The Disasterous Date

14 Flourishing VERDANT, in the year -87468

Heather stared at her calendar and got even more depressed. This calendar usually had some pretty good holidays, but sometime the good holidays are the most depressing. Pizza Party Day is coming up in three days, which would be great fun except for one small detail. A one person party isn't much fun.

She switched on her computer, not feeling the slightest bit optimistic. She had sent a reply to that tall brunette last night, but didn't have a lot of hope she was real. MOB claimed to be 5'11" and 170 pounds and from the photo it looked to be muscle. Of course, nobody puts real photos of themselves up on these sites, but if that was a fake then they should have tried a little harder. She had a pixie cut that looked completely incongruous on her in a sport coat. She didn't fit a butch, or a femme, or androgynous; she was a little bit of each in a very inconsistent way.

But that isn't what got Heather's attention. MOB's profession was listed as "Banking"; Heather was hoping that meant she had a real job and some maturity. College girls could be fun, but they were impossible to have an actual conversation with.

Heather logged in and checked her messages; there was a new one.

MOB: How about Saturday? I have some stuff in the morning, but I know a sports bar with great burgers. About 5ish?

-----

Heather was waiting at the sports bar a little after 4pm; she had nothing better to do, which was unusual. Usually she had to work weekends. The place hadn't started to get busy yet, so MOB spotted her straight away. Heather waved as she came through the door, though it was totally unnecessary.

"Hi I'm Heather. I guess you're MOB?" She was surprised that MOB looked very much like her profile picture.

"Molly, yeah," she cocked her head. "Didn't I text you my real name? MOB is my initials."

"Nope. I guessed maybe it was your nickname, short for 'Mobster' or something. Probably you're in the witness protection program, bodyguard for some mafia kingpin, something like that."

"Yeah, something like that," Molly laughed. "More like bodyguard for rich people's money."

"That sounds fun, how do you get a job like that?"

After they ordered some food and drinks, Molly explained her job of being a portfolio manager at a private investment management firm.

Heather sensed that Molly was a bit uncomfortable, not nervous exactly, just like she hadn't been out on a date in a long while and was trying to remember how to do it. Heather had always been good at picking up on people's thoughts and emotions, it's one of the things that made her a good nurse. So she joked and asked questions and got Molly to relax.

The bar was starting to fill up with guys when they'd finished their food. It was getting pretty noisy with all the TV's going. On one side of them a game was playing, that one where you have a bunch of men chasing a ball around; and there were a bunch of men from the bar gathered around watching it and yelling at the players, who apparently were ignoring the men watching them. And then behind them another game was playing, that one where there is this ball and a bunch of men are trying to get it from the other guys. And a bunch of men in the bar were yelling at those players too, who didn't seem to pay any attention to the advice they were being given. Then a different TV had a different game, and in this one the guys had this ball they were trying to get past these other guys. All the players in that game also ignored the valuable assistance being offered to them by the patrons of the bar.

"Hey, it's getting pretty loud in here now Molly, do you want to go try a different place?"

"Yeah, you're right. There's a place where my friend Sue is bar tending tonight, let's go there. It should be quieter, even on a Saturday night."

Molly paid their tab, and they walked out to the parking lot. "That's my truck, over there. The one with the rainbow flag. Just follow me."

"Rainbow flag, huh? No Confederate flag?"

"Nope, fuck those Nazi's."

-----

Molly was waiting for her by the door of the bar when Heather got out of her car. It had taken some work to get Molly loosened up, but now Heather was quite confident that the tall brunette would end up in her bed in a few hours. She took Molly's hand, and gave her an alluring smile before they walked in the door.

Molly stiffened suddenly. She was staring at a hot chic with long black hair who was standing at the bar with a frumpy girl in an ugly sweater. Black haired girl was staring back. Heather wasn't going to let a run-in with an ex-lover ruin her night. She pulled Molly to a table and sat her down.

"Hey Molly, so I told you I have a niece right, and she started kindergarten this year. She comes home with the cutest stories...." Heather needed to distract Molly, and what is more entertaining than cute stories about cute kindergartners?

Out of the corner of her eye Heather saw frumpy girl leading black haired girl toward them. Shit, this was not good.

"Hi, I'm Allison Zembrovitch, Jenny's girlfriend. You must be Molly, and...?" frumpy girl asked.

"Um hi. Jenny, Allison, this is Heather." Molly answered her.

"Hi Heather. Mind if we join you for a minute?" the frumpy girl sat down uninvited.

Frumpy Girl continued, looking at Molly, "Yeah, so I'm really glad you two broke up so that I can have Jenny. She's amazing. And she's so smart. You know that game we play, Know It All? She almost beat me at it. One of the questions she asked me once was to give the percentages of the 5 major components in the standard atmosphere, to three significant figures. Can you believe that? Who even knows that?"

"Well you did, Allie. You knew it. But I did really think I'd get you on that one," the hot black haired girl said.

Frumpy Girl turned and started making out with Hot Girl. Eventually they came up for air.

"Yeah. Jenny is awesome. And I don't even need sex from her to keep me happy. She's a lot more than just a great fuck; she is my best friend."

Heather was shocked at Frumpy Girl's directness, but recovered and asked, "So how long have you been dating? How did you meet?"

"Oh we met ages ago, but we've only been dating now for about four minutes. When we saw you two come in, that's when I decided to be her girlfriend. Hey, it's been great talking with you, but I think we're going home now. I need to give Jenny a shoulder massage so she doesn't get too sore from that workout we had this morning."

And just like that they left. Frumpy Girl took the hand of Hot Girl and led her away. They stopped briefly at a table where a straight couple were sitting, said a few words and then left.

Heather looked at Molly, "so which one is your ex? The hot one?"

"Jenny," Molly answered. "Yeah, the hot one. Look, sorry about all the lesbian drama. That is so unlike Jenny. That other chic though really looks like... but that can't be right..."

"Oh girl, you ain't seen lesbian drama if you think that's it," Heather joked. "So what's the story there?"

"Heather, I don't want to ruin this," Molly started. "Jenny is.... I'd just rather not talk about her tonight. I'm sorry about all that," she waved her hand vaguely.

Heather studied Molly for a few minutes. The woman who had been so vivacious a moment before they walked into this bar, was suddenly depressed. Clearly there had been something serious between the two of them.

"You don't need to talk about her if you don't want to. But Molly? I think you're going to have to talk about it at some point. It was pretty serious, wasn't it?"

"Most popular way to ruin a first date is to talk about your ex, so no I'm not doing that. You were telling me about your niece, what were you saying again?"

