Johanna and Maxine Pt. 02

"Who?"

"Jack, he came over a few months ago."

"I thought he was engaged to Vicki?" Maxine asked as she started putting her jeans on.

"He was but after eighteen months they both realised that the reason they were still engaged was because they didn't want to be married, they're better off as friends."

"Weird," she pulled the jeans up her legs, "almost as weird as me going out with Mark just to keep guys away from me."

Rowena opened her mouth to reply just as a car pulled into the driveway and she rose and crossed to the window to look outside.

"It's Johanna," she announced as Maxine pulled the jeans over her hips, "I'll get it."

"Thanks, I've just got to put my face on."

Whilst Rowena was welcoming Johanna, she finished getting dressed and sat down to attend to her makeup. It was a task that took another ten minutes and by the time she hurried into the living room Johanna was perched on the couch in exactly the same position as Sunday.

Maxine came to a dead stop as she took in her outfit. She wore a white, ruffled blouse with loose, flowing sleeves and blue jeans along with a pair of black boots and a red, beaded necklace.

"Hej," Johanna, "how are you?"

"Good," she stepped forward, "love the blouse where'd you get it?"

"London," she replied, "one of the charity shops, I go back to see my parents every two years for Christmas but I always schedule a stopover in London for a day to finish my shopping. I like your jacket though."

"What this old thing?" Maxine glanced down at her black leather jacket, it had fringed sleeves and a waterfall ruffle front, "it was a present from mum last Christmas."

"You should be so lucky, she doesn't even wear that for dates with Mark," she rose and nodded at her and turned to Maxine, "enjoy your night and you've got the money?"

"In my bag," she patted it, "I'll be with you in a minute," she dropped the bag onto the couch, "I've just got to get the food out of the fridge."

"What did you bring?"

"Veggie burgers," she stepped back, "I bought them two months ago and they've been in the freezer ever since and I've got some salad too."

She felt a little strange as she stepped into the kitchen. Dave glanced up as he kneaded the dough and he winked at her and went back to kneading. She'd just complimented a woman, did that mean anything or was she just paranoid?

Johanna however wasn't giving away any hints as she slid behind the wheel of her car. She glanced at her own car, a red Toyota Celica. It was ten years old and it looked ancient when compared with Johanna's SUV, she let her eyes flicker over the state-of-the-art dashboard with a sat-nav system. As she started the car Johanna glanced at her.

"You going to give directions or should I put it into the sat nav?"

"I'll direct," she replied, "just turn left at the roundabout and head up the mountain."

"Cool," she backed down the driveway and Maxine felt a twinge of anxiety but that faded as they headed towards the roundabout, "turn left here," Maxine indicated a road to their left.

"Way ahead of you," she flicked the indicator lever.

"I love driving up there," Johanna remarked as they reached the end of that street and turned left to head up the mountain, "my parents were out here two years ago to celebrate my graduation, I took them up to a Devonshire teahouse. They loved it, we went to Ricketts Sanctuary."

"What's graduation like in Sweden?"

"Different," she replied, "when we graduate from high school we have a big celebration and wear our student caps, called studentmössa, I'll show you pictures on my phone later. We drive around in cars and go to different parties. University is a bit different because we're older but we still have a big party at the end of the year."

They moved onto other subjects after that and Maxine tentatively answered in a mixture of Swedish and English, Johanna didn't correct her much but when they finally pulled up outside Penny's house she turned to her.

"You're doing well with your Swedish, you've just got remember the definite article comes after the word, studenten when directly translated into English would be student the, en is, the, and if it's an ett word then you add et to the end of the word but we'll get to that later."

Maxine took note of the cars lined up along the road with more cars parked in the driveway behind Penny and Robyn's cars. Johanna was impressed with the exterior of the house.

"They look like runes," she touched the runes on the verandah railing.

"I think they are, aren't they?"

"That one is," she pointed, "and that one too, but the rest are pretty random markings. We did a unit or two at school when I was sixteen," she glanced over at her, "we had to choose our rune name."

"What were you?"

"I was Wolf Mother, vargmamma," she translated.

"Cool," she giggled and rang the bell.

She was still smiling as the door opened some thirty seconds later and Penny returned the smile and stepped back.

"G'day, Maxine, and you must be Johanna, I'm Penny."

"Hey," she nodded at her.

