Aka. "Destination Anywhere", "The Boy and Girl from County Bavaria"... After a very intense year in Würzburg (Germany), I'm back in Salamanca. I probably won't have that many experiences to write, but there's always an excuse to post a new entry!

20.

No matter what calendars said, the summer had already visited Baltimore, and judging by the past few weeks, it was planning to stay. If you walked around the suburbs, you could already see some people sunbathing in their gardens, or children playing with the sprinklers to freshen up. Downtown the sun was shining above the lively, crowded streets. Some bars and cafés had begun placing their chairs and tables on the outside, far-sighted. Mini-skirts, shorts and sunglasses were starting to become some sort of uniform, as were tank tops and all sorts of revealing shirts. Even in the shops it was hard to find something else.
"Thanks for coming with me" Johanna smiled "I really needed some new clothes, but I wouldn't want Marco to go through the torture of taking me shopping."
"It's fine" Sharon chuckled "I enjoy it, too. So, what exactly are we looking for?"
Johanna looked around. With the shining lights, the loud music and the people rushing around, the place looked more like a club than a boutique, in her opinion. Even she felt like dancing on the counter at the till. She had only chosen that place because the prices were reasonable and it was a big shop, which meant more space to search. Yet seeing the mess of tops thrown into a big crate with the sign Sales written on it everywhere, she was starting to doubt she could find something in there. She shrugged and answered:
"Anything, really. As long as it's comfortable, kind of loose and I can wear it without roasting, I'm fine with it."
"How comes?"
"I'm in my fourth month, so I'll probably start getting fat soon. Actually, it's starting to be noticeable" she checked her reflection on a column which was a mirror "Remember my orange dress? Well, I was going for a walk with Alex the other day and thought of wearing it... but as soon as I tried it on, I decided to wear something else because it made my belly stick out."
"Oh, I see" Sharon bit her lip "Yeah, dresses are kind of tricky..."
"And at the same time, they're the only thing you can wear during this time of the year" Johanna sighed a little "At least I. It's too hot for pants, unless they're really short. But again, they'd have to be elastic and I'd need tops which are not too tight to wear with them. You know, I don't want to be one of those pregnant girls who walk around showing off their tummies."
"Why not? It's cute. Moreover" Sharon grinned slyly "For once in my life I'm going to be thinner than you. Let me enjoy it!"
"Jerk!" the Austrian whacked her playfully, giggling "Which reminds me that I will probably have to stop working out soon, and it's driving me insane. I hate sitting around doing nothing all day."
"Hey, but that's good! You have an excuse to be lazy! Many people would kill to be in your place."
"But you know me; I get bored if I have nothing to do."
Sharon nodded. After checking out a few racks, she realized Johanna wasn't probably going to get what she wanted there. She turned back to her friend and said:
"I'm afraid this is not the right place. But I know where to take you."
"Really? Where?"
A mysterious smirk spread on Sharon's lips.
"We're going to Baby Mamma's World."
"I thought that was more like a toy shop" Johanna arched an eyebrow.
"No, apparently they have a little bit of everything. Delia talks about it all the time."
That was certainly not an exaggeration. Johanna's jaw dropped when she saw the infamous shop. In fact, more than a shop, it was almost a department store. There were four floors, each one specializing on different things, all of them related to mothers and children: Baby clothes, food, toys, maternity clothes... There was even a section for furniture and strollers. Pastel tones predominated all over the place, as it was supposed to be a happy, relaxing place which attracts pregnant women and young children. In fact, out of all the people she could see as the escalators took them to the third floor, she counted about four men.
"There we are" Sharon announced "Mamma's Clothes."
A bit reluctantly, Johanna followed Sharon to the area where maternity clothes were located. She was surprised to see that, unlike what she thought, it wasn't full of flowery blouses, elastic pants and overalls that only old or very fat women would dare to wear on the street and still respect themselves. Some clothes were actually kind of fashionable. There must have been a lot of teenage girls getting pregnant, she thought to herself. Having a look at one of the racks, she noticed a certain top.
"What do you think of this one?" she held the hanger out, showing it to Sharon.
The straps were thin and dark blue was the main colour, yet there were many others on the pattern, which gave it a very psychedelic touch: orange, lighter blue, yellow... The upper part was tight and elastic, but it became loose right below the breasts. Sharon narrowed her eyes as she examined it and finally gave it a thumb up.
"I like it! It's quite your style, actually!"
"I know, I thought the same when I saw it" Johanna smiled "I'm going to try it on."
As Johanna went into the fitting room, Sharon had a look around. Her friend was definitely the youngest person on that floor, as long as you didn't count the children. Apart from that time, she had only been at Baby Mamma's World once with Delia, who was very fond of it. She would have never expected that the next time she'd be there would be because of the redhead. In fact, she had fantasized that the next time she'd visit that shop, it would be to buy things for herself and her yet unborn baby. Being a mother was one of her dreams in life, and it was hard to believe that even Johanna would live that experience before her.
Twenty minutes later they left the shop, but they did so with two big bags: Two dresses, a pair of elastic pants, a pair of elastic shorts and three tops. Yet the price wasn't too different from any regular shop, which was a nice surprise.
