Week 2 / Thursday

They checked out of the AirBnB just after 7am. They all agreed that they didn’t get enough sleep, but Julian and Marty had meetings to get to. Larissa and Julian didn’t even finish packing – they just threw everything in the back of Marty’s ute. They had breakfast at that same café as the day before, looking across the lake, and then they were at the second-hand clothing shop before it opened.

Larissa jumped for joy when she walked in: the farm boy outfit was still there! She just about frog-marched Julian over to it, and said, “Well, what do you think?”

Julian looked at it and kissed her and said, “Babe, it’s awesome. I’m really relieved because I was afraid of saying anything else.”

Larissa laughed at him, as did the shop attendant who had come over. “OK, sweetie, let’s try it on.” Only, that turned out to be difficult. With such an expensive outfit, he’d need supervision, and there were no male shop attendants around. “But they’d probably be gay anyway,” Larissa said to the shop attendant, who laughed. “So can we get you to do it? It’s not like he’s going to take his underwear off!”

Sure, so Julian tried it on. It was a bit loose everywhere but around his awesome chest. The attendant admired his chest and then they looked at the seams, and whoever had made it had left enough that they could maybe another centimetre out of it. Enough? Julian said it was. Done, they purchased it. And at the same time, Tui was purchasing some more sexy party clothes that she’d picked out with Marty cheer-leading enthusiastically.

They dropped the guys off at the meeting room they’d hired for the morning, just in time for their meeting, and then Tui and Larissa drove out to Arrowtown to check it out. Larissa looked at the shops with a sinking feeling – so fancy, so expensive. But Tui was in a mood for fantasy, so they spent half an hour pretending that they could afford to buy the lovely things they were looking at.

Then Tui really surprised Larissa.

They were looking in a fancy jewellery store, and Larissa had admired some truly spectacular pieces priced at thousands of dollars. She’d never wear anything like this, of course. Tui called her over, and said, “See these?” She’d found a tray of consumer jewellery that had really practical prices. “Given what I do, I don’t wear much jewellery. Neither do you, right?” Right. “But I have got my necklace.” Yes, Larissa had noticed it on the first day, and admired it. “And it’s got three very special pendants.” Tui pulled it out and showed it to Larissa. “Mum, Dad, Marty.” She explained their symbolism. “I thought that would be it until I get children, but I’m adding one more today. You. So pick your symbol.”

Wow, fucking wow. Larissa couldn’t hardly think. What a strong statement that was. So typically Tui. She almost cried, and she hugged Tui tightly. “Wow. What an honour. Just let me cry for a minute and then I’ll look.”

Of course, she had to buy a whole necklace, and all the symbols were simple and cheap. This called for lateral thinking – whatever she chose was a statement that would echo in Tui’s life. She looked at a heart pendant, but no, that was for lovers, even though it was appropriate. Then she saw the totally obvious answer. It was a flat plate, simple gold. Engraved on one side, the side showing, was the word ‘friends’. On the other side, a note said, the word ‘forever’ was engraved on it. Larissa could think of better second words, but it would have to do.

“This one, Tui. Friends, because we are, a lovely friendship I never expected. And forever, because we’ll always be friends, but also because forever after this, you know that I’m in your heart, and you can be strong, and build better relationships with other people around you. Ones that are also friends forever.”

Tui was the one the crying now. She was still crying when she bought it and took the pendant off the chain it came on and put it on her own necklace. Larissa held it between them and kissed Tui. “I think I might have to build my own one of these. So let’s look and see if there’s a right pendant for you.” But no, Tui just didn’t like any of them. “Don’t worry, we have time. When you find one you like, send it to me. You’re in my heart anyway.”

The jewellery attendant gave them a smile and said that what she just watched was enchanting, and would they like a photo? They put their faces together, and Tui held her necklace in front of them, and the attendant took a very close photo. They looked at it and cried again – so sweet.

After that they were done with shopping, and they’d pretty much run out of time. Next stop was the onsen looking over the Shotover River; they had a hot tub for a half an hour, and then a couple’s massage booked. They’d booked it late in the first week, when they went past the hot pools that were closed, and not told the guys at all, so that made last night kind of funny, but neither of them said anything; they didn’t want to take anything away from their guys. It was ironic, actually. Tui hadn’t been comfortable with a couple’s massage when they booked it, but that was all that was available. Of course, the place was only half full now, what with all the border restrictions, but Tui was very comfortable indeed with the couple’s massage now.

