For A Change

Alice couldn't believe her luck. She had anticipated circling around the mall for a while, in search of a parking space, but one had opened up right in front of her. It was right near the entrance to the department store she had planned on visiting. Better still, it was the first non-handicapped space from the door. Before anyone else could steal it, Alice pulled her car into the spot. The day was going better than she had expected, and Alice hoisted her pocketbook over her shoulder and headed inside. She had an agenda to follow, but the ease in which she was able to park afforded Alice the opportunity to spend a little more time shopping than she had anticipated.

As she approached the mall, Alice considered phoning her husband to tell him everything was fine and to see how things were at home, but then she figured he would have everything well under control. Their eldest daughter was in her teens, and she had been ordered to help out with the little ones as much as possible. If everything went smoothly, Alice had promised her that she could stay out late with her friends, and that was a pretty large carrot to dangle in front of her. With that in mind, Alice dropped her cell phone back in her purse and made her way to the ladies department. Normally she wouldn't have come shopping without her family in tow, but she was looking for this season's swimsuit, and didn't want any distractions. While this purchase usually caused some consternation for Alice, this year was going to be different. She had spent the winter on a strict diet and used a tough work out regimen to shed more pounds than she thought would have been possible in such a short time. Even so, the brunette's weight was nearly back to where it was before she had her kids. Her figure wasn't perfect anymore, three pregnancies had left her with a little bit of a tummy, and the requisite stretch marks as well. Nevertheless, with the excess weight gone, Alice was feeling really good about herself. Her goal had actually been to lose the weight before her fortieth birthday, and she'd accomplished it with almost a full year to spare.

Once she was in the ladies department, Alice started going through the myriad racks of bathing suits. For the first time in years, Alice was able to skip right over the racks of skirted one-pieces, no longer would she have to hide behind one of those. Of course, she wasn't able to look at the skimpy string bikinis either, the ones her daughter was begging to get. That still left a wide variety to choose from, and Alice made several selections. Most of the ones she chose were one-piece suits, but she did pick up a couple of tankinis as well. Before heading over to the fitting room, Alice stopped in front of a rack of some rather conservative bikinis, and on a whim she picked out one of those as well.

The fitting rooms weren't all that busy, despite there being lots of shoppers in the mall. That was probably due to the fact that it was pretty well hidden behind the swimsuit department, and the larger one in ladies fashions was more well known. That didn't bother Alice at all, when she was trying on clothes she wanted as much privacy as she could get. The attendant gave Alice a numbered chit as she entered, and Alice looked over the different stalls. Only one other appeared to be taken, she could see the other woman's legs protruding beneath the stall door. At first Alice tried the stall next to that one, but the bench was missing so she settled on the stall across from the occupied one. The latticed doors here all closed securely, so it didn't really matter. About the only drawback to the fitting rooms was that the best mirror, a full length tri-fold, was at the end of the short hallway. Alice didn't mind all that much, she valued the extra privacy the out of the way area provided, and she took her time changing in and out of different suits. Each time, she made her way down to the mirror to check things out, and she had to admit to herself that she looked better than she had in quite some time. In between changes, Alice could hear the woman in the fitting room across from her doing pretty much the same thing. Their timing was such that they didn't jostle each other for time in front of the mirror, it always seemed as if one was just getting back from it as the other was heading towards it. They did pass in the hallway once, and greeted each other, and Alice noticed that the other woman was trying on swimsuits as well. She looked to be about the same age, although her figure was quite slender and obviously well maintained. Alice felt a twinge of jealousy at the sight of the thinner woman walking away in a bikini, and she screwed up the nerve to try on her own.

It was a little different for Alice to try on a two piece, while she had practically lived in them years ago, she hadn't quite felt comfortable in them lately. For starters, she decided to try on the tankini she had selected first. Quickly she stripped out of the one piece suit she had been wearing, and pulled on the snug bottoms of the tankini. Her hands were drawn to her breasts, and she absentmindedly gave them a squeeze before pulling on the matching halter top. The suit was a rather conservative cut, and Alice decided she kind of liked the coverage it offered, which wasn't much less than the one pieces she'd been leaning towards. Still, she wanted to see it on herself, so she went back down the hall to the mirror to check things out. This time, Alice spent a little more time looking things over, trying to get a good view of herself from all angles. The three angled mirrors definitely helped, she could see how she looked in it from behind as well with a minimum of neck twisting. Again, she didn't look too bad in it, and as Alice pondered her choices, she noticed her companion was patiently waiting. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize I was hogging the mirror," she apologized.

