* * *
Peyton was efficient at picking up her entire life and moving. That was because during her time in Dayton, she’d never fully accumulated the stuff that most people gathered and clung to, making the transition from her apartment to her new house an easy one.
She wondered about that now. Had she just been too afraid of things not working out that she’d never allowed herself to put down true roots in Dayton? It would make sense. She’d experienced a colossal hit, making it hard to trust that things might actually go well for her, even when they were.
She wanted this time to be different, though. This was Peyton’s chance to fully live, taste, breathe, and feel something. Well, hopefully that last part. And as daunting as this whole new venture seemed, she planned to relish the little moments throughout the day. Even the hard ones.
First, there was some reacquainting to do. Landonville was a small- to medium-sized city with the appropriate ratio of quaint to contemporary swirling in a mixture through its streets and culture. She imagined that being back would come with the requisite ghosts lurking behind many a corner, but the center of town had shifted so much that it took her a while to even gather her bearings. Her high school still stood on the outskirts. The park where she first tried a cigarette with her friends had received an entire facelift, leaving it almost unrecognizable. She stood along the fence but opted not to go in. A part of her life that hadn’t served her well.
Deep breath. All in the past.
She focused on all her new / old city had to offer. Landonville was populated with lots of cute mom-and-pops for charm, but if you needed a Walmart or a Burger King, they were there, too. Medium was where it was at. The best of both worlds. And this city was honestly the perfect place for Peyton to slow her spirit, quiet her fears, and finally find a way to thrive in all aspects of her life. Well, she would give it a go, anyway. Once she’d settled in, however, she allowed herself to acknowledge that she was afraid, lying awake many nights, shaking beneath her new cotton sheet, a splurge.
The renovations she’d commissioned on Cotton Candy’s new storefront were 90 percent complete, which left her under a month to unpack her newly arrived inventory, pull the old inventory out of storage, and decorate like there was a lion chasing her through the woods. She channeled Candy and her positivity every step of the way. Semiweekly phone check-ins helped.
“Sounds to me that the design for the space is pleasing,” Candy said. “Just make sure you think through the flow of traffic. How the customer moves through the store and what products they’ll encounter along their path. Order is everything.”
“Right. I should probably physically walk it myself. I get caught up in viewing angles.”
“I got ya, sweetheart. You need your enticers up front, your push-up bras, your matching sets, but the larger selection of those goodies should be at the back to force your customers through the space. They’ll buy more that way. Bait and catch.”
“Brilliant.” She nodded, taking notes in her T-shirt and favorite lime green underwear while standing in her newly unpacked kitchen with the white cabinets. She’d always wanted white cabinets, which had been a reason to snatch up the rental then and there. “I’m also working on a boxer, briefs, and T-shirt section, but of the sexy variety.”
“A modern approach to lingerie,” Candy said. “I love it.”
“I imagine women will still make up the largest portion of my customer count, but everyone could use a little something sexy to wear.” She saw no reason to limit herself. Men and nonbinary consumers would have choices as well. She planned to advertise the hell out of the variety. Not only that but Cotton Candy would not be marketing with models and sizes that were unrealistic. Nope. Curvy was where it was at, and all sizes would be celebrated equally.
Two days later, amidst the last big push of renovation at Cotton Candy Part Two, Peyton went to work. She wasn’t afraid of putting her head down and accomplishing a lot when under the gun. The new storefront was honestly perfect for a lingerie shop, sunny with big, beautiful picture windows that would showcase the very best pieces from the absolute finest brands she could assemble for her collection. The expensive sign she’d ordered would be going up sometime today, and she was pleased with the company’s execution of her brand-new pink and brown logo that incorporated the curves of a woman’s breasts into the rounded letters. Saucy and fun. Especially since you didn’t exactly notice them until, well, you did and then never saw anything else. Peyton liked that part. She’d always been comfortable with her body, but through her work with Candy, she’d more fully embraced the sensual side of herself and liked it. She’d learned what she enjoyed and what she didn’t.
For one, she very much enjoyed women and their company in the bedroom. She wasn’t one to shy away from the right hookup. She never let herself get serious, but she made sure to make each woman she was with know her worth, and her importance. Life was too short for throwaway moments. She relished each human interaction, physical or otherwise.
“You like the spot you picked out?” Candy asked. “Location is everything.”
“I really do. Cute little strip mall with a stationery store next door. Sounds corruptible, right?”
Candy laughed in that melodic, uninhibited way that was pure Candy. Peyton missed her.
Researching the city had informed her that she didn’t have a ton of competition aside from the big box stores. That meant she could exhale and focus on spreading her wings, cultivating a quality client list, as well as continue to grow her daily customer base.
She relished the clean slate and had no intention of blowing this opportunity. It was her old home, but new. And this time, anything could happen. A fresh, unmarked upon canvas awaited her. She’d used her first few weeks in town to learn as much as she could about her new surroundings and get her head and house in good order. She loved the little garden cottage she’d found in an adorable neighborhood just two blocks away from the store. She could easily walk to work if she wanted to. Her mornings had been full of gardening, redesigning the flower beds out back, and putting in a few tomato plants, which would not only add a splash of color to her salads, but allow her to watch the little plants climb their way to the sky in victory. It was the little things…
But now, on this particular Monday morning, it was time to get serious. She wanted to open in seven days, and that meant hiring an employee or two with an eye for all things sexy, painting the interior in soft purples and grays, supervising the installation of shelves and drawers for additional bra and panty inventory, and setting up her sales racks. The noise had gotten a little loud, but she could drown it out with some music.
She turned on a little Beyoncé, popped in her AirPods, and went to work. A short time later, she was aware of a presence behind her and straightened from the box of corsets she’d just sliced open, her hair in a ponytail, cheeks probably flushed from exertion. Standing there was a brunette with her hands on the backs of her hips and her mouth in the shape of a perfect circle. There was something about her that woke Peyton the hell up.