Chapter 13
Olga has been up for over an hour. She has made her bed, tidied her room, showered, had breakfast, and washed the dishes, all while checking the clock every ten minutes. She is incredibly nervous about Violeta's visit. It is very difficult for her to get used to the fact that thinking about her neighbor makes her heart race like this. She scratches the back of her neck and pulls her hair into a ponytail as she drops onto the couch.
It is almost nine in the morning, and a small part of her thinks that the best thing that could happen is for Violeta to sleep in and not show up for this strange meeting. Her eyes land on the small notebook she always has on the side table in case she needs to take any notes, and she picks it up, opening it to a blank page. Unconsciously, she draws a vertical line down the center of the sheet and writes "pros" on one side and "cons" on the other.
"Damn it," she sighs when she realizes what she is doing.
She barely slept last night. She cannot get Violeta out of her head. For her, it was much easier when the only thing between them was sexual attraction, but this close relationship with her mother is gradually causing her to get to know Violeta in a different way, and no matter how hard she looks, there is nothing about her that she doesn't like. Her neighbor's daughter has not only made a good impression on her, but Olga likes her way of being and everything she is discovering about her character fits with what she looks for in people. Moreover, those exchanges of glances between them drive her crazy, and every time they touch, Olga not only feels her temperature rise, but she also feels an electrifying and addictive tingling, like a drug.
She spent half the night imagining what would happen if something started between them, and what worries her most is not how to resolve the inconveniences that could arise between them, but the simple fact of considering something like this. What does she see in Violeta? Is it possible that in such a short time she could have become so taken with her? Or is it just such a strong attraction that it has her confused?
When she starts to list things on the positive side of what a relationship with Violeta would be like, so many things occur to her that she feels overwhelmed and can't write any of them down. Then she moves to the negative side, and there, four things come to her at once, which she writes down in one stroke. The first is that Violeta is Maite's daughter, and Olga values her neighbor's friendship greatly and would never want to do anything to spoil it. The second is that Violeta lives in Madrid, and although it is not an excessive distance and they could see each other every week, Olga knows she could endure that for a while, but as she fell in love with Violeta, she wouldn't be able to bear so much absence. The third is the age difference; Olga is ten years older than Violeta, and although she seems like a mature woman, Olga doesn't know her well enough to be sure. And the fourth, and perhaps the most important of all, would Violeta want something with her, or does she only see her as that forty-something, appetizing woman with whom to have a torrid holiday fling?
The doorbell rings, and Olga is so startled that she doesn't know what to do. She leaves the notebook on the table and heads towards the door with her heart pounding.
"Is it too early?" Violeta asks on the other side.
Despite only being a few meters between one house and the other, she is shivering from the cold.
"No, I've been up for a while," Olga replies, letting her in while observing the sky, surprised by how clear the day is.
Violeta stops in the middle of the living room, and Olga closes the door. The two look at each other in silence, and again the atmosphere is charged with an electricity so heavy that it makes it difficult for them to breathe.
"Your mother will want to see the room when she comes back," Olga blurts out.
"And what do you mean by that?" Violeta laughs as Olga approaches her until she grabs her by the waist and gives her a kiss on the lips that leaves her speechless.
"I mean, if you've come to strip wallpaper, we should strip it," she whispers in her ear, then lowers down her neck, leaving a trail of kisses that continue their path up her chin to end up again on her lips.
"Well, you're not making it very easy for me," Violeta gasps, clinging to her back.
"It's just that you're like an addiction."
Olga can't hold back; desire burns so much between her legs that blood is no longer reaching her brain, and neither can Violeta. The first time they sleep together that morning, they do it right then and there. Without much ado, they end up on the sofa, devouring each other as if they hadn't been satisfied the night before. Violeta again buries her face between Olga's legs and drinks from her, intoxicated by that sweet flavor that excites her so much. Her neighbor, just like that night, strings one orgasm after another until she feels that Violeta has absorbed every last drop of energy from her.
"Stop," she says amused when her lover goes back for more, "give me a break or you'll finish me off."
Violeta looks at her smiling and climbs up her body until she reaches her lips.
"I'd be savoring you all day if you'd let me."
The current tenses Olga's spine. Everything Violeta does and says, she likes and excites her in a disconcerting way. Trying not to think about everything she feels, she takes control of the situation, and this time it is she who takes care of exploring every corner of Violeta's body. She does it calmly, playing with her arousal as she pleases, taking her to limits that leave Violeta on the verge of madness.
They allow themselves a few minutes of rest in which they don't talk or even look at each other. They just stay together, naked next to each other while gently caressing and each lost in their own thoughts.
Olga closes her eyes on Violeta's chest and feels so comfortable that fatigue overcomes her, and she falls asleep. Violeta stays with her for a while, caressing her in silence while trying to sort out all that jumble of emotions fluttering through her body since she met her neighbor. She is unable to define what she feels for her, she cannot name it because she has never experienced anything like it, but what she does know is that she cannot stop thinking about her and that the only place she wants to be is where she is now, next to Olga.
After a few minutes, and very much to her regret, she gets up carefully so as not to wake her and gets dressed. She knows that Olga was right before, her mother will want to see progress when she comes, and they can't tell her they've been there without doing anything, so Violeta enters Olga's room with some shyness because she feels like she is invading her privacy, and begins to strip the wallpaper from the two remaining walls. Many times, her gaze wanders to different places in the room - on the dresser, the nightstand, or the folded clothes on the chair. Violeta feels an growing curiosity about Olga's life, but she restrains herself and continues pulling at the paper. The task doesn't seem as arduous or tedious to her as Olga said, she enjoys listening to how it tears and has enough patience to entertain herself with the scraper to remove those pesky pieces that resist coming off.