Heather shrugged, Molly clearly isn't ready to deal with all that then. Well it didn't matter to her, she had already decided that she wanted to get Molly into bed. She was only looking for a good time. Whatever problem Molly had with her ex was none of her concern. She returned to the story she was telling about her 5 year old niece's adventures in kindergarten.

At 5'8" with perfect golden hair, perfect breasts, perfect ass, and a perfect California tan Heather was accustomed to getting whoever she wanted. Randomly picking up any guy or girl was effortless. But she had way too high an opinion of herself to just take any rando home. And guys were way too easy, also kind of boring. But she was intrigued by Molly. That woman was no slouch herself, not a complete knock-out like her ex-girlfriend, that Jenny person, but still pretty easy on the eyes. There was a depth there, Molly was clearly holding back. Time to turn on the charm.

"OK Molly, now it's your turn. I've told you everything about me, I want to know about you. It's obvious you're smart, sexy, and fun, but tell me everything else. When you're not 'investment bankering' what do you do with your life?" Heather gave her most beguiling smile. Get them to talk about themselves, that's how you do it.

"As far as hobbies? I guess my most serious one would be archery," Molly answered and then got strangely silent.

"Ooohhh, that explains all those muscles then!" Heather encouraged. "I do like a muscular woman."

"Yeah, I suppose." Molly replied in the flattest voice Heather had ever heard.

"I'll bet you're really good. Will you show me all your trophies?" Heather tried again.

Molly looked at her vacantly for a while, "Uhm, sure?"

"Molly? What's going on with you?" Heather called her out. "Do you have Jenny on the brain?"

The noise that Molly made hasn't been given a word yet. "I was fine until she came in here, and she was wearing that." There was a long silence as Heather waited for her to continue. "She came and watched... all my competitions. I'd prefer not to talk about that."

"And yet, Molly, it seems we must. I can't have you go spacey on me every time like this. It's very disconcerting and that's just not me. Disconcerting is some bleak New England thing; I'm fun in the sun California. Are you with me?"

Molly very visibly pulled herself together before answering, " gotcha Heather, I'm with you."

But apparently she wasn't, because half an hour later when they walked out to the parking lot Molly turned to her and simply said, "Thanks for the nice evening, Heather. I hope we see each other around." Before getting in her truck and driving away.

There are a lot of adjectives that could be applied to Heather's reaction: offended, incensed, bewildered, flabbergasted, insulted, confused. She turned on her heel and walked back into the bar. The bartender registered no surprise at her sudden reappearance.

"Not used to getting rejected, are you?" the bartender had no mercy.

"Who the fuck does she think she is, anyway?" Heather fumed.

"Molly Bailey, graduated high school in '09, Bachelor of Science in business from UTK, MBA in 2017 also from UTK and a very good friend of mine for 20 years, more or less."

"Oh," Heather needed a minute to regroup. "How about a rum and coke then."

A minute later Bartender set a drink in front of her.

"So what's the story then, with her and the other one?" Heather hazarded a guess that Bartender would at least fill her in on the details.

"Molly and Jenny are my friends." Bartender didn't say anything else, she just moved down the bar, wiping it clean; it already was clean.

"So I guess you're not going to give me the inside scoop then," it was a statement more than a question, but Heather still hoped she could get Bartender talking.

"OK Heather, here is the inside scoop: Molly doesn't do one night stands."

"She told me that she would be up for it. I was pretty clear."

"Maybe she thought she was. But it should be pretty obvious now, that she isn't. OK, I'll tell you something else, she and Jenny were together for over three years. And before Jenny, she was with Kendra for four years. There hasn't been anyone else. Molly doesn't do one night stands. Give it up."

Heather left the bar supremely annoyed. Nobody walks away from her. She always got whoever she wanted. Someone who had just broken up and needed some rebound sex should be easy pickings. This did not happen to her.

A couple of days later she finally got over her annoyance and sent Molly a text.

hey, want to get together sometime

She didn't get a reply until a day later.

maybe sometime

Well fuck her then. There are plenty of other women in this city.

5 Golden FLAXEN

Jacqui was cute, a great dancer, witty, and very eager to get into bed and get busy. She was that typical college girl: probably not 21 even though she was drinking; probably should have been studying for finals instead of out drinking and dancing; someone you want to take home for the night but not take home to meet your family.

"So like, are you serious? Is Female Orgasm Day really a thing?"

"Of course it is Jacqui! And it really is today! I wouldn't just make that up," Heather assured her. Somebody else probably just made that up, but since it was the wife of some president of Brazil, that wasn't Heather's concern. "You totally need to come back to my flat with me and celebrate that!"

"Your flat? What's that?" Jacqui looked confused.

"Apartment! 'Flat' is what the British call it, maybe all Europeans, I don't know, but don't you ever watch any British sitcoms like "Upstairs Downstairs" or "Keeping Up With Appearances" and "Dr Who" or any like, "Black Adder"?"

"I watched all the Harry Potter movies!" Jacqui grinned.

"Yeah, maybe we should just get naked and stop talking now," Heather grumbled to herself.

----

-----

-----

"That was fun," Jacqui got out of bed and started getting dressed. "I need to be to work early tomorrow, but you have my number if you want to do this again."

She let herself out of Heather's apartment. Heather sat silently on the bed and watched her go. Damn she had a body on her. Yeah, Heather wanted to do it again, a lot more times, but they probably never would. Heather felt a little twang watching her walk out. How would it feel to have someone that you knew would be coming back?

That thought left her feeling a bit empty. It had been great sex, physically, but that's all it was. Neither of them had expected anything more. Heather wondered now whether that was enough for her or if she did want more, and wondered where these thoughts we now coming from.

16 Golden FLAXEN

Heather had been looking forward to this day all year, it was Aviation Day: her favorite holiday. Unfortunately, she had to work.

Bummer! She couldn't indulge herself, but she wouldn't go completely unsatisfied. She logged in to her bank and checked the numbers. A bit over $21k in CD's, her checking account would cover her credit card, and her savings was at about $6k. Very close, it would be soon now.

She switched over to the website for Sporty's. She couldn't resist; she'd had her eye on that headset almost as long as she'd had her eye on the dream. 'Fuck it, it's Aviation Day; I'm doing it!' she said to herself as she clicked the button.

41 Golden FLAXEN

Brianna was not a college kid; she had a real job, and could carry on a conversation. And she was not in a hurry. She was patient, attentive, and gave as good as she got. It was well past midnight when they finally fell asleep together, in an exhausted tangle of arms and legs.

Heather felt Brianna get out of her bed, and she woke up. Brianna was rummaging around in the dim light finding her clothes.

"Morning, what time is it?" Heather asked

"It's a little before six. Sorry, I didn't want to wake you. I"m just meeting a friend this morning and I need to get going."

