So I have some way to go in terms of editing Part 4, but since this is pretty much already written and edited, I figured I'd put it up for review. It's a short little piece, anyway; it's just the conclusion of Mallory and Sarah's Saturday lunch date. Enjoy!
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Mallory took her napkin from her lap and set it on the table as she slipped her shoes on. As she went to stand, she bumped something with her foot. It was one of Sarah’s zebra-print wedges. “I have one of your shoes,†Mallory said.
“I was going to say, I couldn’t find one,†Sarah said, standing up. She came to Mallory’s side of the table and slipped her foot into the empty wedge. “I figured it kind of stayed over here.â€
The two girls walked outside. Mallory’s shoes were silent on the brick walkway, but Sarah’s wedges made the slightest click with every step. “Your shoes are clicky,†Mallory said.
“I know,†Sarah said. “I love it.â€
“Mine aren’t very clicky at all,†Mallory said.
“When I was younger,†Sarah said, “sometimes I’d glue a penny under my shoes, so they’d click louder. Now, as long as I wear heels, usually I click.â€
“I sort of like being silent,†Mallory said.
“That’s what tights are for,†Sarah said, laughing.
“And flats, too,†Mallory added.
The two girls took a seat on a little bench overlooking the common by the coffee shop. “I have a hard time with flats,†Sarah confessed. “I’ve been wearing heels so long that my feet have a really good arch now.†She leaned forward, her heels popping from her wedges to reveal her arched black feet. “When I wear flats, after a little while it hurts, so I have to take them off and walk tiptoe.â€
Mallory popped her right heel out of her shoe and slipped it back in. “I’ve never gotten to wear heels,†Mallory said. “Not tall ones, anyway. I’d have to learn how to walk in them.â€
“Wedges are a good place to start,†Sarah said. “You get the little height boost, but you have a nice stable sole to walk on, so you’re not tippy like in a cute pair of heels.†Sarah extended one of her legs, rotating her zebra-print wedge. “Wedges are my shoes for days when my feet hurt but I still want the boys to look.â€
“Maybe I need some wedges,†Mallory said.
“Every girl needs a pair of wedges,†Sarah said. “Flats are cute and comfy, but heels get attention.†Sarah arched her foot and slipped off her right wedge, stretching her black-stockinged toes as she did.
“Those are cute wedges, though,†Mallory said.
“All wedges are cute,†Sarah said. “I do love these, though. I couldn’t resist the zebra print.â€
“I don’t know if I’d be confident enough to wear it.â€
“Why not?†Sarah asked. “They’re just shoes. When they’re on, you don’t feel them fitting or looking any different. It’s just how people see you. And if you’re not super-flashy, they’re just cute shoes.†Sarah’s black silky toes rubbed up and down the back of Mallory’s dangling left ankle, finally stopping at the top of her shoe. Mallory looked down as her left shoe popped from her heel, slid down her silky tan foot and landed a foot in front of her.
Mallory had a few things to say, but she found herself speechless. Something about what Sarah had just done so effortlessly was so exciting and so captivating. Mallory felt the slightest of breezes across her stockinged toes. She felt Sarah’s silky toes against her right ankle now, and she just sat there, feeling Sarah’s toes rub up and down, then pressing down against her shiny red shoe, the shoe sliding off her heel, and then with a nudge from something silky tracing Mallory’s heel and stockinged sole, the shiny red shoe joined its partner on the walkway a few inches away. Mallory curled her toes tightly and gasped.
“Are you okay?†Sarah asked.
Mallory nodded nervously. She was fine, but something about what Sarah had done had felt completely amazing and completely novel. For the moment, everything was in slow motion. She watched as Sarah did the same thing to herself, slipping her left wedge off and crossing her shoeless feet at the ankles modestly. “Oh my God,†Mallory finally managed.
“Doesn’t that feel good?†Sarah asked. “I love when someone takes my shoes off for me.†She paused. “You’re wearing reinforced toes.â€
Mallory wiggled her nyloned toes in the breeze. “My toes?â€
“Yeah, your nylons are reinforced toe,†Sarah said. “That’s sexy.â€
“I had no idea there was anything special except they don’t run as easily,†Mallory said. “It’s sexy?â€
“Oh, the boys love it,†Sarah said. “It’s a little retro, like when you have the stockings with the back seam and reinforced heels too. You wouldn’t be into that just yet.â€
“I just thought I was hiding my chipped toenail polish,†Mallory said.
“You’re sexy and you don’t even know it,†Sarah said.
