Johanna and Maxine Pt. 06

"I'm new at this, not the dating side. I've been dating guys for years but women are a new thing for me so I'm still trying to process the matter."

"She sounds really mature," she replied, "maybe you'd be better with her."

"Don't you start," Maxine smiled crookedly, "we'll go out on Friday night and see what happens, I might just say goodnight at the door and go home alone."

Johanna smiled at that and they talked a little more for the next half an hour but by the time Maxine left she looked a little less hesitant and Maxine leaned over to kiss her on the lips briefly.

"Until tomorrow then."

Johanna waited until she'd gone before calling Åsa again. She really needed advice and they spoke for the better part of an hour before she finally felt better.

So, what happens tomorrow? Johanna stared at the ceiling.

Easy does it.

***

Despite the encouraging words she'd heard from Åsa, Maxine and her other friends, Johanna still felt a little odd as she got ready for the date, she changed outfits three times before settling on what she thought was reasonable. Her blouse was decorated with an autumn leaf pattern and the leather mini with its silver press studs went with her boots and jacket. She fiddled with the black beaded necklace and swallowed as she pushed the anxiety further down.

Here goes nothing.

She certainly reconsidered her outfit when she answered the door some twenty minutes later to find Maxine standing on the porch wearing a white double-breasted blouse, white trousers and a white tailored jacket, only her shoes and peaked cap were black. She let her eyes play over Johanna and a smile nudged her lips.

"Love the skirt, you look hot to trot."

"Thanks," she opened the flywire door, "come in, I'll just grab my bag."

Maxine stepped inside and sat down on the four-seater L-shaped couch, she'd noticed it last night along with the rest of the furniture but one thing now drew her attention, a pot-belly stove against the wall. She'd thought it was merely decorative but the door was open and there were split logs in front of it.

"I didn't know the heater worked?"

"Yes, it does work but I only ever use it at the weekend because it takes so long to heat up but once it's fired up it keeps the room warm for hours but it's expensive to heat though."

"I know, we had one at home before mum and dad split up. He used to drive around looking for logs dumped on the nature strips, we sometimes helped him load the boot or the trailer but once he left mum had a gas heater installed in the open fireplace."

"It'd be much cheaper," she moved towards the passageway, "be right back."

She returned a minute or two later and nodded at her.

"Ready?"

"Sure," she rose, "let's do it, where are we going by the way?"

"Vi ska till Pancake Parlour," she replied, "I think I screwed that one up.

"Not really, a Swede would understand it, but the pancake parlour would be pannkakssalongen, the word for pancake is pannkaka and parlour is salong but you got everything else right."

"I've had a good teacher," she replied, "bra lärare?"

"Precis," she nodded as they walked to the door.

"Have you been there before?" Maxine glanced at her.

"No, it's one restaurant I've never been to," she opened the door and ushered out.

"We'll take my car," Maxine decided as Johanna locked the front door."

"Are you sure? We can take mine."

"I'm sure," she shrugged.

They left some five minutes later and Johanna glanced over at her briefly before turning back to the front and letting the tension leave her.

Relax and don't forget to breathe.

***

There were definite similarities between tonight and last Friday night, the first and foremost one was the venue. Most of the patrons were having a meal before their movie but one family had just come out of a movie, she was also having dinner with a gay woman but there the similarities ended. She'd been going out with Mark last Friday and she'd also never had sex, now she'd had it and if Johanna gave out the right signals tonight then she'd probably have sex again and yet there was still a part of her that thought it was wrong. She glanced over at Johanna who was reading the menu, she had a slight smile on her face and she looked up at her.

"Do you want to play a game?"

"What kind of game?"

"An educational game, I'll order in Swedish and you can translate for me."

"Okay, you're assuming I've learned that much of course."

"We'll see," she signalled the waitress, "oh the word for maple is lönn."

Maxine glanced down at the menu as the waitress came over.

"Hey, are you ready to order now?"

Johanna smiled at Maxine and then looked at the waitress.

"Jag vill ha tre pannkakor med chokladglass och lönnsirap tack."

The waitress blinked and Maxine smirked as she translated.

"She wants three pancakes with chocolate ice cream and maple syrup, I'll have the same."

"Okay, cool," she made a note, "anything to drink?"

Maxine closed her eyes briefly and then opened them and stared at Johanna.

