Ola didn't know what this was that she was feeling. Surely, she hadn't felt it before. It was a foreign feeling to her because she always knew what she wanted and what she felt. But right now, at that moment, she was stalling. She was deciding. And it had already been a full five minutes.

"Why did you choose to torture her this way?" Mrs. Shafi chuckled as she took a bite of the long-named dish Freda had prepared along with the regular bratwurst.

The redheaded woman laughed at how adorable she found Ola in the situation she was in. She was practically trying to choose which was better since Freda had asked up the question in the first place.

Schwabischer Kartoffelsalat*, as Freda had called it and the Shafis didn't dare repeat, was a potato salad which was more than just an ordinary potato salad. It was a dish which didn't lose its heavenly taste even after it got cold, which was primarily what Ola had found interesting.

But she couldn't really answer Freda's question, even when Mr. and Mrs. Shafi had already chosen their favorite. They liked bratwurst better since it was meat and they loved meat more than potatoes. Plus, they could say bratwurst easily.

Ola, on the other hand, was a potato lover. She had been a potato most of her life as well, up until she got a job. So, potatoes held a special place in her heart. They were like family to her.

"I can't choose." Ola mumbled to herself, but Freda could clearly hear her inner battles as she smiled from beside the woman, enjoying the dish Mrs. Shafi had prepared. The very traditional chicken curry with white rice.

"Oh, my poor child." Mr. Shafi smiled as he patted his daughter's back.

"You know, this is usually served with sausages." Freda finally spoke up to ease the other woman's indecisiveness, but it didn't help since Ola had been attacked and she hated being indecisive.

Usually, Ola was straightforward and completely certain of what she liked and disliked. There was no gray area concerning food for her, even though she managed to eat everything if she could.

So, this was a concerning matter for her.

"Can I pick another day to answer that question?" She had decided to postpone her decision as she turned to look at Freda, who laughed before nodding her head. "Yeah, sure."

It was as if Ola could finally breathe again as she took a spoonful of some white rice and chicken curry to go along with the potato salad already on her plate.

She was a heavy eater and seeing how she enjoyed the dishes prepared by both her mother and Freda – the two women were delighted. It was always a nice feeling to know that someone close to you appreciated something you had put your time and effort into.

Ola and Mr. Shafi were just those two people, who didn't cook or raise a finger, but they were always appreciative of what Freda and Mrs. Shafi always cooked for them. One of the many things that Freda had loved about the family was the constant appreciation and gratitude for all the little things that all of them did for one another.

She hadn't seen a family where everyone complimented each other and appreciated them. Freda's own family was as normal as every other family, with her brother always picking fights with her but also being loving and caring in his own ways. Her parents were also just like regular parents. There wasn't anything special about her own family, but as she spent more time with the Shafis, she came to the realization that families didn't have to be special to be appreciated. They had to be appreciated to be special.

"Can we have more of this for tomorrow?" Freda blinked as she turned her head to look at where Ola was pointing. It was the bowl of Schwabischer Kartoffelsalat. Feeling herself smirk, she looked at the woman's face before speaking. "What is this?" Ola frowned at the question as Freda's smirk widened.

She knew that all the three people at the table had been sure to not say the name of the potato salad just because it was hard to pronounce, and they didn't want to look like jerks.

"You're a bully." Freda giggled as she shook her head. "You can't say it, can you?"

Ooh, I like her.

Ola frowned as she squinted her eyes at the woman. "Bully."

Freda had laughed as she shook her head again before continuing to finish up her plate of food, but Ola had been stuck as she saw the familiar scenery playing out behind Freda's head. It was like there had been a new addition of butterflies which were too carefree as they flew around the redhead's body.

Ola was sure the butterflies must've escaped from some place, but she was also sure that they were indoors, and it was damn cold outside. Her hand had mindlessly raised up to grab onto a butterfly which had been hovering above Freda's right ear, but as soon as Ola had grabbed hold of the insect, everything was back to the way it looked.

Freda was looking at the woman with eyes opened wide. "Are you okay?"

Ola shook her head as she turned to her parents who were also looking at the woman with raised eyebrows. "Yeah. Yeah, sorry. I thought I saw something."

Mr. and Mrs. Shafi had just gone back to eating with a shoulder shrug, but Freda had been harder to fool. "Are you sure you're okay?" The concern in her voice had been building up since the first time she had heard Ola talking to herself or even asking her if she saw flowers and shining light behind her in the mirror.

Freda was concerned for the other woman more so since she was certain that she felt something more for the brunette. Their last outing together, which had been a week ago now, was the only thing that usually clouded Freda's mind.

She would think about Ola and how she was so oblivious about everything but still managed to do so much that tugged at her heartstrings. Ola was sweet and funny; she was also caring and eccentric. For Freda, she was someone she could just continue knowing more about for the rest of her life, and not get tired of being around.

Her feelings were genuine, and as she watched the brunette get back to eating her food, she wondered if any of Ola's feelings for Freda matched her own.

Freda still wasn't sure what she was doing at the Shafi family's apartment, but she knew that she couldn't leave without a solid reason. And since she couldn't make an excuse related to work due to the next day being Saturday, she just stuck through with the uncomfortable discussions that Mrs. Shafi was trying to have with her.

Ola was the second person in the room, who was uncomfortable. She didn't know why her mother was showing old album photos to Freda. Old album photos were fine for Ola, as long as they were hers or her parents'. What she didn't enjoy was the fact that all the pictures included one or more of her unmarried male cousins.

What made it even worse was the fact that each of her male cousins were just like her before Freda had come along to offer her a job – unemployed and lazy.

