Like Butter On A Summer Day Pt 02

This is Part 2 of a 2 part series.

Note that the following events took place in the mid to late '90s, while the "Don't ask, don't tell" policy was in place in the military. Even after implementing that policy, being an active lesbian risked your career, especially for an officer.

You really should read 'Like Butter on a Summer Day Pt. 01' first.

© 2021 Candy_Kane54

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June 1995

On the way home, I thought about Megan. I remembered how into each other we had been and the one time we gave into those feelings and kissed. That one kiss was seared into my memory.

... As was our custom, we always met up at my apartment to start and end our bike rides. Then we'd shower and change before heading out for lunch. Today, I decided to go first because I needed a cold shower in the worst way. Despite the cold water, I was still so hot that I had to relieve myself by jilling off twice before I felt safe enough to get out of the shower. When I finished toweling off and pulled on my sweatpants and pullover, I left the bathroom so Megan could take her turn.

As we passed each other, I could see that Megan seemed quite flushed, and her eyes were totally dilated. I realized that she must have heard me, even though I had tried hard to be quiet. At that moment, the floodgates of my feelings broke open, and I realized that I was totally in love with her. I watched Megan enter the bathroom, and as she closed the door, I quietly said, "I love you, Megan."

I went into my bedroom and changed into a pair of capris and a spaghetti strap top in preparation for us going to lunch. When I came out, I could still hear the shower running. As I passed the door, I thought I heard a moan and a gasp over the sound of the water running. At that moment, I knew she was jilling herself off thinking about me. I went out to the common area and sat down, trying to calm myself. I sternly told myself, "Alex, we can't do this. Our friendship is too important. Back off, before we go too far."

The shower was turned off, and Megan left the bathroom several minutes later in her sweats. She came out into the common area to get her bag and then headed into the bedroom to change without saying a word. She didn't have to, her eyes were doing all of the talking, and they were wide and bright.

When Megan came out of the bedroom, I stood up. She looked so lovely in her skort and polo top. She walked up to me, locked eyes with me, and said, "I love you, too, Alex." My resolve broke down, and I pulled her into me, and our lips met. I moaned from the sensation of her silky soft lips pressed onto mine. Megan moaned too and wrapped her arms around me as my arms wrapped around her. My left hand cupped the back of her head as her left hand went behind mine.

After what seemed like forever, I broke the kiss, gasping for air. As the rush of that kiss started to recede, I realized the enormity of what we had just done. We had crossed the line that we had both sworn to ourselves that we wouldn't cross. I stepped back, probably the hardest thing I had ever done, and looked into Megan's eyes and gasped, "I think we better leave it there before it goes too far."

I saw in her eyes the desperate longing that she fought against before she briefly closed her eyes and shakily gasped, "As much as I'd rather not, you're right." Megan opened her eyes and stepped back. "I think we best not go to lunch. I'd better go home."

As much as I didn't want to, I said, "You're right. Best not tempt fate anymore today."

I walked her out to her car, carefully avoiding getting close enough to reach out and touch her. I helped her get her bike up on the rack, staying on the other side of her car. Megan got into her car and asked, "I'll see you at the meeting Tuesday?"

"Yes," I answered, relieved that Megan seemed okay with this, "I'll see you then."

I stood there and watched her drive off. I went back inside and cried ...

Thanks to meeting with Judy and Virginia tonight for dinner, I found out that Megan had taken a tenured position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Hanscom Air Force Base (AFB) was located just outside of Boston, and there was a Software Development Center (SDC) there. In fact, my team and I were scheduled to go up there in a couple of months to perform another Capability Maturity Model (CMM) evaluation on the SDC.

When it was time to go to Hanscom AFB, I vowed that I would check to see if Megan was still at MIT. Of course, there was no guarantee that she wouldn't already be in a relationship if I did find her. After all, she was beautiful and intelligent. "Oh, Megan," I sighed.

I got home and dressed down before sitting down and watching TV. I watched Northern Exposure, a show that I really liked and tried not to miss. It took my mind off of Megan until it was time to go to bed. My dreams that night were haunted by her beautiful green eyes, and I woke up with damp panties.