"This early? Wow, must be quite a friend," Heather observed.

"Yeah, we've been friends for a long time, and she has this thing today, I want to be there for her. Normally her girlfriend would be there, but they broke up a while back. So I'm going to go keep her company." Brianna had sorted her clothes and was getting dressed.

"That's really nice of you. It must be hard, going through a breakup," Molly speculated. She really had no idea. What passed as a relationship for her had never been more than an extended casual fling with no emotional investments. "What sort of thing happens this early on a Saturday morning?"

"It's an archery meet. It doesn't actually start until 8, but Molly will be there about 7:30 and I need to go home and take a shower first."

"Molly?" Heather asked with surprise, and a little louder than she'd wished.

"You know her?" Brianna turned and looked at her.

"I met her once. Look, if you want, you can take a shower here. I'll make some coffee for you to take along. Save you some time, if you want."

"No thanks. I need to get clean clothes anyway. But I appreciate the offer." She finished getting dressed. "I had a nice time Heather, give me a call some time, OK?"

Heather watched her leave. Those last words stung: "a nice time...." That's what she was, somebody's 'nice time'. There was nobody who looked at her the way that Molly had looked at Jenny that night. Jenny hadn't even said anything, that other girl had done all the talking. But when they'd walked away together, Molly had been devastated. Nobody was devastated when Heather walked away. She was just 'a nice time.'

Heather took a shower and made coffee. She was idly playing with her phone, lost in thought and not paying attention while the coffee gurgled. Then she realized she was looking at the Facebook page for the local archery club, the schedule for their matches, and the location of today's match. Well, she had nothing better to do than to go watch....................................

A little after 8am she was getting out of her car and walking toward the spectator stands when it occurred to her that it was a very small group of people and she wasn't going to just blend in. There was no possible way that Molly and Brianna were not going to notice her there. This was going to be awkward.

Brianna was sitting on the bottom row of the stands, watching the women at the line. The tall brunette with the odd looking pixie cut, in cargo shorts and a tank top would be Molly. Heather managed to slip into the stands without either of them noticing her. She hadn't thought about Molly since that night - that wasn't entirely true - had thought about Molly only a few times... maybe quite a few times. But when Brianna said her name this morning it had reminded Heather all over again about how fascinated she had been by the tall woman. Molly had been quiet, thoughtful, with those smoky blue eyes that seemed like they were inspecting your very soul. And she had spoken with familiarity about subjects that Heather barely knew existed. She was deep; she was an enigma. And Heather wished the fuck that Molly would get out of her head; but she wouldn't.

The last time she had actually seen Molly was half a year ago. Heather had texted her a few times and Molly was polite, but distant. And now Molly was down there showing off her muscles. Shooting her bow with a practiced ease. Apparently she was pretty good. All of her arrows were really close to the center of the target. If Heather had looked at any of the other archers, she would have seen that Molly was better than all but one other. But Heather watched only Molly; it was very easy to watch her.

When everyone else in the stands stood up and started moving toward the archers, Heather realized that the match was finished. She didn't know who had won, it didn't really matter. It had been fun to watch. She thought she would just quietly slip out with the crowd, except that none of the crowd were leaving, they were all gathering around their friends who had been competing. And then Brianna noticed her.

"Heather?" Brianna asked, surprised. "I didn't know you were coming."

"Oh hi. Well after you mentioned it, I thought it sounded like fun," Heather said nonchalantly.

"Hi Heather, good to see you again. Thanks for coming," Molly said to her simply.

"Hey, so what do you do after these? Want to get lunch or something?" Heather decided to ask.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry," Molly agreed. "There's an IHOP over by the mall we can go to."

----

After they had ordered, Molly excused herself and went to the bathroom. Heather watched her walk away, admiring her athletic body.

"So that's why you came to her meet," Brianna was smirking at her. "She's definitely something to watch."

Heather looked at Brianna and shrugged, "I'd like to do a lot more than just watch."

"So would everyone.... but that just ain't happening."

---

After leaving IHOP, Heather was at loose ends. The other two women had gone their separate ways. She still didn't really know many people here, even after living here for over a year now. It was too early on a Saturday afternoon to go to a club, and it was hot. Even though it was early autumn, it was hot. She could go back to her apartment, and sit there very bored doing nothing very interesting, being reminded about how Brianna had spent the night. And then Brianna's total disinterest in her a few hours later while they were both ogling Molly. Fuck, how depressing is that, she thought, 'I'm not even worth being jealous about.'

Heather thought about that first (and only) date with Molly that had gone terribly wrong. 'It's a cozy little bar anyway, and it's better than sitting at home,' she thought to herself.

----

She sat down at the bar. "Rum and coke," she told the bartender before he even asked.

Now what? She asked herself, fidgeting and poking at the ice in her drink with the little stirrer thing. She tried looking at her phone, Facebook was trying really hard to make her care about something: maybe it was a cat who hijacked a plane to Mars? It didn't make much sense and she didn't feel like trying to figure it out.

"Hey kid!" she called out to the boy behind the bar.

The young man seemed mildly insulted but she didn't care. "What's fun to do around here? I'm kind of new to town."

He shrugged non-committaly, "what do you like? There's hiking the state and national parks, swimming, boating, all that. Music of course."

"What sort of music?" Heather asked, that might be something to distract her.

"What sort? You know you're in Tennessee, right? Pretty much everything you've ever heard of."

She briefly contemplated finding a place with music and dancing. There were always cute girls where there was music and dancing. But that damn Molly wouldn't get out of her head. Nobody would call Molly a cute girl, handsome perhaps. And not girl either, Molly was all woman. Tall, strong, self-assured nothing at all girlish. She wished Bartender was here so she could ask her more about Molly. She tried to remember her name... Molly had mentioned it.

"I was here a while ago and there was a woman tending bar, do you know her?"

"Probably, but we have several women who tend bar on occasion, so you'll have to be more specific."

Heather wracked her brain for Bartender's name. Molly had told her what it was, but she hadn't been paying attention to that. "Maybe about 30? About my height, wears glasses?"

"Might be Sue. What about her?"

"Oh I just wanted to talk to her about someone," after saying that, Heather realized it would have been a lot better to say 'something' instead of 'someone.'

"Someone, huh? She usually works weeknights, after her husband gets home from work. If you came around some night you might catch her." He moved off down the bar to refill someones beer.

----

Heather wanted to wait a respectable amount of time before trying to catch Sue at work, she didn't want to be a stalker. But instead of waiting a respectable amount of time, she went there straight after work on Monday.

She was in luck. Sue was tending bar and the place was nearly deserted.

"Hi! Sue right? Rum and coke please."

