The Artist - Part 1 (Patreon)

Picture property of AdultBaby.xxx. 

Elle had never been more embarrassed. Frantically, she searched through her purse, as if, magically, she would find all the money she needed in there, rather than, at best, a few loose coins, while the cashier rolled her eyes, watching impatiently, Elle's rejected credit card still in her hand.

It had been bound to happen eventually, though Elle had thought, for sure, that she was doing better than that, that she hadn't been that close to going over her credit limit. Then again, she had been using that card for quite a bit recently, so it would have been simple to lose track of exactly how much she'd spent somewhere in the middle of it all. 

This was definitely going to be a problem... She didn't really need any of this stuff right now - though, she was at the head of a line, and giving up now would be even more humiliating - but there were other things she was definitely going to have to find a way to pay for in the near future. 

"I've got it," she heard a voice, then felt somebody sidle up from behind her, handing over a card of their own.

"O-Oh, you don't have to do that," Elle said quickly, turning anxiously towards the other woman who had just stepped in. She was an Amazon, and while Elle was a Betweener herself, she still made her feel nervous, almost like she was a silly Little. By the time Elle's protest came, of course, it was too late, as the worker was already swiping the card, for the sake of getting her line moving again, but it had seemed like the right thing to say. "Thank you," Elle blushed.

"That's all right," the Amazon told her. 

Elle slid forward, grabbing her bags, then waiting awkwardly as the woman checked out herself, figuring that it wouldn't be polite to just take her things and run after that, even if that's what she wanted to do. She knew it was none of her business what the Amazon was buying, although it was hard to ignore it, as she saw packages of diapers, baby powder, and other supplies sliding down the conveyor belt. It wasn't a huge surprise - Amazons did love taking care of Littles - but it made Elle feel slightly more guilty, seeing that this woman already had somebody she had to take care of, without having to pay for some stranger's groceries.

"Hello, there," the woman smiled at her as she finished. "That's very nice of you to wait for me; you didn't have to do that."

"W-Well, you didn't have to..." she lifted her bags. "So, umm... Thanks again. Can I get your address or something, so I can pay you back, uh... Well, sometime? When I can?"

"You don't have to do that," the Amazon told her. "It's fine, really."

"No, I want to," Elle insisted. "I don't usually... Do this, I guess... Things have just been... tough." She wasn't sure how to put it; that statement didn't really cover it, but she didn't want to unload all her problem on a stranger.

"What do you do?" the woman inquired.

"I'm a musician," Elle answered automatically, without thinking, then had to add, "Well, I was. I played for the orchestra, but..." she shrugged, "now I don't." Elle decided to leave it at that... No matter what she'd bought for her, this woman didn't deserve to know that she'd been fired for 'being difficult', whatever that meant, or that, with no other real job experience, Elle hadn't been able to find other work that she was willing to do. She was also an artist, and she'd been trying to branch out into that, now that she had more time on her hands, but that hadn't been working out all that well, either.

"How lovely!" the woman exclaimed. "I love music! I'll tell you what... You follow me to my place, and you can play me a song or two, and you won't owe me anything else for those, okay?"

She didn't want for a response, just turned and headed for the door. Elle hurried to try to keep up with her... She hadn't actually agreed to anything, but now she felt obligated, so she jumped into her car and pulled out of her parking space, just in time to trail the other woman, thinking, only after she'd driven for what seemed like quite a while, that she hadn't brought her instrument with her. It was too late now, however, since she had no other way to get in touch with the Amazon, so she had to at least get to her house before she could let her know they'd have to do this another time.