I didn't get a lot of productive work done Thursday. My mind was still spinning from finding out about Megan and meeting Virginia and Judy last night. Luckily, I didn't have any meetings, and my team was pretty good at working independently.

I did start looking into what I needed to do to get into the Air War College. I needed to get an endorsement from a Colonel or General officer to be considered for acceptance. I knew my commander, Col. Frank Rogers or Major General Steve Oldiges, would endorse me. I just needed to figure out which one I'd go with. I'd like to go with Steve, but I didn't want Frank to think that I didn't consider him worthy of the endorsement. I made up my mind to just come out and ask Frank what he thought I should do.

I called Mary Ann and asked to get some time on Col. Rogers' calendar. She called me back ten minutes later and said that Col. Rogers could see me at 2 PM for 10 minutes. I thanked her for getting me on his calendar and got back to work.

One thing I knew he would ask me about is if I go off to the Air War College, who's going to do my job. I spent some time figuring out who I could groom to take my place when I leave. Major Stephanie Harris, who I had tapped to manage my pinning on ceremony, has done a great job working with me. She always seems to know what I wanted to be done without explaining it to her. I know Frank is high on her, so I decided to get together with her and discuss it over lunch.

As I walked over to Stephanie's desk, I thought about how well we worked together. Stephanie was straight and married, so there was never any sexual tension between us. She was four years younger than me. While beautiful, intelligent, and very lovely, I was never interested in trying anything with her. It was great that I could be relaxed while around her, not having to worry about anything other than getting the job done.

I reached Stephanie's desk and asked, "Stephanie, do you have any plans for lunch?"

Stephanie looked up at me and said, "No, not really, Alex. I was just going to go down to the cafeteria. Why?"

"Would you mind if I joined you for lunch?" I asked. I went on to explain, "I'd like to talk to you about your career plans."

"Sure, Alex," Stephanie said.

I noticed a cautious look coming over Stephanie's face, so I smiled and said, "It's nothing to worry about. I'm just thinking about who's going to replace me when I move on, and I wanted to talk to you about it."

"Oh, okay," Stephanie said, a smile coming over her face. "When did you want to go to lunch?"

"Just stop by my desk when you're ready to go," I said. "I'm only doing paperwork today, so anytime is fine." I walked back to my desk and planned how I wanted to broach my idea to Stephanie.

At 11:45, Stephanie stopped by my desk. I quickly finished up what I was doing and walked with her down to the cafeteria. We both got salads, Stephanie a chef salad and I a Caesar salad, and sat down at an empty table in the corner. We chatted a bit about current events before I broached what I wanted to talk to Stephanie about.

"Stephanie, you've been doing a great job working with me on the CMM evaluations," I started. "Frankly, I don't know if I could have done a better job at getting everything scheduled and arranged."

"Thanks, Alex," Stephanie said. "That means a lot to me."

"Well, it's the truth," I averred. "The reason I'm bringing this up is that I am planning to try to get accepted into the Air War College, and I know it'll go a lot easier if I have someone ready to take my place." I leaned in and said, "I'd like for that someone to be you."

Stephanie smiled and said, "Alex, I'm flattered that you think I'm capable of taking your place. Of course, I'd love to do it. It will be great for my career like it has been for yours."

"Great," I said. "I'm going to talk with Frank this afternoon, and I wanted to be able to give him your name."

"Okay," said Stephanie. "Thanks for doing this. I won't let you down."

"I know," I said, thinking about that same exchange I had with Frank when he told me about my promotion. "I wouldn't do it if I didn't think you couldn't handle it."

With that, we finished our salads and headed back to work. Before we parted, I tasked Stephanie to take the lead on completing the preparations for our planned CMM evaluation at Rome Laboratory next month. That evaluation involved a small software development group. It would be an excellent start to get Stephanie up to speed on leading a CMM evaluation. Of course, I'd be along to mentor her if she had any questions, but I was going to let her run it.

At 1:55 PM, I was waiting outside Col. Rogers' office. Right at 2 PM, I went in and reported to him. Once he directed me to be seated, Frank sat back and asked, "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this meeting?"

