**This is true story -- one that I think back on often. Names have been changed, but all the relevant details are true. This is my first-time writing, so I would love comments and feedback. Thank you!**
I was 24 when I finished graduate school. I had a steady boyfriend for the past year and a few months prior, we took the big step to get our own apartment. It was moderately sized and along with that, came a moderately sized rent. Thankfully, soon after graduating, I was able to secure my first full-time job. I was, like many people, excited and nervous. Excited to start earning money and start the slow march toward retirement and nervous to be working at a real job with people I have never met before. On my first day on the job, I found out that I would be sharing an office with a woman named Penny. Penny was in her late 40s and had been with the organization for 20 years at this point. She was the expert in our department on a number of items and, in hindsight, probably was not thrilled to be sharing an office with this fresh-faced girl with no work experience.
I'm not going to lie -- the first few weeks were a little bumpy. Between getting to know the job, understanding the organizational procedures, trying to get a grasp on the culture, and sharing an office with Penny, I was struggling. I came home most nights and told Jim (my boyfriend) that I was sure Penny hated me and I didn't think it was going to work. Between glasses of wine, he kept encouraging me. I kept going back. A funny thing happened. Penny and I started to get along. We bonded over mutual hatred of another staff person in our department, our love for dogs, and a penchant for long lunches. Since Penny had been there forever, when she and I went to lunch, no one seemed to mind when we came back almost 2 hours later. Soon she was showing me the ropes at work, sharing all the insider gossip, and even texting with me after hours. I told Jim I had made a friend! I was excited and so was he.
We didn't have a lot of money in those days, fresh out of graduate school, new jobs, etc. But we managed to scrape together enough money for a week-long trip to South Carolina. We were excited and looking forward to a week of laying on the beach, swimming, and even going out to eat. We were also excited to be able to spend a week, feeling like real adults, and enjoying some sexual time with each other. It was going to be fun. At work, I had started talking about the vacation more and more with Penny, blabbering on like a fool. After weeks of this, Penny finally told me she was envious -- she never had taken any real vacation. She had a long-time boyfriend (John) who was almost 50, but they never really went anywhere. Despite her love to travel, John was a homebody, so they spent many long weekends and summers at home or maybe sometimes at her parent's camp in the woods. As we got closer, with just a few weeks left, Penny asked me a question that I never thought would alter my life.
"Hey, would it be weird if I tagged along on your vacation? I can pay my half. I would just love to sit on the beach for a week and I know John wouldn't be interested." She was nervous asking me, clearly worried what I might say. I shrugged and said I didn't think there would be an issue, since we had rented a 2-bedroom unit.
"I'll ask Jim, but I don't think he'll care. And what would be great! It would give me someone to talk to and lay out with all day. Jim can only lay on the beach so long." I smiled ear-to-ear. That night, I went home and told Jim and he was game. His only concern was the possibility of Penny hearing us fool around in our bedroom. I told him not to worry, it wouldn't be any different than someone in a hotel hearing us.
I told Penny the next day and she was excited. We spent the next few weeks discussing the trip, looking at bikinis, shopping during lunch, and basically acting like two excited kids, despite our big age difference. A few days before the trip, Penny texted me.
"Hey girl! Guess what? I told John about the trip and he actually said he'd love to go. Do you care if he comes too? I wasn't sure, but I figure there is space. We'll pay for half! Let me know!" I turned to Jim, showing him the text.
"Well, what do you think?" he asked me. I shrugged and said I didn't really care -- if they paid half, who cares if it was one person or two. Jim nodded in agreement. I quickly replied to Penny.
"Sounds great Penny! Glad he came to his senses. I'll see you in a few days!"
