The first thing Myka did when she returned to the B&B was jump in the shower. Her suitcase lay untouched next to her bed. Though most would just throw their clothes onto the floor, Myka did not like mess and refused to just leave them spread out on the ground, this is why they lay neatly folded on the chair in front of her extremely organised desk. The door to the bathroom was left slightly open; Myka did not like being trapped in a bathroom, a bad childhood incident.
The water gently hit her face, turning the almost ivory complexion a light shade of red, continuing downwards, cascading down her body, covering every inch of her enviably feminine figure before loudly hitting the base.
Pete had just returned from a cookie run when he decided to drop in on Myka. His free hand reached out to grab the bedroom doorknob, turning it and giving it a good shove. The puff of air created by the opening of the door flew across the room giving the parallel bathroom door a little push until it was just over half way open. Pete then walked into the room focusing more on the last piece of cookie he was shovelling into his rather large mouth than what welcomed him. He lifted his head expecting to see Myka lying on the bed, book in hand, scowling at him for his unannounced entrance but that definitely was not the case. His jaw seemed to drop as his arms fell limp, small pieces of cookie dropping from his wide open mouth and onto Myka's freshly swept floor. His gaze lay transfixed on the goddess in the next room, never leaving her for a moment.
Myka did not notice that the door had opened or that Pete was standing only a few metres away gawking at her. The noise of the shower and the water hitting the floor made it almost impossible for Myka to hear anything. Her head tilted back to wash of the remnants of the shampoo which clung to her scalp.
Pete exhaled sharply, he had never seen Myka like this, so open yet so comfortable. She obviously had not noticed him yet. Pete knew that is was wrong to stare at a woman while she bathed, especially a woman who did not know that he were there, but he could not help it. For so long he had secretly longed for Myka, hoped and prayed for the day he could run his fingers through that long luscious hair, tease his tongue against her skin or feel her heated gaze upon his own body but either time or circumstance had always got in the way of him ever making an advance. It didn't matter anyway. Even if neither factor was in play he could never do anything about his feelings, Myka did not feel that way about him, she had made that perfectly clear last year when they thought that they had slept together. She seemed truly disgusted at the idea of them being intimate, so Pete did not bother arguing with her, if he had told her how he felt and she had shot him down, like he knew she would, their friendship would be ruined, making working together almost impossible. The only outcome would be one of them leaving and he did not want that. He would rather have Myka in his life as a friend than not at all, even though it physically hurt to be around her without touching her. This is why he could not remove his eyes, he would never be able to touch her like that, to feel her heartbeat next to his, so this was the closest thing he could get, staring at her while she showered. Pete sighed again; sickened by the thoughts running through his mind as well as what he was physically doing.
"Looks like we have a peeping Tom ... or Pete"
Pete jumped and turned to see Helena standing just behind him. She had probably just walked past the room and happened to catch Pete red handed or perhaps more red faced, it did not even cross his mind that Helena had probably popped in to see Myka and was transfixed by the image herself.
"I...um...it's not...um...I wasn't" he gave up on the effort to explain himself and just sighed.
"Rather attractive isn't she?" grinned Helena, seeing the sadness in Pete's enlarged `puppy got caught` eyes.
"That's an understatement" Pete could not remove his eyes from his feet, they suddenly seemed incredibly interesting, hoping to avoid eye contact with Helena.
"True" Helena replied, actually understanding how Pete felt. Instead of responding Pete flopped onto Myka's bed, out of sight from where Myka was. Helena followed in the action, neither remembering that Myka was showering just next door and could walk out at any moment. Though to be honest they really didn't care, they could make up some lame excuse that they were waiting to talk to her before suggesting they talk later as Myka would be less that adequately dressed, giving both time to figure out a conversation topic later.
"Do you like Myka?" Helena asked Pete, already knowing the answer but turning to face him slightly anyway.
"Maybe"
"Why haven't you told her?" Helena continued.
"How could I, she's my partner" Pete threw his arms in the air rather dramatically, frustrated by the conversation already.
