When Maia duly arrived in Tallinn, Vivian was there to greet her and take her home. Upon seeing Maia's t-shirt, Vivian exclaimed, "You got to be kidding me! You actually had sex on the plane during this flight?"
Maia replied, "Of course not on this flight. It would have been presumptuous of me to expect to join the club beforehand without any partner in mind. I did the deed with Toomas in the airplane's lavatory when we flew together from California to Miami. Hence, it was not false advertising for me to wear this shirt on this flight starting from Chicago. So, you're no longer the only one of the Laaning family to be a member of what I presume to be a very exclusive club."
Vivian rolled her eyes as she said, "I guess it's true what they say that the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree."
Maia retorted, "They also say great oaks from little acorns grow. "
They broke out into hearty a laughter at their insipid exchange. Vivian was naturally eager to hear all the details of Maia's trip to America. She was intrigued by the revelation of the story of Sonia Broadhurst. Vivian said, "Sonia Broadhurst is certainly a most interesting addition to our family and you say she has an uncanny resemblance to me?"
From that, there ensued lots of topics for mother and daughter to talk about during that afternoon. Around five Vivian left for the Stenbock Maja to spend the night with Raimond, her common-law husband and Prime Minister of Estonia. Consequently, Maia had texted Riina about her arrival and asked her to come over for the night.
Riina Mölder was our heroine's best and intimate friend ever since they met when each of them was seven years old. Thus, they were close friends throughout the entirety of their primary and secondary educational years. There were several factors that cemented their regard for each other and attributed to their enduring ever lasting friendship. The main point was that there was never any jealousy or envy of each other's beauty, between them whether as children or as teenagers or as adults.
Even when they were children, Riina was cognizant that Maia was the superior in traditional female allure. Riina had an inborn self assurance and esteem of herself that prevented her from feeling any envy of Maia's beauty. She accepted the fact that Maia was prettier as just a normal happenstance difference equal in consideration that at full maturity she was two inches shorter in height than Maia. Neither fact bothered Riina since she knew whenever one makes a comparison there is bound to be a difference.
As Riina saw it, if Maia's pulchritude and height were objectively deemed to be superior to hers, then she had qualities superior to Maia. One of them was that Riina had a more gregarious personality which allowed her to interact with her peers easily. On the other hand, Maia was aloof with her friends except for Riina. Maia and Riina were the two most popular girls in their high school, but Riina had far more close friends because of her friendlier convivial temperament.
Riina had been overweight as far as she could remember. As a result, when she started elementary school, she was subject by her schoolmates to constant taunting and mocking of what was considered by them to be her fat body. She had heard every pejorative epithet of obesity directed at her such as pig, hippo, elephant, rhino, fat, grossly fat, etc. The more polite taunts and mockery hurled at her such as chunky, plump, portly, pudgy etc., were paradoxically even more hurtful to her self esteem. The former jeers could be dismissed by her as ignorance displayed by her despicable tormentors. But the latter insults by otherwise normal peers, struck Riina's psyche dreadfully as she perceived it suggested as a proof that she did not merit to mingle in worthwhile society.
Riina's spirit was buoyed by her parents' unconditional love for her as they constantly reassured her that she was indeed a lovely girl. However, it was Maia's unwavering attitude whereby she sincerely maintained that Riina was just as pretty as herself. That constant reassurance by Maia really bolstered Riina's self-confidence. Riina sensed that Maia's comforting assertion was not just paid simple lip service but indicated a genuine belief. Such perception by Riina went a long way to dismiss her feelings of inadequacy with regards to her own feminine allure.
Riina's ultimate reassurance for her very own favorable assessment of her pulchritude occurred during the previous summer when Maia and she were both eighteen years old. On an afternoon in August during an especially sunny and pleasant day, Maia was in a giddy mood. She suggested to Riina that they partake in the pleasure of going to the beach at Narva. The Narva-Jõesuu nudist beach is the only official nudist beach in Estonia, although there are other nudist beaches, but those do not offer the safety such as attending lifeguards plus other amenities. The Narva-Jõesuu is located on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. It's a beautiful eight kilometers long white sandy beach lined up with pine trees.
When they arrived at the beach, there were mostly families and couples all naked getting in some sunbathing and swimming. Some indulged in a picnic. Maia and Riina were slightly disappointed in not seeing any young men of their age, as in the back of Maia's mind was the hope there would be an opportunity of striking up an acquaintanceship with a male superior to the males whom she knew. Perhaps a sexual encounter could result in her finally losing her virginity. However, an occasion to swim and sunbathe naked in public was by definition a delightful experience to savor and enjoy and took the sting out of their initial disappointment.
As soon as they laid down their beach blanket and were completely undressed, Riina said, "I'm going to the water and stick my toe in the water to determine how cold it is, and I'll report back to you."
