Mentor
Chapter 18 - Epilogue
It is one year to the day since I took a seat at Anita's table in the break room at my office. Of all of the potential anniversaries she and I can claim, the one that led to our friendship and later to our relationship seems the most significant.
This year has seen so much change.
There was no point in trying to get back home with only a day or two left until Christmas, insanely busy travel conditions, and many of our friends being out of town anyway, so we continued our mini-vacation in the hotel. Anita introduced me to holiday traditions in her community, and we had a wonderful time.
On Christmas Day, when I called my mother, I came clean about my travels with my "friend", and why her situation hadn't worked out so well. Naturally, Mom was shocked. The last we'd talked about my relationship status, I'd recently broken up with Jason. That I was not only dating a girl but very serious about her was beyond a surprise. But my parents are resilient and loving, and as soon as Mom recovered from her astonishment, she invited us to visit for New Year. I have to admit that I'd hoped she might do that. As much as Anita and I were enjoying spending time together, this was the first holiday where she was cut off from family, and if she were willing to get to know mine, I knew my mother would do her best to make her feel wanted.
I managed to find last-minute flights, and we stayed with my parents until the New Year. By the time we arrived, they had overcome their concerns - though Mom did take me aside to interrogate on the second day - and had recovered from their surprise. Anita was a huge hit with my family.
So we began this year with a countdown with my parents, followed by the quietest lovemaking we'd ever accomplished in my full-sized teen bed, in a room with walls still covered in posters for One Direction and Miley Cyrus. We headed back home right after New Year's Day.
So I'm now fully out to my family, and Anita is happy to have them in her life.
~~~~~
Anita's mother insulting me was just the final straw pushing my girlfriend into a decision that had been a long time coming. Her older brother and sister had already forsaken the tradition of filial piety in order to thrive independently of their mother's manipulations. Cutting her mother out of her life was harder for Anita, as the last child, and she'd been prepared to weather the insults on her own behalf, but not on mine.
I'm sure that she'll leave the door open to her mother having a change of attitude, but I don't personally think it's likely. Neither do her siblings, with whom she's been working to build less distant relationships. I've met them both now, and they're thoughtful, kind individuals.
~~~~~
Anita returned to her crazy roommates and her place in the cooking rotation for the Spring semester. We resumed our schedule of spending Monday evenings and weekends together, resolving our need for each other on other days with cellphones and self-pleasure.
She does indeed like being on the receiving end of a spanking. Which I'm pretty sure she knew, given her wide range of experience, but I don't pry. What she did before we started dating isn't relevant, unless she chooses to share. Except for the times she was with me, of course. Those will always be special.
Being spanked is only an occasional pleasure for either of us, though - a treat, especially after a difficult work week or study session. I think it would lose its magic if we indulged too frequently, and there are plenty of other activities just as exciting and erotic. After months together we're still learning about each other.
~~~~~
My girlfriend's life and mine aren't the only ones to have changed. In February, Heather was contacted by a lawyer. She feared that it was fallout from her disconnection from her family, and in a way it was, but not from the direction she'd expected. Her aunt, her father's sister, had passed away, leaving a significant sum of money to Heather. Apparently she had cut her brother out of her life because of his narrow-minded beliefs, and when she heard what he'd done to his own daughter, she wrote Heather into her will. It isn't a vast amount, but with her full time manager salary from the coffee shop, she should be able to support herself through her planned masters degree and doctoral program with some savings remaining.
There was an additional bequest of five thousand dollars to "the woman who supported my niece through her troubles", which was Margot. When she learned this, Heather broke down in tears. Having a barely-known relative leave you an inheritance is something for which to be grateful, but specifically referencing the person who made her new life possible showed that her aunt understood Heather's tribulations. Now she wishes she could have gotten to know her aunt, and introduced Margot to her, before she passed.
Since the facts of Heather being cut off from her family were apparently common knowledge, she has tentatively been reaching out to other family members. She's pretty sure a relationship with her parents is a lost cause, but there are others who are not part of her parents' hard-line religion.
Cyndy's ownership of the coffee shop is complete. Or at least the bank's ownership, since she was able to secure a loan to replace Pam's temporary financing, and now Pam, the previous owner, is fully retired. Income and profitability have risen steadily since Cyndy took over. Since her responsibilities have changed, she has promoted Heather to her old position of manager. Her friend Dylan had more seniority, but Dylan wanted to reduce her hours to work on her comic project.
The comic almost caused Dylan and Austin to break up. Austin's investment in his characters caused him to want a happy ever after ending for his human protagonist. Dylan, who writes powerful stories, felt that the protagonist needed to die heroically. They were only able to reach a compromise when a well-respected studio became involved, proposing development of a sequel series. Since the sequel would require the protagonist to survive, Dylan banished him to the most distant realms of faerie, as an enemy of both Queens. Austin was so captivated by the idea, he created a horrific cliff-hanger final panel showing his protagonist's torment. Sales of the original series were high, and both of them are now negotiating the second and third series with the studio, which will necessarily begin with the protag's rescue. Or escape. They're still arguing about that.