"Hi Heather, what brings you around this early on a Monday night? Not Monday night football I'm sure."

"It's about Molly. I wanted to talk to you about her."

"No Heather, it's not about Molly because there's nothing going on with you and her. So this is about you. But hey, it's a bartender's prime function to meddle in people's personal troubles. So what's troubling you?"

"Well, so we went on that one date, right? And now it's like she's just blowing me off. She's not totaling ghosting me, I just get the impression she's not interested in me."

"Happens all the time Heather, what's the trouble?"

Now that she had to put it into words, Heather wasn't sure. And now she was feeling a bit silly complaining about being ignored. Sue was right, it did happen all the time, it just didn't happen to her.

"Well, so like, how do I get her interested?"

"Be interesting, Heather. That's how you do it. What is the most interesting thing about you?"

Heather obviously wanted to say her hot, sexy body that everyone found irresistible, but that would be vain and shallow. So......

Her job was.... she didn't like talking about her job

Her taste in music was exactly the same as every other millennial.

Her fashion choices were what she could afford.

She liked to party and have sex, but who didn't?

She never had time to party anymore, and was trying to save money anyway...

Her favorite thing was just so weird nobody would believe it

"That depends, I guess. What sorts of things is she interested in?"

"Pretty much everything. If you wanted to talk about Drosophila and knock-out genes with her she would probably go for it."

"Fruit flies? Fucking seriously? Like I want to talk about sonic hedgehog and all that shit. I had to deal with all of that in school, and then all day at work I... " Heather waved her hand dismissively. "That is NOT how I'm spending my free time."

"Don't know what to tell you then, Heather," Sue shrugged.

Heather poked viciously at the ice cubes with the little stirrer thing; something about that bothered her... "Wait a minute, why would Molly, or even you, ever even have heard of Drosophila?"

"Jenny plays this game where people ask each other questions and try to stump the other person. That used to be one of her favourite questions to ask. I've heard about it a million times."

Fuckin Jenny! Again! Heather cringed to herself. She stabbed at the ice cubes twice as viciously.

12 Mulled CLARET

On nights like this Heather wished she had a girlfriend. Most times an occasional hook-up was enough to keep her satisfied; most times the balance between the work and responsibility of a relationship versus having reliable sex was questionable. But on nights like this, she just wanted someone to be present.

It had been a shitty day, a shitty evening, and an even a worse night. Friday's were sometimes like that. It was supposed to have been her day off; she was supposed to have had a three day weekend after working 63 hours already this week; she was supposed to sleep until noon and then have some 'me' time. Now that she was part of the permanent staff, she was supposed to have somewhat predictable shifts. She had wanted to go to the spa and get a facial; had wanted to sit in her favorite coffee shop checking out the college girls. Just to watch them; talking to them took too much effort. Even though she was only three or four years older than some of them, she felt like it was a lifetime of difference. No, she had no patience to try picking one up and deal with her drama; but they are nice to look at.

But what had happened today, is that she got called in a little after 10am; somebody had called in sick and couldn't make her shift. And then it turned into one of those Fuckin Friday Fiasco's. Stupid people out drinking and partying and being stupid - and ending up in the ER. Along with all the just random bad luck stuff - that eight year old kid had been the worst. Her brother had been eight. Somehow this kid had decided that getting honey from a bee hive would be a good idea; except it wasn't a bee hive, it was a hornets nest; and then he turned out to be allergic to bee stings. They had saved his life - just barely. But she didn't get home until 2am.

What she wanted now was a person to talk to, a person that knew her - really knew her. Someone who didn't need to ask questions because she already knew the answers. Somebody who would listen, and be present, and not need the conversation to make sense and consist of complete sentences and coherent thoughts. Complete sentences and correct grammar require too much mental effort on a night like this.

What she wanted now is a warm bath. And someone to make her a sandwich and bring it to her in the bathtub: a BLT with fresh ingredients that didn't taste like hospital, and disinfectant, and chain restaurant, and mass marketing. And then that someone to take her to bed. A someone who knew her so well that she wouldn't have to ask or explain or think. A someone that would bring her to orgasm quickly and then let her just fall asleep, without judgment. A person who would be waiting in the morning with a kiss and a hug and ask "did you sleep well?" in a way that mattered.

Heather got undressed and dumped her clothes unceremoniously into the laundry basket. She started the bath and went to make her own damn BLT for her own damn self. The only consolation she had, is that the fat paycheck this period would get her closer to the dream that much faster.

Long Dark Teatime Of The Soul

Who the fuck is Dirk Gently, and what sort of idiot would name a holiday this? It's depressing enough, that this is a dreary, dark, cold day that is objectionble on every level. But then to rub our noses in that with this name?

Heather resolved to ask her friend where she had found this stupid calendar and then hunt down the person who made it, and clobber them on the head with a stick of firewood. What a miserable time of year, nothing interesting happening this 8um, except maybe the Return of Magic. And who knows what that is supposed to be about.

43 Frosty ALABASTER

So today is Women Physicians Day! Heather wondered whether anyone at the hospital knew that - it seemed like something they should be celebrating. She was working evenings now for a while so she had time to stop off and talk to the HR Administrator first.

"Miss Tupman, what can I help you with?"

"Nothing. I don't need any help, but I'm curious what, if anything, we are doing to celebrate Women Physicians Day?"

"Ah, I'm not aware of that day, when is it?"

"Today. And we do have quite a number of physicians who are women."

"We can consider that of course, but there might be concerns about singling out a particular gender. We would have to check our policies, then of course there are the state and federal regulations to comply with. And we would want to be sensitive to how other special interest groups might perceive a possible situation of favoritism."

"So nothing then." Heather was now frustrated, and wondered why she ever expected anyone to care. "You're going to do nothing to show appreciation for any of the people we have in this hospital who are saving lives even as we speak. Got it."

Heather was supremely annoyed as she walked from the administrative wing back to the nurse's station. At least she had brought two dozen donuts. Not much, but it was something. And this is why she hates talking about her job, she reflected: because nobody fuckin' cares. Heather couldn't imagine not working in the ER, it was impossible for her to not care.

"Hey Heather! Whatcha got there?" The nurse behind the counter called out as she came in.

"Hey Phyllis. Donuts. In honor of Women Physicians Day. Just wanted to show a little appreciation, you know."

"That's awesome! You know about that? I didn't think anyone else had ever heard of Women Physicians Day. Nice to see that somebody cares."

32 Sodden ALABASTER

This wasn't a real meet, the regular season hadn't started yet. But Heather enjoyed watching Molly shoot. The tall, lithe woman moved with a grace and strength that made her mouth water. And then after her run in with The Cunt Couple a few nights ago, she needed a little solace. The satisfying thwak of the arrow hitting the target just added to the pleasure of watching Molly's arms bulge when she drew back the string.