"That's fine, take your time," replied the other woman. "It's hard enough picking one of these out with these damned unforgiving fluorescent lights, don't let me rush you." Both women shared a laugh at that, long experience had taught them that you always looked better in natural lighting, especially with a bathing suit. Alice noticed that the other woman was wearing a floral bikini, something she hadn't quite dared to try on herself. Her attention didn't go unnoticed, and her companion soon addressed the point. "You know, that suit looks good on you, but if you don't mind my saying so, I think you've got the body for something like what I've got on."

Alice looked at her, taken aback a little by the comment. It was an awfully bold statement coming from a stranger, but Alice wanted her to be right. "Do you really think so?" she asked, not so much to hear it again but more as a space filler while she recovered from her shock at the other woman's boldness.

"I do, I really do," came the reply. "By the way, I'm Florence."

"Hi, Florence, I'm Alice. It's nice to meet you."

"Same here. I'm usually not so bold, but I thought you looked so good standing there, I thought I should say something."

"Thank you," answered Alice. "I thought you looked pretty good yourself in that," continued Alice as she pointed to Florence's bikini. "I wasn't so sure if it would work on me, but I'm happy with this, what after having three kids and all."

"Yeah, nothing ever seems to settle back into place, does it?" smiled Florence in return. "I've had four myself."

"Really? Wow, you do look good." said Alice with a look of astonishment. While Florence was obviously no spring chicken, nothing about her suggested the wear that four pregnancies could have on a woman. She continued to look Florence over, still a little jealous of her petite build. While they were about the same height, it was clear that Alice had a slightly rounder figure, but she rationalized that because of it, her cleavage was a little more alluring than Florence's slender build. "I can't begin to tell you how hard I worked at getting to here," continued Alice, gesturing towards herself with a sweeping motion of her hand.

"You did a good job."

"I had to, I didn't want to face forty and fat, looks like I made it with a year to go."

"Trust me, forty's not too bad, once you get used to it, I did," was Florence's reply. "It's obvious you worked hard to get where you're at, you deserve to flaunt it. Want to try something like this one on?"

Alice looked over Florence's suit as she posed in it for her. It was a floral print bikini with a halter top, one that gave a little more coverage than a string bikini, but less than the tankini she was currently wearing. Taking the other woman's kind words to heart, Alice figured she had nothing to lose. "Sure, why not."

"Let me guess, around an eight?" asked Florence. "That's what I've got on, why don't you wait here and I'll go check."

"Are you sure?"

"Really, it's no problem, I'll be right back." With those words, Florence headed back to her stall, where she pulled on a pair of shorts as a cover up. Alice went into her own stall to wait for her new found friend to return. In the meantime, she decided that Florence might have had something with how she'd look in a bikini, and decided to give her own a try. The tankini was soon laying in a heap on the bench as Alice looked down at her naked body for a moment. Not too bad, she thought, with Florence's words still fresh in her ears. Maybe I should try for something a little sexier this time, if someone I don't even know thinks I'd look good. With that thought, Alice pulled on the bottoms of the bikini she had chosen, appreciating how high waisted it was. The back did a nice job of concealing her bottom, in fact its cut gave Alice more shape and definition than she expected it to. The top went on next, while it too was a relatively simple affair, the gathering of the cloth between her breasts served to accentuate them rather well. All in all it wasn't a bad bikini, if a conservative one at that. The black material stood out in sharp contrast to Alice's pale skin, but she knew that a few days in the sun, wearing a suit like this would see to that. And it would give her killer tan lines, or so she thought. A knock on the stall door announced Florence's return, and broke Alice out of her reverie.

