Breaking Up Pt. 01

"I think you're beautiful," she replied, "I think Nick must be the luckiest man on the planet and if his mother can't see that then she needs her head read."

"Oh," Ilona looked up briefly as she pulled her skirt up over her hips, "thank you," she tucked the blouse into her skirt, "although she's pretty set in her ways," she fastened the skirt.

"So what material do you want? Silk, satin, cotton, polyester?"

"So many choices," she turned to examine her reflection in the mirror, "silk is soft, satin is shiny, cotton is cool but a bitch to iron and polyester," she frowned.

"Yeah, polyester but I could be seduced by silk," she smiled.

"The silk is marginally more expensive," she stepped over to the chest of drawers, "but you don't have to make up your mind yet," she propped an elbow on the chest of drawers.

"I have to arrange a lift down to the factory outlet in Bayswater on Saturday but you can pick out the buttons," she tapped one of the storage units.

"And if none of them take your fancy then I've got a catalogue in the drawer."

"Okay," Ilona joined her at the chest of drawers, "so you're going to this joint on Saturday?"

"Yeah, I can catch the train into Ringwood and back out to Bayswater," she replied as Ilona slid a drawer out.

"What time does it close?" Ilona opened another two drawers at once.

"Six during the week although it's open till eight on a Friday night, so maybe," she glanced down as Ilona picked up a small black button.

"Yeah, that's perfect," she smiled.

"There's more than enough to do the job too," Julie commented, "I bought those just last month for this," she pushed her pussybow tie aside and folded the placket back.

"That looks gorgeous," Ilona murmured, "we'll have matching buttons," she smiled, "whatever will our colleagues say?"

She dropped the button and turned to the wardrobe.

"So, let's see your creations."

"There's nothing in there except for half finished pieces, the finished ones are in my bedroom."

"Oh," she turned and looked at her, "okay, take me to your bedroom," she smiled.

Julie's bedroom was at the rear of the house and at one point it had been a rumpus room but she'd had the built in cupboards deepened and joined together to create a sizeable walk in wardrobe that took up an entire wall. The outside wardrobe wall had floor to ceiling mirrors mounted on it, which made the room look substantially bigger and shed more light into the room. A king size bed was against one wall and Ilona ran a hand over the white bedhead briefly and then glanced at the white chest of drawers and dressing table. The back of the room had French doors opening out onto a covered patio and beautiful backyard.

"Wow," Ilona looked around, "you could have a party for two in here," she turned to look at the mirrors on the wardrobe and then noticed the archway and her eyes widened.

"In there, it's a walk in wardrobe."

Ilona walked through the archway and then looked down the narrow passageway and sucked in her breath as she stared at the clothes hanging on each side and the shoe rack.

"Oh, my, God," she dragged each word out slowly, "I've only ever seen one of these in movies," she took a few steps forward, "you could have your own intimate party in here," she took a blouse down and held it against herself.

"Yeah, this is nice," she folded the collar back to look at the custom label.

"Julie's Boutique," she murmured.

Julie watched her wander down the passageway, taking out garments at random and then putting them back.

"You didn't make all of these, did you?"

"Just the ones on the right hand side," she replied.

"Okay," she turned around and ran her hand along the garments, "I'm impressed, you've got a real talent for dressmaking, there isn't a article of clothing I've seen that I wouldn't wear."

She came to a stop at the entrance and Julie took a half step back as Ilona turned around and stared at her, a moment later she flicked at the lace ties.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Show me what you couldn't show me at work."

Julie's eyes narrowed slightly and Ilona suddenly took a half step back, registering the shift in atmosphere and Julie shrugged and undid the knot. She felt a twinge of unease mingled with mild curiosity at the look in Ilona's eyes as she undid the two buttons holding the lace collar closed and turning to one side, undid the first few buttons and inched the blouse back over her shoulders.

"There," she turned her back to her.

Ilona stepped forward for a cursory examination and then nodded.

"I believe you," she took a half step back as Julie turned around, "sorry, I maybe shouldn't have asked, I hope you don't think."