"Sir, I wanted to discuss my career path with you," I answered. "I'd like to go to the Air War College and then try to get a command at one of the SDCs. I know you've attended the Air War College, so I wanted to ask you about how one goes about getting considered for attending."

"I see," Frank said. "It's too late to be considered for this year, so we would need to look at next year at the earliest." Frank paused for a beat before continuing, "Have you given any thought to who you want an endorsement from?"

"Yes, Sir," I said. "I would like to get your endorsement if you think that's appropriate. I'm sure I could get General Oldiges to endorse me, but I wanted to give you the right of first refusal."

Frank smiled before he said, "Alex, I'm honored that you would want me to endorse you for the Air War College. To answer your indirect question, it would look better for you to be endorsed by a general, but it would look even better if both of us endorsed it. Why don't I get in contact with Steve and work that out."

"Thank you, Sir," I said with a big smile. This was even better than I had envisioned. With both of them endorsing me, I was sure I'd be accepted.

Frank then said, "You are more than qualified to attend the Air War College. Have you thought about the curriculum you want to take?"

"I want to concentrate on Strategic Thinking and Planning," I said. "I feel this will help once I'm a commander at one of the SDCs. Developing software that works isn't easy and takes a long time. Planning ahead to figure out what software is going to be needed when is difficult at best."

"Yes, it is," Frank agreed. "Have you thought about transitioning your position to someone before you go?"

"Yes, Sir," I said. "I'm planning to groom Major Harris to take my place when the time comes. She's been doing a great job, and I don't think our Software Process Improvement (SPI) program would be as successful without her. In fact, I'm putting her in the lead for our next CMM evaluation at Rome Laboratory."

"It sounds like you have things thought out," Frank said. "I've noticed that you seem to work well with Major Harris. That sounds like a good choice." With that, he sat up, indicating that our time was up.

As I stood up, I said, "Thank you, Sir." I saluted him before turning and leaving. I was thrilled that my plan for my career advancement was going to work out as I wanted. I stopped by Stephanie's desk to tell her that Frank had approved my goal to have her take my place when I leave. She was thrilled and thanked me again for picking her to take my place.

To cap my week off, I got to have dinner with Virginia and Judy Friday night before they left Saturday morning. We had a great time, and I enjoyed spending time with the kids. It was more comfortable being around Judy and Virginia, knowing that they both cared for me. It was great that they had no issue with me or each other that they had both been lovers of mine.

July 1995

I celebrated my 40th birthday today. I had treated myself to a new Nissan ZX300 convertible for my birthday. It was a really sweet ride, and I loved how it handled when I opened it up on the highway. I had picked it up yesterday, and I drove it into work today, getting an admiring look from the airman who waved me in through the gate. I had to get a temporary sticker before I could drive it on base, so I was a little late getting into my office.

My unit threw a surprise party for me. Stephanie had arranged it and acted as Master of Ceremony. I was touched that everyone participated, even though we were all leaving the next day to head up to Rome Laboratory for the CMM evaluation. Even Col. Rogers made a cameo, grabbing a piece of cake after congratulating me. It felt so good that everyone cared enough about me to do this. I wondered if that would be one of the perks of having a command if everyone working for you appreciated your leadership. I even received a lovely birthday card from Judy, Virginia, and the four kids signed by all of them.

The next day, I was in a good mood as we all gathered together at the terminal in Area A to head out. Since I had put Stephanie in charge, I hadn't had to do all of the planning, so I enjoyed seeing how the team worked so well together. I was pleased with how smoothly everything went as we boarded the C-130 cargo plane to head up to Griffis AFB. It was closing in September as part of the 1993 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission decision. Rome Laboratory was going to remain behind, along with a NORAD unit. The rest of the base was going to be repurposed into a business park.

When we disembarked at Griffis AFB, it was hot and muggy. Even though the base was closing in two months, there was still a lot of activity around the terminal. We got on a shuttle to head over to the VOQ. Our rooms were ready for us, so we all went to our rooms and changed out of our uniforms. Stephanie was going to lead the briefing tonight before we head over to the O-Club for dinner.