Alice took one last look down at herself, making sure that her suit was all the way on and she was presentable. Seeing that she had everything in place, she opened the stall door. As expected, Florence was there, but she didn't have another bikini for Alice to try on. She eyed up the one Alice was wearing for a moment before explaining. "I think this was the last one in this style that was our size, but I really think you should get a chance to try it on."

"Don't you want it?" inquired Alice. "After all, you're the one who found it first."

"Well, yeah, I did," came Florence's reply. "But you really should try on something cut like this to see if you like it. If you do, I'd be more than happy to help you find another one that you like."

"Oh, OK, I guess that would be all right," agreed Alice.

"Good!" Florence interrupted Alice's response. "Why don't we check out the one you've already got on, I see you've been busy while I was away."

The two women headed down the corridor to the mirror again. Alice didn't notice that the attendant was no longer watching them, in fact the entrance to the fitting rooms was now closed off. A well placed twenty from Florence had seen to that. She also didn't realize that while they walked, Florence had allowed her to get ahead a few steps, the better to check out Alice's fine rump as she walked. Florence did have to admit to herself that while Alice was more on the voluptuous side, she did have an alluring figure and her ass was to die for. She could only hope that Alice would be open to more than just a change in bathing suit styles.

"You know, that is a nice suit on you," began Florence once she had Alice posing in front of the tri-fold mirror. "It's pretty flattering and not too revealing." Alice nodded her agreement. "Even so, it's not a great fit. Here let me see if I can fix this." Before Alice could respond, Florence had her hands on the bottom of the suit, tugging the material ever so slightly as she adjusted its fit around Alice's crotch. For a moment, Alice thought she could feel a finger brushing lightly against her pussy, and she couldn't be sure if it hadn't been deliberate. Still, she didn't protest for a moment later Florence stepped back to admire her work. "There, that's better," she announced. "It's not so bad after all. Why don't you have a look?"

Alice slowly turned a small circle in front of the mirror. Florence was right, she did look pretty good in that suit. The high cut waist was still pretty concealing, and it didn't give Alice anything to complain about. She finished her once over of herself and turned to Florence. "You know what? I do like it, maybe I'll go with this one."

"Well, sure, you could," said Florence, hesitatingly. "But you've worked so hard to get back in shape, you should at least try something a little more daring. Come on, what can it hurt?"

Florence's argument was pretty convincing. Besides, Alice figured she wouldn't let up until she had at least tried the other suit on. "I suppose you're right," she shrugged, giving in to Florence's persuasion. Alice took a step down the hall, only to pause when she felt Florence's hand on her shoulder.

"Why are we going all the way back down there?" she wondered. "There's no one else around, we may as well use these stalls here." Florence gestured towards the nearest open door. Alice followed her lead, and stepped into the changing cubicle. To her surprise, Florence followed her and closed the door. "I have to get out of this bikini if you're going to try it on," she explained before Alice could wonder what she was doing. "May as well get it off and hand it over, right?"

"Um, I guess so," was Alice's nervous reply, but before she could say or do anything to stop Florence, the other woman had undone her bikini top and pulled it off. When Alice didn't respond, Florence casually hung the discarded top on a hook and waited. She seemed completely unconcerned about Alice, who just stood there staring for a second. At first it was the shock of a virtual stranger whipping off her clothes in front of her, but her eyes adjusted quickly, locking in on Florence's perky breasts. For a woman who was forty, and had already had four children, Florence didn't look too bad at all. In fact, her trim figure was blemished with only the faintest of stretch marks, and Alice found herself unable to look away. Finally, as Florence started to tug down her bikini bottoms, Alice reached tentatively for the bikini Florence wanted her to try on, then realized she'd have to get her own off as well. She saw that Florence had no intention of leaving, not that she could in her current state of undress, so Alice reluctantly unhooked her top as well, paused for a moment, and let it drop.

