I roll my eyes. “Don’t make me add ‘No mocking’ on there too. Anyways, we’re getting distracted which, as you can see, is also against the rules. So, you were talking aboutsex?”
I stare at him, tapping my pen against the table as I wait for his response, but instead of answering, he presses his lips together and I see his shoulders start to shake from the effort of holding back alaugh.
“What is so funny?” Isnap.
“I know I’m not supposed to have fun, Christina, but the fun...It’s...” He grips the edge of the table, feigning alarm. “It’s taking over...I...I...”
Then he starts singing the chorus to ‘Let’s Talk AboutSex’.
I look up to the ceiling and mutter the words of one of my mom’s Portugueseprayers.
“I’m sorry,” he says, noticing my reaction. “Am I being too irresistible for you? Are you praying for self-control?”
“Yes,” I respond, “for the self-control to avoid punching you in the face. It’s been almost forty-five minutes, Penn, and we’ve gotnothing.”
He leans forward, the languor leaving his body as his expression turns allbusiness.
“Okay, here’s my pitch,” he begins. “Lingerie isn’t about sex; it’s about beingsexy. I know it sounds similar, but there’s a difference. Ninety percent of guys will tell you that if it was only about logistics, they’d rather have a girl waiting stark naked in their beds than in some strappy, cagey, lacy thing that makes vagina accessdifficult.”
I scoff at the term ‘vagina access’ but let himcontinue.
“What makes lingerie so appealing isn’t the lingerie itself. It’s theeffortbehind it, the desire to make an impression, to be confident, to say ‘I’m so hot my body justifies spending seventy dollars on a bra that doesn’t even cover my nipples.’ Women don’t wear these things to look good for guys. They wear them to feel good for themselves, and there is nothing more attractive thanconfidence.”
“So what are you getting at?” Iask.
“My opinion is that we focus on that; we focus on confidence, on the feeling lingerie creates in the women who wear it, not in the men they supposedly wear itfor.”
I just stare at him, trying to figure out how Aaron Penn, the smarmy campus heartthrob, could have been hiding an inner feminist all thistime.
He takes my silence as a sign of doubt. “Itisa topical angle. How many times have you heard the phrase ‘real woman’ in advertisinglately?”
I nod slowly. “That’s true, but I mean, can we really apply that to lingerie? It makes sense for, I don’t know, sporting goods and tampons, but lingerie still seems kind ofobjectifying.”
“So we change that,” urges Aaron. “Let me give you an example. What does your bra look liketoday?”
My eyebrows draw together. “Seriously, Penn? Was this all a ploy to get me to describe my underwear toyou?”
“Indulge me.” The corner of his lip draws up and I glare even harder. “Come on, Dominguez. I’m trying to prove apoint.”
I roll my eyes. “Well, if you want the details, it’s dark red, with lace over the cups, and a sheerback.”
Locking my gaze with his, I wait for him to give some kind of provocative response. I can practically see all the suggestive comebacks forming in his mind, but he holds themback.
“And you would consider that a nice bra? Is it one youlike?”
“As a matter of fact it’s one of my favourites,” I answer in a clipped tone. “It’s very stylish, and I wear it when I want tofeel—”
I cut myself off and my jaw drops open as the realization hits. Aaron watches my reaction with a smile, leaning back in his chair and giving me an I’m-right-and-you-know-it kind ofshrug.
“Confident?” he suggests. “Powerful? In control? Or was picking that bra out just aboutsex?”
I don’t give him the satisfaction of letting him know it, but my brain has just been kicked into hyper drive. Dozens of ideas clamour for my attention, and I grab the nearest sheet ofpaper.
“Okay, Penn,” I admit, not lifting my eyes from the paper as I scribble down a few slogans, “you have a point. A pretty good point, for someone whose head is filled with so much ego they barely have room for abrain.”
“Hey, I’m proud of that ego. I work hard onit.”
“Meu Deus, you’re even egotistical about yourego.”
