"This is not easy. At all." Bo whined.
She was leaning against the wall of a building just behind the alley that would lead her to Lauren's shop.
Her head tapped against the marble several times, frustrated by her inability to turn the corner and talk to the blonde.
It was true, Bo always had success with girls. Always charming and sexy, never vulgar or too insistent. Not that she needed to insist, after all. Although the last two years Bo had avoided love like the plague, she had a large group of admirers.
But things had changed radically since hes girlfriend left her. Bo had lost control of her life, and was thrown into a sea of despair from which she left last year alone.
Working in the pub of his grandfather had helped her to pick up the pace of her life again, but without doubt the greatest help had been given by her two best friends: Kenzi and Tamsin.
Kenzi, the craziest and affectionate friend, was the imperfect roommate Bo needed. She never cleaned, she didn't always paid the bills, she never cooked -because according to her, cooking was an art and she certainly was not an artist- . But in the darkest nights she'd always been beside Bo, consoling her and giving her hope.
Tamsin, however, was certainly less expansive. Statuary, protective and sworn enemy of rowdy kids, at a first glance she didn't give a good impression. Her ice-blue eyes, much less reassuring than Kenzi's, cut through every person they rested.
Cynical, sometimes insensitive and very ironic, she taught Bo to finally turn page and live her life day by day.
Bo couldn't hope for a better family. Because with no doubt they were her family. Her parents didn't like the idea of a gay daughter and had made her understand it in a subtle way, slowly disappearing from her life.
She suffered a lot after that, that was sure.
But the show must go on, right?
A mantra that the brunette was now repeating endlessly.
She closed her eyes and rested the head one last time against the wall, letting the sun caress her face.
"I think the building can remain standing even without your help." Bo opened her eyes abruptly, noticing an amused Lauren staring at her.
'My God, you look great' Bo thought, seeing how the sun caressed the golden hair of the woman. "Your... your hair. They look great." Bo finally spit out.
Lauren grinned. "Yours too. Better than the other day." Bo blushed. Why was she blushing? 'Get a hold of yourself, woman.'
"So what brings you here?" asked Lauren.
"I wanted to see you. I mean, to thank you. My friend really enjoyed the presents. Even if you should have told me that the vinyl was an expensive one. I want to pay it."
Lauren shook her head and made the gesture to follow her to the store. She opened the lock, with some difficulty, and went in.
Bo noticed for the first time that the place was full of Lauren's scent. An oriental aroma, a relaxing, sensual one...
'Don't get horny, Bo.'
That place didn't smell of old and stale as most of the antique dealers, and Bo liked it. In addition, the place was pleasantly lighted.
Lauren went behind the counter, fiddling with an old carillon. "I will not let you pay for that record, Bo."
Bo scoffed. "Come on! How much will it cost?"
Lauren gave her a nice smile. "It's priceless."
"Oh yeah? So is my cuisine."
"Are you inviting me to dinner?"
Bo bit her lip. Did she say too much? Maybe she didn't lost her touch, after all. 'Damn, stop being such a pussy,' Bo thought, 'let's play this game.'
She walked slowly to the counter and took the pretty carillon in her hands. She kept a casual tone. "Maybe..."
Lauren smiled. "Let's suppose I agree...Would you come pick me here...at seven? Maybe on Friday?"
Bo continued to handle the carillon, trying to figure out where it was broken. True was, Bo was too nervous to watch Lauren's eyes. That woman had a unique way of blend her guts.
"Friday is perfect. What's the matter with this thing?"
Lauren shrugged. "I have no idea. I'd like to repair it."
"Will you earn much from selling it?"
Lauren suddenly turned serious. She looked in any direction except that of Bo. When the blonde began to shake, Bo wondered if she had gone too far. Instinctively she cupped the blonde's cheeks, making her look in her eyes.
"Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry..."
Lauren took a deep breath. "No, I am sorry. I won't sell it. It 'a gift. I would just fix it and keep it..."
Her voice trembled dangerously.
Bo stroked her cheek, hoping to calm her down. The brunette didn't realize she'd been holding a long breath, especially when Lauren had accompanied the caress witha slight motion of her chin.
Bo turned away, deciding it was best to leave room for the blonde.
"I think I'll go now. I leave you my number, so I can spend the rest of the day glancing at the phone instead of working." 'God, Bo. Stop with this shitty jokes.'
Lauren quickly took note of the phone number and smiled to her. "I'll see you then."
Bo winked to her and took the opportunity to sway her hips more than they should while walking away.
...
Three hours later, Bo was immersed in work. The Dal was full of people, and that meant a lot of work. But the brunette just couldn't stop herself from peep on the phone to see if any message had arrived.
Tamsin, which usually loved to drown herself into alcohol after work -or, as she said, to give moral support to Bo during her turn- would not stop asking questions.
"Well? Did Princess Antiques give you her number?"
Bo filled some glasses, not paying much attention to her friend. "No, I gave her mine. And I invited her to have dinner in order to repay your vinyl."
Tamsin looked at her in amazement. "You mean a dinner made by you? Like, cereal and milk?"
Bo stuck her tongue before serving some drinks. She returned to the counter shortly after. "Yes, TamTam. I'll cook. It's a symbolic way to repay the nice gesture."
"Very symbolic, since the cost of that jewel."
Bo stopped what she was doing to turn full attention to her friend. "How much is it that damn vinyl?"
Tamsin laughed. "Let's say you need tons of cereals to pay it off. Or you could offer to her a thorough inspection of body cavities. Symbolically speaking."
Bo playfully spanked her before going back to work.
...
Voice mail or text message? That was the question.
Lauren was sitting comfortably on her sofa, randomly glancing to a documentary about a strange animal running in tv.
Three glasses of wine before, Lauren opted for a sober message that said: "Hello Bo, this is Lauren and that's my phone number. Goodnight."
But the message was too damn cold. She tried the same message in many other versions; with and without emoticons; with enthusiastic exclamation points or even with a chaste ending kiss.
Actually anything she was planning to write would have been fine, but Lauren loved to complicate her life.
And so, in the grip of a thousand doubts, she was found to uncork a bottle of wine while thinking about the most suitable formula to contact Bo. The voice message finally seemed the easiest. If only Lauren hadn't been a complete landslide in speaking. Once entered in the answering machine, however, she knew she couldn't escape.
The beep sounded, merciless, and Lauren knew she had to speak up if she didn't want to seem a complete idiot. "Hello Bo!"
'Voice too shrill, Lewis. Chill down.'
"Uh, I wanted to say that this is my number, but I guess you already understood that. I don't think I have to tell you more... gosh I don't want to sound insensitive, it's just...This message is not functional to what I would like to tell you."
Lauren bit her lip. "It's not like I have to tell you something in particular..."
She glanced at the TV.
"God, sometimes I wish I was a dugong. Oh. My. God. I don't want to be one...There's a stupid documentary on TV and...Well dugongs are social animals, they love to socialize and surely they can do more than I do right now. Well, I think I embarrassed myself sufficiency. To recap: this is my number and I wouldn't like to be dugong. Good evening Bo."
She hung up the phone abruptly, giving herself a slap in the face and sinking into the sofa. She couldn't explain why, but in a moment she burst into laughter.
And if she had some amazing spying skills, she would certainly have seen Bo do the same as she listened to the message few minutes later, locked in the bathroom of the pub.