Mallory blushed and smiled. She looked down as her legs swayed back and forth, her feet pointed like a ballerina. She was sitting next to her co-worker, who had just forced her shoes off her feet and onto the walkway below, and while it all seemed inappropriate, it somehow felt amazing. “Sarah, can I try your wedges?†she asked.
“Sure,†Sarah said. She reached out with one foot, picked up each of her shoes, and dropped them closer to Mallory’s feet.
Mallory slipped her silky ivory foot into one of Sarah’s wedges, then reached for the other shoe and slipped it on as well. Nervously, she stood up, feeling her feet slide on the soft insoles of Sarah’s wedges. She took one step, her heel slipping just barely from the wedge. Surprisingly, they were quite comfortable despite being a size too big. She took another step, a bit surprised that she was not feeling tipsy from the extra height of the wedges. The slipping at her heels was a slight distraction, but she had that problem with shoes sometimes, so it was nothing new. Feeling more confident in her taller shoes, Mallory took a few steps this time.
“Those look great on you,†Sarah said.
“They’re just a little big,†Mallory said, turning and walking back toward Sarah.
“That’s because you have little feet,†Sarah said. “You’re walking naturally. That’s good.â€
Mallory walked around a bit more, her confidence growing even as her heels popped from the wedges with every step. “They’re really easy to walk in.â€
“I know,†Sarah said. “Some days I just don’t want to do real heels. Wedges are so comfy.â€
“I’m not so sure I could work in these yet,†Mallory said, still taking careful steps.
“It takes little steps at first,†Sarah said. Sarah slipped her toes into one of Mallory’s empty red flats, but slipped them right back out. “I’m jealous of your ruby slippers. I can’t try them.â€
“I should have gone a size bigger, so we could trade,†Mallory said, laughing.
“I have some shiny red shoes but they’re at home,†Sarah said.
“They’re actually sort of comfy,†Mallory said.
“I think we need new boyfriends, Mallory,†Sarah said, standing up and reaching down to pick up Mallory’s shiny flats.
Mallory was confused again. “What about your current boyfriend?†she asked.
“I think we’re done,†Sarah said, walking casually in her stockinged feet along with Mallory. “He was great at first, but now it’s just going through the motions. He’s not intrigued, not attracted really. I think I need a change.â€
Sarah had definitely rethought her boyfriend situation since the night before. For a moment, Mallory felt bad for Sarah’s boyfriend, even though she had never even met him. It seemed like Sarah was less willing than before to give him a chance. Though Mallory reminded herself that she had never had a boyfriend, and maybe Sarah had given him chances. “When are you seeing him next?â€
“Tonight,†Sarah said. “I’ve been a little stressed over it. How I’m going to tell him.â€
“Were you going out somewhere?â€
“No, staying in,†Sarah said. “He doesn’t like to do dates anymore. It means he feels like he has to dress up to keep up with me. So we go to his house, and then he just does something in the microwave for dinner. He tries to cuddle on the couch sometimes, but I have to be careful because he just wants sex out of it.â€
Mallory realized that as they walked, Sarah was still in her tights. “Do you want your shoes back?†she asked.
Sarah looked down, apparently realizing that she was shoeless. “No, you can wear them if you want,†she said. “My toes hurt a little.â€
“So you think tonight is it?†Mallory asked.
“I just don’t want to drag it out,†Sarah said. “I feel like we’re done, so why fake it any longer, you know?â€
“I’m sorry,†Mallory said, feeling bad for Sarah’s predicament.
“Don’t be sorry,†Sarah said. “Sometimes things don’t work out. I’m okay with that. They’re going to only get better.â€
“You’re confident,†Mallory said.
“They can’t really be any worse,†Sarah said, laughing.
Mallory looked down at Sarah’s soft black-stockinged feet, as Sarah walked down the brick walkway shoeless at ease. “I’m jealous of your feet,†Mallory said.
“So?†Sarah retorted. “Take my shoes off.â€
Being barefoot in the bank was one thing, and the coffee shop was another, but outside on a walkway at the mall was a whole new world. And somehow, it just felt right. “Okay,†Mallory said. She arched her right foot, slipping out of Sarah’s too-big wedge, and delicately setting her sheer pale foot on the bricks. Her left foot followed suit almost as a reflex, and she looked down in slight surprise at her silky ivory feet, shoeless on the bricks next to Sarah’s zebra-print wedges. A feeling of surprise rushed through her. She felt like she was doing something so inappropriate, and the naughtiness was invigorating.
“Doesn’t that feel good?†Sarah asked, picking her wedges up off the ground.
Mallory wiggled her toes, feeling nothing between the soles of her feet and the bricks under them but a thin sheath of nylon. “Um, yeah,†she managed.
