Maureen was at her wits end. Life in the past year had come tumbling down around her. First her fathers death then discovering Henry's affair, the acrimonious split, the bitter divorce followed by the loss of control of her father's company. Now she had found out that Henry was getting married to that gold digger!
Then this morning her last friend Sharon had called her a Negative Nelly shouting at her that she needed to get over Henry and start living her life again. Her last iota of self esteem was gone. Once Sharon left Maureen had flung herself onto her bed and bawled her eyes out.
Eventually the crying stopped and Maureen was able to compose herself enough that she remembered what her therapist had told her. "When things get overwhelming. Put everything aside and just do something you really enjoy doing"
For Maureen that was going shopping. She had money. Not as much as before the divorce, but well let's just say she would never need to work. She left a note for the housekeeper then climbed into her Mercedes and drove towards the city. Initially she didn't have a destination in mind but something compelled her to go beyond the upmarket boutiques she usually frequented. She just kept driving until she found herself in the seedier part of town, a part of town she had never been to. However it was a part of town she had heard was being revived. There she spied a strip mall and on an impulse pulled into the parking lot.
There wasn't much to look at in the mall. A grocery store, a few fast food outlets, and a restaurant closed until 5 pm. A charity store, a pawn shop, a tattoo parlour, and a few other shops which held no interest to Maureen. She certainly wasn't going to visit the adult store. A home-wares store was at least interesting though the prices were so cheap that Maureen had to question their quality. Then there was a Cobbler's shop. A fair dinkum Cobbler's shop. The old man in there actually made the shoes he sold. Maureen had her feet measured and ordered a pair of boots. This was potentially a find she could tell Sharon about.
As she was returning to her car she noticed an interesting looking shop across the road.'Margo's' the sign said. Maureen decided to investigate.
"Hello Madam may I help you?" asked a mature woman.
Maureen looked at the woman, She would have to have been at least 70. She was in a long black dress. Had she been younger Maureen might have called her a goth, however given her age she looked more like a Greek widow "Thank-you. I'm just browsing. You have a lot of interesting stuff" she sure did. The store had an amalgam of goods. It was like a general store you might find in a small country town.
"Anything in particular that you were 'Just browsing for'. A wedding gift perhaps"
"Ha! The only wedding I have coming up is my ex's. I doubt I'll be getting an invite"
"Mmm. I have gifts that might be appropriate for such an occasion. Was it a bitter breakup?"
"You can tell?"
"I can read people very well"
"He's now marrying his 22 year old 'Personal assistant'. She's half his age! Such a slutty little gold-digger!"
"I think I have the perfect wedding gift for the happy couple. Can I show you a Sugar Doll? You will be amazed at what they can do"
30 minute's later Maureen was in her car heading back home. She had probably been diddled. There was no way that doll was worth the $300 she paid for it. However just the thought of what it could do to Henry and the slut was worth the money.