She had been there about half an hour when she saw Brianna arrive. The other woman noticed her and came and sat with her.

"Hey Heather! Here again?"

"I mean, I do like watching. Seems like you do too." Heather smirked at her.

"I certainly do, I won't deny it." Brianna smirked back.

Heather was still thinking about the way Jenny had acted a few nights ago. "Hey Brianna, you've been friends with Molly for a long time, right? So I guess you also know Jenny?"

"Jenny?" Brianna looked like she was about ready to laugh. "Yeah, everyone knows about Jenny. What about her?"

"Well, I want to talk to her, do you like, have her number or anything?"

"No, I don't. She's not... we don't really follow the same crowds, if you know what I mean. Why don't you just ask Molly?"

"It's kind of about Molly. I'd rather she not know, just yet. I want to..."

Brianna just looked at her, waiting for her to finish that sentence.

"They were together for a long time, right? And a while back Molly and I were on a date and we ran into Jenny and her new girlfriend, and Molly just shut down. And then a few nights ago I ran into those two again, and Jenny was being all catty like if she and Molly are still together, even with her new girlfriend standing right there next to her. So I'm just trying to figure out what the deal is there."

"You're totally crushing on Molly, aren't you?" Brianna smirked. "You're coming around to all her meets like this, getting all jealous over Jenny... you got it bad, don't you? OK, I know she tends bar at a few places around town. I'll ask around and see what I can find out and text you."

-----

After behaving like a total cunt, Jenny walked away from Heather and down to the other end of the bar where she flirted with some old fuck for a while. When she came back, she had plastered on a totally fake attitude. "Sorry Heather, I shouldn't have assumed anything about you. I still care about Molly too, and I want her to be happy. We were not right for each other, that was painful, but I want her to be happy. I don't want to cause trouble with you."

Heather didn't believe her for a second, but chose to play nice. "Good. Because if I would have been forced to send you to the ER, then they would have called me in to save your life," Heather joked.

Heather couldn't figure out what Molly had ever seen in this girl, beyond her obvious looks. She was catty and judgmental, and had some kind of weird, distant attitude of superiority, like she was smarter than everyone else. But it didn't matter now, Molly was done with her. That comment Jenny had made about needing some kind of trick to get Molly's attention though - that was intriguing.

Most of the tricks that Heather could think of off-hand involved having Molly naked in her bed first. This was the first time she'd even given thought to how to get a woman into her bed. It didn't normally require any more than an invitation. This Molly was turning into a lot more effort than Heather had ever spent on a woman before.

---- early Budding VERDANT -89467

Heather was on her way home from a night shift when it occurred to her that it was Thursday morning. And Thursday morning meant that the farmers market would be open. She glanced at the clock on the dash, 7:36. So she had a bit of time to kill. But if she went over there early, then she could find easy parking. And there was a coffee shop near by.

Heather was sipping her mocha waiting for the vendors to finish setting up their stalls; her brain was a bit foggy from working all night, so her eyes did whatever they wanted to without telling her brain about it. Her brain eventually became aware that her eyes were fixated on a very attractive ass in tight jeans. The ass was moving around the vegetables, atop a pair of long skinny legs. Heather's brain decided it had better get with the program and retake control. So she directed her eyes up, past the tight flat stomach in the crop top, to the woman's face. Her face was turned the other direction, obviously. Heather took a gulp of her mocha and shook herself awake.

The woman was clearly oblivious to the fact that Heather had been blatantly staring, and continued digging through the vegetables. The vendors seemed mildly annoyed that she was pestering them while they were still getting set up, but she was evidently oblivious to that as well. Heather watched with amusement for a few minutes until the woman turned around. It was Allie! 'Allison Zembrovitch' as she had announced herself to be, so pompously - that insufferable prig. Allie looked straight at her and their eyes met for a second. There was no flash of recognition; Allie glanced at her much as she would a tree, and then went back to pestering the innocent cabbage farmers.

Heather called them 'The Cunt Couple' in her mind. Jenny was a supercilious, judgmental, shallow, conniver with a superior attitude. And Allie was a cold-hearted, arrogant, condescending bitch. They deserved each other.

Heather waited another few minutes until she was satisfied that the vendors were ready, then walked over near Allie. A long night working the ER will strip your varnish; Heather had no patience for playing games. And she was just in the mood to take that bitch down a couple of pegs.

"Hey Allie! How are you?"

"Hi, I'm fine. How about yourself?"

"Tired, just got off nights. So what's new with you?"

"Um, well I got my drivers license now."

Heather was a little taken aback, that seemed like a random piece of trivia. "Oh great... well congratulations."

When Allie didn't respond, Heather asked, "And so how is Jenny?"

"Oh, Jenny is great! She's getting pretty good at 'Orange Blossom Special' now."

Heather was pretty confused now; how the hell was that relevant to anything? Maybe her brain was just foggy from working all night, but she was getting the distinct impression that Allie had no idea who she was. How the hell could Allie not know who she is? It had been only a few weeks ago that Allie had recited, word for word, what she had said to Molly over a year ago. She was too tired to play games.

"I'm Heather, we met a couple of times? Maybe you don't remember."

"Oh Heather! You're Molly's girlfriend," Allie smiled when she said that. A genuine smile. "Yes, I remember."

"Um, well, we're not actually girlfriends, but yeah."

"Why not? Jenny said that you two are dating now. Don't you like her?"

"Yeah I like her, it's not that. Just, well Jenny may have overstated the facts a bit."

"Mmm, yeah, Jenny does lie a lot. But if you both like each other, then why aren't you dating?" Allie persisted.

"I'm not so sure Molly likes me that much yet," Heather was suddenly regretting having started this conversation.

"Yes, she does. She told me she does."

"What? When? You talk to Molly?"

"Yes. She is my financial adviser, she manages my investments. So I talk to her quarterly. In January, when Jenny and I were not speaking to each other, I talked to Molly about you. I was worried that Jenny might want to get back together with Molly. So I was happy when Jenny told me in March that you two are dating now."

"Well then why the fuck won't she ask me out?" Heather burst out frustratedly. Her need for sleep, along with this disorienting conversation, had gotten the best of her.

"She thought that you were only interested in sex. Are you?"

"I can see why she thinks that," Heather reflected. "That is what I told her last year. But now... now I'd like to try for more than that."

Allie looked at Heather silently, until Heather became impatient. "What?!?!"

Allie just shrugged, "I don't know. Do you want me to tell her that?"

"Sure, why not!" Heather joked.