Her breasts were somewhat fuller than Florence's, and she did have to admit to herself that they were rather nice. Only the slightest tug of gravity had taken its toll on Alice's breasts, and the skin of her breasts was dappled with slight stretch marks. More pronounced stretch marks mottled her tummy slightly, and gravity had started to show its affect on her body here as well. This didn't deter Florence from getting an eyeful as she crouched down to slip her bikini bottoms over her ankles. She was completely naked now, and her eyes were riveted to Alice's body as she too stripped down completely. Alice saw this, and while she wasn't feeling too self conscious about being naked in front of Florence, she was still a little bit uncomfortable. As quickly as she could manage, Alice pulled on the suit Florence had just stripped out of. She didn't really do a good job, leaving the straps at all sorts of angles and the bottoms a little crooked. While she fully intended to straighten herself out later, Alice's first goal had been to cover herself up. She did notice out of the corner of her eye that Florence had made no such efforts, and had actually appeared to be leering at her naked body, but she busied herself with getting dressed. Alice's preoccupation with this was the main reason she didn't notice Florence closing the distance between them until she felt the other woman's hands on her body, ostensibly helping her out. This time though, the touch of Florence's hands on Alice's body was a lot more overt and deliberate. Alice froze in place, not daring to move as Florence's fingers gently caressed her pussy through the lycra of her swimsuit, Their eyes met and Florence could see the trepidation in Alice's eyes. It wasn't as if Alice was afraid of what Florence was doing, rather she was fearful of the fact that she didn't seem to mind it one bit.

Much to Alice's relief, Florence's touch only lasted a few seconds. Florence was genuinely adjusting the tight fitting bikini, and for that Alice was grateful. She even held her arms up and out of the way, not really minding the incidental caresses as Florence pulled the shoulder straps into place and adjusted the cups of the bikini top. As soon as she was done with that, Florence returned her attention to the bottoms, tugging them gently into place. What had been a great fit on her was just a little tight on Alice, which made the suit even hotter. The floral print was stretched tight over Alice's crotch, leaving a barely perceptible hint of her pussy lips beneath. It stretched out tight over her butt as well, giving Alice that not quite covered look so eagerly anticipated by voyeurs at the beach. While it wasn't nearly as revealing as a thong, for a sensible suit it would do. Furthermore, Florence had been right about the way Alice wore the suit. She did look good in it. Although the imperfections of her body were a little less hidden, the sexiness of the suit more than made up for it. Alice stood still as she felt Florence's touch growing bolder as she finished adjusting the suit. Finally she was done, and Alice let out a soft sigh as she felt Florence's hands drift away from her body. It seemed like she had been fooling with Alice's bottom for an eternity, and now that the touch was no longer there, Alice found herself wishing it was back.

It didn't take too much prodding from Florence to get Alice to step out in front of the mirror, by now Alice's initial shyness had melted away. There was a certain confidence evident in her step as she turned slowly in front of the mirror, checking out every angle of the suit on her body. Even she had to admit that this one looked the best on her, and she dared even imagine that she filled it out better than Florence had. "See, I told you it would be great on you," called Florence, who was watching from the nearby stall. She hadn't bothered to get dressed, and even she wasn't about to dart out to the mirror in the buff. What she did figure on, correctly as it turned out was that Alice was using the mirror to get a glimpse of Florence's naked body as well. To this end, Florence made no attempt to even cover up at all, letting Alice see all that she wanted of her perky little breasts and the rest of her tight body.

"I like it, I really like it," beamed Alice as she dared to glance back at Florence. Florence nodded and smiled, knowing that Alice's eyes were taking in the gorgeous sight of her naked form.

"Come here a second, I want to see how it looks on you up close," she asked.

Alice headed back to the stall, not even bothering to close the stall door behind her. She was too distracted by the sight of Florence's naked body up close to even notice. Never had she seen another woman's body with such a feeling of arousal, it was something that Alice simply couldn't explain. The way that Florence's not so innocent touches felt had electrified her, heightening all of Alice's senses, yet leaving her obedient to Florence's will. With a simple gesture, Florence directed Alice over to the bench. Her eyes wandered over Alice's bikini clad figure, taking in every curve of her body as it strained against the slightly tight suit. Florence could feel Alice's eyes taking in her own naked body, a slight look of trepidation mixing in with her own longing. It was obvious to Florence that they both felt the same desire for each other, even though Alice still struggled a bit against it. A little more persuasion would be all she needed, mused Florence, and she knew just the thing.