Author's Note: Relatively long build-up for this. Hopefully you can hang in there and enjoy the end! I was trying to capture the nervous thought process that often goes along with that first time.
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In the fall of 1991 Tiffany was finally in her senior year of college. She sat at her desk at her on-campus job, handing out keys to the antiquated lockers that filled the school gym changing rooms, and allowed herself to reminisce.
17 years of school! Well, at least it would be when she was done with this one. The thought both excited and terrified her. She couldn't wait to be done with classes and out in the "real world" but was also worried that her hell-bent approach to school and her race to adulthood was going to catch up with her at some point.
"You need to go out more," her dad would tell her regularly.
"Do some dating, have some fun," her mom would tell her in confidence.
It wasn't as if she didn't want to have fun. It wasn't as if she didn't want to get out and do some dating. Something that her parents had conveniently forgotten was that she was the one footing the bill for school, not them, and college didn't cost $400 a year anymore. Without this job and her job over the summer she might end up having to take out a loan and that was something she really didn't want to do.
So she sat, mindlessly writing down names and ID numbers next to the locker number she handed them.
"Hey, Tiff," a voice called out from behind her.
"Hey, Ty," she responded without even turning around. She didn't need to. Tyler was her co-manager at the gym. They had met two years prior, both sophomores and both assigned to this job as part of the work-school program they had enrolled in to help cut costs. The only thing that was strange about the situation was that they were still there, at the same jobs for what would most likely be 3 full years.
The college they attended was known for its business program and part of the work-school curriculum was getting "business experience" around the campus. Under normal circumstances students would switch jobs on a semester-to-semester basis. In the case of Tiffany and Tyler they each got this job and seemingly slipped through the cracks. Well, maybe they slipped through the cracks, maybe it is just that they did such a good job and nobody wanted to see things change.
Even as sophomores just starting in the department each could see the total disorganization and mismanagement of the entire fitness department. The athletic department was run fine, most likely as it was a revenue generating operation. The fitness department wasn't really run at all. As it was deemed to be a "student service" and a necessary evil of running a college, people were just kind-of allowed to come and go. In turn, they ended up having periodic issues with theft, vandalism and employee absences that turned a student service into an administrative headache. Tiffany and Tyler took the challenge head on, instituting a more formal sign-in/out process, hiring additional help for maintenance and security and instituting hard-and-fast schedules for all employees. What resulted was a system and setup that rivaled any of the newer health centers in the area, so much so that they were even given approval to institute a paid membership plan to area residents that even allowed the facility to break even with costs and improve its social standing in the community. Everything put together meant that, at 22 (Tiffany) and 21 (Tyler) years old, the normal setup of "organized-semi-paid-labor-that-was-just-used-to-fill-a-couple-of-administrative-and-filing-positions-around-the-campus" was disregarded and the duo was getting actual business experience.
Though, her parents cautionary tales aside, she enjoyed what she was doing and what they had done and was mostly happy.
Still, it might be nice to get laid.
Yes, women think about sex like guys do.
"Here you go, locker 812. Men on the right." Tiffany handed a key to a gym patron who thanked her and moved on their way.
Christ, she couldn't believe her train of thought had so quickly gotten away from her. It wasn't as if anything about her job made her particularly horny.
She was late in losing her virginity as she had not actually lost it yet. There were opportunities in high school when she had a couple of relatively steady boyfriends who claimed to be up to the task but she also claimed to be not "ready" for sex yet. Sure, they had messed around, having those so-called "anything-but" relationships, but a virgin is a virgin. She hadn't had any serious suitors since then and the next thing she knew she was about to graduate without ever having had "done the deed." Yes, she was interested in guys. Yes, it seemed that guys were interested in her. It just hadn't happened. It was depressing to think about so, in general, she didn't. She pushed it to the back of her mind. But sometimes, especially at the gym when she had time to let her mind go, she did think about it. She couldn't get it out of her mind. The thought of it was almost all consuming. Her nipples went hard, her breath went shallow, a tingle went down her spine, she most definitely got wet. When Tiffany was by herself she could give into the temptation of her hormones. She wasn't above satisfying herself. It was the desire to be with someone that was causing her the most irritation. There was something lacking in getting herself off. Physically, she was okay. Emotionally, she needed more.
