The late summer sun streamed in through Erin's bedroom window. The seasons were starting to change but it was still light fairly early in the mornings. Erin stood in front of her full length mirror and frowned. The image showed a woman in her early twenties. Erin knew that she had never been described as beautiful. Her face was pleasant, occasionally even being call cute if she worked at it. Her body was fit but she looked like the athlete that she was. There was little fat on her body but given her build, the muscles that she had made her look just a little stocky. That, along with her smaller bust, meant that she never had any real curves.
She sighed. She knew that she should be satisfied but yet she wasn't. She fought it; ate healthy foods; and did daily intense workouts. Unfortunately the quirks of her body and metabolism just led to that reinforcing how she looked. There were also some things she chose not to do. With all of her time in the gym and on the field she kept her light brown hair short in a pixie cut. It wasn't that flattering but it was easy to take care of. And she often forgot to put on any make up as she rushed to get from one thing to another.
Before the summer, it had always been a battle between classes, her sports and her part time jobs. She rarely had time to stop and think; her life was so full. Now she had graduated and her life was turned completely upside down. She had no more classes and gone from playing two college level sports to playing in rec leagues. The only thing that had stayed the same was her job. She had worked in the financial aid office on a part-time basis in order to earn a little spending money. When she graduated with honors with a double major in economics and business, they had offered her a full time position. Although she had been a starter for two years on the soccer team, she was not at a level where there was any future in the small women's profession league or on any national teams. The fact that she had been co-captain was a testament to her leadership skills much more than her soccer skills. Playing on the softball team had been more just for the competition. She was only a bench player there, but it has been okay with her soccer coach so she did it. It had been a lot of fun.
Given all the other adjustments she needed to make, Erin chose to accept the job for the current time until she had a better idea of what she would do. She enjoyed her co-workers and found the job challenging, though she could tell that she would get bored before too long. That was okay too. Hopefully she would have a better idea of what she wanted to do by then.
As she got dressed for work, Erin thought about her romantic life. Or more accurately, she thought about her lack of any sort of romantic life. In high school, she had been a three sport athlete as well as playing in the select soccer league. She had not had a lot of time for dating. There had been a few boys, usually fellow athletes, who had some interest in her and she had occasionally gone out. It was rare enough that occasionally she would hear about a rumor going around school that she was really a lesbian. For a long time, it had bothered her a lot. Erin felt like people were looking at her and just making a judgment based upon appearance. She didn't look girly, and if anything she did have a slight butchy look but there was no basis for the talk. She couldn't think of anything she had ever done that would have encouraged the talk. If anything, a least a couple of the boys she dated could have testified that she had not behaved like a lesbian. While she never went all the way, it was mostly a technicality. All of her encounters were strictly straight.
Privately, Erin admitted to herself that she didn't have strong feelings for any of the boys who were interested in her. She could take it or leave it, and mostly just left it. Occasionally she even wondered in the locker room while dressing if maybe she was interested in other girls. She would see the other girls changing and notice how attractive some of them are, but the feelings with her were not particularly sexual. It was just confusing to Erin since the feelings were roughly the same for boys and girls.
When she went to college, nothing had really changed. School had never been difficult for her and that stayed true with spending most of her spare time with the sport of the moment. The aura of being a lesbian also followed her. In high school, no other girl ever acted upon the rumor. Life in college was different. Erin found herself hit on by women relatively frequently. At first it flustered her. She didn't know how to react and usually ended up fleeing the situation. Over time, she became more used to dealing with it. While there was a little curiosity sometimes, the women were usually clearly lesbians themselves and they were rarely the types that had captured her mild interest in the past. Erin became very good at deflecting the come ons without offending anyone. She could honestly tell them that she was neither a lesbian nor interested in experimenting.
In college, Erin found it simpler with men. She never attracted a large number of admirers. When she was unattached, she usually dated around, spending her time with two or three different men. Twice she had become exclusive with someone. In many ways, it was just easier to do that. She liked both of them but knew she wasn't in love. By the time she was with the first one, she had already lost her virginity. It had been an anticlimactic event, in all ways. Her date had taken her upstairs during a party and had managed to hold off cumming long enough to penetrate her and take her virginity. He hadn't lasted any longer than that. Erin's overwhelming memory of it was of the sudden pain as her entered her, and then relief that he was done so that he withdrew. Over time, sex had gotten better but the feeling wouldn't go away that she was missing something. Her friends talked about it like it was some earthshattering experience. For Erin, it was pleasant but not really more than that.
After graduation, Erin's most recent relationship had broken up. He was leaving the state for graduate school and while there had been an unstated invitation for her to come with him, she used the fact that it was unstated as a simple way to let it end. She knew that if he had actually asked, sheer inertia might have made her say yes. But since she wasn't emotionally invested in him or the relationship, Erin knew that it would likely have just delayed the ending by six months or a year. And then she just would have been alone in an unfamiliar town. It was better for her this way. At least here she had a circle of friends, not that it had ever bothered her to be single.
She finished getting dressed. Erin looked at herself one last time. At least she had good taste in clothes. She had always been able to pick out the clothes that made the most of what she considered meager assets. Her skirt and blouse gave her a little bit more of the curves that she desired, and overall reinforced the image of someone who looked nice but rarely attracted attention. Erin laughed at herself. "I'm a finance person. Who is going to pay attention to me anyhow?"
Erin still lived in the university district and walked to work. It took a little bit of time but it helped her start the day off feeling good. Today as she walked, she noticed how few people were on the streets. Most of the students were still getting their days started. Erin had to be at the office early enough to help open the office at 8 AM. It was not a big deal for her. While in college, morning practices were routine. But then classes weren't until a little later.
As she entered the office, Erin was greeted by her co-workers. She was fairly well liked by everyone. It was a habit of hers to be pleasant to everyone. She had learned long ago that pissing people off rarely was rewarding while being friendly often was.
Her boss, Judy, caught her eye as Erin came into her cube. Putting down her bag, Erin went over and stuck her head in her office.
"What's up," Erin asked.
Judy smiled at her. She had been quite happy that Erin was willing to stay working there. It seemed like most of the time, they would put all the training in only to lose them to graduation, and bigger and better things. "Good morning! We have a new woman starting this afternoon. She is filling one of the part-time student positions. Let's see, where did I leave that paperwork?" She fished around on her desk a moment and pulled out a sheet of paper. "Kim Whitfield is her name. She is a junior. Since you are familiar with the job, I am going to assign you to train her, alright?"