One thing about the spa caught Larissa by surprise: she thought they were getting a private spa, and they were, so she hadn’t brought bathers. Whoops, Togs. But they weren’t that private – they had a glass door – and togs were required. And she didn’t want wet underwear either. She conspired with Tui and they pretended that was OK, and just wrapped themselves in a towel and then slid into the spa naked. All anyone else could see was their shoulders.

And what a spa it was – a wonderful panaromic view of the valley, a river flowing past them, and the temperature was just perfect. Larissa put her arm around Tui, and they talked about her other female friendships. She’d never had any friendship even remotely like the one she had with Larissa, and probably never would. But she could have better ones, really meaningful ones, and they talked about some of her other friends and family, and Larissa coached her, to give her confidence in building them. There really was no one around, so Larissa grabbed her phone and they took a selfie with the valley behind them, arms around each other.

Then they hopped out, wrapped towels around themselves, and went for tea and a snack, which let them continue their conversation. Then it was time for their massage, and they lay on massage tables side by side and got a wonderful professional massage. Larissa knew they were supposed to be quiet and relaxed during the massage, but the two women started by asking them what their relationship was, and they only really finished explaining quite what it was, along with many detours – some rather intimate, at the end of the massage. Don’t worry, one woman said, our goal here is to relax you, and make you feel great, and sometimes we do that with words as well as our hands. And both Larissa and Tui did feel great, they agreed.

Then they went back and sat around the corner from where they guys had their meetings and had their last lunch together, and the guys reported on their morning – it went really well. Then Tui showed Marty her new pendant, and he kissed it, and her, and said that it was just a lovely choice Larissa had made, and he loved what she said it meant. Then Marty and Julian found out about the spa and massage ... there was a silence and Julian said, “Marty, it sucks to work sometimes. But I’m glad our girls got such a wonderful experience.”

He nodded. “Yes, it just...” he shook his head and then said, “What I would give to be a fly on the wall for that experience, you two naked. You didn’t video it, did you?” Larissa and Tui laughed at him. Then Larissa showed him the photo in the spa ... he had breathe deeply for a few seconds, and Tui wasn’t helping, her hand on his crotch.

At the airport, Julian and Larissa got everything of theirs out of the ute and tried to squeeze it into their bags. No, it was never going to fit. What to do? Marty laughed and said, “Surely you saw this coming? I mean, you kept buying clothes, Larissa.” She nodded resignedly. “So I bought this yesterday,” and produced another bag for them. Larissa looked at him in disbelief, and then jumped up and hugged him. “Oh, Marty, you’re so lovely, always thinking of other people. Don’t change, OK?”

Now they could fit everything. When they were done, Marty and Julian picked up all their bags. What did that leave for Larissa? Oh, Tui. Tui held her hand tightly as they walked into the departures lounge, only letting go briefly to put her mask on, since it was an airport. They stood in the line for check in, and Tui hugged Larissa tight, unwilling to let go. Larissa held her tightly in response and talked to Marty and Julian. Tui had nothing to say.

After they had checked in, they walked towards security, where they’d have to say goodbye. Tui remained stuck to Larissa like glue, and she was slowing down, clearly dreading security. Then Tui saw some free seats and dragged Larissa over to them. She pushed Larissa down, curled up in Larissa’s lap, and burst into tears.

Larissa had just enough warning to make herself comfortable, and then she held Tui tight and cried with her, their heads together.

She heard Marty say, “Don’t cry, Tui, we’ll see them again.”

But then Julian said, “Marty, let them. They should cry, need to, because this is really sad, saying goodbye. But it’s also truly lovely, such a passionate statement about how strong their unexpected friendship has become. We can cry with them.”

Then Julian and Marty sat down and hugged them. She looked up, surprised – Marty was sitting in Julian’s lap, looking at Tui with such love in his eyes. And both the guys were crying too now, she saw.

That really set Tui off, and she bawled her eyes out now, and Marty was onboard now, crying openly with her. At one stage she heard Julian say to someone, “Thanks, that’s just lovely. We’re all such good friends.”

When Tui stopped crying, she looked up at Larissa and said, “My mask is all wet!” That’s when Larissa found out what Julian had said thank you for – someone had bought him a little ‘sadness kit’, a box of tissues and some replacement masks. Oh, that was so sweet, and Larissa smiled her thanks at the middle-aged woman standing near them giving them her blessing that Julian pointed to.

But it really was time now. “Tui, thank you for your tears,” Larissa told her. “We’ve had such a great time, and I’m really sad too, but Marty is right, we’ll see each other again. And we’ll talk on Zoom, which is great!” Tui giggled for that. “And you have Marty, in your heart. And in your body. And in your life. And you’ll have other friends now too. So be strong, and live your heritage.”

