Before reading this story, you should read '
Your Silver Nights and Golden Days Pt. 03
.'
The following events took place in the late 1980s to the early 1990s, before any "Don't ask, don't tell" policy was in place in the military. Being an active lesbian was risking your career, especially for an officer.
© 2020-2023 Candy_Kane54
***
"Did Col. Stevens say what he wanted to see me about?" I asked, wondering what could be going on.
"No," said Cheryl, "but he did tell me to tell you it was not work-related."
"Maybe he just wants to congratulate me on my new assignment," I thought.
"Okay," I said. "I'll report at 9AM. Thanks, Cheryl."
At 8:55 AM, I was waiting outside Col. Stevens's door to report in. Just as I was going to open the door and report in, Col. Stevens opened his door and said, "Come on in, Major. No need to report in. This isn't an official meeting, so please have a seat."
Now I was getting nervous. This was entirely out of the norm, and I wondered why he called this meeting. I walked in and waited for Col. Stevens to sit before I took a seat.
Col. Stevens started, "I'm sure you're wondering why I want to talk to you. I want to reassure you that this meeting is not official, and anything we discuss is off the record."
"Yes, sir," I replied, now a little uneasy.
"First," continued Col. Stevens, "I wanted to say I'm happy about your new assignment. Your new program is more likely to get built than this program, and I'm sure it will prosper from your hard work."
"Thank you, sir," I replied, appreciating his praise.
"If you play your cards right, this could be your ticket to a below-the-zone promotion to Lt. Colonel. You definitely work hard enough, and we'll certainly lose a lot of technical prowess when you leave. I doubt your replacement will be able to fill your shoes right away, so I'm prepared to take some heat until they get up to speed," Col. Stevens said.
"Yes, sir. I hate leaving you in a bind like that. I am looking forward to my new assignment and working with Gen. Fain. He's a real fire-breather, and I'm sure the program will definitely get built," I said, feeling better about our conversation.
"Yes, and that brings me to the other thing I want to talk to you about," Col. Stevens said in a way that made me feel that I wasn't going to like what he was going to say. He looked away guiltily.
"Sir?" I asked, my heart starting to beat a tattoo.
"Information, nothing official, or even close to being official, has come to my attention that could ruin your career. Hints, and observations on my part, only add to it," Col. Stevens said reluctantly, still not wanting to look me in the eye.
"What kind of information, sir?" I asked, hoping against hope that it wasn't what I thought it was. I nervously played with my ring as I sat there.
Col. Stevens caught my movement and almost sighed. He leaned forward, looking me in the eye. He said, "The kind of information that, if I had to take official notice of, would force me to ask you a question that, if you answer truthfully, will end your career. If I was forced to ask the question and you answer falsely, you'd be brought up on charges, and your career would be effectively over anyway."
I sat there stunned, knowing his next words would determine my fate. In my frantic thoughts, I latched onto the fact that he had said 'if.'
Col. Stevens suddenly sat back and asked in a softer voice, "Virginia, do you trust me?"
"Sir? I don't ...."
"We've worked together well for over a year, and I've given you everything you need to get the job done. I need to know if you trust me."
"Yes, sir, I do," I answered, wondering where this was going.
"Good. We need to talk, but we can't talk here or while we are in uniform. I want you to take the rest of the day off. I need you to go home, change into civilian clothes, and meet me at noon at the Red Onion up on Sepulveda. I'm going to do the same. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir, I believe I do," I said, my heart returning to its regular place as I started to feel some hope that my career may not end just yet.
"Good. I'll authorize the off-time as compensation so you won't have to use up your leave. Now go. I'll see you at noon."
I got up as he did, and he escorted me to the door. As I walked off, he called Tammy into his office, presumably to have her take care of the details. I went to my desk, thankful I didn't have any meetings scheduled and set up my out-of-office message on the phone. I looked over to Christine and told her that something had come up, and I was taking the rest of the day off. Having taken care of housekeeping, I headed out and home.
I changed into jeans and a conservative button-up shirt. I wondered what he wanted to talk about. I headed out, not wanting to be late for the meeting.
I got to the Red Onion about fifteen minutes early and went in to get a table for the two of us. The Red Onion is a nice Mexican restaurant with a wide selection of traditional Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes.
Just as our table became available, Col. Stevens came in the door. I almost didn't recognize him in civilian clothes. He came up to me and said, "Thanks for coming, Virginia."
I replied, "I didn't think I had an option, sir."
"I don't see a 'sir' here," he replied. "The only people I see here are Virginia and Rick, just two friends having lunch. Understand?"
"Yes, s ... I mean, okay, Rick," I replied, a slight smile coming to my lips.
"Good. I'm hungry. Let's eat!" Rick said, smiling.
The hostess led us to our table. We sat, and when the waitress came over, we ordered Coronas. We looked at the menus and ordered our lunch. As the waitress left with our orders, Rick said, "I'm sure you're wondering why we're doing this. I want you to know that whatever is discussed today is between Rick and Virginia, not Colonel Stevens and Major Hanratty. Rick never discusses anything he knows with Colonel Stevens and vice versus. Okay?"
"Okay, Rick," I answered. "Virginia won't tell Major Hanratty anything either."
Then Rick surprised me by asking, "Did you know I had a twin sister?"
I noted he used the past tense, so I made sure I didn't ask what happened to her. "No, Rick, I didn't," I replied.
"Her name was Rachel, but she always went by Ray. We were inseparable when we were young. We did everything together; fishing, camping, hunting, and so on. She was a tomboy in the classic sense; she never wore dresses, played with dolls, or did anything girly like that. Mom would get so exasperated, trying to turn her into a girl. Finally, she realized that Ray was going to go her own way, accepted her for what she was, and stopped trying to change her."
"It sounds like the two of you were close," I said.
"We were. We always confided in each other. When Ray had her first period, she told me before she even went to Mom to tell her. When we were old enough to start noticing the opposite sex, I started chasing after girls. However, Ray just didn't seem interested in chasing after boys. When we were sixteen, she outed herself to me. She told me she was interested in girls like I was. I was okay with it and told her so. Of course, I joked that I didn't want her stealing my girlfriends from me. She promised she wouldn't if I promised I wouldn't try to steal hers."
Just then, our waitress came to the table with our food and asked if we needed another round of beer. We declined and tucked into our lunch. While we ate, Rick went on with his story.
"We both went to the University of Dayton to get our bachelor's degrees. We were both getting our BSEE, so we shared several classes each semester. In our sophomore year, Ray introduced me to Betty, who I eventually married. It turned out that Ray had been trying to get Betty to go out with her, and despite her best efforts, Betty just wasn't interested. So Ray figured if she couldn't have her, maybe I could win her over, so she hooked us up. Well, long story short, we hit it off. I got a wife, and Ray got a life-long best friend."
Rick paused for a moment. A look of sadness came over his face.
"Once we graduated, I married Betty and decided to join the Air Force, getting commissioned through OTC as you did. Ray and I started drifting apart since she decided that she wasn't cut out for military life, let alone that she was gay and didn't want to hide it. She went off and got a great job at IBM while I was enjoying a stellar career in the Air Force. Don't get me wrong. We stayed in touch and still turned to each other when we needed someone to confide in. She was so happy when we had Timothy. She became his godmother and doted on him as if he were her own."
Rick stopped, took a swig from his beer, and continued.