A few days later, after a lot of packing, a decent amount of arguing, and a lot of driving, we finally ended up in South Carolina. We got in around 8pm and were happy to find the condo we rented was quite nice. Both bedrooms had their own en-suite bathroom and there was a large living room, kitchen, and a balcony that looked directly at the beach and ocean from the 3rd floor. It was wonderful! Jim and I also got to meet John for the first time. John was what I would describe as burly -- more of a blue-collar type guy. He stood about 6'1", maybe 230 pounds, sandy blonde hair, blue eyes, and fairly broad chested. He was very nice -- almost quiet and laid back. Especially compared to Penny and me, as we babbled incessantly. He towered over Penny, who was only 5'3", around 140 pounds, blonde hair, blue eyes, and large D cup breasts -- the product of three kids from an earlier marriage.
By contrast, Jim and I were fairly average in terms of our physical appearance. Jim was lean, standing 6 feet tall and around 175 pounds, with thick, short brown hair and hazel eyes. I was taller than Penny, but not much -- 5'5", around the same weight, with long brown hair, blue eyes, and much small B cup breasts.
Once we dragged all our suitcases inside, we were all exhausted. We each headed to our separate bedrooms and agreed to meet up in the morning for breakfast before heading down the beach. Jim had put our suitcase on the bed and we both hurried emptied the contents in the two dressers, feeling more and more tired as we went. Soon we were in the bathroom, getting ready for bed, stripping out of the clothes we'd been wearing for 10+ hours. Jim put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. I stripped down completely and grabbed an oversized t-shirt to wear.
Ten minutes later, we were in bed, TV on, absent mindedly checking our phones when we heard a noise. It was soft at first and sounded distant -- the TV we assumed. Then we heard something again. Something that sounded like a moan. I told Jim to mute the TV. He did so and we laid there, listening. This time we heard it for sure -- a longer, louder moan. We both looked at each other, red in the face, and giggling. The moaning was coming from across the hall. As we listened, the frequency and intensity of the moaning increased. We would hear the headboard hitting the wall in a rhythmic fashion. An array of different moans, grunt, and gasps were emanating from Penny and John's room. Despite the long day, they clearly still had energy for this. We both listened, almost in a trance, as we could hear Penny's moans, rising and falling with different orgasms, as the bed squeaking increased to a furious level. Soon John's voice joined the chorus with a series of loud, guttural moans, as he no doubt was erupting along with Penny.
Silence followed. In the soft-glow of the TV light, Jim and I looked at each other, smiling, and giggling like kids. We WERE kids, compared to them. But we both whispered back and forth to each other, excited and shocked by what we just heard. Was this how the week was going to go? Would we hear them again? If we did the same, would we be heard? The questions raced through our minds. Soon, the long day caught us, however, and we drifted back off to sleep.
The morning arrived without incident. As we all sat around the kitchen table, no one mentioned the sex romp we heard last night, even though Jim and I were still thinking about it. We talked about plans for the day, where we might eat, and other trivial nonsense. Soon enough, we were packing a bag for the beach. I slipped into a dark navy triangle top bikini that tied behind my neck and back. The matching bottoms tied at the sides and were "cheeky" but nothing risqué. Jim wore a pair of light red swim trunks. Penny wore a similar bikini, her large breasts barely contained in the black fabric, while John wore dark green trunks. A few minutes later, we were on the beach, laying on our towels, enjoy the warm sun, sound of the ocean, and no work emails.
The day passed without incident. We lounged in the sun, swam in the warm ocean, popped back upstairs for a quick lunch, and did more lounging, reading, and napping on the beach. It was perfect! Around 4pm, we all decided we had enough and packed up our things. Once back in the cold air of the condo, I collapsed on the couch. We agreed to leave for dinner in about 2 hours -- that would give everyone enough time to shower, clean up, get dressed, and so on. Penny and John headed off toward their room while I was on the couch and Jim was sitting at the kitchen table.
As I scrolled through my phone, I heard it again -- soft moaning. I looked up from my phone toward Jim. He was engrossed in his book. I shook it off until, again, I heard a moan. This time Jim heard it too. We both looked at each other, eyes wide, our hearts beating. Soon the thumping of the headboard started again and the moaning was more consistent, and louder. I bit my lip -- holy shit, Penny really gets laid a lot!