Well, Ola wasn't lazy, she was just uninspired and personified as a potato.

Now, she wasn't a person who would judge a person based on the few times she had met them, but she knew that she wouldn't really ask Freda to meet up with any of the people she knew.

"This one's Irshad and he lives all the way in Ireland." Ola rolled her eyes as she suddenly got the image of her bearded cousin in her head. They had met each other in one of the many family weddings, where the man had tried to continuously converse with her.

It was one of the weddings where Ola was seen wearing a very feminine gown with a long ass dupatta. She hated her dressing more than she hated the food there. That was also one of the last weddings in which she dressed so femininely.

It had taken a few instances for the brunette to help her parents understand the fact that she disliked clothing which made her uncomfortable. So that meant gowns, and everything that her mother brought for her to wear.

Mr. Shafi was the one who had understood his daughter's concerns, and then he had helped his daughter convince Mrs. Shafi to let her dress the way she wanted to.

"Oh, is that Ola?" Ola's attention had turned over to the two women who were sat on the larger sofa with an album in Mrs. Shafi's lap. The older woman smiled as she nodded her head. "Doesn't she look lovely?" Freda raised an eyebrow as she looked up at the live version of the brunette before looking back down to the picture. "She looks lovelier now."

Mrs. Shafi laughed heartily as she failed to notice the rising redness on her daughter's cheeks, which creeped up suddenly. Ola didn't even notice that her cheeks were warm since she was busy staring at the redheaded woman.

"That she is." Mrs. Shafi had spoken up after she had calmed herself down from the laughing fit. And then she was back to showing Freda all of her unmarried nephews. "That's Umar in the back."

Freda had lost interest a long while ago since she wasn't interested in seeing anyone other than Ola, quite frankly. She adored Mrs. Shafi to death but at that moment she felt like she was facing something uninteresting in festive clothing and bearded faces.

She wanted to see more of Ola.

But that wasn't going to happen since this wasn't about Ola. This was about Mrs. Shafi thinking that she should have Freda find one of her nephews somewhat attractive and then maybe ask to meet up with the man.

It was predictable of what Mrs. Shafi thought about since every mother in their religious circle thought the same things for their own daughters and sons. They'd try to find the perfect man or woman, but they'd rarely focus on anything other than appearance.

And this was exactly what was happening as Ola sighed to herself.

She knew how her mother couldn't do this with her since she was uninterested in practically everything, but with Freda there, she had renewed hope.

Freda had glanced over at Ola with a particular expression which could easily be seen as a call for help. There was just so much the redhead could handle. "Oh, look at the time." Ola spoke up suddenly, which Freda had come to like about the woman. She was always saying things out of the blue.

Mrs. Shafi turned towards her daughter before she looked at the clock that sat idly just below the mounted tv screen, atop the glass cabinet.

"Time just flew by." The older woman chuckled as she closed up the album before turning to Freda. "We'll continue this some other time then." Freda had wanted to shake her head and politely decline that future planning, but she instead smiled at the woman.

"I'll get these arranged back in the cabinet." Mrs. Shafi spoke up as she stood up from the sofa and began to collect the 4 albums she had taken out for Freda.

The redheaded woman, who was finally free from picture viewing, turned to smile towards Ola. "Ola, would you please escort me to my apartment?"

It was an odd request from the redheaded woman but only Ola thought so. Mrs. Shafi, on the other hand, had clapped her hands together as if she had broken some kind of ancient code to a safe.

"Yes, go walk her to her door." If it had been ordered by her mother, it immediately became something that Ola couldn't back out from even though she wasn't sure why Freda would ask something like that out of the blue.

Getting up from the recliner she was sitting at, Ola frowned at Freda before she walked over to the front door. Freda had followed the woman right after bidding Mrs. Shafi farewell. The older woman had smiled fondly at the redheaded woman as she watched her leave.

Ola had been the first one to leave the confines of the apartment as she stood in the hallway, waiting for Freda to come out of the apartment as well.

The redhead hadn't taken long as she stepped outside into the hallway and immediately smiled at the brunette. "Thank you for getting me out of that." Ola had shrugged her shoulders since she didn't think her little favor was much of a big deal.

She also had an ulterior motive behind indirectly kicking the redhead out of the apartment. Ola was sleepy, and she didn't want to leave Freda with her mother.

"Don't worry about it." Ola mumbled as Freda walked the 6 steps it took for her to get from the Shafis apartment to her own. "Thanks for walking me to my door." Freda giggled as she gestured at the long walk, they had to go through just to get to Freda's apartment door. At this, Ola chuckled out before nodding her head. "You're lucky mama likes you enough to sacrifice me as tribute."

The redhead did think she was lucky, but it wasn't only because she was liked by Mr. and Mrs. Shafi. It was more so because of how she could spend time with Ola.

A shy smile had come onto Freda's face as she thought carefully as to what she wanted to do, before she felt brave enough to lean in into the other woman.

Ola hadn't expected Freda to come close to her and place a lingering kiss on her right cheek. It was an incredibly fast action, but Ola somehow felt all the details very carefully, once again.

Freda said a quick 'goodnight' under her breath as she rushed into her apartment, and Ola was just left there standing. She was still wondering what she liked more. The way that Freda's hair had lightly tickled her skin, or the way that the other woman's lips softly caressed her skin.

I'd choose the kiss.

Ola's attention was turned away from the moment as she frowned in disgust. She really had to go to someone for her imaginary voice problem. It was like having a perverted person spy on her every move.

Hey! I'm not a pervert!

"Sure." Ola mumbled as she threw one glance over at Freda's closed apartment door, and then went back inside of her own apartment.

*****