Go on this date with my girlfriend’s best friend, she said.

It will be fun, she said.

Ingrid wasn’t sure why she agreed to go on this blind date. This was way outside her comfort zone. But the conversation she had with Asta that morning several weeks ago was still fresh in her mind. Asta was sprawled out on her couch, dressed in nothing but an oversized pink T-shirt with the words “Got pussy?” written across it and ruby red slippers. Her short blonde hair was messy and could be classified as either “bedhead” or a giant “bird’s nest.” Ingrid on the other hand was sitting next to her and was already dressed and ready for the day, drinking her morning coffee.

“C’mon Inge! She’s such a sweetheart and she’s fresh on the market. What do ya have to lose?”

“’m not willing to ‘mbarrass myself in front ‘f someone I don’t know. Never met this girl anyway.”

Asta rolled her eyes, “That’s the whole point of a blind date,” she grumbled. “You’ll be just fine. Besides, you’ve met her before! She was at Ela’s birthday party.”

“Given up tryin’ to say your girlfriend’s name haven’t ya?” She grinned. But when Ingrid took a sip of her coffee, memories that party were coming back to her. There were many attendees but one girl stood out among the rest. She was tiny in height and a little bit bigger than the other girls but Ingrid thought she looked adorable in the green dress she wore and her long blonde hair being kept together in a braid that rested over shoulder. She wanted to chat with her but she was way too shy to strike up a conversation and neither had the courage to ask Õnnela for her name. She regretted her decision that day but she could only hope that their paths would one day cross again.

“We’re getting off topic. C’mon, you’re as old as I am and you’ve never gone on a date once.”

“But what ‘f I don’t like her?”

“Then ya don’t have to see her again. Just that simple! Besides if things don’t work out, maybe you two can be friends instead? At least then ya’d get out of yer stuffy ol’ workshop once in a while.”

And now here she was, heading to a popular local restaurant with Asta behind the wheel. Her hands were shaking as they tightly gripped on her blue medium-length pencil skirt. She doesn’t feel right in these clothes and she’s checked her make-up and hair three times since leaving their tiny apartment. Asta’s eyes caught a glimpse of her visible nerves and a loud laughter erupted inside in the vehicle.

“Relax Inge! Yer goin’ make yourself sick. There’s nothin’ to worry about. Merja’s a sweetheart and Ela’s best friend. Yer in good hands.” This however did nothing to calm her nerves. While she’s managed to keep her hands from shaking, her stomach was full of butterflies. She didn’t know what to expect. Was she as sweet as Asta said she would be? Would she be able to hold a conversation down? What would they even talk about? There were so many questions, but very few answers. She tried to reason with herself, telling herself that this was in fact her very first date so it was natural to be overly nervous. She didn’t have much interest in dating men. As a matter of fact, she spent a lot of her primary school days beating them up and getting herself into trouble. By the time she reached high school, she was no longer getting into fights but she soon discovered she couldn’t have cared less about the boys and much rather preferred the girls. But high school was already tough as it was and she didn’t need any more social stigma than what she already had. Though she was beautiful with her thick strands of long blonde hair and a body that was both strong and feminine, her peers were terrified of her stern appearance and she had very few friends. Even after high school, not much had changed and she pretty much secluded herself in her office working on crafts and furniture that she sold online and at events. Love was just not in the picture and the fact that was possibly changing tonight was just as scary as the date itself. But all she could do now was breathe, stay positive, and hope for the best.

The two women arrived on time and managed to catch a parking spot near the front entrance. Ingrid grabbed her purse from the backseat and checked herself once last time. Good, nothing had changed, she told herself before closing her compact and putting it back in her bag. Asta rested her hand on Ingrid’s shoulder and placed a quick peck on her cheek for support and comfort.

“Let’s go, they’re waitin’ for us.”