"Vad vill du dricka?"

"Blå himmel tack," Johanna smiled.

"Blue heaven," she translated a moment later, "I'll have a Pepsi thanks."

"Where are you from?" the waitress asked.

"Hon veta var du kommer ifrån." Maxine asked Johanna.

"Jag är från Sverige," she replied.

"She says she's from Sweden," Maxine translated and then glanced at Johanna as she added.

"Förlåt att jag inte pratar engelska."

"She apologises for not speaking English," Maxine translated.

"Hey, no problem, it's just so cool to hear a foreign language, I'll get your order right away."

Maxine waited until she was out of earshot and Johanna winked at her.

"You were good, you just made one mistake, you should've said hon vill veta var du kommer ifrån. You missed out the vill, which basically means want."

"Oh," she smirked, "I'll remember that next time but now we have to speak Swedish every time she comes near our table."

"Don't worry, I'll give you plenty of warning."

"I quite liked it though," Maxine replied, "it took me by surprise but the words came easily but they were easy, after all it's only a menu."

"But you managed and that's half the battle. I knew some Swedish from my dad but trying to put it all together in Sweden was hard. I had a hell of a battle trying to master it at school, my grades went right down the first year."

"What was school like in Sweden?"

"It's a good system, education is free in Sweden. There's no uniforms and we got school lunches, I think the biggest culture shock was using a teacher's first name instead of Mr or Mrs."

"That sounds like a great idea, especially the no uniform thing."

"Ja," she winked at her and then looked past her as the waitress approached with their drinks, "tack så mycket," she smiled at her.

"She said thanks so much," Maxine translated.

"No worries, your meal won't be long," she nodded at her and then moved onto the next table and so they kept silent until she was out of earshot."

"I don't know how long I can keep this up," Maxine admitted.

"Me neither," Johanna replied, "knowing my luck I'll be in here again next week speaking perfect English."

"I'm sure she'll cope," she shrugged, "but you didn't answer my burning question."

"Which is?" Johanna raised her glass.

"If Sweden is so great and I've been there, why move here? Everything that walks, slinks or crawls wants to kill you and don't even mention the beach, sand gets into all the cracks."

"I guess I just wanted to travel. Australia was one of those countries I'd read about but I must admit I thought there'd be more sheep here."

"There is, not too far away," she sipped her Pepsi.

"I don't know the answer to your question," she eventually replied, "I moved to Sweden when I was a teenager and spent years trying to fit in and I kind of succeeded but then Pia moved to London and I don't know, I just wanted to travel. I'm the wandering minstrel, always moving."

"But you've stayed here for a few years," she had another mouthful, "so how long before you move onto another country?"

"I don't know that either, I'm happy here and in a few years I can apply for Australian citizenship."

"It's not all it's cracked up to be," she grimaced, "you'll get a certificate, a gum tree in a pot and a stupid little flag and for that they'll put you through the wringer. A colleague at work brought the book they make you fill out to work, my God," she frowned.

"It's like War and Peace, they want to know the ins and outs of a duck's arsehole and even when you get your citizenship papers if you're out of the country for too long you lose it," she stared past her for a moment.

"Australian citizenship really isn't worth that much to be honest. I've got it because I was born here but if I had a choice it'd be a European country because you can live and work anywhere in Europe without all the hassle of filling in forms."

"That is one advantage," she nodded.

"I mean what they call old here is nothing when compared to Europe."

"That is true as well," she replied.

The waitress brought their food shortly afterwards and they reverted to their impromptu role play and ate their meal in relative silence. Dessert was next and Johanna chose the Bavarian Apple with cream and Maxine settled for Strawberries and cream, followed by coffee. Eventually however she stretched and yawned.

"Well that was filling, even if I do say so myself."

"Me too," Johanna eyed her, "so, shall we make a move?"

"Absolut," she murmured and then smiled, "God, I'm starting to think in Swedish now."

They made their exit after farewelling their waitress who wanted to know how to say goodbye in Swedish.

"Hej då," Maxine smiled.

"I feel embarrassed," Johanna murmured as they left the restaurant.

"Why?"

"She probably thinks I'm Swedish now."

"Well, you are half Swedish anyway. You're certainly more Swedish than me."

Johanna didn't reply to that as they made their way out to the carpark.

"We should do this again soon," Maxine spoke up as they stepped outside a few minutes later.

