When I woke up that morning, the first thing I thought about was how much I had changed in the last 24 hours. I was still conflicted about what I had done the days before. You know how they say that the night brings advice? Evidently the night was looking the other way. That morning I didn't find Sharon knocking on the door to serve me breakfast. This only increased my paranoia.
Hadn't she brought it to me because she believed she was in an advantageous position over me and had therefore abandoned her overly diligent attitude at work, no longer fearful of being fired? Perhaps she thought of this act of kindness as an advantage, while I thought of it as a simple act of courtesy and friendship. "Well, if she feels that way then I'll play it forward. I'll make up an excuse and get her fired so she can't use this card against me," I thought.
As these rants rumbled through my mind, I noticed two little cards on the nightstand next to the bed. One was from my mother and read: Good morning Honey, I left early to avoid traffic on the way to the airport. Be a good girl and behave responsibly during my absence. Kisses, Mom.
The second note was from Sharon and read: Good morning Johanna, please excuse me if I didn't get home before you woke up. I went for a run in the grove around the house. You'll find your breakfast on the kitchen table. I made you the usual toast with strawberry jam and tea, which is kept in the teapot. Have a nice breakfast, Sharon.
This momentary absence of hers was in my favor and I decided not to bet on the fact that she had gone to do her own thing during working hours. I needed for the moment to not run into her too often. I felt uncomfortable and wanted to avoid possible clarifications about yesterday's situation or questions about what happened before I entered her room. However, the most likely reason for why I didn't want to meet with her was that I felt strangely uncomfortable. I masked this discomfort under these excuses dictated by paranoia.
My stomach was communicating to me that it was time to stop working my brain unnecessarily and put something under my teeth. So I put on my slippers and headed for the kitchen, where I started eating breakfast. While I was eating I heard the door open and immediately saw her appear in the living room. She was pretty sweaty, her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, she was wearing a black jumpsuit with sports shoes on her feet. "Good morning Johanna, welcome back and enjoy your meal," she said.
"Good morning to you too. What's with the news today?"
"I needed to get some air, I wasn't feeling very well."
"But didn't your foot hurt last night? Did you still manage to run?"
I said this in a questioning and slightly accusatory tone, not to the point of putting her on the defensive.
"What? Ahhh, that one does. No it doesn't hurt anymore, thanks for asking. Your message was super." She said it in a fairly flirtatious tone, but I couldn't help but say thank you for the "compliment."
Since I didn't open my mouth, intent on pretending to be mortally interested in a rather mundane cookie slice, I forced her to take her leave and head for the bathroom, where she would take a shower. We also had a bathtub at our house, but she couldn't use it. It was just for my mother and me. This little spite made me feel a little better. Was I being mean and childish? I don't know.
Sharon had gone into the bathroom and was washing up. She had left her sneakers in the living room by the door. Wait a minute. My brain was kicking into gear: she had left the shoes she had worn on her run by the front door of the house. A light bulb went on in my head. I approached the door and the shoes. I looked down at them. He had also left his sweaty socks in his shoes. Those socks and shoes had been in contact with her feet. I thought this was a chance to chase away the mischievous little voice that accused me of wanting to give her a massage.
"Let's consider this a test," I thought. If that neighbor was wrong, as she surely was, then I would have found the congealed smell of the socks repulsive and I would have immediately turned my nose away from that dirty object. So I bent down and picked up my left sock, lifted it to the tip of my nose and took my first whiff. Then I gave a second one. Then I pressed it against my nose and then stuck my tongue out and rested it on the sock for a moment. No dice. As much as I tried, the taste didn't disgust me. The sweat on the sock had almost dried and it had become cold. Both the smell and the taste were not bad for a sock that had been in contact with a sweaty foot during a run.
It tasted slightly salty, but salt is also put on food so it didn't bother me. It didn't bother me. This conclusion was certainly not good for my mental state. I was even more confused than the night before. So it's not unlikely that I wanted to give her a foot massage? Am I attracted to her extremities? Or am I attracted to her and this is a consequence? Or is it both? "I don't know, I don't get it anymore," I thought. I needed to freshen up and let the water reboot me.
I felt dirty inside though, so I opted for something more "long range"., stronger: a nice hot bath, with colorful foam and lots of perfume. So I went to my room, where I took everything I needed for the bath: my oils, my perfumes and a change of underwear. I headed for the bathroom, the door was half closed.
"Sharon I'm coming in! I'm going to run a bath."
"Yeah yeah, make yourself at home."
We laughed. We needed that joke. It relieved the tension for a moment. I turned on the tub faucet and put the colored soap in. Immediately the water began to change color, turning a pink very similar to what you see in Tokyo during the cherry blossoms. I lit the scented candles and waited for the scents to fill the bathroom. I was already more relaxed. I loved this kind of thing, it made me feel like a real lady. Suddenly Sharon came out of the shower. "You don't mind if I let you see me naked? We're both girls and we're friends."
I was taken aback for a moment. I was more reserved and I wouldn't have shown my shame so casually to another person. All in all, though, I didn't mind that she did. The foam showed off her features even more, flowing around her breasts, and further down to her shaved pubes. She still had some lather along her legs and going down I noticed with some disappointment that the polish on her toenails had faded slightly.