Allie took out her phone, as Heather watched in astonishment. "Good morning Molly... no this isn't about yesterday's market news, I haven't heard that. You told me I should just focus on the long term economic indicators... It's about Heather. She is interested in more than just sex and she want's you to ask her out... because I'm talking to her right now and she told me to call you and tell you that... OK." Allie hung up her phone. "Molly said that she is going to have a cup of coffee with two shots of Bailey's and then she will call you."

"Allie! What the fuck? Ah... thanks... I guess."

"You're welcome, Heather."

---

Heather was uncharacteristically nervous. She didn't like talking about herself. It was a lot easier to let people make their own assumptions. She especially didn't like talking about her family. This is the biggest problem with relationships, your partner wants to know everything about you. Cute stories about cute kindergartners only get you so far.

"Why nursing?" Molly's question pulled her back into the conversation.

"I have... had a brother. He was eight when he died and I was thirteen. It was some weird thing... a case of meningitis... I was babysitting him and my sister after school one day, and he just suddenly got sick. My mom was at work, and dad was gone, and I didn't know what to do... " Heather stared hard at the fork in her hand for a long time. "When they got him to the hospital it was too late. I always felt like it was my fault, if I'd known what to do I could have saved him."

Usually she could tell that story without breaking down, but usually she skipped over most of the details. She still skipped over all the rest, because her throat was too tight to speak. She struggled just to breathe.

Thinking about her brother killed any romantic mood. Because thinking about her brother led to thinking about all the other kids. All the kids who had come into her ER, the kids who's lives she had been able save - and those she hadn't. Molly sensed the change in her and just let her have time. Heather glanced at Molly and saw that she was lost in her own thoughts. That wasn't quite accurate, Molly was absorbed in her own thoughts but not lost; she was still present. Molly was watching her thoughtfully, not waiting, just available. Not expecting her to speak, not trying to ease the pain, not offering empty consolation, just being present.

They finished their wine in silence and Molly took care of the check. Molly walked with her out to her car.

"Heather? Do you want some company?" Molly asked gently. "Nothing needs to happen. But just in case you don't want to be alone."

"I'd like that."

---

The next morning Heather woke up sprawled on top of Molly. She lay still for a moment letting consciousness return to her brain. Her head was on Molly's chest, leg over Molly's, and Molly's arms were wrapped around her. She was content feeling her head move gently with Molly's breathing. They hadn't had sex last night, but this was the best she had felt in very many mornings.

When she first had met Molly, over a year ago, she never imagined that this tall muscular body held such a patient, sensitive soul. She had imagined Molly fucking her brains out; she had imagined Molly taking arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing, ending them; she had imagined Molly with her bow and arrows fighting off a marauding horde; she had NOT imagined this.

And then an obnoxious racket destroyed everything.

"Fuck!" Molly bolted up and spilled Heather off of her. "Where's my phone?" Molly rifled through her clothes until she had silenced the offending thing.

"I guess you need to leave for work then," Heather tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice; and failed.

"At some point, yeah. But I'm in no hurry. It's just money. If one asshole doesn't get rich, then a different one will."

"Molly?" Heather paused a moment. "Thank you. For last night, just being here... having someone to talk to... thanks."

Molly sat on the bed next to her and took her hand sincerely, "You're welcome."

"I'm sorry I ruined our date, I'll make it up to you. If you'll let me."

"It wasn't ruined Heather, it was real. Thank you for sharing that with me. It wasn't easy, I could see that."

-----

Heather was feeling a bit flirty when Molly got out of the shower and came into the kitchen. Heather was still wearing the same t-shirt and leggings she had slept in, and her hard nipples were plainly evident - she had made sure. Molly was dressed already.

"Here's your coffee Molly, hot and sweet - just like me."

Molly smirked at her as she took the coffee. "Hmmm, how about if I prefer cold and strong?"

"Well that would explain it then. I wondered if I were losing my charms," Heather teased. "How else could you spend the night in bed with me and not take advantage?"

"Practice," Molly answered. "Years of practice."

"Years?" It took Heather only a few seconds to put it together. "Wait, you and Jenny were together for over three years, so are you saying.........???"

"Yep," Molly looked at her wryly with something between a grimace and a grin.

Heather was dumbfounded. She stared at Molly with her mouth hanging open.

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Molly explained. "Jenny is... well she says she doesn't want everyone to know, but everyone already knows anyway, so... Jenny is ace. Asexual. Sort of. She would do things if I asked her to, but she doesn't like anyone doing it to her. So I have a lot of experience sleeping with a gorgeous woman and keeping my hands to myself."

"Holy shit!" Even though Heather despised Jenny, she didn't deny that the woman had a fantastic body. For Molly to sleep in the same bed with her for three years and not ravish her must have taken incredible self control. Whatever admiration Heather had for Molly's strength just increased several orders of magnitude - along with her attraction.

But now this added an extra complication for Heather. Molly clearly was not the sort who might do something rash and then regret it in the morning. But that also meant that she wasn't someone who would do something spontaneously and then discover that she liked it. That makes sense for a financial planner. Every decision was going to be carefully considered and evaluated against the options. But then why...?

"So Molly, how did you and Jenny get together in the first place? It doesn't make sense."

"Ah, well, you know.... " Molly seemed to be considering that. "Jenny is a lot of things; she's a fascinating person. I noticed her in the library, she was reading encyclopedias. And that's just not normal. It wasn't just one time either. I go to the library quite a bit, and every time she would be there, reading encyclopedias. So I had to find out about that. We got into the habit of talking a bit whenever we were both there. I was pretty sure she was straight, I was getting no hints of any interest. (Turns out that it was way worse, of course, since she's ace.) She reads about everything, there is no subject that she doesn't know something about. Except for fiction - she has an aversion to that because 'it isn't real.'

"And then one night I see her in the club. There's a dozen women hitting on her and she looks totally terrified. I can't even figure out what she is doing there, because I thought she was straight. So stupid me, I go over and I ask her. She already knew me, so she felt comfortable with me, and then she said the most idiotic thing ever. She said "I don't want to have sex, I just want someone to go to the book store with me tomorrow." Can you believe that? And then just to prove that I'm even more stupid, I said I'd go to the book store with her. So that's what we did, we went to the book store.

"I think mostly she was just lonely. She has a lot of acquaintances, she knows everyone and everyone likes her, but she isn't really close to anyone. If she ever does leave the house, it's just to go to the library or a book store. I tried getting her interested in other things and she just wasn't. She would come with me and try anything if I nagged her enough, but often times that was counter productive.

"I gotta admit though, it was nice having her around. She didn't mind staying home and doing all the housework. It's kind of embarrassing to admit, because I don't approve of the patriarchal idea of the housewife doing all the chores, while the breadwinner goes off to work, but we did fit that stereotype. I never wanted to admit it, but it was nice," Molly swallowed guiltily.

