Smol Women

Chapter Eighteen

Marianne and Diamond Daisy's night started out awkwardly. Any confidence Marianne had in their growing relationship suddenly vanished as she stood staring at the bed they would have to share.

"Ummm, did Max mess up booking our rooms?" Diamond Daisy asked, staring at the single queen-size bed.

"I don't know Arabic," Marianne told her, which earned a laugh. This boosted Marianne's confidence a little. "I really like your accent."

What the hell, idiot, she cursed herself. What could be a more random thing to say?

Diamond Daisy laughed again and smiled. "Thanks. It's Australian."

Marianne sat down on the bed, feeling awkward again. "So... what do you wanna do?"

Sitting down beside her, Diamond Daisy shrugged. "Honestly, you're the only one in the group who will even give me the time of day. Can we just hang out here and get to know each other?"

Barely able to contain her excitement, Marianne nodded. "Yes! Yes, we can."

The pair sat in silence for a moment. Awkward silence. Before it got unbearable, Marianne piped up.

"So..." she began. "What do you want to talk about?"

Diamond Daisy's face lit up in a wide grin. "I want to talk about DJ mixtapes. I use kangaroo guts as stage props at festivals."

What? Marianne blinked slowly. "Okay... why."

"Why what, please, I need to know," Diamond Daisy was staring at Marianne intensely now.

"Are we about to kiss?" Marianne asked suddenly, unable to stop herself. Either she had been misreading Diamond Daisy's signals or she hadn't. Whichever it was, she needed to know.

For a moment Diamond Daisy stared at her wide eyed. Then she spoke. "My lips are chapped with skin flakies, so yeah." She bit her lip and nibbled the skin. "Yeah, ha."

With that, she leaned forward and kissed Marianne. Sure enough, her lips were chapped and flakey. And it was beautiful. The kiss ended far too soon for Marianne.

"That kiss was wonderful, Diamond Daisy," she said breathlessly.

A long string of spit hung from Marianne's lips and snaked all the way to Diamond Daisy's, who quickly lapped it up with her tongue.

"Marianne. I'm gonna be honest. I'm a lesbian god and that was so subpar. I'm gonna need more from you next time, okay? And stop spitting into my mouth please." Diamond Daisy seemed like a new person. Her smile was gone, and she was serious.

"What? You ate my spit on purpose!" Marianne exclaimed. "Whatever. What you're saying is there's a next time."

Diamond Daisy smacked Marianne on the tit and honked it. "Yeah, man. I'm a horny bald lesbian ready for action."

Marianne nodded, taking this in. "You really just go for it, huh. So, can you tell me about your DJing?"

For the next few minutes, Diamond Daisy droned on about her music, which Marianne barely paid any attention to. Diamond Daisy was hot, sure, but god was she weird.

"I'm hungry," Marianne declared, cutting Diamond Daisy off just as she was getting into the kangaroo guts. "Let's go get food at the bar and eat by the pool."

The two women hopped off the bed and made their way down the hall, where they were met by the out of order sign.

"Oh, come on!" Marianne screeched, slamming her fist on the elevator. The pair then made their way down the hall to the stairs, where they shuffled down flight after flight.

Once they reached the lobby, they quickly discovered that their dinner plans wouldn't be so simple. The menus were all Arabic, as were the employees.

"Um..." Diamond Daisy stared blankly at the menu. "Let's just order blindly. I'm gonna order this," she pointed to a random item.

"I'll get that," Marianne smiled, pointing to the item below it. They placed their orders, nonverbally and with lots of pointing, and sat at the bar as they waited.

Suddenly a commotion sounded from behind them. They turned to see Thomas and Selena running into the lobby, wide-eyed and scared looking.

"Serves them right," Diamond Daisy grumbled, watching as the pair tiredly made their way to the stairwell.

"What?" Marianne looked at her. "Are you mad at them because they don't talk to you? In their defense, I've kinda been hogging you to myself."

Diamond Daisy shook her head, "No. Um. No, I just thought Thomas handled things kinda rudely earlier."

Before Marianne could respond, their meals were served. Diamond Daisy got lucky: tabbouleh with pita. Marianne on the other hand was given a plate of white chalky-looking balls.

"What is that?" Diamond Daisy asked her, grabbing her own plate to bring to the pool.

Marianne sniffed it and shrugged. "Smells like nothing."

Outside, it was calm and warm, and sitting by the pool relaxed Marianne.

"Eat one," Diamond Daisy dared her.

Nervously, Marianne picked up a ball in her hand. Unsure what to do, she bit into it. It was hard, and super salty.

"Oh, bleurgh!" Marianne spit it out into the pool. "Oh no."

Diamond Daisy burst out laughing and handed her a pita with tabbouleh. "Here. Oh god, that was good."

Marianne hurriedly ate the pita, unable to keep herself from laughing too. "It's gross."

Sitting there by the pool, sharing a meal with Diamond Daisy, Marianne realized that... she was falling in love.