"How soon?" Johanna wanted to know.

"Well we've planned a weekend away so I can practice my Swedish but we don't have to wait that long," she frowned, "I mean I'm single now so my social calendar is clear."

"What about after we play pool on Friday night or aren't you that much into pool?"

"That's cool," she nodded, "although there are six other days in the week, just to let you know."

"What're you saying?"

"I'm saying that I like you," Maxine tucked a hand into the crook of her arm, "you're my language partner but if you want to see me on other nights I'm up for that too but how's about we discuss that at your joint? You are going to invite me in for a cuppa, aren't you?"

"Ja visst," she smiled crookedly.

***

Maxine stretched her legs out and stared at the empty cups on the coffee table. She'd been here for the last half an hour and in that time she'd learned a lot more about Johanna and her struggle to fit into Swedish society. It shouldn't have surprised her that bigotry existed in a country that trumpeted its equality on a regular basis. There was a section of society that aligned itself with neo Nazis and their ilk, she'd heard whispers of it when she was there but thought it was just a minority.

"It is but the problem is they scream loudly but it divides the country. There are lots of people who say we should face up to our neutrality during the war and then there's the uncomfortable fact that some Swedes fought alongside the Finns and the Nazis against the Russians."

"I've read about that somewhere, I just can't remember where."

Maxine leaned forward to look at her phone as it played a notification and read the message from her sister.

"That's Rowena asking if I can bring milk and bread home tonight."

"Okay, then maybe you should get going soon."

"Maybe," she tapped out a response, "but it's no big deal."

She glanced over at her as she put the phone down.

"You don't have to go now," Johanna reassured her.

"Well that's a relief," she glanced at a pack of cards on the table and pulled them out of the packet, "I used to play cards with my sister whenever dad and mum were kind of okay with each other, we used to play for matches but then we graduated to Monopoly money."

"I haven't got a Monopoly game here and I haven't got matches," she shifted slightly, "why? Do you fancy a few games of poker?"

"Yeah, why not? But what would we play for? I'm not a fan of gambling for money because I have so little of the stuff," she looked past her for a moment.

"How's about strip poker?"

"Strip poker?" Johanna's eyes widened.

"You've never played strip poker?" Maxine's eyes widened, "and here was me thinking you were an experienced lesbian."

"To be perfectly honest no, I mean I'm experienced but I've never played strip poker."

"That makes two of us," she replied, "I know how to play poker but not strip poker."

"It's the same rules," she ran a hand through her hair, "but you wager an item of clothing."

"Why don't we modify it?" Maxine frowned, "we use buttons, undoing one button buys you a game and you wager a second button or several if you think your hand is strong enough."

"Okay," Johanna replied, "I'm in but don't you have to get bread and milk for Rowena?"

"There's always time for that, there's an all night servo down the road, it's not urgent."

"All right," Johanna replied.

"Well if that's the case," she put the cards down and picked up her jacket, "I'd better put this on and you'd better fasten all your buttons and put on your jacket and boots."

A couple of minutes later they were ready, Maxine shuffled the cards and held the pack out.

"Pick the top card but don't show me."

Johanna took the top card and Maxine took the next one.

"Let's see your card."

Johanna had a nine of spades but Maxine had a ten of hearts.

"My deal," she took the card from her and started shuffling, "I'll open with one jacket button."

"I've got a zipper on this. So how does that work?"

"Unzip your jacket halfway," Maxine replied.

Johanna complied and Maxine undid one of her jacket buttons and dealt the cards. Johanna stared at her cards and frowned.

"Have you ever played poker before?" Maxine asked her.

"Yeah but it's been awhile," she threw down two cards, "okay hit me with two."

Maxine handed her two cards and then replaced one of hers and smirked.

"I'll undo the other button. What about you?"

"Um, yeah, I'll unzip my jacket all the way," Johanna replied.

"Show your hand."

Johanna showed her hand, four nines and a three.

"Bugger," she showed her three of a kind, "I thought I had something," she unbuttoned the other button and pushed the cards across to her, "your deal."

Johanna shuffled the cards and Maxine fiddled with her jacket cuff.

"So, what's the price now?" Johanna asked her.

"A jacket," Maxine replied, "I'll buy in with my jacket."

"And I have to wager mine, is that how it works?"

"Yeah, although you can wager something else if you like."