Even though Jenny was far from her favorite subject of conversation, Heather was pleased to have Molly standing in her kitchen. If nothing else she got to learn more about Molly.

Heather studied Molly closely. Molly clearly had a great deal of respect, perhaps admiration, for Jenny. But it wasn't quite clear that she actually had loved her.

"Were the two of you in love?"

"I loved Jenny (still really do) in the way you might love, not a sister really or your child... maybe the way you love your niece. You adore her antics, want to make her happy and take care of her. But it's not a deeply intimate relationship. Jenny, I think she wanted to believe that she was in love with me, but she doesn't understand herself very well. She reads encyclopedias for chrissakes. For all her knowledge of facts, she has no understanding at all of relationships."

---- mid Flourishing VERDANT

Thursday morning Allie was again at the farmers market pestering the innocent cabbage farmers. Heather walked over to her.

"Hey Allie! Good morning. Let's go grab a coffee."

"No thank you, I already had coffee with Jenny this morning."

Heather sensed something odd about Allie, it again seemed like Allie didn't recognize her even though they had talked just last week. And Allie seemed oblivious to social cues.

"Well I want to thank you for helping me get a date with Molly last week, when we were here. So please let me get you something? How about a muffin?"

"Oh! Heather, OK. Yes, you're welcome."

'Yep, that's it,' Heather thought to herself as they walked to the coffee shop. She wasn't particulary knowlegable about autism, but she knew enough to pick up the signs. You have to, to be a good nurse. Well that explains a lot then.

"I hope you had a nice date with Molly, Heather." Allie commented while nibbling her muffin.

"It started out pretty good, but then... Well actually it ended up pretty good too. So thanks for that."

"You're welcome. I'm glad that you are girlfriends now. I will worry less about Jenny."

"Oh, do you worry that she wants to get back with Molly?"

"No, I know she doesn't. But she believes that Molly needs a girlfriend to be happy, so she was anxious because Molly didn't have one. I was worried that she would find out that you were not dating Molly, as you told me last week."

That was something Heather never would have guessed! Jenny actually wanted her to be dating Molly? It sure didn't seem like it. It seems like the only one left to agree to Molly-Heather thing now, is Molly herself.

"Yeah, let's hope it turns out that way," Heather reflected, half out loud.

"What trope are you?" Allie asked, out of the blue.

"Trope?"

"Yes, like in the stories on Literotica. Jenny and I are 'friends to lovers,' although sometime she says that we are 'rivals to lovers.' It's Our Argument. What trope are you and Molly?"

"Um, I guess I'll have to do some research on that and let you know."

---

Heather set up an account on Literotica when she got home, and started reading some of the stories. There were a few actually good writers here, surprisingly enough. Most of the stuff was rubbish, but this story by OneHitWanda was really good.

Heather had never thought about her favorite sport as being a means to pick up girls. For one thing, it had never been necessary; her own hotness had always been plenty. And for another thing, it wasn't something that most women would find interesting, probably just the opposite. It was something that guys usually cared about. But Molly? Maybe. After all, she competes in archery. It was worth a try. She sent Molly a text.

---- 2 weeks later

"OK, we're here. Now are you going to tell me why we drove 100 miles to a little airport in nowhere?" Molly asked, with a mix of humor and exasperation.

"Yep, I'm picking up my Yak," Heather answered nonchalantly.

"A yak? As in that little furry animal from South America?"

"Ahhh, no. I think you mean an Alpaca. A yak, if you mean the animal, is from the Himalaya's."

"OK, Jenny... Heather I mean! Yeah OK Heather. So, like, not the animal then?"

"No, my Yak is a Yakolev 54. A plane. It's a tail dragger, and all of my hours were in tricycles. So I've been waiting to buy it until I got enough hours in it. Well that, and enough money. They ain't cheap."

"I have no idea what any of that means, except the money part. Are you saying you can fly an airplane?"

"You're about to find out. I'm going to fly it around a bit before we have lunch; there's a decent restaurant here. Then I'll take it home."

Heather got out of her car and grabbed her flight bag out of the back seat. She casually walked out onto the tarmac where an older man was standing next to an airplane. She glanced back once just to make sure that Molly was watching.

-----

"Holy fucking shit! That was crazy, Heather. Where did you learn how to do that?" Molly practically screamed while she was still 20 feet away.

"In college, doesn't everyone learn to fly in college?"

"Fuck no! What the fuck college did you go to?"

"Let's go have lunch and I'll tell you. I'm buying. Thanks for coming over here with me, I really appreciate it Molly. I didn't know how I was going to get her home. I know it was a lot to ask, but you're the only friend I really have around here so far."

They were walking together back toward the building that did duty as the restaurant, office, pilot lounge and whatever other random function was needed. There were a few people in the restaurant section, sitting by the windows that looked out over the runways. Some people just like to come and watch the planes on a Saturday afternoon.

After finding some seats and ordering, Molly explained. "I went to the University of North Dakota for my Bachelor of Nursing. And they have a flight school there, a rather well respected one actually. I thought it would be fun to learn how to fly, and I was there, and it was convenient, so I did. They also have a Flight Team and an Aerobatic Team, really good ones, they win competitions all the time. I'm not good enough to compete on any of those teams, but I hung out with the other pilots and they taught me how to do all that stuff. It's fun. I'm not all that great at it but I love doing it, and the Yak is a great plane for it."

"That's crazy Heather. That's fucking crazy! So like that plane, does it have room for two people?"

"You mean you want me to take you for a ride in it?" Heather grinned. It had worked, she had hooked Molly. "Sure, I can do that. How about when we get back to GKT? I don't want to do that stuff right after eating lunch."

"Yeah Heather. I'd like you to take me for a ride," Molly said in a tone that wasn't quite casual and wasn't quite sultry. "But North Dakota? You told me you grew up in California, 'the central vacuum, because it sucks your life out,' I believe is what you called it."

"Yeah, I did. Bakersfield. And yeah, it sucks your life out. My dad worked at the refinery there, in maintenance. It wasn't that great of a job, he was pretty low down in the pecking order. Then in 2011 he went out to North Dakota to work as a roughneck; that was after the Bakken boom had started. And he made huge money there, for a while. But they... " Heather broke off and thought for a second, then shook her head and continued. "Anyway, so then when I started looking at colleges, my dad said I should go to UND and be a Petroleum Engineer - they had started that program a few years earlier." She laughed, "As if! Can you see me in boots and FR doing mudlogging?"

