Malee had seen Georgia’s near nude body on the beach, but not that close. Her back was smooth, unblemished, pure white with visible tanned lines around her underwears. Malee couldn’t help staring at the carefully crafted back in admiration.

“You will not stand there and stare at my back forever, are you?” said Georgia. She didn’t mind being admired but was starting to feel the chill while standing in the undies in the air-conditioned room. She longed for the heat of the bath to relax her mind. For once, she appreciated the value of servants such as Mary and wondered why only their later mother only chose one servant to take care of her twins. Perhaps she should ask pa to give Malee to her since Mary was taking care of George. One servant should be enough for George, she decided.

Malee unhooked the bra and pulled down the panties for Georgia, who remained standing still till she was entirely in nude. Then she stepped into the tub and closed her eyes, leaving Malee wondering what to do next. She pinched herself to remind herself where she was and who was in front of her, naked in the bathtub filling half the length of the giant tub with her legs fully stretched.

“Grab a chair and sit.” said Georgia, opening her left eyes ever so slightly to observe Malee. Malee nodded immediately and walked out of the room and came back with a chair. She still didn’t understand what was she supposed to do since the bath was prepared and Georgia was already in it.

“Why are you so quiet? Never taken bath before?” asked Georgia. She regretted as soon as she asked, for she should have known better than that. That was a girl who had never even had a proper dress before so it is easy to imagine that she had never taken a proper bath either.

“No.” replied Malee, shaking her head softly. She was feeling more and more insecure as the time passed spending besides the tub. She felt like breaking down to cry her eyes out and ran back to the slums. She had never felt so disconnected from the house and the people as then.

“Come in.” asked Georgia.

“With you?” asked Malee.

“Yes. You will have to learn it, eventually. Might as be now.” replied Georgia.

Malee nodded and took off her dress, piece by piece. Georgia peeped to look at Malee and surprised by how developed Malee’s body was compared to her own even though they were around the same age. She must have developed her body through constantly walking on the street and doing odd-jobs her whole life. Georgia wondered if she should pick up the intensity of her exercise routine too. The water, almost at the brim, spilled over when Malee came into the tub and sat down.

“Sorry.” said Malee as she slowly lowered herself into the tub facing Georgia. As she lowered herself, she tried to avoid touching the toes of Georgia, who was still resting with her eyes closed. The water was warmer than she expected, but soon, her body was used to it. Only when her head was above the water, she understood why Georgia told her to pour the scents from the bottles beside the tub. The heat of the water brought out the scents much stronger nearer to the surface than where Malee was sitting before coming into the tub. The scents overpowered her till her head tilted back on the soft headrest at the end of the tub and she remained in that position with a large smile on her face. It was an experience unlike others, she had sensed so far. It was as if heaven had came down from above and her memories of the slums had melted.

“Nice?” asked Georgia.

“Very nice.” replied Malee, grinning from face to face. Georgia sat up right then turned her back onto Malee.

“Take the sponge from there and give me a rub. Not too hard, ok?” said Georgia. Malee nodded and grabbed the sponge Georgia had pointed and rubbed her back slowly. Not that it mattered how much force Malee used since the sponge was soft enough to be a leftover pudding they had a while back. Just as they were enjoying the rub, the door to the room was pushed opened and there was George running into the room with both the girls staring at him.