to have any sort of love, monkey or otherwise."

"Ah, I see." I said pulling on my bottom lip. "Well, I hope the answer you're looking for is yes, because that's what I'm gonna say."

"Yes?" She asked.

"Absolutely!" I answered as she slid the ring onto my finger. "You know, this isn't exactly how I planned on getting engaged."

"Me either." She said holding my hand. "I have the apartment all set up for the grand seduction. But if the truth be told, I'd rather go and play with Talon. I mean, he'll only be two weeks old for this one day."

"Actually, me too." I said, smiling. "Then, we can go home and work on making one of our own."