Author's note: I would like to send out an enormous thank you to LittleAlison for her never ending encouragement, guidance, support and general help with this story. And also for tolerating my
constant pestering. She'll disagree with me, but I firmly believe, if not for her, this story would not have ever seen the light of day. Thank you again dear Alison.
*
Tell It To My
Heart
Chapter One
The introduction of Andi and Lilly
She walked into my life January 25th, 2016. The students had just come back to class for the spring semester here at Central State University. The new procedure for the maintenance guys, in my case woman, was to call campus security when we needed access to a room that needed some sort of work. This new procedure was due to one maintenance guy, who got caught stealing stuff from the university. One bad apple spoiling it for everyone else.
Being the only woman in the maintenance department wasn't easy. I always had to prove myself. Some of the guys accepted me, others hated me. There was no in between. One even tried to get me fired. I worked second shift, so I could see as few of them as possible.
I received a work order that over half the lights in the classroom C514 were out. I called security to let me in. After waiting a few minutes I heard the ding of the elevator at the other end of the long hallway. Then I heard the clomp, clomp, clomp, of the boots of what i knew was a security guard.
As the sound was getting closer I looked up to see if it might be a security guard that I knew. Some of them didn't like me either. It was a silhouette I didn't recognize. Someone new I thought.
She was a little more than 40 feet away when I started to really notice her. She looked to be about 5'5", with those big clunky boots on, maybe shorter. She was on the thinner side and maybe late 20's like me. Not quite shoulder length blond hair that curved slightly as it came down to frame her pretty face. She lit up as walked under each light of the hallway, as if she was under a spotlight for one second each. Her hair shone brighter the closer she got to me.
She either bought a size smaller uniform pants or had them tailored, because they fit tight and showed off her perfectly proportioned curves. Bringing my gaze back up to her face I was met with the most beautiful eyes I had ever seen. Light blue, like the color of the sky, with pretty makeup that made them look even bigger. They sparkled as if they had a light source of their own. I found myself staring at her. I wanted to break the stare but somehow felt it might hurt if I did. My heart skipped a beat,
cut it out heart she's probably not gay.
When she got close enough, my eyes were finally torn away from hers by the shiny security badge with the name "Stapleton" underneath it.
It would be difficult to accurately tell any other physical attributes due to all the safety gear, vest, coat, equipment belt with....hand cuffs?.... hum.....
"Hi I'm Lilly." She said with a big smile but still a work like demeanor.
My heart was beating faster than normal. "Hi....I'm, I'm, I'm, .... Andi .... maintenance." I stuttered for the first time in my life.
"Yeah, I noticed." As she pointed to my oval name tag.
"You,...you,...must be new here. l mean, I've been here 5 years and never saw you before." I said while trying to hide how nervous I was.
"Yeah, just finished training. This is my first day on the job." She said confidently. "So You need C514 opened?"
"Yes."I squeaked.
"Andi, huh? Did your dad want a boy or something?" She said as she slid the key into the lock.
I started to finally calm down a little. "Yeah, I have two younger sisters too, Sami, and Charlee. He never got that boy he was hoping for."
"Lilly. Is that short for anything or are you just Lilly?" I asked, genuinely interested.
"Lillyanna. But the only person who calls me that is my over protective mom." She said in a slightly perturbed voice..... "So what's the problem in here?"
"Well, the work order says half the lights are out in here." I said looking down at the paper I my hand, my heart still beating faster than it should.
"Well, let's see." She walked into the room and flipped on the switch,.....all the lights came on, all of them. She turned back to look at me in the doorway. Lilly's beautiful eyes sparkling. A quizzical smile broadened across her face.
Heart, stop beating so fast, I'm gonna start to sweat!
"Well, it looks like their all working, so I guess your job is done here." She said half joking.
Looking up at the lights and scratching my head. "You might be right, but I'd better hang around here a few minutes just to see if they start to flicker out or something."
"Oh good, can I hang here with you for a few minutes? I don't need to be anywhere for a little while. I'd like to rest my feet." She said with some excitement.
"Sure, I'd like that, grab a seat. I don't get to chat much in this job. Only a few of the other maintenance guys will even talk to me." I said with a smile and more excitement than I wanted to.
She sits backwards in the student desk chair in front of the one I picked. She's facing me with a desk between us. She started looking me over, I don't think I'm bad looking, 5'10" 135lbs. short black hair, with a shine of its own. I have a strong jawline, and high cheekbones some women would be envious of. Big brown eyes and i usually wore very little makeup. You can't tell with my baggy maintenance uniform on, but I'm petty curvy for a tall woman, or so I've been told. I like to think I carry myself with a quiet confidence that some people confuse as shyness.
"So, a woman in a man's world sort of thing, hey Andi?" She said flashing a friendly smile while she made eye contact with me.
"Yeah, I guess so. Being gay doesn't help either.....homophobic assholes... most of them anyway." I said sounding a little disgusted and running my hand through my hair front to back.
"I know what you mean,....the woman in a man's world thing,....not the gay thing." She nervously tried to recover. "I mean being gay is fine, it's just not me. My younger sister came out three years ago, and I love her to pieces, it's just not for me." Completely breaking eye contact with me and looking down at the floor when she said that last part.
She's hiding something, but what, why? I thought about digging a little deeper, but didn't. I figured, she'll tell me when she feels more comfortable. But I have to assume she's not gay since she said she wasn't. Yet I felt an attraction to her, which normally doesn't happen to me when women say they're straight.
You want me to see where this goes heart? Really?.... Are you sure? You know what happened last time!
"So, how do you like working with campus security? How do the other security people treat you?" I said just keeping the conversation going. Keeping her talking like my heart wanted me to.
"It's OK, I guess. Like you, I have some guys that aren't happy about it. But unlike you there are a couple of us women in the department, so I'm not alone. She said shifting back in her chair and tapping her light blue painted nails that match her eyes on the desk between us.
We continued talking for over an hour before we both realized how much time had passed. We both headed towards the door with all the lights still working.
I know heart,