"She's my vargmamma," Maxine chuckled, "did I say it right?"

"Wolf mother," Penny translated.

"You speak Swedish?" Johanna's eyes widened.

"Yeah I do," she replied, "come on in, Robyn's in the upstairs sewing room, I'll show you where it is," she went on as she closed the door behind them.

There were about twenty people in the living room and Penny pointed to an upstairs room.

"In that room there, no need to knock. We'll introduce you properly later."

Robyn was checking the fit on another customer's dress when she stepped into the room but when she made to step out of the room Robyn nodded at a couch.

"Just sit down, I'll be with you soon."

Maxine took a seat and waited whilst Robyn took another measurement. The room had a large table in the centre with material racks at one end and a wardrobe at the other. There were benches on the other two walls. She could see Johanna's car through the window from this angle, two older women and two teenaged girls walked along the road, they were carrying food as well.

"All right, take it off, please," Robyn spoke up, "I'll make the adjustments in the next day or so."

"It's still a nice fit," the woman tugged at the side zipper, "but you're right, the ruffled hem would make it stand out from the pack."

She turned as she unzipped herself at the back and smiled at Johanna.

"Hiya, I won't be long."

Maxine watched her get changed back into a pink tee shirt, jeans and mottled brown jumper and she turned to Robyn.

"Thanks, honey. I'll give you the money now," she reached for her handbag.

She left a few minutes later leaving Maxine alone with Robyn. The older woman nodded at her as she opened the wardrobe and took out three blouses.

"Okay, now it's your turn, most people try the garments on first before taking them home," Robyn returned to the cutting table, "but it's not essential, they should fit."

"I'll try them on," she rose and pulled the jacket off her shoulders, "I brought the money too."

"Even better," she grinned.

"Who was that?"

"That's Melanie, I've known her for years," Robyn replied.

Little more was said until Maxine had tried on the first double-breasted blouse, it was white with a double row of buttons and loose flowing sleeves that ended in deep cuffs. The blouse was made of satin and was one of two, the other one had blue and white stripes but Robyn reassured her that if the first one fitted her then the second would also fit. The inner row of buttons were a bit confusing because they were all functional but once the blouse was fastened it felt snug.

"It does take longer to put on and take off," Robyn stepped over to examine the fit, "and it can feel a little warm in the centre because we use a double layer of material there."

"It does feel quite light though, I'm impressed."

"Do you want to try the pussybow one on?"

"Yeah, sure," she started to undo the buttons.

"So, are you nervous about the meeting tonight or looking forward to it?"

"A bit of both," she admitted and when Robyn raised an eyebrow she related the conversation she'd had with Mark about the meeting and her new gay best friend, Johanna. Robyn listened intently and when she'd finished she nodded.

"That church always had that undercurrent of bigotry even when I was there," she handed her the pussybow blouse, "it was subtler of course but the rise of Trump and this dopey Brexit referendum in Britain has overflowed to Australia. This gay marriage referendum is the dumbest idea they've had in a while."

"I thought you'd be all for it," Maxine pulled the blouse over her shoulders.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm all for marriage equality. There's no difference between straight and gay marriages but I question the reasoning behind forcing churches to conduct gay marriages. It's not as if the church has a monopoly on marriage. We have Christian marriages, Muslim marriages, Jewish marriages, Hindu marriages, atheist marriages but the establishment claims that the only marriage that's worth anything is a Christian one. It's just unbridled arrogance, I deserted the faith years ago," she went on.

"What did it for you?" Maxine asked.

"I sat down and thought about the meaning of life when I was twenty one. The Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and Buddhists all claim a monopoly on the truth and the afterlife. I've only picked out a few by the way, but even those religions are deeply divided into sects, all of which claim the same damn thing, a monopoly on the truth. Catholics don't recognise Protestant marriages and Protestants and Catholics are also divided into sects as well but what if they're all wrong?"

Maxine's eyes shifted as Robyn went on.

"Don't get me wrong, I believe we've got a spiritual dimension to life but man's attempts to put the Eternal Divinity into a neat little box is just arrogance and ignorance. My own mother eventually admitted that I was allowed to be gay but to her dying day she prayed for my deliverance."

"She was homophobic?"

"Mum was so homophobic that even the homophobes in Warbie used to cross the road to avoid her," she grinned, "my dad has been a lifelong atheist for years."

