Breaking Up Pt. 01

JULIE'S STORY

Ilona and Julie were mentioned in Seducing Zoe Part Four and as promised, I've penned a two-part short story about these two women. The other characters in the abovementioned story don't make an appearance though, so without delay let me introduce you to Ilona and Julie, the story is set in the Melbourne suburb of Mooroolbark, 2012 and begins with Julie's story.

Julie couldn't quite decide what she liked most about Ilona the first time she laid eyes on her at work. Unlike the other women in the office she was quiet and unhurried, the kind of employee who seems to do the lion's share of the work whilst others were busy yacking on about their boyfriend, the newest sale or any number of subjects.

Ilona was twenty four years old with immaculately styled blonde hair styled at the front, falling to just past her shoulders. She had light brown eyes, a cute button nose and when she smiled you could see her dimples. She was wearing a white, silk blouse fastened with silk-covered buttons and pulled tightly over her ample breasts and tucked into a brown pencil skirt. Her waist was slim but her hips curvaceous, and when she locked her hands behind her head and arched her back sometime before midday, Julie's eyes flickered to her breasts.

"What's wrong?"

"Um," Julie fiddled with her lace pussybow, "I was just wondering about lunch breaks, "no one told me what time people go for lunch."

"We generally work it out for ourselves," Ilona looked past her at the others in the open plan office, "I'm due to go in an hour though, so if you like you can go at the same time."

"Thanks," she smiled, "I was told just about everything else before I started this morning."

"A word of warning then," Ilona looked at her computer monitor, "don't drink the coffee, most of us bring our own small jars into work instead."

Julie nodded sagely and looked at her computer screen, this type of work was so familiar she felt as if she'd been doing it forever, although her last job at a bank in the inner suburb of Richmond had been far more varied. This job as a tax return consultant felt like a sideways promotion, but if she wanted to pay the bills, her mortgage, and fund her sideline dressmaking business then she needed a full time job.

"Do you drink Nescafe?" Ilona rose and tucked the blouse further into her skirt.

"Yeah," she glanced at her, "why?"

"Milk and two, black and two or straight black?"

"Black and strong," she replied.

"Like your men?" Ilona smiled tightly.

Julie returned the smile as Ilona stepped away from her desk.

"I'll be back in five minutes."

It was only then that Julie noticed the diamond-encrusted engagement ring on her finger and yet when she commented on it, Ilona merely smiled tightly and head off to make the coffees. Julie chanced a glance in her direction as she walked away, noticing the curve of her hips and a smile nudged her lips. Her new co-worker was hot, and engaged, she returned to the screen.

Probably to some hot guy in senior management, knowing my luck.

She was so engrossed in the windows that populated the screen that she was only dimly of Ilona's return until the woman placed the cup on her desk.

"Thanks, I owe you one," she picked the cup up and sniffed it, "nothing like the smell of caffeine in the morning."

"Especially after a hard night," Ilona reached out and tugged at the sleeve of her blouse, "where did you buy this? My mum had one years ago but she took it to the op shop."

"I made it," she glanced up at her.

"No way?" Ilona's eyes widened, "seriously?"

"Yes," she leaned back in her seat to give her a better look.

The silk blouse had a white bodice with a wide pleat down each side of a placket that was hidden by wide ties made of white lace and looped over in a loose knot at her throat, the tie ends stopped at her belt and the puffy sleeves ended in narrow cuffs. The blouse was tucked into a black pencil skirt that stopped just below her knees.

"I'd let you see my own label stitched behind the collar," she pushed the ties aside to reveal the placket, "but it might look awkward in this place."

Ilona's lips dropped in a sardonic smile.

"Yeah it might look awkward," she leaned down and fingered the ties, "my god, it's exquisite," she straightened up and glanced at a colleague staring at them.

"Just admiring the merchandise," her eyes narrowed as she faced her down, "she makes clothes," she took a step back and sat down at her desk, "my shout for lunch, I want to know more."

Julie chanced a glance to her right at the dour-faced, middle aged woman who'd been introduced as Karen, their immediate supervisor. Karen's eyes widened slightly and then she returned to her screen and Julie felt a slight surge of relief.