"Of course not, for fuck's sake," Julie smiled crookedly, "straight women do this all the time but every time a straight woman finds out about my sexual orientation it's like she's on her guard and I get it, really, but now you know why I stay under the radar so to speak."

"Except for today in Eastland," Ilona fingered the collar.

"But that was just to give you fair warning, I'm not that anonymous and you were going to find out soon enough. I just didn't want you finding out in six weeks time when you might have touched my hair or given me a few hugs."

"I'm very tactile," Ilona took a step back, "it's one thing I'm known for, can you make that in satin?"

"Yeah, what colour?"

"Not white," she glanced at the light tan duvet cover "that colour but lighter."

"Sure, I can do that," Julie folded her arms, "you want a two for the price of one?"

"Maybe," Ilona's eyes narrowed, "I gotta use your loo though."

"Out the door, take the back passageway and first right, the bathroom is next door."

Julie sat down on her bed and stretching her legs out, reclined on her elbows as she considered the situation. There were definitely signs but was she just being friendly, flirting, playing hard to get or perhaps it was a combination of all three? She could even be just trying to get a better price, after all she knew her sexual orientation and she'd certainly used sexual desire as a negotiating tool at work herself, albeit reluctantly.

After Ilona exited the bathroom she heard the phone ringing in the living room followed by the hurried clickety-clack of heels on the wooden floor as she hurried to answer the call. Julie stared at her supine form, willing herself to get up and go through to the living room but then she heard Ilona returning to the bedroom as she spoke to someone on the phone.

"Yes I know what time it is, I do have a watch and I've got the time on my phone," she stepped into the bedroom and moved towards the window. "Oh, I don't know, I haven't decided yet," she reached the window.

"I really don't care honey... there's sausages in the freezer, steaks, chops, fish, make a decision... well... how long does it take to defrost frozen meat? For God's sake," she turned around to look at Julie and grimaced.

"No, no, you don't have to do that. Just stick the meat into a plastic freezer bag, tie it up and leave it in a sink of hot water from the tap. Fifteen or twenty minutes, peel the potatoes, chuck them into a saucepan of water, bring them to the boil... " Ilona pinched her nose.

"Fine, fine, grab a microwave meal if you want, I told you I don't give a shit... um... no, not right away," Ilona walked to the end of the bed.

"I'm with a girlfriend right now, she's having problems... no, it's women's issues... do you want me to go into the gory details?"

"Nick, I'm hanging up now," she knelt on the end of the bed, "just grab something for yourself, nuke a microwave meal or grab a takeaway, and I'll fix my own dinner when I get back, love you," she lowered the phone and stared straight ahead.

A moment later she pitched herself forward and landed on her stomach, her arms spread out wide as she bounced slightly.

"Please just kill me," she groaned loudly.

"What's wrong?" Julie rose and propping on her palm, swivelled in her direction.

Ilona rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling as she collected her thoughts.

"What is it with that man? I've tried to teach him how to cook and it's not like I'm a gourmet cook but he can't even boil water without burning it," she stared at Julie.

"He's an only child, that mother of his has been molly coddling him since the day he was born, she used to come around and do his housework for him before I moved in, she cooked for him, did his fucking laundry and then I moved in and suddenly he thinks I'm the new mother."

"It's a fairly common problem," she agreed.

"My mum raised my brothers to do their own laundry, she taught them how to cook and clean," she slipped a hand beneath her collar, "and they used to complain but mum always said it was for their own good, she wasn't going to create a rod for some woman's back."

Ilona propped on her elbows and glanced at herself.

"There have been times in the last few months where I've seriously considered calling a halt to the whole affair. This is supposed to be my day, but the only thing I've been allowed to choose is my wedding dress and the bridesmaid dresses, and that last one didn't come without a fight. My mum had to wade into battle because one of his cousins is going to be a flower girl."

"So, why go through with it?" Julie asked her, "I don't know much about your relationship apart from what you've told me but if it's giving you that much grief, then either stand your ground and demand your future mother in law back off or call the whole thing off."

Julie glanced at the door as she went on.

