Nicholas watched Serena struggle with the skirt and understood her discomfort.<br/><br/>"Excitement is uncomfortable. A little danger is uncomfortable," he said. "But being always comfortable is boring; one can be shackled by comfort until one becomes unable to even think of any other state." He frowned a little. "I'm not here to drag you into an experience you don't want or can't use," he said gently. "But I saw how you were when you saw Christian look at Amanda, how you reacted. I think a couple of things: That you are a striking woman with physical attributes that you can easily and very acceptably highlight in your dress; that you might never have known, or may have forgotten how it felt to be admired; and finally, a woman enjoys being admired is not necessarily a predator for other women's husbands."<br/><br/>He smiled a little.<br/><br/>"It's taken a long time for men to realize, thanks to strong women, that a girl wearing a short dress or low-cut blouse is not, by virtue of her clothes, looking for sex. She wears those clothes because they make her feel the way she wants to feel -- admired, or edgy, whatever." He stood. "Come with me, let's go for a walk."<br/><br/>They walked down the corridor past several shops before Nicholas paused and nodded toward a woman who looked to be in her late middle age.<br/><br/>"See that woman?" he asked Serena. "She's probably in her 60s. She's dressed well and appropriately for her age.<em> But she will never again be able to wear what you have on now.</em>And what you came into the mall wearing was very much like what<em>she</em>is wearing now. Serena, youth is fleeting, and you have no need to chase it, but only to embrace it. Just think about that for me."<br/><br/>Nicholas led Serena to Saks and there to the lingerie department. He brought her over to the La Perla display and plucked a bra off the rack.<br/><br/>"I'm not a lingerie savant," he said, smiling. "I was here earlier doing my homework." He handed her the bra. "I'm thinking that you're a 34B, although there are other sizes here if I'm wrong. Please do me a favor and try on this bra. It's a pushup, and I'll buy it for you if you would like, but when you have it on I want to look at you in a mirror -- with your shirt on -- and show you something. And then, if you think I'm full of crap and you want to stay stuck, bored and unhappy then that's fine. But if that's the case, all you<em>have </em>had better be all you'll ever<em>want</em>, because you'll never have anything more than that."<br/><br/>He pointed to the dressing room.<br/><br/>"I'll wait out here," he said. "Go, and if you decide that maybe we're on to something, perhaps we can consider the matter of shoes."