The two left the car and made their way to the front entrance. The restaurant didn’t have a waiting area and allowed its customers to choose its seats freely. Asta glanced around the area looking for the other two women but she couldn’t find them. Before she could conclude the possibility of them having not yet arrived, Asta heard a whistle come from the left side of the building and spotted her girlfriend waving from inside a booth. Asta quickly made a dash for it while Ingrid slowly followed from behind. When the two lovers shared an embrace, Ingrid saw another woman come out of the booth and her eyes grew wide. She looked so different than before but that face hadn’t changed. She was sure that was the same woman she felt so weak in the knees over!

Ingrid eyed her from her head to her toes. Dressed in a baby blue and white polka dot summer dress with a matching headband and white kitten heels, she looked so casual and cute. But in turn, Ingrid began to feel overly dressed for the occasion with her long-sleeved white blouse, medium-length blue pencil skirt, black nylons and cone heels. Her hair was shorter than before, now resting at chin level and cupped her face perfectly as it curled inward. Her aura was bubbly and friendly as she walked up to Ingrid to greet her and it only made the knots in her stomach become tighter.

“You must be Ingrid right? It’s so nice to finally meet you! My name is Merja. Õnnela and Asta have told me so much about you!”

Merja

Merja

Her name played like a broken record in her mind. It was perfectly in sync with her heart that was beating at a rapid rate she swore that everyone could hear it. Ingrid wasn’t sure what to do so she reached out to shake her hand, in which Merja return the favour, “‘s nice to meet ya too.” Ingrid replied before shying away, her cheeks glowing with a light pink colour. Ingrid’s tone came out harsher than she intended but Merja didn’t seem to be put off by it.

“What is she doing? She’s not supposed to shake hands while on a date,” Õnnela whispered.

“Shhh, it’s her first one and she’s nervous,” Asta replied. “Like you said the other day, Merja’s not comfortable with physical contact on a first date anyway so I think Inge made the right move.”

When the greetings and little chit-chats were finished, Asta and Õnnela decided to give the two women their space and privacy and announced they’d be dining at another table. While Ingrid knew that this was to be expected, it didn’t make things any better as her nerves refused to die down.

The two women returned to the booth and a waitress came and brought them menus and complimentary glasses of water. But since neither of them were driving, they opted for some alcoholic beverages instead. Merja was hoping was for some hard liquor on the menu but it was only available to those sitting at the bar. Neither of them were fond of the beer choices and the wine cost as much as a full-course meal. So instead the two decided on taking advantage of the free martini night. Not their preferred drink choice but enough to fit their frugal lifestyle. After several minutes, both of them ordered the same meal, grilled salmon with a side garden salad. The waitress then took their orders and left.

Things went quiet between the two as they sipped on their martinis. Ingrid wasn’t much of a talker and she certainly didn’t have that many interesting stories to tell. Asta told her Merja was a chatterbox but she didn’t seem to be showing any signs of that. Perhaps Merja was just as nervous as she was? After what felt like minutes had passed, Ingrid’s attention was grabbed whe she heard her speak up, “So um, how do you know Asta?”

“Asta’s m’childhood friend. Went t’school together.”

“Ah, that sounds lovely. That’s how Õnnela and I met too! I was new to the school and she was nice enough to show me around and um, yeah I guess that’s it...”

Things became quiet once more. They exchanged words here and there but nothing was really going anywhere. The silence was uncomfortable at best and while Ingrid didn’t mind it, she knew that dates were not to be spent in silence. She quickly tried to think of a way to get the ball rolling, to “break the ice” so to speak. She noticed the necklace Merja was wearing and an idea popped into her head.

“’s a nice necklace ya have.”

Her eyes lit up and a smile soon appeared, “Oh! Thank you! I picked it up in a gift shop when I went back to Finland a few months ago. I just love the Moomins!” She laughed.

“’f ya like, I can make some Moomin dolls for ya.”