She decides that everything can be more fun with music, so she returns to the living room to get her phone. She walks slowly, as if she were a thief trying not to get caught. Olga is still on the sofa, lying on her side, covered with a blanket and her expression completely relaxed. Violeta stands at her feet and cannot define the exact amount of time she has spent looking at her, but she is sure that she could spend all day like this. Surprised by everything that is happening to her, she circles the sofa and approaches the table to pick up her phone, at which point she can't help but stare at the notebook next to it, where Olga has jotted down a few things.
Violeta does not consider herself a snoop, or maybe a little, but she couldn't resist, and the notebook is in her hands as she reads that list of pros and cons that Olga has drawn up. Although it doesn't have her name anywhere or the purpose for which she wrote it, Violeta only needs to read the cons to understand that it is about herself. Unconsciously, she has sat on the edge of the sofa to examine the list in detail. She is puzzled because it is clear that she means enough to Olga to make her draw up something like this, but it seems that she has not found anything good about her because that side of the list is empty.
"Snooping is rude," Olga suddenly says.
Violeta is so startled that she opens her hand and the notebook crashes to the floor. She turns flustered to Olga and sees her observing her with a charming smile that leaves her more confused than she already feels.
"Sorry, I came for my phone and I didn't want to... Well, yes I did," she admits, redder than a tomato, "you arouse so much curiosity in me that I couldn't help it."
Olga lets out a nasal chuckle and sits up a bit to pick up the notebook from the floor. Although she tries not to show any emotion about it, she is very nervous about the fact that Violeta has seen her list.
"Is there nothing you like about me?" Violeta asks, turning to her.
"How do you know that list is about you?" Olga counters as she picks up her clothes and starts getting dressed.
"She's Maite's daughter, lives in Madrid, and there's a ten-year age difference," Violeta recites aloud, "the last two could refer to someone else, but my mother only has one daughter and that's me."
"It could be another Maite," Olga squints as she buttons up her pants.
Violeta suppresses the temptation to stop her from doing so in order to take her body again, but this time she controls herself.
"Is it really another Maite?" Violeta asks in an ironic tone.
"No, of course not," Olga admits, sitting down next to her.
"So, there's nothing about me that you like, or you haven't finished writing that list?"
Olga smiles again, though this time it's a more nervous laugh.
"Of course there are things I like about you, Violeta, that's the problem, there were so many that it was absurd to write them down."
This time it is Violeta who smiles. It's a sincere and broad smile that takes up her whole face. She wasn't expecting Olga to be so honest, but if she thinks about it, she wasn't expecting anything that's happening to her with her either.
"Are you considering that we have something more serious?" Violeta asks, lifting her leg over Olga's, who caresses it slowly while thinking.
"I don't know, I wrote it without thinking, but I can't get you out of my head either, I feel like I'm on a slope and I've been thrown downhill. I can't stop myself, and I don't know if you feel the same way or if I'm the only one getting too involved."
Violeta picks up the notebook again and draws a line through the question about her mother.
"This, in case you and I, you know..." Violeta is unable to verbalize it, she doesn't dare, but Olga doesn't need to in order to understand what she is saying, "I don't think my mother would end up being a problem."
From there she jumps to the next line, the one that indicates that she lives in Madrid.
"This one here," Violeta sighs heavily, "I don't know, I don't think it's something we should worry about so soon either, right?"
Olga looks at her, not really knowing what Violeta is trying to tell her with this conversation, so she nods and remains silent.
"And this one," now Violeta laughs when she points to the age difference. "I've always been attracted to women older than me, I find them infinitely more interesting and experienced, and ten years is nothing."
She crosses out the line and stares at the fourth, the one that neither of them has talked about yet, where Olga has written: "What does Violeta want?"
"Well then?" Olga asks after a pause. "Would you consider something?"
Violeta looks at her thoughtfully and finally nods.
"Yes, of course I would. I've never felt this attraction or the connection I have with you with anyone, if this keeps going like this, of course I would dive into the pool with you."
Olga is somewhat surprised by Violeta's certainty, then she takes the notebook, tears off the page, and crumples it into a ball that she leaves on the table.
"What does that mean?" Violeta asks, frightened.
"That everything is clear, but I don't want us to rush into things either, Violeta. We barely know each other, we know that we work wonderfully in bed and that we get along well outside of it, but it doesn't seem enough to me to take a step like that with what it implies."
"You're saying that because of my mother," Violeta says, making a face.
"She's having a hard time, Violeta, and I don't know to what extent she would agree with this. Let's let the days go by and see what happens, okay?"
"But we need to spend time together, Olga. How are we going to find out if what we're starting to feel is going somewhere if we hardly see each other?"
"We'll see each other at the bakery, and in the afternoon you can come here."
"On the second I have to go back to work, we barely have a week left and the days go by very quickly."
Olga smiles, takes both her cheeks and kisses her to silence her as she straddles her.
"We'll find time and excuses. Now touch me."
Olga puts her hand between her legs over her pants. Violeta feels the burning and the wetness and again that impulse they can't control takes over them, dragging them to the bed.