She took a sip of her iced tea and continued. "But UND has a nursing program too, and the tuition is very affordable. And then they have a good deal on student loans. So financially, you can't beat it. OK, Grand Forks might be an even more miserable place to live than Bakersfield... " she shrugged, "but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

While Molly studied her thoughtfully, Heather's own thoughts drifted back. Back to a vision of a tall slender brunette, Amanda, her name was. Amanda was working on a Masters in environmental engineering and they had a few biology classes together. Her under-grad degree had been in geology and she had worked summers in the Bakken as a mudlogger. Tall and slender, but fit and toned too, not overtly muscular but strong enough. They sometimes met for coffee and Amanda would tell stories about working in the oil patch, or about her horses, or her latest woodworking project. And Heather would try not to drool as she imagined her friend in steel toe boots and a hardhat, climbing around on an oil rig. Tragically, Amanda was straight, and so Heather had to confine herself to late night fantasies. Molly had shorter hair than Amanda, but otherwise...

"So then, after North Dakota, you came here?"

"Not directly. I worked for a traveling nurse agency for a few years. So I went anywhere someone was short staffed and needed temporary help. I spent a few months in Minnesota first, then Las Vegas, Houston, Mississippi, and then here. It was fine for a while, I made good money. I saved up enough to buy a Yak," she grinned.

"Must have been, to be able to pay off all your student loans and buy an airplane," Molly mused.

"Oh, I haven't paid off my student loans yet. And honestly I had to take a big loan for the plane too."

Molly put on a stern face, "As your financial adviser, I cannot countenance the practice of taking on unnecessary debt." But then she started to laugh and spoiled it. "You really should have paid off your student loans first though, over time the interest really adds up."

"You might not say that if you knew what my interest rate is though," Heather hinted slyly.

Molly just raised her eyebrow questioningly.

"One percent," Heather announced.

"No way! That can't be right. It's not possible. What bank would give you 1% on a student loan?"

"The State Bank of North Dakota. If you're a student there or a resident of the state, you can get a student loan at 1%. So Miss Financial Adviser, if I have a loan at a lower interest rate than inflation, what do you recommend?"

"Buy an airplane," Molly agreed, laughing. "I'm still not sure I believe you though, I will fact check you on that."

As they continued their lunch, Heather was feeling pretty good about the day so far and decided to push her luck. "So Molly? When we were talking about yaks and alpaca's, why did you call me Jenny?" She looked at Molly with some combination of mischievous, accusatory, playful, and bitchy - all at the same time.

"Um, sorry. Bad habit, I guess," Molly tried to brush it off, but Heather wasn't having it and continued staring. When Molly became sufficiently uncomfortable, she continued. "So you know, or maybe you don't know, that game that she plays: know-it-all. She is always 'correcting' everyone; it gets rather tedious. You just kinda sounded like her there for a minute and... ah... yeah."

Heather laughed, "So I'm not the only one who thinks she's a conceited bitch then!"

"She's not! Not conceited," Molly explained. "I don't know what word to apply here, probably you need to talk to Jane Austen to explain that. I don't know. She means well......... she's just a little much..... a lot much." Molly was silent for a moment and then chuckled, "What's really funny though is Allie. Allie is like giving Jenny a dose of her own medicine times ten. I'm kinda surprised that they haven't killed each other, honestly. The first time that Allie beat her, Jenny was out of control. And what really made it bad, Allie didn't even have the decency to gloat about it. Jenny is obsessed with that game, and then Allie beat her without really even trying; then she skipped going to the World Championship altogether. It was hilarious! Well it would have been, except that I had to live with her."

"Yeah, Allie is... " Heather wondered how much of her speculations to share. "I thought that she was arrogant and cold-hearted, at first, but once I got to know her... I kinda like her."

"I know what you mean. I kinda like her too; especially working for her. She's very blunt, but she listens carefully and does exactly what she says she will do. Most clients are always fussing about the market. Not her, she doesn't get flustered."

"You know Molly, this is a weird conversation. Here we are, talking about your ex-girlfriend and her new girlfriend like we are all one big happy family. And the weirdest thing is, that it isn't weird."

"Should we talk about your ex-girlfriends for a while, just to even it up?" Molly joked.

"That would be a short conversation," Heather didn't joke.

Molly caught the bitterness in that statement and let it sit for a while. "Care to elaborate?" she asked eventually.

"Not much to say," Heather replied sarcastically. "No ex-girlfriends. No ex-boyfriends. A lot of ex-'nice times.'"

"Ouch," Molly observed quietly.

-----

Molly walked out of the Head Nurse's office grinning; she would get the days off she'd asked for. It was still three months away and normally they didn't schedule out that far, but she had persisted. That, and she had sold her soul in the meantime. It was worth it though, a few months of shit for the five days she had dreamed about for years.

She pulled out her phone to send a text to Molly. Hey, do you want to go to Oshkosh with me?

The reply she got back was not surprising. ????? huh?????

-----

"OK, so this is where I will need your help. As soon as we get to Ripon we are in the space where we need to follow these Special Flight Procedures. Starting there, I have to stay on everything, altitude, airspeed, heading, all of it exactly. The whole way, until we are tied down. And there will be a lot of traffic, way more than anything I've ever flown in. So we have to watch for traffic at the same time as flying the pattern perfectly."

Heather had the Chicago and the Green Bay sectionals spread out on her kitchen table, with lines drawn in colored pencil all over them. She had spent the first hour of the conversation (a very one-sided conversation) gushing about what a big deal it was to go the the EAA fly in. Molly had listened patiently, while gleaning from the conversation only that it was a really big deal to Heather. But it did sound like it would be fun.

"All of this stuff we have to have memorized before we leave here, well at least before we leave Kewaunee that Thursday morning." Heather handed Molly a hardcopy of the NOTAM. "But see on pages 10 and 11, the pattern for runway 9/27? That's what I want to practice tomorrow. This is a special pattern that I've never flown before; see 1800' MSL and 90 kts? So I don't want to overshoot it, and I still don't have a lot of hours in Yakaterina. I've made arrangements with a smaller uncontrolled airport where there will be less traffic than GKT, where we can practice. So that's what I want to do tomorrow. We'll meet at GKT at 0630, and I'll do my pre-flight and fuel up Yakaterina. Departure GKT at 0700, then proceed to 7A8 where we will practice touch and go's, following the pattern for OSH runway 27. We'll have about 2 hours in the air before we need to refuel at 7A8. Then we do some more touch and go's before returning to GKT."

"Are you going to let me try driving her?" Molly joked hopefully.

"You know, that's probably not a bad idea," Heather looked at her thoughtfully. "You should at least be familiar enough with the controls to put her on the ground if I die or something. OK, we will practice that too."

Molly was grinning from ear to ear, "This will be fun!"