Tui smiled. “I can. I will. Thank you for everything.” She stood up, and dragged them all up.

Larissa turned to the lovely woman watching them, and said, “Can you take some photos for us?” She did, and they hugged, and kissed, and hugged again, and then Julian took Larissa’s hand, and they masked up again and walked through the gate to security.

Goodbye New Zealand. Goodbye Marty. Most of all, Goodbye Tui.

Larissa held Julian tight, but he didn’t say anything until they’d cleared immigration.

“Is she going to be OK?” he asked.

“Yes. She will be. We talked a lot today, really deeply. I’m sure she’s going to be good. Great, even.”

“Does she know what happened to her?”

“That she fell in love with me, you mean?” Larissa asked him.

“Yeah, babe. I mean, everyone does, but she fell harder than usual.”

“She can’t use that word. She doesn’t think that. I’m a woman. She wouldn’t fall in love with a woman. And she loves Marty. More than ever. Very intensely more than ever. This week, their relationship has exploded into what it should be, two hearts entranced with each other, and sexual desire they can’t control. It’s just lovely, particularly since it’s erupted in the midst of a loving trusting committed relationship. That’s really very special. So how can she be in love me?”

Julian looked at her, nodding and smiling. “Yeah, babe, it’s really lovely.”

“But she knows. We talked about it this morning, she needs other girlfriends to love, to fill the gap. And I gave her my blessing, my encouragement. You can love your girlfriends, deeply, and you can multiply the love. And there are girls that want to love her, but she missed the signals when she got them, or mishandled them. She’s going to go and get with them and build with them. A couple of friends from school. Two girls on her netball team. A cousin. And Marty’s sister.”

“Marty has a sister?! He never mentioned her.”

“No. He has a sister, his twin. So close, so loving. But Tui drove a wedge between them, and that’s incredibly painful for Marty, which is why he never mentioned her. See, his sister assumed that she’d be as close to Tui as she was with Marty, and Tui wasn’t ready, didn’t understand the signals, and her sister felt she was getting the cold shoulder, said Marty could do better. And in two weekend’s time, Marty’s family has a get together. She was worried about it, didn’t want to make things worse. But this week she’s come to understand, and she’s going to do what I did with Steph in the beginning. Tell her the truth, tell her about herself, and about me, and tell her: she really does want to be friends, and now she can listen, and can they slowly become what they should be, and can his wonderful sister help her?”

“Oh, that’s great. I can imagine how much that hurts Marty.”

“Right. So does Marty understand what happened to him?”

Julian looked at her, surprised. “What happened to Marty?”

“He fell in love with you, dumbo.”

“But ... he’s a guy!”

Larissa looked at him, was he serious? “Yes. He is. Tell me this. Which other male in his life will he let play with Tui’s tits after she asks for it? Which other male in his life will he choose to do Aaden’s pornographic yoga pose with? Which other male in his life will he ever get in the shower with? Which one will he kiss like he just did? And while you’re at it, tell me this: Which other male in your life did you get in the shower with, let alone offer to do it with them?”

Julian looked at her, thinking about that. Eventually he said, “You didn’t mind, babe?”

Larissa laughed. “How could I mind your bromance, when I had my own raging womance with Tui going on?”

Julian thought about that and pouted. “Should you have made love with her?”

“I did make love with her. Us looking each other’s eyes as we surrendered to our guys and had earth-shaking orgasms ... that was totally us making love with each other. Perfect. Adding sex to that would have ruined it. And you two, shoulders touching, hands on hands, while you made love to both your women? You even said you were both making love to Tui. Perfect, and she knew it. It was beautiful last night, one of the best experiences of my live. Adding sex to it would’ve made it less perfect. You got it exactly right.”

“Thanks babe. Maybe it would’ve been better if I’d known what I was doing.”

“Yeah, but maybe it would’ve been worse too. We can remember it always, you even got part of it on video. I assume that’s all encrypted up now?”

No, she got a guilty look from him. A really very guilty look. “You’ve already watched it?” He nodded reluctantly. “Really? You couldn’t control yourself even half a day?”

“Babe, I never saw your face last night. I couldn’t help it, I just had to see your eyes.” She gave him an intense stare. “Babe, I said the other video was the sexiest thing ever, but watching your face on that video is an order of magnitude hotter.” He gave her a passionate kiss. “I cannot believe how lucky I am to have you as my wife.”

Yeah, well, that was probably a fitting end to their honeymoon, since she felt the same. But what she said was, “Yeah, you’re right. I feel the same. I can’t believe how lucky you are to have me as your wife.” Julian gave her a peal of laughter. He knew exactly what she really thought.