Angie - a few days from Christmas
Angie could've walked out of her bedroom at her most comfortable, but there were enough reflective surfaces around the flat that she liked to primp and preen a little before she left the confines. She had the advantage of the primary suite, where she had her own loo. Sophie and Natasha had to share a bathroom.
Why am I doing my makeup?
It would be hours until Natasha would be home, and it wasn't like she didn't see Angie without her makeup frequently.
I want to feel sexy.
Angie grinned at her image in the mirror. Her mocha-colored skin was already getting extra toasty in her short exposure to her favorite beach early in the season. December had already hit the mid-thirties several times.
With Sophie gone, visits to the beach would likely be more infrequent. The bubbly redhead was the catalyst for all kinds of crazy adventures. It wasn't that Natasha wasn't fun to hang out with. Quite the opposite. Natasha wasn't the one to suggest the crazy plan, just the one to support it. It didn't help that her and Tasha's schedule rarely intersected in the right way.
Angie took a minute to tease out her hair. The explosive riot of frizzy black, brown, and gold undertones was controlled chaos in a manner that had taken her years to perfect. Although Melbourne was diverse by Australian standards, Angie still didn't know a lot of black or half-black girls like herself. She had to find sources online for hair care tips. Her father wasn't a font of knowledge with his bald pate. Her mother tried but didn't have the same frame of reference.
Throwing a towel over her shoulder, Angie thought about taking a toy with her to the front room. She rarely got alone time with two flatmates sharing the space, but that would wait until she'd gotten her baking done for the day. Slipping her feet into a pair of trainers, Angie walked out into the shared space of the house. It was a nice place for their section of Melbourne, but it took the combined income of three successful young women to afford the mortgage.
A bough of garland was curiously bouncing up and down from above the end of the hallway. The girls' three bedrooms and pair of bathrooms were down separate from the primarily open floorplan of the rest of the house. It was far more luxurious than the two-bedroom they'd shared in college. Back then, Sophie and Natasha had shared a bedroom. Angie won the coin flip to get her own bedroom then. In this house, she was paying a higher percentage of the mortgage, so she got the primary.
Aircon must be on.
Angie thought as she stepped down the hallway.
Did Sophie put up Christmas decorations before she left?
She'd flown to America late last night.
She does get nervous before she flies.
The furthest her flatmate had wandered previously was an excursion to New Zealand with her family a year ago, but that was nothing compared to the almost entire day she was spending traveling.
The bough of garland fell on Angie like some trap as soon as she stepped out of the hallway. The long green plastic and lights wrapped around her legs and nearly tripped her.
"Oops!" Natasha's laugh boomed out. "Caught a ripper of a nudey!"
"Tasha! What are you doing home?" Angie asked as she started to untangle the Christmas decorations.
"I was trying to put up the garland since Sophie's not here." Natasha hopped off the ladder to help unravel Angie. "Oh! Look at that. You must have gotten waxed with Sophie last week!" Natasha swept the green plastic and lights away from Angie's bare womanhood.
"It is almost beach season!"
"Could be like me. Don't have to get ready that way." Natasha grinned and shimmied her hips. The woman was eternally waxed, though she wasn't naked now like Angie was.
"How come you're not showing that off?"
"Been running back and forth putting lights up outside, too. Don't think the neighbors would appreciate the comfy outfit."
"Their loss." Angie shrugged. "Never answered my question, what are you doing home?"
"Traded shifts with Becks. She's got a sick kid, and this way, I have tomorrow night free for a date with Dr. Evans." Natasha waggled her eyebrows. "Haven't had one of those in ages."
Angie felt her heart fall. She'd been pining for Natasha for a while, but she knew that her flatmate didn't want a real relationship with her. They hooked up on occasion, but dating was an impossibility with Natasha's conservative family. It didn't stop Angie from longing for her.
Natasha, like Angie, didn't conform to the area's typical diversity. There was a high population of Chinese, Iraqi, and Iranian immigrants, but not Japanese and Russian. It was likely how the odd pairing came together at university nearly three decades ago. It was also why Natasha didn't usually celebrate Christmas. Her father didn't celebrate, at least not in the same way as the rest of Australia, and her mother didn't celebrate until January 7
th
, when the Eastern Orthodox church recognized the holiday.
Natasha was tall, lean, and breathtaking. Her gleaming smile made Angie want to cause the expression to grace the woman's face as often as possible. Angie had met her in an intro class at university but hadn't made a proper introduction until they ran into each other on a nude beach between semesters, a few days after Christmas more than half a decade ago. Sophie was a year more recent addition to the trio that had met on a nude beach half a decade ago.
This morning, Natasha was attired in an off-white sports bra with a thin black border between the ivory and her toasted-tan skin. A pair of pink bum shorts made her round butt look spectacular, but Angie doubted there was any apparel that could have a negative effect on the woman.
At least nothing that I've ever seen her in.