"I mean despite the fact that he's a mummy's boy, he'd probably back down, it's not like he can fuck his mother, at least not legally."

Ilona's eyes widened appreciably as she stared at Julie and the older woman glanced down briefly at her partially unbuttoned blouse.

"And I'm not just saying that because you're lying on my bed with me looking like this," Julie straightened up and fastened a button.

"But a wedding is a one time thing for you and your partner, and despite the stereotype that it's the bride's day, she really wants her partner and family to be a part of it, not take over and do it all for her. Granted a lot of men just grunt and nod, but I've known a few men who took an active part in the preparations, even if their better halves had the casting vote."

"You're right," Ilona sat up slowly and eased herself towards the end of the bed, "and there is an option to just cancel the wedding and go back to my old life but it means upsetting someone else's life in the meantime."

"I'm sure Nick will survive, most men do and besides, he's got his mum."

"Not Nick," she eased off the bed, "it's Elaine, she's a single mum who's renting my old unit in Boronia, the lease is due to be renewed next month but I've been too busy with wedding stuff to organise the papers. Apparently I have to sign something at the real estate manager's premises to make it happen. She's a good tenant, she pays on time, I've never had complaints and I'm worried that if I just throw it all back in his face it might just result in me not renewing the lease and having her thrown out and I'm not a bitch."

"Can you find an alternative for her? Even if you have to move in temporarily," she replied as Ilona stood up, "I'm not suggesting you do that right away but have a plan B just in case it gets to that stage, you don't want to be sitting in front of a mirror in your wedding dress crying your eyes out because you've backed yourself into a corner."

"That sounds sensible," she turned and looked at her, "I might order one like that too, in the tan," she glanced at the bedroom door.

"And this place where you buy your material closes at six."

"Yeah, it's closed now."

"But we could go there tomorrow after work and I could look at the material myself, right?"

"Of course," Julie also rose.

"All right, I'll pick you up and take you to work tomorrow," she replied, "and on the way I can tell you more about my situation because you're right, you don't know the whole story."

Ilona folded her arms and looked down at the bed.

"My head's in a muddle, I feel like I'm being frog marched into a shotgun wedding and it was never like this at the start but at this stage in the game all my girlfriends are so excited about it, they're choosing their dresses and then there are the doubters."

"So, you want to use me as a sounding board?"

"Exactly, and I know it's asking a lot, and if it's too much I totally understand because I'd just tell me to get with the program and stand my ground or walk away."

"Sure," she shrugged, "I have a guy in America I email and sometimes we chat, he's an older guy who met me in a chat forum," she started walking towards the door.

"He actually tried to pick me up at first but when I told him I was gay he apologised right away and we became quite close. I find it's easier telling a guy who isn't totally familiar with my situation, things that I'd feel uncomfortable telling a friend. Men have a way of cutting through the emotional turmoil and focusing on the solution while my girlfriends are still venting."

"That's why Darren and I are so close," Ilona fell into step beside her.

"So, what are you doing now? Do you want to have a coffee and discuss our women's issues or go back to your fiancé instead?"

"Coffee please," she slipped a hand into the crook of her arm.

Ilona stayed another forty five minutes to provide an adequate alibi for her excuse to Nick and in that time Julie was able to show her the three upstairs bedrooms, bathroom, toilet, living room and a small kitchenette attached to the living room.

"You could fit three people up here easily," she looked around the living room, "you should pass the word around at work, there's no one I can think of at the moment who needs a place but they might know of someone looking to share."

"I'll keep it in mind," she nodded, "the extra income would be handy."

***

Julie stepped back from the blouse dangling from the mannequin that morning. Like the one she'd finished last night and handed over to Ilona, it had two rows of buttons down the middle after she decided to order two of them, one with a standard pointed collar in white silk and this cream one with the mandarin collar.

It had been the strangest week she'd ever known. Last Saturday she hadn't even met Ilona but today the woman had become not just a friend but something else. A crutch? A convenient straight friend while she looked for another woman? It wouldn't have been the first time she'd played that game, it had the effect of making her seem more available, and then there were occasions when her straight girlfriend decided to dip her toes and and try it on for size.