"Karen's a bitch," Ilona announced breezily an hour later as they sauntered into the food court at Eastland, "she's been there so long I think they just built the place around her. She's married to some builder who owns his own company but he's always travelling around the state going to different sites, so she's left on her own with a bottle of wine and the telly for company."

"Sad," Julie commented as they looked around.

"It is sad," Ilona sighed, "decisions, decisions, decisions. Do you want Thai, a pizza, burger, KFC, Wendy's or a healthy option?"

"It's your shout," Julie reminded her.

"Too right," she slipped a hand into the crook of her elbow, "Thai it is then," she started walking again, "level two."

Julie couldn't help but feel a mixture of bemused wonder and mild anxiety as they made their way to a Thai restaurant sandwiched between a Japanese one and an establishment that specialised in dumplings. One of the benefits about not being out and proud was the ability to blend in, but on the other hand, she glanced at the menu on the window, eventually one had to at least drop the hint to avoid misunderstandings. Ilona was talkative as they walked and Julie discovered that she lived with her fiancé, Nick and that the wedding was in three months.

"So, tell me about yourself," Ilona asked her some five minutes later as they sat down to a meal.

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything," she smiled.

"I'm twenty eight years old, I started working at Westpac when I was nineteen years old, but three years ago I did a part time dressmaking course with the idea of making enough money to justify quitting my job and launching my career in fashion," she took a mouthful of food.

"I live by myself in Mooroolbark with my dog, Max and my cat, Celine, and when I'm not at work or walking the dog I'm sitting down making clothes for my girlfriends."

"No boyfriend?" Ilona raised her eyebrows.

"No," Julie contemplated her for a moment, "I'm more into women."

"Oh," Ilona's eyes widened.

"I would have said something before but I didn't feel like announcing it with people walking past," she looked past her, "I try to keep a low profile."

"Sneaky," Ilona grinned and then grabbed her wrist, "it's fine, really. I have a few gay friends but you're definitely the best looking lesbian friend I've got," she let go of her wrist and slid her hand back across the table.

"Assuming lesbian is the right word, I'm always worried I'll accidentally upset someone."

"If the cap fits, wear it."

"Precisely," she put a forkful of food in her mouth.

"So," she changed the subject, "have you got pictures of your creations?"

Thankful for the change of subject, Julie touched her phone and tapped an app.

"Is that the new Samsung?" Ilona leaned over, "huh, looks pretty slick, I'm an iPhone girl," she smiled at her.

"It's cheaper but most of my friends have the iPhone, so I'm the odd one out."

"No kidding," she murmured as Julie opened her gallery to reveal some thirty pictures, "where the bloody hell were you when I was choosing my wedding dress?"

Julie smiled at that and kept eating as Ilona scrolled through the gallery.

"Have you ever done a wedding dress?"

"One," her eyes flickered to the phone, "three more pictures along."

The picture that filled the screen showed two women, one wore a black suit and ruffled shirt, the other was wearing a white dress that clung tightly to her bodice, but flared out below her hips to form a free flowing long skirt.

"It's made of white leather and satin," she told her, "that one was a real challenge because I had to buy a second hand sewing machine just for the leather, the shirt the other woman is wearing was easy compared to that dress, but the shirt material came from the same bolt of material as the dress so it was actually a nice romantic touch."

"Wow, you're amazing," Ilona glanced up briefly.

"Thank you," Julie managed between mouthfuls,

"You've done quite a few shirts though," Ilona went back to eating.

"There's more money in dresses," Julie replied, "but I've found the best way to advertise is to wear what you make and seeing as my social calendar can be a little dire, I made a decision to make some office attire for myself. I mean I can't compete with the big shops but if I'm wearing a blouse that makes a statement then there's a chance someone might want something similar," she stirred the remains on her plate.

"It's certainly a good talking point."

"You're not wrong there," Ilona looked at her, "have you got patterns at home?"

"Yeah," she raised the glass to her lips, "a couple of catalogues in my sewing room," she took a sip and waited for the inevitable question.

"Could you make something for me?"

"Yeah, sure. What would you like, a dress?"

"Hmm," she studied her, "I think I'd like a shirt, something I could wear to work," she picked up her glass, "that way I can model one of Julie's creations at work and bring in clients, some of our colleagues would be interested."

"Okay," Julie grinned, "I'll give you my address," she slid the phone towards her, "what's your phone number.