“You’d do that for me?” She asked. Ingrid nodded in reply, “I make crafts ‘nd furniture fer work and ‘s a hobby. ‘d be happy t’make ya some dolls out out ‘f wood.”

“I’d like that a lot! Thank you! I like to design clothes and cute patterns. I have notebooks filled with them! We should do a project together some time!”

For the first time that night, a smile formed on Ingrid’s face, “That would be great.” She felt proud of herself that was able to get the ball rolling and see her smile. She could already feel herself more at ease than before and she could tell Merja was feeling the same way. Maybe this won’t be as bad as she previous thought.

Their meals had arrived and their conversations didn’t stop. The tension was long gone and silence was replaced with laughter. Asta wasn’t wrong about Merja. She was indeed a chatterbox but Ingrid paid close attention to her words. She’d stop every now and then to apologize profusely about her constant babble but Ingrid would always say she didn’t mind. Ingrid was a better listener and she enjoyed listening to her stories. When the two finished their meals, they opted to skip dessert and pay the bill right away, each of them paying half. After the waitress left, Merja continued her story about the time her dog embarrassed her by bringing the artbook she used for nude practice from underneath her bed for her family to see. Little did they know, Asta and Õnnela were taking a quick peek from behind a wall to double check how things were going.

“Wow, I haven’t seen Inge smile like that in ages. I admit I didn’t know how this was goin’ to turn out. But I’m glad we did this. And I’m glad Inge decide to jump on this too.”

“They blend really well together, don’t you think?”

Asta nodded, “We should probably take them home before the staff kick them out. Merja’s getting’ a little loud.”

A laugh came from underneath the Danish woman, “Like you’re one to talk. But you’re right. This place is going to close for the night soon. I’ll get them and we’ll meet outside.”

“Thank you so much for a wonderful time Ingrid!”

“Please, call me Inga,” She smiled. “I had a wonderful tim’ too.”

“Could we meet again sometime? For coffee maybe? I’d also like to see you work on your projects, if that’s okay too?”

She nodded and made somewhat of a grunt sound of approval, “’d like that.”

Her eyes lit up in joy and she called out to Õnnela to give her a pen and some paper. Once she had what she needed, she wrote her name and phone number down and handed it to Ingrid. But in a surprise move that caught her off-guard, Merja went on her toes and placed a kiss on her lips. It was only for a second but it was enough to reduce her into a tangled mess.

“I really hope we can meet again. Call me anytime okay?” Ingrid wanted to say something could she couldn’t produce any words so she instead she nodded in agreement. A chuckle escaped her lips and she teased Ingrid again with another kiss, this time on the cheek, and ran off to the car. Asta and Õnnela shared a kiss of their own before they said their good nights. As she walked to the car, Õnnela promised she would call her once she got home. The four of them said good bye for the last time and the two women took their time to watch the car drive away.

Clouds were rolling in as they walked to their car. Ingrid was still high from the kisses she had received minutes earlier. Asta couldn’t help but laugh as she wrapped her arms around her and pull her close.

“I think that went over pretty well, what do you think?” Asta grinned.

Ingrid didn’t answer her question but Asta didn’t seem to mind. She’s got all the answers she needs. She’s merely making small talk at this point. She admits to herself that a blind date was probably not the best idea for a woman like Ingrid but she’s glad that the end results were positive. Her intents were never to be malicious and she would only do something like this if the girl was close to her and her girlfriend. She only wants the best for Ingrid, a woman who she proudly calls a sister to her, and nothing more.

“Are ya’ going to call her when you get home?”

She nodded her head, “’d like to hear her voice again,” She replied, her cheeks turning pink. Asta grinned and teasingly ran her hand through Ingrid’s thick light blond hair, making a mess of it on purpose. Ingrid grumbled as she swated Asta’s hand away and fixed herself back up. She laughed as she opened the car door.

“You’re so cute Inge. Merja’s so lucky to have a woman like you. Now get in! We can’t leave our ladies waitn’ now, can we?”