“Sometimes it just feels so good to take your shoes off,†Sarah said. “I do it all the time around my boyfriend. He hates when I do it.â€
“Why?†Mallory asked, taking her first tentative steps in her stocking feet on the walkway.
“Because he thinks it’s trashy,†Sarah said. “Trashy maybe if you’re barefoot, or if your tights are ripped. But we’re both classy girls.â€
“Classy girls with tired feet,†Mallory added.
“Exactly,†Sarah said. “He never had to dance at a wedding in four-inch heels before.â€
“Or work at a bank for ten hours.â€
“Ten hours? Try two.â€
Mallory laughed. “That’s why I wear flats all the time,†she said.
“I love how heels make me feel, though,†Sarah said.
“Making your feet hurt?â€
“Well, that too,†Sarah said, looking down at her stockinged feet on the walkway. “But more the feeling of power, being a little taller and in control of my sexuality. Feeling like a strong woman and not a girl.â€
“Oh,†Mallory said.
“But I sort of like when I’ve been working in my heels for a few hours, and my feet start to hurt,†Sarah said. “Then I get the anticipation of when I get to take my shoes off, even if I just slip one off while I’m at the counter. When that shoe finally comes off, it just feels so good, even if I have to put my shoe right back on.â€
“Like last night when we all took our shoes off,†Mallory said.
“Yeah,†Sarah said. “Though I also like it when I have shoes that I can’t just take off. Then it’s sort of a challenge. How long before I have to take my shoe off? Can I be sneaky about it? It makes you love your break that much more when your feet are aching and you desperately want to take your shoes off but you can’t.â€
“I never imagined that my feet hurting would feel good,†Mallory said.
“That’s because you don’t wear heels,†Sarah said. “In a pair of heels, your feet hurt but it’s worth the ache because you’re sexier.â€
“I never thought of it that way,†Mallory said.
“Do you have heels you can wear tomorrow?â€
“I think I’d rather wear these,†Mallory said, giggling.
“Me, too,†Sarah said. “Maybe I’ll start in these,†she said as she held up her empty wedges.
“Plus inside we have carpet,†Mallory added.
“It does make heels easier to wear inside,†Sarah.said.
“And we know it’s a clean floor when we have to ditch the heels,†Mallory said.
“You’ve got it,†Sarah said.
The girls walked around and chatted some more, Sarah carrying their shoes in both her hands. As they neared their cars, they sat down to rest their tired feet. Mallory rocked her foot to one side and saw that the ball and heel of her pale stockinged foot were a bit brown. “My feet are dirty,†she said.
“It happens sometimes,†Sarah said. “Dark tights hide it better, but now you’re showing the world that shoeless is better.â€
Mallory studied her other sole. “Shoeless is better,†she said. “That walk was so relaxing.â€
“I love walking in heels because I feel sexy,†Sarah said. “But this makes me feel on the edge. I feel daring, and I love it.â€
Mallory set her flats on the ground, nudging them with her nylon toes. “It does feel daring,†she said. “I don’t feel as confident as you do, though.â€
“It takes time,†Sarah said. “I went to a Montessori school when I was younger, and we either had to be barefoot or in slippers at school. So I got very comfortable in my stocking feet.â€
“I’m jealous now,†Mallory said. “I just got very uncomfortable in my school shoes.â€
“And now you’re a grown-up, so we can decide what we want to do,†Sarah said, examining her sole. “See, I have the littlest run in my sole,†she continued as she showed her sole to Mallory.
Mallory saw the run in Sarah’s black tights. “Oh, no,†she said. “So now what?â€
“So I get a new pair of tights,†Sarah said. “That’s the price of comfort sometimes.†She stepped into her wedges, growing a couple inches taller.
“So are you seeing the boy tonight still?†Mallory asked.
“I am,†Sarah said. “Probably the last date. See you tomorrow?â€
“Absolutely,†Mallory said, slipping one shoe back on. “Good luck!â€
Mallory slipped her other shoe on as Sarah skipped back to her car. She walked to her own car, but the shoes under her feet felt somewhat unwelcome. Sarah was right; there was something sort of magical about feeling the ground under her stockinged feet. There was something magical about Sarah’s feet rubbing against her own, too, and that was something totally new and unusual for Mallory. She had no real idea what it meant for sure. It was one of those things her parents had never talked about, something her friends at church and in school had never talked about, and she had no idea who actually could talk with her about it. All she knew for sure was that she was more and more curious about what it all meant.
Steps To Awareness: Part 3 (Fiction)
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