Sami liked using the workout center of their apartment complex, she liked being able to run on the small oval running/walking track that surrounded the 'machine room'. Sami still ran daily, getting up early to run before work, or after they returned from work, but she ran.
Sami had tried, unsuccessfully, to get Bonnie into running but that wasn't going to happen, so Sami ran alone, lost in her thoughts as she did so…
Work had been going well, and even though they worked in different areas of the station's infrastructure, they both had tales to tell over lunch or dinner. The thing was, though, that neither talked about 'everything' that happened at work.
Sami had become friendly with another worker-bee from the station's art department, Ashley; friendly, but not 'friends', at least not yet. Ashley had asked Sami to go out for drinks, a couple of times, and when Sami finally admitted that she wasn't old enough yet to drink legally, Ashley switched the invite to drinking with her at her home.
But Sami didn't accept the invite yet, yet being the operative word; she was seriously considering it, though, Sami's own 'gaydar' having picked up some vibes from Ashley along those lines.
But no, not yet; still, it was something to think about.
Having run her usual five miles, Sami cooled down slowly, drinking a ton of water in the process, and then she jogged to their apartment; entering, she could hear Bonnie's shower running, so she chose the other bedroom's shower to quickly clean up before they left for work.
The shower was finally waking her up, as she stood under the stream of hot water, and Bonnie let her mind wander…
Bonnie never mentioned the 'hits' that had been coming her way from some of the younger, and in one case, older, guys that worked at the station. She never mentioned that she was seriously considering accepting a date with a good-looking, 'Breaking News' reporter and of course, she never mentioned that she was even considering the pros and cons of letting the young reporter, or another guy, get into her pants.
Bonnie's rationalization was as a gut check of her own sexuality; oh, she'd never stop loving women, but she wondered if there was room in her life for cock, as well. That married friend of Sami's, Jena, enjoyed both men and women in the sack, and it seemed to work out okay for her.
Well, there
was
that cheating thing on her husband, but Bonnie was fairly certain that she would never do that, the cheating thing, that is. But still, if she did decide to fuck the reporter, she thought that it'd be better that she kept that to herself, and not tell Sami.
__________________
The Fourth of July holiday had come and gone, and the dog days of summer were upon them in Memphis, stifling heat being the norm now. Sami and Bonnie were eating lunch in the station's break room when Bonnie's uncle found them, his eyes clearly showing the remnants of having cried recently.
"Uncle Joe, what's wrong, why have you been crying?" Bonnie said when she looked up from her sandwich and into the sad face of her uncle. Sami's back was to the door and hadn't seen him come in.
Joe Madison sat down with the girls and put a brave smile on his face, asking Sami if she could give him and Bonnie 'a moment'.
"Of course, Uncle Joe, it's time for me to punch back in anyway; Bonnie, if you need anything, let me know," Sami said; he, Joe, had insisted that Sami call him 'uncle', so she did.
Sami returned to her current project, wondering what that was all about when she heard Bonnie call her name from the doorway. Turning, Bonnie's tear-streaks on her face were fresh and very visible.
"Bonnie, what's wrong?" Sami asked as she hurried to the doorway, hurried to her friend and lover.
"Grammy passed away, this morning, at the nursing home," Bonnie said with sadness that Sami hadn't seen to this point in Bonnie Sue.
Grammy was her paternal grandmother, and the only grandmother that Bonnie had ever known. She passed away in her sleep, at the significant age of ninety-six.
Hugging her to her body as any good friend would do under similar circumstances, she held Bonnie tight as Bonnie's body heaved and shook in Sami's arms with fresh cries of sadness wracking her body.
It wasn't a good way to end the month of July.
_________________________
Bonnie had flown back to Gulfport with her Uncle and his family on that Thursday and left Sami with the Civic to use while she'd be gone. They were expected back late Monday or Tuesday night; Bonnie would call when she knew for sure so that Sami could pick her up from the executive hangar.
Sami ran that night, and hit the bed early, a bit sad at Bonnie's absence, if the truth be known. It wasn't a restful night for Sami, for whatever reasons. Sleep deprivation? Sami didn't know if that was the reason, but it was the one she used to assuage her conscious for her actions and what followed.
"Mornin' Ashley, leave any coffee for the rest of us?" Sami joked; Ashley's fondness for coffee was station legend material.
Blowing her hair out of her eyes, a regular habit for her, Ashley smiled sweetly and said, "Kiss my ass, Sami; the swill in the station's vending machine isn't worth my money."
Then, breaking into a huge grin that betrayed her joking, she said further, "Starbucks in my thermos; help yourself, but you owe me."
"Well, if I wasn't such a young thing, I'd buy you a drink in repayment," Sami remarked as she poured the strong, rich brew into her mug.
Stretching to pin the material to the set frame she was working on, Ashley said, over her shoulder, "Don't give me that crap, Samuel, I've invited you over to my place to share some brews and you've turned me down every time, so I've quit asking; I figure that you just don't like me, boo-hoo."
Ashley was joking, Sami knew, she and Ashley busted each other's chops that same way ever since Sami joined the department. They liked the teasing; they liked the irreverent nature in each other.
Biting her lip, Sami pondered some things as she sipped her coffee and readied a strip of material for Ashley to hang next.
Mostly she pondered how nice Ashley's ass looked in those tight jeans.
Ashley was in her late thirties, short red hair, real, not dyed, and was muscular, a result of the weight training three times a week.
She was average in her looks and well above average in her intelligence. She was a private person, and except for her interaction with Sami, she didn't really hang out with the station people. She came in, she did her job well, and she went about her business after work, whatever that might be.
There was nothing overtly sexual about Ashley, nothing that one could put a finger on, but there was 'something', nevertheless.
"Yes." Sami said as she handed the next piece of material to Ashley to hang.
