A Girl's Best Friend

"Meet me at the mall food court at one Saturday afternoon. You remember what I look like, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I assume you'll be wearing a different outfit."

Luscious laughed. "Honey, I won't even be wearing a wig. Just look for my face. Oh, and call me Jimmy when you see me."

"You're going shopping with me as a man?"

"Luscious J only comes out for performances and parties, usually. I know what you're thinking. How can we clothes shop together if I'm a dude? But we'll only be at the mall long enough to get something to eat and get those manis and pedis. There's a store in the city that sells the kind of clothes you'll want for the house party, and the owner knows me very well."

"Um, okay." She'd been counting on shopping with a woman; it would feel strange to go with a guy. But Luscious wasn't the average guy. Even knowing that the shopping trip would be with "Jimmy", Ryanna couldn't help thinking of her new friend as female.

"Don't worry, honey, it'll be fun. You'll get the best of both worlds; a man who knows what men like to see on women, and a chick with awesome fashion sense. See you Saturday. I'll call you before I leave to make sure nothing's changed."

"Okay, sounds good."

She struggled through the rest of the week at work, and Saturday morning woke up early so she could decide what to wear on her shopping trip. Casual, but nice, which wasn't easy given that her choices were mostly work clothes or jeans and T-shirts. She finally decided on a slightly tamer version of the outfit she'd worn to the party, with looser jeans and a tank top that left a little more to the imagination.

Her roommate didn't stagger out of her room until just before Ryanna planned to leave. Charlene was a partier. On weekends if she came home at all, it was usually in the early hours of the morning and she was usually quite drunk. At least she was quiet about it; otherwise, Ryanna would have thrown her out within the first month. They'd shared the apartment for a year now and rarely saw each other, since when Charlene wasn't partying she worked second shift. It suited both of them.