"So your mum isn't alive anymore?"

"She had a stroke after dad and her got divorced," she replied, "she survived the initial stroke but then changed churches and went to a Charismatic church and started speaking in tongues. One night she was dancing in the spirit, as they say and had another stroke in church. By the time the others realised she wasn't having a spiritual experience it was too late and she died a few days later."

"Ouch," Maxine winced, "I've never been to one of their churches."

"Neither have I," she replied, "we called them the crazies for a reason."

"So, what did it for you," Maxine turned to the mirror, "coming out I mean?"

"I've always been that way inclined," she replied as Maxine started fashioning the bow.

"My nanna was gay but happily in the closet but I hid it for years, I had boyfriends but they were always Christians who wouldn't take things further. My last boyfriend was Jeff and I regretted getting rid of him at the time but we made up in the end."

"Jeff?" Maxine's eyes shifted, "not Jeff who's married to Wendy?"

"Different Jeff," she replied, "I know the guy you're talking about. I made Wendy's wedding dress and the bridesmaids dresses but my Jeff left the church not long after I came out. There were a few people who supported me but they were few and far in between," she folded her arms.

"Jeff resented being told who he could and couldn't talk to and quit church altogether. He stayed loyal to me as a friend and we recently repaid the loyalty by investing in his garage in Bayswater but the pastor, Danny was one of the few who stood up for me."

"I like Danny," she examined her reflection in the mirror, "and I like this too."

"Good, I'm glad," Robyn smiled.

A moment or two later she started undoing the blouse and Robyn moved over to the window and stared outside as others arrived.

"But I get what you're saying though," Maxine spoke up.

"About?" Robyn turned around as Maxine grabbed her blouse.

"Guys," she slipped her arms into the sleeves, "with Mark I've been trying to find reasons for being with him, he was a bit different to Rodney but I can't see myself marrying him."

"So, why are you with him?"

"Probably the same reason you were going out with Jeff, it's convenient. I ditched Rodney because he just wanted sex and I wasn't going to become a notch on his bedpost but I always seem to pick guys who aren't... marriageable material. It's self sabotage but I find myself cycling through guys whenever they get the idea that there's a future for us."

"Well maybe this group could help you then."

"I hope so, I don't know if I'm gay or bisexual either, I'm just not connecting with the guys I've been with but that could just be down to bad choices."

"Or maybe it's a mask," Robyn replied.

"Maybe you're right but I'm always worried about what's behind my mask."

She took the money out and handed it over.

"Thanks," Robyn took it, "you can hang them up over there," she pointed, "and pick them up after the meeting. If Rowena needs any adjustments they're free by the way," she pocketed the money. "I'll see you downstairs later and introduce you around."

She left the sewing room soon after, leaving Maxine to hang the blouses up again, she took pictures of them and sent them to her with a text message.

Maxine: Ssh, they're sleeping!

The answer came back as she stood at the top of the staircase.

Rowena: OMG! I love them!

Her eyes were drawn to two teenaged girls coming in from outside because they looked too young to be part of this particular group. They were talking to a red-haired woman sitting on the end of a sofa. Maxine was too far away to hear the conversation however. She counted ten women but she could hear laughter in the kitchen and there was a woman out on the verandah with a cup of coffee in one hand and her phone in the other. Johanna stepped out of the kitchen with an older blonde woman and the redhead with the two teenagers turned towards her. You didn't need to be psychic to work out they were a couple.

Johanna glanced up at her and raised her hand and Maxine gave her the thumbs up as she started down the staircase. Robyn was deep in conversation with an older woman and then she looked up and said something to the woman, who turned to acknowledge her with a smile. She hesitated at the bottom of the staircase and made her way over to Robyn.

"This is my business partner Cindy and this is Maxine, our newest customer."

"One of them," Maxine came to a halt behind the couch, "Rowena is another one, I've just sent her a picture of her clothes, she loves them."

"Let's hope she still loves them tomorrow," Robyn smiled, "come on, I'll introduce you around," she rose, "this lovely woman," she indicated the woman on the other side of Cindy, "is Cindy's wife Mary," she stepped away from from the couch and pointed to the next couch.

"Alana MacDonald," she nodded at the petite blonde, "her partner is the woman outside. Sue is Melanie's youngest sister," she pointed to Melanie, "and Sigrid," she nodded at the woman who'd come into the room with Johanna, "is married to Louise," she nodded at the redhead.