When Julie texted her address to Ilona a minute later the other woman raised an eyebrow.

"Mooroolbark," she murmured, "well that's nice and close, we're in Montrose, we're practically neighbours, are you free tonight? I could follow you home."

"Or you could drop me off at home," she replied, "my car is dying, it's making a horrible grinding noise when I use the brakes so it's sitting at home until I can find a mechanic who comes to your home, and then I have to actually be home to give him the keys," she sipped her drink.

"I had to get a bus and train into work this morning and it'll be like that until I can get the car fixed," she put the glass down.

"Then I'm your girl," she put her fork down and in answer to Julie's confused look she smiled and continued, "my older brother, Darren is a qualified mechanic, he'd look at your car."

"He would? That would be fantastic."

"He'd do anything for his baby sister," she smiled, "I'm the youngest out of four, two girls and two boys, Darren is part owner of the garage but they have a mobile repair service."

"How much?"

"For you?" Ilona regarded her, "he'd probably do it for the cost of parts if I asked him or you could make something for his wife or one of their kids instead. Darren's method of billing can be a little, shall we say, creative?" Ilona picked up her glass and took a mouthful.

"But I'll run you home tonight, it's not a problem."

"We won't be long," she reassured her.

"Whatever," she shrugged, "Nick will just have to start the dinner himself, for a change," her eyes shifted as the ghost of a smile nudged her lips.

It was the first hint Julie had that the relationship was anything but perfect but for the rest of the day they focused on work, although Ilona did announce to all and sundry that their new colleague was a dressmaker, which raised a few eyebrows along with Julie's hopes. It looked like her secret crush was going to be her new 'model.'

***

Julie's two storey house in Mooroolbark was on a quiet street not far from Hull Road. Her Ford Falcon sat under an open-sided carport at the end of a curved driveway, the window overlooking the carport was her sewing room Julie informed her as they mounted the steps to the porch. Ilona noted the mini Greek columns on either side of the steps, the Mediterranean theme continued the length of the semi-enclosed porch with a railing and the uprights.

"The big columns are made of some synthetic material," she unlocked the flywire door, "when I came here to view the place for the first time I thought they were actual marble but they're hollow inside," she unlocked the front door.

"It's as big as mum and dad's place though," she looked up at the second storey, "pretty big for one person though."

"Yeah, I had someone living up there, but they moved out a few months ago so I'm still looking around for another lodger."

Ilona's eyes widened as they stepped into the living room, "wow, this is gorgeous," she stared at the long, L-shaped couch.

"Oh my God, is that a sofabed too?"

"Yeah, the benefits of living alone, two can't live as cheaply as one," she dumped her handbag on a sofa chair by the door.

"I love it," she walked over and sat down, "you could actually sleep on this without even folding it out," she slouched back and spread her arms along the back and smiled as she glanced at the tv mounted on the wall.

"The next time I have a fight with Nick I'm bagging the couch," she grinned.

"Whatever," Julie took off her jacket, "be my guest and if it's a permanent fight there's always upstairs," she draped it over the arm of the chair, "come on through to the sewing room."

"Coming," Ilona rose suddenly.

Her heels clicked on the polished wooden floor as she followed her into what had been the master bedroom judging by the size and the wardrobe standing against the end wall. A bench built into the adjoining wall held several sewing machines A large cutting table was set close to the window and a mannequin stood by a small chest of drawers on one side of the door with two sets of plastic storage drawers on top. A rack on the other side of the door contained rolls of material. Julie lifted two hefty catalogues from beside one of the storage units and carried them over to the cutting table.

"Okay, how about you start looking and I'll get something to drink," Julie opened the catalogues to display the pictures and their patterns inside plastic envelopes, "do you want coffee, soft drink or something stronger?"

"Juice if you've got it," she murmured.

"Orange? Mango? Pineapple?"

"Whatever you're having," she thumbed a page tab.

Julie left her to it and went to fetch two glasses of orange juice and when she returned Ilona was staring at a picture of a woman wearing the same blouse as Julie.

"That's the one I'm wearing now," she set the glasses down.

"I can see that," she murmured, "although I can see there are variations," she picked up her glass and had a sip.

"Anything you like?"