"The jacket it is," she started dealing the cards.

She dealt the cards and Maxine frowned at them and promptly removed four cards and Johanna gave her four more. Maxine arranged a couple of cards and glanced at her.

"Do you want to raise me a jacket and a..." Johanna glanced at her shoes, "a shoe?"

"Um, no. I'll stand," Maxine showed her hand, "five of nothing."

"I got three of a kind," Johanna smiled.

"Damn," she threw the cards down and took her jacket off, "that's two in a row."

"So I'm on a winning streak."

"In my case it might be a streak for real," Maxine smiled crookedly as Johanna shuffled the cards again.

"I'll buy in with my jacket against one of your shoes," Johanna kept shuffling, "is that how it works or am I doing it wrong?"

"Pretty much."

Maxine's next hand looked pretty good though, two aces, a king, a queen and a nine of hearts and she let go of the nine and on a whim, the king of spades and was rewarded with another queen and a two of hearts.

"I'll raise the other shoe against that jacket," Maxine eyed her.

"Okay, show me," Johanna replied.

She showed her cards and smiled but the smile vanished when Johanna showed a straight flush and at first she thought she'd lost but then Maxine took off her shoes.

"Straight flush beats two pairs, your deal again, I'll start with my belt."

"I'm starting to like this game," Johanna chuckled.

"Hit me, when you're ready," Maxine smirked.

Once again she thought it was a good hand and discarded one card and bet two buttons as well but when Johanna showed her hand she had a royal flush against her straight flush and with a sigh she pulled the belt end against the buckle and popped the prong out. She pulled the belt past the keepers and dropped it on the couch.

"Ooh, this is looking bad, at this rate I'll be in my knickers before you lose the jacket."

"That can't be a bad look," Johanna replied as she shuffled the cards.

"I'll buy in with a button," Maxine fiddled with her cuff.

When the cards were finally dealt she discarded one card.

"I'll wager one cuff against your jacket."

"Deal," Johanna also discarded one card and picked up another, "show me."

Maxine laid down four aces and a six of spades against Johanna's two pairs.

"Success," she slid the cards towards her, "lose your jacket."

"It had to end sooner or later," she pulled the jacket over her shoulders and arched her back. Maxine let her eyes play over her breasts and gathered the cards together and started shuffling. She dealt the cards a few moments later.

"The other cuff against your boot," Maxine picked up her cards.

Johanna squinted at her cards for a full fifteen seconds before finally discarding three cards and then she smiled when Maxine gave her three more.

"I'll throw in my other boot and raise you two buttons," she stared at her and Johanna nodded.

"Okay, show me."

Maxine smiled and showed her a straight flush.

"Let's see?"

Johanna had four of a kind and she put her cards down and unzipped the first boot while Maxine shuffled the cards. The second boot came off a few moments later and she looked at herself.

"Two buttons?" Johanna raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, any two will do, pick them at random if you want."

She undid the first cuff button followed by the second button and folded the cuff partway up her arms.

"I fell for that one," she smiled crookedly, "when you raised it I thought you were bluffing, I know I'm going to lose this game."

"Why do you say that?" Maxine's eyes shifted.

"It's my thing."

"Your thing?"

"Yeah, losing. I have it all in my grasp and something happens and I lose it all."

"Maybe you should try faith," she looked at her own cards and then took three out.

"I'm not a Christian."

"You don't have to be a Christian to have faith, it's believing that the spirit of the universe has your best interests at heart and that things will work out for you in the end. There's no evidence for your faith, just a hope that you're on the right path," she eyed the cards.

"So, what'll it be?"

"One card," Johanna replied.

Maxine passed a card across and Johanna squinted at her hand.

"Okay, one button buys me in?"

"Okay for me but do you want to raise me?"

"Hmm," she frowned, "okay, I'll have faith and raise you one more button," she showed her cards and Maxine grinned.

"What's so funny?"

"It's almost ironic," she threw her cards down, "you had faith," she undid the other cuff.

"My deal," Johanna gathered the cards into a pack and started shuffling.

Her luck didn't last however, she lost the game and with a lopsided smile she undid the other cuff and the losing streak continued when she bet three buttons, the blouse was undone to her cleavage and when Maxine dealt another hand she hesitated. She opened with one button and then raised it to two more but she lost that hand as well and unbuttoned the blouse completely.