Ilona was definitely inching towards the latter and yet despite her flirtatiousness on the Monday, Julie had found herself almost retreating to the sidelines since then. Ilona had told her more about Nick and their history on Tuesday after work as they browsed the wares at the factory outlet store where Julie bought most of her materials.

Nick and Ilona had gone to the same private school in Heathmont although they'd never been high school sweethearts. Ilona was over two years older than him and she'd been in her last year when Nick was enrolled as a Year 10 student. About the only thing they had in common she'd tiredly admitted was the fact that their parents weren't religious but they had enough money to afford a private education for their children. Apart from that however she'd looked down on Nick because like many in his year they were prone to boasting about exploits that were lifted straight from dirty magazines and porn websites.

The next time they'd met however she was working as a junior consultant for the same company she still worked for now and Nick was a second year accountancy student at Tafe. Ilona had gone into the college with a senior colleague who was technophobic, to help him run his Powerpoint presentations and sit in on workshops for a one day seminar. Nick by then had matured from the loud-mouthed, teenage brat to a more reserved young man. Albeit he was still cheeky, but he also had a serious side too.

Even so, despite recognising each other from school, there had been no Damascus moment in the classroom. He had however turned up at work two days later with the handouts from the seminar to ask some 'questions.' Seeing as her other colleague had just ducked out to lunch, she'd agreed to see him in a back office that gave some degree of privacy despite the floor to ceiling windows. The questions were pretty basic except for one, which she later realised had been carefully slotted in at the very end. When she'd finished explaining the concept and asked if there was anything else he'd like to ask Nick had promptly said yes.

"I'd like to take you to lunch, to thank you for taking the time."

It had begun that day, a brief lunch and the vague promise that they'd do it again on Friday but on the Friday he'd called her at work to say he couldn't make lunch but could she make it to dinner that night?

Under any other circumstances she would have said no thanks, but she'd come to a crossroads with her current boyfriend who had become quite intense and whilst she was fond of Harry, she had no intention of getting married before the age of twenty five at least and ideally thirty. Thus, Nick's proposal to go out for dinner had been for her at the time, a possible solution. It meant she could take a step back and suggest they take some time out, a suggestion that Harry agreed to without realising the true implications.

Ilona had confessed she had no intention of having sex that night but one thing had led to another and in the morning she'd woken up next to Nick and realised that her time out suggestion had grown arms and legs. She'd now well and truly burned a bridge behind her.

Julie started fastening the buttons as she ruminated over Ilona's relationship.

What had started as a one night stand had developed into a passionate affair. Where Harry was conservative and predictable, Nick was exciting and unpredictable and not just in their lovemaking. He loved just jumping in his car and heading off down the road for several hours to stop at random hotels for the night. Ilona saw more of her home state in four months than she'd seen in her entire life, but there was a side to Nick she didn't like. His general housekeeping.

Outside he was well dressed and well groomed but once you stepped inside the house you saw that if not for the daily visits from his mother the housework would never get done. She cleaned the house, did the washing and more often than not started the dinner, leaving him to finish off. Ilona on the other hand had her own unit and in her own admission was 'house broken.' It was only a matter of time before she notched it up another level and putting her unit into the hands of a real estate agent to rent out, moved in with Nick.

Julie began fastening the other row of buttons as she kept musing.

It had become a slippery slope although at first it almost seemed as if Ilona's move had equalised the relationship between mother and son. She visited less for the first few months but then she'd begun 'dropping in' for a cuppa and slowly began to make her presence felt as she 'helped' Ilona with the housework.

Looking at it from the viewpoint of an outsider however, Julie could see something that Ilona had glossed over because of her proximity to Nick and his mother.

"It sounds like she saw things were going wrong before he proposed," Julie told her as Ilona helped her carry some groceries into the house.

"What do you mean?"

"You said there were tense moments between you and Nick in the two months leading up to his proposal."

"It was a bit more than two months," she followed her into the kitchen, "but it was just normal couples bickering, nothing nasty."