"They have two daughters, Cathy and Birgitte," she pointed to the girls and then nodded at the opposite couch.

"Elke is Melanie's partner," she indicated a buxom blonde who looked to be a few years younger than Melanie, "Caroline is Elke and Sigrid's sister, and on the other two couches we have Charlott, Lisa and Annabelle."

Maxine acknowledged the waves as she was introduced and then Robyn turned to her.

"So, how many names can you remember now?"

"Most of them," she cast her eyes around the room.

"Don't worry, we're not snobs," Robyn inclined her head, "come on through to the kitchen."

She followed her into the kitchen where she was introduced to Josie and Erin who were helping Penny cook the meat.

"Josie and Erin were my old flatmates, Kathy and Kylie usually come but they buggered off to the Gold Coast for the weekend."

"How were the blouses?" Penny glanced at her.

"Yeah, fine. Everything fits perfectly. I was shocked at how quickly they were made."

"We have help," Robyn reassured her, "apart from Cindy, we have three others who do the cutting and sewing, and one trainee who works part time."

"So this happens every month?"

"Yeah, every month except December for obvious reasons," Penny replied, "we take turns to host a meeting but not everyone has a big enough house for all these women so we tend to cycle between our place, Melanie's, Sigrid's or Cindy's."

Maxine glanced over as Sigrid and Johanna came into the kitchen. They were speaking Swedish but switched back to English a moment later.

"I might feed the girls now," Sigrid looked at Penny, "they're dying to go to the tower to take some pictures."

"So let them eat in there if they want," Penny replied.

"No need but thanks anyway, they'll disappear to the library to watch telly or read."

"How old are your daughters?" Maxine asked.

"Cathy is fifteen and Birgitte is thirteen, Cathy's my daughter and Birgitte is Louise's. That's the beauty of lesbian relationships, you can take turns giving birth."

She found out more about Sigrid and Louise over dinner. They'd been together for eighteen years and had spent ten years in Denmark where they'd given birth to their daughters via an IVF program. Sigrid spoke Danish, Swedish and English but Louise only spoke Danish and English, although she knew some Dutch. Sigrid's two sisters, Caroline and Elke were also multilingual. One parent had taught them Danish and the other Swedish, making their upbringing truly unique.

"It used to freak my girlfriends out when I was in school," Sigrid confessed, "I had mum talking to me in Danish, dad speaking to me in Swedish, but I replied in English."

"So, you're a lawyer too?" Maxine asked Sigrid.

"I'm a financial counsellor," she remarked, "Melanie and Louise are the other two senior partners but we have a full complement of staff under us," she nodded at Penny.

"Penny is our silent partner, she has a fifty one percent stake in the company, we're a subsidiary for all intents and purposes."

"I don't have much to do with that," she glanced over at Melanie, "I do own a share so technically I could take profits but I prefer to plough the money back into the business."

Johanna raised her eyebrows at that and a little later when she ducked outside to take in the view of the city lights Maxine joined her.

"They seem like lovely women," she ventured.

"Yeah, I was kind of blown away that she doesn't take her share of the profits."

"It's probably some kind of tax loophole," she shrugged.

"Oh that's right but it's still different, it's almost socialist if you ask me."

"Or Nordic," she nudged her gently.

"Ja," she inclined her head, "my God, it's beautiful up here," she took out her phone and opened the camera app, "I bought this phone purely for the camera app, I'm a Samsung girl normally."

"I am too," she replied, "but Rowena is an Apple girl."

"To each their own," she took a picture, "I couldn't survive without my phone."

"Me neither," she took out her phone.

The door opened just then and Penny stepped out onto the verandah.

"The meeting's going to start in about five minutes."

"Cool, thanks," Maxine took a picture, "just admiring the view."

"Well if you want to take pictures you're welcome to come up during the day, Robyn's here most days of the week and if she's not there's always someone around anyway."

***

Maxine settled into a couch as Penny checked her notes. Sigrid and Louise's daughters had gone up to the tower, ostensibly to play and Louise had positioned herself so that she could go up and check on them without disturbing the meeting. She glanced over at Johanna for a brief moment and then at Melanie sitting just opposite her, she was feeling a little odd amongst so many older women, most were old enough to be her mother and Cindy could have been her grandmother.