When Where and How to Love

Chapter 9: Heatstroke

Juliana's Apartment

Juliana Valdés was only wearing a black sports top and tiny black shorts. Her hair was tied up in a messy ponytail. Her hands bandaged and... 'My God!' Valentina thought, 'One, two, three and four. Four perfect little squares marked her abdomen.' The blonde continued her journey. 'And those legs. Holy Mother of God! What would it be like to... Wait, how long have I been staring at her?'

"Valentina, Valentina? Are you okay?" Juliana asked, passing her hand in front of her face and interrupting the blonde's thoughts.

"Uh... yeah, yeah... I... I was coming to..." The blonde couldn't get over the shock, she shook her head trying to clear her thoughts, "I mean. I came to find Kara."

"Yeah, of course, come in, come in." Juliana moved aside to let Valentina pass. "Sorry for making you wait, I just took advantage of the fact that Kara fell asleep to do some exercise," she explained while pointing to the punching bag that hung in a corner of the apartment.

"Are you a boxer?" Valentina asked curiously trying not to look at the brunette. She had managed to stop drooling over her, but if she looked at her again, she wasn't sure she would be able to control herself. She might end up jumping the girl.

"I don't do it as a sport. I just use it to relieve stress," said Juliana removing the hand wraps while watching Valentina examine her apartment.

"Do you play drums?" Asked the photographer when she spotted the instrument in another corner of the room.

'Shit, now I see where Kara's curiosity comes from.' Juliana thought.

"And the guitar too?" Valentina asked again, but this time inspecting the electric guitar that sat next to the drums.

'Okay, being beautiful and curious are definitely Carvajal traits. Oh, and then there's the little eyebrow lift. If Valentina Carvajal raises her eyebrow, she can do whatever she pleases.'

"Yes, well, my mom was a kind of music fanatic and well... she taught me as a girl."

Valentina could see the discomfort of the brunette when naming her mother and knew she had to change the subject. "Where's Kara?" She asked quickly.

"In the bedroom," replied the brunette grateful for the change of subject. "She fell asleep while watching Finding Nemo after dinner. I don't think we'll ever get to the end of that movie!" Juliana said smiling, remembering her afternoon with the girl.

"Juliana, you don't know how much I appreciate all this. The truth is we haven't had an easy time lately, and..." the blonde sighed, "I really don't know how to thank you."

"Are you okay?" Juliana asked when she noticed Valentina's anxious face.

"Yeah. Well, not really. I'm tired, stressed and busy with work. It makes me angry that I don't have much time for my daughter and... and..."

"Hey! Relax. I understand you. Maybe what you need is to release some tension, like I do..." Juliana had an idea. "I know, come with me," she took Valentina's hand delicately and led her to the punching bag. "Okay, go for it! Hit it!" Juliana encouraged her.

"What do you want me to do?" She looked at the brunette and then at the bag, "Oh no, no, no, Juliana I wouldn't know how. I could never..."

"Come on. Do you want to release some stress? Yes or no?"

"Yeah, but..."

"But nothing. Let's imagine that the bag..." she pointed to the object, "holds all the things that are bothering you and BAM!" The brunette gave a good blow to the bag and grabbed it quickly to prevent it from hitting her second favourite blonde. "Now it's you turn. Come on." Juliana encouraged her.