This was only the second time I've been in New York while serving in the Air Force. I had kept my New York residency while in the Air Force. As long as I'm in the military and didn't spend more than 30 days a year in New York, I didn't have to pay state income tax for that year. New York has a high tax rate, so that saved me a lot in taxes each year.

Stephanie did a great job with the pre-brief. Of course, by now, my team was so experienced that it was almost a pro-forma event. When Stephanie was done, I told everyone that I thought she had done a great job and for everyone to give her a round of applause for an excellent job. Stephanie just glowed from the appreciation, and when she smiled at me, I knew I had made the right decision.

On the way over to the O-Club in the shuttle, Stephanie and I shared a seat. She leaned in and thanked me for everything. I told her that it was time that her hard work was being recognized. Over dinner, we discussed the plans for the next two days. Since Rome Laboratory was a small unit, we could do the CMM evaluation in just two days rather than the typical three days. I told Stephanie that I would be available to step in if she needed help, but I expected her to take care of everything.

On the way back to the VOQ, I went over everything I knew about the head of Rome Laboratory, James Milligan. Stephanie had talked to him on the phone but had never met him. By the time we were back at the VOQ, I was confident that Stephanie was ready for this, and I told her so. She thanked me again before we parted and went to our rooms. I relaxed and prepared for bed, not having to stress over everything that was going to happen over the next two days.

In the morning, we all had breakfast together before heading over to Rome Laboratory. Stephanie and I went straight to Jim's office while the rest of the team spread out to do their assigned tasks. Jim was already there at my request, so he and Stephanie could get together and discuss the activities for the next two days. I just sat back and enjoyed the interchange between Jim and Stephanie as they got to know each other.

The CMM evaluation went well, and Rome Laboratory ended up with a solid Level 3 rating, nearly up to Level 4. I let Stephanie give the final briefing to Jim and his leads about the results of the evaluation. She did a great job explaining our results, praising Jim's team for doing a great job. By the time we left, I knew that Jim was pleased with how Stephanie managed the evaluation. I felt that they would work well together in the future, which boded well for Stephanie stepping in to take over once I leave to go to the Air War College.

September 1995

I was excited about going up to Hanscom AFB to do the CMM evaluation on the SDC. I had previously worked with Lt. Col. Barbara 'Barb' Flemming, the commander of the SDC. She was a pleasure to work with, and I was looking forward to taking her aside and finding out what her plans were for the future. If Megan was still at MIT, I'd want to see if I could get my next assignment to Hanscom AFB. When the time came for me to work on my next assignment, I hoped that Barb would be ready to move on to her next assignment.

As with the Rome Laboratory assessment, I let Stephanie plan the trip and put together the evaluation assignments and schedule. Since the Hanscom SDC was a large organization, we would spend three days doing the assessment. There weren't any military flights to Hanscom AFB for the times we needed, so we had to fly commercial to get there and back. This meant that we'd have to fly in and out of Logan International and get rental cars to drive up to the base. I had Stephanie work with SATO to get as many people to fly together as possible on each flight to Logan International. Flying back together wasn't as important, but the logistics would be easier if everyone did.

We were all going to fly out of Dayton International on Monday. About half of us managed to get a direct flight to Logan International while the rest were on a flight that stopped in Pittsburgh before going on to Logan. That meant that we would get there first. Stephanie and I sat together so we could talk if anything came up during the trip.

When we arrived at Logan, we got off the plane and went to get our luggage. We then went to National to get our rental car. Five of us went together, and wending our way through the roundabouts getting out of the airport was lots of fun. Driving up to Lexington to get to Hanscom AFB was also an adventure since Boston drivers have no concept of staying in their own lane. Luckily, I'd been here before and was used to how people drove around Boston.

We finally made it to the VOQ and got our room assignments. After we settled into our rooms, I called Lt. Col. Flemming to arrange for Stephanie and me to visit with her. Barb agreed to meet with us at 2 PM, so we ate lunch and donned our uniforms before heading over to her office. Barb came out of her office to greet us when we got there and led us into a nearby conference room.