"That's the problem," she frowned, "there are so many, I could spend a few hours just browsing," she turned a few pages and pointed to a cream-coloured blouse with a wide pleat down each side of the bodice, it had the choices of a standard collar or a princess collar, another variation had two pleats on each side of the bodice.

"There's the one like yours, that one," she turned another couple of pages, "or this," she pointed to a blouse that also had pleats but the front fastening but had a double row of buttons in front, there were two other versions of the blouse, one with a mandarin collar and the other with a princess collar, "what do you think?"

"You're the one wearing it," she picked up her glass, "although if I made one like mine it should be a different colour at least."

"Yeah," she turned back to the other one for a moment before returning to the double-breasted one, "I like this one, it has that retro office look."

"Yeah, that'd look good. What colour?"

"White or cream."

"You could even have both," Julie took a sip, "the bodice can be white but the cuffs and collar can be made out of a cream material, which collar?"

"The standard collar, although the mandarin is certainly eye catching and that's the general idea, something to stand out and hopefully bring in some new customers," she flipped over to the other one again.

"Although, maybe later I could have another one made, or two more," she smirked, "at this rate I'll be giving my overtime to you," Ilona looked past her to the window.

"All right, let's do it, the double breasted one in white."

"No worries," Julie moved to the window, "just wait till I close the curtains, it's a quiet street but we don't want to stop traffic."

"Probably not," Ilona chuckled as she pulled off her jacket, "do you want me to strip all the way?"

"Um no," she turned around, "just unbutton your blouse and pull it out of the skirt," she walked to the chest of drawers, "and loosen your skirt but leave it on."

"Shame," Ilona chuckled as she moved away from the table, "I was looking forward to stripping in front of a lesbian," she turned towards the mirror and began to unbutton her blouse.

Julie glanced at the door as she heard a familiar scratching at the rear French doors.

"Cheeky," Julie replied, "um, I need to let Max in, you're not allergic to dogs are you?"

"Not at all, I love dogs," Ilona undid a few more buttons and glanced over her shoulder.

Julie left the room and by the time she returned with her three-year old Samoyed Ilona was standing with her blouse unbuttoned and her skirt pulled part way down her hips. Her eyes lit up as she saw the dog.

"Wow, look at him, who's a beautiful boy?" Ilona leaned over as Max padded over to her with his tail wagging.

"Now that's something you don't see every day," Julie smiled crookedly.

"What? A partially clothed woman patting a dog?" Ilona glanced up as she ran her hands through his thick coat.

"No, Max taking to a total stranger, he's usually more cautious but they say dogs are psychic."

"Max loves me," Ilona cooed, "I'd so love a dog but Nick has absolutely refused to have one in the house or the yard," she straightened up.

"Why not? He's not a dog person?" Julie stepped over to the chest of drawers and took out a measuring tape, notepad and pen, and brought them to the table.

"He's okay with dogs but his mother has terrible allergies, she's on antihistamines and every spring she breaks out with hay fever."

"You and Nick live with his mother?" Julie passed the tape around her back and drew it through to the front.

"No, thank God," she replied, "Nick's mother is definitely an acquired taste," she looked down as Julie pulled the tape tight, "she's there several times a week, always to see her son, and her daughter in law of course," her eyes narrowed.

"Well, that's a shame," Julie let go of the tape, "if you can't get on with your in laws before the big day it's not a good look."

"That's what my mum says," Ilona glanced down as Julie wrote down the measurement, "she met her once and said that woman's got issues."

"Your mother is probably right," she pushed the blouse off her shoulders, "straighten up and arch your back," she stretched the tape across her shoulders.

Ilona complied and she wrote down that measurement and then measured her arms and torso, Ilona said nothing until she'd finished.

"Can I ask you something embarrassing?"

"Um, yeah," Julie put the pen down.

"Do you find me attractive?" Ilona pulled the blouse back over her shoulders.

"Yeah, I have a few women ask me that while I'm doing this so it's not an embarrassing question."

"Professionally speaking then?" Ilona started buttoning her blouse.

"Yeah, that's about the size of it," Julie pulled the pattern out of its plastic folder.

"What about non professionally speaking?" Ilona asked.

Julie froze for a moment and then glanced over at her, the look in her eyes was hard to read. Was she flirting with her or was it just her way of making conversation? She'd come out with that snide comment about her future mother in law after all.