"So, it's not like she hasn't dated her partner before"
"Exactly and he died so she's not going to go there again" Pete whined becoming more depressed with every word.
"You might as well try, she might surprise you"
"But..."
"No buts Mr Lattimer" Helena turned and faced the bathroom, "Now go before you get caught"
Pete stood and began to walk towards the door, turning his head to face Helena.
"Thanks for trying H.G, maybe you're not so cucu after all", Pete took one last look at Myka then strolled out the door. Helena smiled to herself.
"Or maybe I am" she thought to herself, "I do like a bit of competition, even if it is only Pete".
The water stopped flowing from within the bathroom as Myka stepped gently out of the shower, making sure that both feet were positioned securely on the shower mat. She raped a towel around her body which barely reached half way down her thigh, using another towel to remove any excess water from her hair. A brush lay on the side of the cabinet which Myka picked up and combed through her hair, untangling any knots along the way, allowing her hair to fall straight down her back unlike its normal dry and curly counterpart. The brush was replaced just to the right of where Myka had found it. The beauty then turned and walked through the bathroom frame, not even noticing that the gap between the door and the wall was a lot larger than when she left it.
"Myka" beamed Helena once she had entered the room. Myka froze at the sight of the woman, eyes widening with nerves, she was suddenly pushed back into being her usual self conscious self.
"Helena, w...what are you...you doing here?" she stumbled.
"Oh relax Myka, please, that dear in a head light look, no matter how cute it is, is not how I want you to react to my presence."
Myka shook her head and walked over to her cabinet opposite the bed, opening a draw to collect her hair dryer and straightners. Helena gazed admiringly at Myka from behind, her long legs glistening from the water that had not yet been removed. Both appliances were then dropped on the bed, Myka then continued to collect some clothes from the large cupboard and returned to the bathroom to dry off and dress. Helena lay back on Myka's bed, staring at the ceiling, she hopped that this would be the sight she would be seeing more of, even if it did look almost exactly the same as the view from her bed.
"Do I make you uncomfortable?" Helena asked, knowing already what Myka's response would be without Myka speaking a word.
"No, why?"
"Well you leave the room when you need to change, back in my day women changed freely in front of one another, at least they did in my community" Helena thought for a moment, "you changing elsewhere, is it because of me and my taste?" she finished.
"Times have changed Helena, women or maybe just me are no longer as comfortable around one another or as confident about their appearance as you are." Myka replied ignoring Helena's last question, walking out of the bathroom fully clothed, her brush combing through her wet hair once again. Helena sat up to face the woman.
"I do not see why you are not confident Myka; you are a very beautiful lady."
Myka scoffed and plugged in the hair dryer and straightners , turning the switch on the first, allowing it to half dry her hair and tune out any further speech from Helena. Myka expected Helena to leave but no movement came from her direction. It got to the point where Myka needed to stop drying her hair, unless she wanted to leave it curly. She switched of the heated machine and brushed through her tight ringlets. She grabbed the now scorching straightners and clamped them to her hair, pulling downwards to straighten a length.
"Let me help" suggested Helena stepping forward to take the appliance which seemed more like a torture implement than a thing of help.
"It's ok Helena, I'm fine" Myka retracted her body trying to avoid Helena's touch. Helena stepped back confused.
"Have I offended you sweetie, because I did not mean to, if I have I am awfully sorry"
"No, of course not" Myka responded, not sure of what to say, "Have you packed yet?"
"Well no, but..." Helena stammered, this conversation had not gone as planned. It seemed like Myka was mentally retracting herself further than her body did earlier, she was obviously not used to compliments.
"No buts just do it, please"
Helena sighed realizing that Myka had just repeated what she had said to Pete earlier to get him to leave. "For you Myka, anything", she suddenly felt how Pete looked previously, utterly defeated. Helena took one last moment to look at Myka before following Pete in his depressed exit, turning back just before she reached the door frame, shooting Myka a smile before continuing out.
"Downstairs in 1 hour" Myka yelled out the door, moving to straighten the hair on the other side of her face, "Both of you."