"How's it going today?" Tyler's inquiry broke into her thought process.
"Pretty good. A bit slow. Why are you here so early?"
Tiffany and Tyler, in taking over the gym, had worked out a schedule where, for the most part during the week, she was there first thing in the morning and then around dinner time. He was there around lunch and at night. It worked out for both of them. She tended to be more of a morning person. He loved to work out at night after the gym was closed to the public and he had the place to himself. They sometimes worked together on the weekends and otherwise each had a key to come and go as they pleased. The only "rule" was that they were not to go in the pool alone; however Tiffany was pretty sure that Tyler had broken that rule on more than one occasion.
"Something I need to talk to you about, actually." Tyler sat himself down next to Tiffany and laid out his case. "I have a group project due at the end of the semester for Statistics and everyone wants to meet after class."
Tiffany knew that he had Statistics a total of 3 nights a week and often spent a significant amount of time over the weekend working on his homework. Translation: she was sure this was a big deal.
"So, you want me to take over your night shift on Monday and Friday?" Neither of them worked on Tuesday or Wednesday. Student employees worked more weekend hours as it was assumed they would not have class on Saturday and Sunday, homework be damned.
"Yes. But actually I was hoping that we could switch schedules totally for the rest of the semester."
"The whole semester? Yikes. Big project I guess. Uhm, well... uhm, okay... I mean I guess I could."
Tyler could sense the hesitation in her voice. "You don't want to. I get it. It's a big deal. Okay. Let me see if I can talk to the group and see if we can meet some other time."
"No. That's crazy. I am sure everyone chose that because that is when schedules actually line up and you will already be together. I am sure I will be fine."
"Fine?"
"Yeah. I'll be fine."
"Is there something wrong?"
"No, you're gonna' laugh. Not a big deal."
"Tiff, seriously, what is it?"
Tiffany actually laughed out loud for a second before opening up and telling him what it is.
"It's just that I have never been here by myself at night before. The thought of it kinda' freaks me out."
She expected Tyler to laugh at her or at least tell her that she was crazy and it wasn't a big deal.
He did neither.
"Oh, yeah. I didn't even think about that. I could see where that might be an issue."
Tiffany was surprised... and somewhat touched. She and Tyler had developed a friendly relationship over the last couple of years but this was still the first time they had an exchange like this.
"Well, hey," he continued, "the project isn't even supposed to start until next week. What would you think about switching up informally right now. I will come back for the night shift tonight and Friday anyhow and hang out while you get the feel of things. If you still don't feel comfortable with it then I will talk to my group."
His proposal was sweet and there was no reason not for her to at least give it a chance. Tiffany agreed and they exchanged a friendly hug to seal the deal.
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That evening, true to his word, Tyler didn't even wait till the end of the evening shift. He sat with her the entire time as they did all of the standard work and he started explaining the closing procedures to her. He walked with her every step of the way as far as checking that all of the lights were off, rooms were cleared and alarms were armed. It was during that process that she got one of her bigger surprises.
As they were walking through the women's locker room, the first of the two they had to check, Tyler asked her to hold up for a second as they were going down the faculty and staff aisle of lockers. Tyler pulled a key out from the lanyard around his neck and opened one of the lockers. The bag he pulled out, Tiffany recognized, was his own.
"Uhm...?"
She couldn't even get a sentence out of her mouth as Tyler swiftly swung the locker door shut, gave her a wink and a grin and turned towards the exit.
Tiffany stood there dumbfounded while her friend, backpack slung over one shoulder, yellow and blue rugby shirt tucked into faded blue jeans that were rolled at the bottom, just simply walked away.
"Tyler! What the hell?!"
"What the hell, indeed! Are you just going to stand there all night?"