"Wanna go for an ice-cream?" Sharon suggested as they got off the escalators.
"Actually, I'd rather go for a coffee, but I can't... god, I miss it so much!" Johanna whined "See, now that the sickness is almost gone, this is the hardest part for me. I need my caffeine!"
"Yeah, I've noticed you more tired than usual" the Dutch girl chuckled "Why don't you try drinking tea instead?"
"I tried... worst exam period ever."
Lost in the conversation, Sharon didn't notice the person walking in the opposite direction in front of her. In the middle of the sentence she was saying, she bumped into someone, both of them dropping their bags accidentally.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she apologized in a choked voice, more due to the embarrassment than to having bumped into that person, and bent down to pick up what they had dropped "I didn't real... Flo?!" she exclaimed as she looked up.
"Oh... hey Sharon!" the other woman smiled sheepishly as she took the stuffed bunny from Sharon's hands.
As soon as she heard the name Flo, Johanna had to turn around and watch them. Sharon had told her many things about her ex-lover, but she had never had the chance to meet her.
"What are you doing here?" the brunette wanted to know.
"I came here to buy Sally a present" Flo pointed at the stuffed animal "It's her birthday next week. She loves bunnies."
"Aw, that's cute!"
"Yeah, I think she'll like it. What about you? What are you doing here?"
"I was shopping for new clothes with a friend" she motioned towards Johanna.
"The clothes are for me, not for her" the Austrian urged to point out "I am the one who's pregnant."
"Oh, congratulations" Flora smiled kindly "It was nice to see you again. I think I should go now. I have to help Erin with the party."
"Sounds like fun!"
"Well, it won't be that fun when I have ten kids eating cake in the kitchen and have to look after them for three hours while they're in the garden" she sighed "Sorry, didn't mean to get whiny... I love living with my sister and her family, but having to babysit after working all day is pretty exhausting."
"You're living with them?" Sharon wanted to know.
"Yeah. See, I don't really like living on my own. Plus the houses near the area where I work are a bit too expensive and not quite my style... so I thought it'd be better to stay at my sister's, even though it's kind of crowded."
"I see..."
Flo ran a hand through her hair, which was now dark brown. And it actually suited her a lot better than being blonde. She released a small sigh as she said:
"Well, it was nice to see you again. Hope we can meet up some time."
As she turned away, Johanna gave Sharon a meaningful look. The brunette raised her eyebrows.
"What?"
"You should have told her!" Johanna whispered.
"Told her what?"
"That there's a free room in your place!"
Sharon chuckled skeptically.
"Why would I?"
"Because you like her. Your face totally lit up when you saw that it was her."
"It didn't" Sharon blushed.
"Yeah, it did."
"That doesn't matter, Jo. She probably hates me by now."
"Yeah, right" Johanna laughed "If she hated you, I don't think she would have insisted so much that it was nice to see you or told you her whole life in five minutes. Besides... ok, you know I'm not into girls or anything, but... Man. She's. Hot!"
Before Sharon could demand an explanation for the last comment, they heard a voice calling them from behind. Flo was following them, holding one of the tops Johanna had bought.
"I think you dropped this" she said loudly.
With her eyebrows arched and a pout on her lips, Johanna's face was easy to read. She was saying See? This is destiny, I told you! Or perhaps Sharon wanted to interpret it like that. Grinning embarrassedly, she made her way to the taller woman to retrieve the piece of clothing.
"Thank you" she said "By the way, I... was thinking of what you said before about not having much space for yourself at home and... well..." she scratched the back of her neck "You know, I have a free room at home, so maybe..."
Flo's immediate reaction was blushing like crazy. That, at the same time, made Sharon bite her lip and cower. Johanna couldn't help but roll her eyes amusedly. They were like too teenagers.
"A-actually, I'd love that" the blue-eyed girl replied with a sheepish smile "I always liked your house. But... do you really mean it?"
"Sure!" Sharon nodded "Why would I suggest it otherwise? Besides, I still owe you one for taking care of me on that night."
"Oh. Well, in that case, I guess I'll have to take your offer" Flo's smile widened "Thank you so much, Sharon!"
"No need to thank me. Just give me a call one of these days and we can start planning the move and everything."
Johanna smiled widely as Sharon's soon-to-be roommate went away, waving. As soon as they both turned away and started walking, she couldn't resist the temptation of teasing her soul sister anymore.
"You like her! You like her!" she chanted "And I knew it! I'm the ultimate matchmaker!"
"Gosh, was that awkward!" the brunette shook her head, her face almost the same colour as her friend's hair "What have I done? It will be so weird when we're living together!"
"Why would it? She likes you too."
"She doesn't like me, Johanna. I was a bitch to her."
"Please! She was totally making eyes at you!"
"Yeah, whatever. Now pray that she doesn't have an evil plan against me or something, like killing me in my sleep or robbing my house."
"Come on, you can't be serious" the Austrian exclaimed "I might have only spent five minutes with her, but that girl seems pretty transparent to me. She looked after you when you were drunk; she already had her chance to hurt you."
"You're right" the brown-eyed beauty admitted "I just hope things won't be too awkward between us if she moves in with me."