Fi returned to Gabby's after Thanksgiving last year, which I was happy to see. Since then she's been more active. I've seen her leave with a few different girls, now. She's friendly toward Anita and me, and she no longer seems to look at me with regret.
Alex continued her Monday night pilgrimages until midway through the Spring semester, earning a reputation for being an imaginative, sexy newcomer. Then, like me, she tossed her status aside to date. Except that she's with a guy. She claims that a) it's not all about sex, but b) she's trained him using everything she learned during her Monday night trysts, and he's incredible in bed. (Perhaps I should state it as Alex would - "He's incredible in bed?")
Her boyfriend found a job in aircraft manufacturing, while Alex found an entry-level position in chemical engineering in the same town. They're in the process of moving to the southeast. I'm disappointed to lose her, but as she said, "Texts reach anywhere? Unless I go to the moon. It might happen?"
Ann is also leaving the area. She was accepted into an East Coast law school. She claims that she will be focusing on business law, not using a law degree to transition into politics. If she changes her mind, I will fear for the future.
Lovely teenager Kennedy stayed with Monday night hookups until almost Christmas, then she dropped out to vacation with her new girlfriend, Grace. They still visit Gabby's, but they're exclusive. They both seem ludicrously happy, on a par with Anita and me. But they have three more years of school, and they're very young, so their interests may yet change.
Michelle is divorcing her wife. They've been together for about a decade, married since Obergefell. Michelle is twenty-eight, her wife is mid-thirties. Reading between the lines, it seems that her wife swept up a cute, vulnerable teen from a blue collar background into a comfortable middle-class life, then increasingly abandoned her for her career and women of her own social standing. Michelle's pretty certain that she wasn't the first to cheat.
I'm much more sympathetic toward her now. She should have left the marriage years ago. I've met her a few times for coffee - only coffee, obviously - and her lawyer seems to think that the property distribution will keep her out of hardship. I had worried that if her wife had learned about me or any of Michelle's groupies that it would affect the split, but the lawyer claims that wouldn't happen.
Tiff is looking for work, and as an engineer, she may find it at the same company as Anita and me. The idea makes me nervous...
~~~~~
Yes, Anita and I work together now, though on different teams. She emailed her hiring manager to ask if there was an issue with an existing relationship with an employee. Manager said as long as neither is the other's supervisor it would be fine.
Of course, PDAs at work are out, which Anita uses from time to time to frustrate me. Especially since she did invest in a garter belt, and makes a point of sitting on the corner of my desk, ankles crossed, at an angle that just lets me view the tops of her stockings under her dark skirt.
~~~~~
Margot has accepted a summer intern position as an economist with a local government agency. It's supposed to be an undergrad position, and she's now graduated, but it will give her the experience she needs to work as an economist. She may apply for a position at the agency after summer, or she may look for work with a local business. Economics grads tend to head for either coast, so there's some local demand, and of course she wants to stay local to be with Heather in her postgrad studies.
The intern position doesn't pay well, but with Heather's aunt's bequest she's in a much better position than she was while a student. She, Heather, Emma and Tiff plan to continue living together, but move into a much better rental house.
Emma's returning to school for a masters in education. Unlike Heather, she's not planning to continue on to a doctorate. She intends to teach sciences in high school.
When Tiff learned that she and Margot would be joining the workforce, while Heather and Emma are heading to grad school, she suggested that a partner swap was in order. Like many of her jokes, it fell flat. Heather especially seemed to turn green. Only Emma was amused, because she knows her girlfriend like no other. I like Tiff, and I think a lot of her unfunniness is funny. (And calculated to be that way.) She's like a walking pun. No one will admit they like puns, but everyone privately chuckles.
~~~~~
And I think that catches up on the stories of my close friends and those whose life intersected mine over the past year. Well, not including those whose statuses haven't changed. Imani and Clare, for instance, graduate next year. Alan has been out of college for a while. So those three will continue to be regulars at Gabby's.
~~~~~
After her finals, Anita moved in to my apartment, so we've been living together for about two months now. She and I, along with Emma, Tiff, and Margot, had her belongings moved in an afternoon. She sold her bed and dresser, since they wouldn't fit into my place.
Her roomies are all scattering to different locations. Jiao and Mey are even heading back to China, though Mey has applied for a visa to allow postgrad studies on the West Coast. So her crazy found family is breaking up, which makes me sad. They've promised to stay in touch.
She and I haven't combined our finances, we're just splitting rent and living expenses. She's teaching me a good amount about her style of cooking and food prep, though she insists she loves whatever I make.
We travel to work together, of course, and it didn't take long for our work colleagues to make the connection, but our behavior is professional - even when I wish it didn't have to be; even when she stops by my cube in skirt and stockings - so no one has a problem. We regularly go to Happy Hour, where we've occasionally been observed to hold hands, but that's outside working time.
