Back to Martha...
Martha wasn’t sure how she should respond. She knew that eventually she’d start dating other people, men or women, but never thought it would be so soon. She’d only just started getting back into the swing of things (in a manner of speaking).
“Um…”
“Nothing too formal, just like go for coffee or something.” Coach Johnson said quickly.
“Uh, ok, sure. When did you have in mind?” Martha replied. She didn’t know why she agreed, but she did. Maybe because she was a little intrigued by the weretiger before her. Or maybe she just didn’t think it polite to turn the woman down.
“Well, do you have anything planned for this afternoon?” Johnson asked. She smiled when Martha shook her head.
“Great. How about four o’clock, the coffee shop near the library?”
“Sure. Uh, I guess I’ll see you later.” Martha said. Johnson smiled at her and watched as Martha walked of the office.
“I hope I didn’t come on too strong. But I think I’ve waited a sufficient amount of time. It’s been almost two months since William died. Weres have needs. I can’t imagine she’s doing well without.” Katherine, jokingly called “Kate” by most her friends, Johnson thought. From the first moment she saw Martha Anderson she knew she wanted to TRY her.
William would have proved to be a complication, but since he was dead now… It might seem a little cold, but Martha would soon find that weres behaved different than normal people. And she’d heard plenty of rumors about William being a notorious cheater.
Of course Kat didn’t know that William had given up his previous ways, and that he and Martha were working their difference out when he passed. Nor did Kat know that William had bonded to Martha.
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“Hey, Martha what’s up? Are you done teaching for the day?” Samantha was happy, albeit surprised, to hear from her friend and neighbor. Normally she and Martha went over to Francis’ office to either drive her home, or enjoy some private time together. And following William’s death, most of that private time was letting Martha cry on their shoulders.
“Ya. Listen, are you free? I need to talk to you about something.” Martha said, already sitting in her car. The elementary still had about an hour before it let out, but Martha didn’t have anything else to do.
“Is something wrong?”
“I don’t think so. Is Frances with you or is she still in Seattle?” Martha asked, knowing that Fraces had her hands full with Julie.
“Julie went into surgery about thirty minutes ago, so yes. Where are you, still at the school?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Ok. Just drive over to Town Hall. I’ll be waiting.”
“Thanks, see you in a bit.” Martha hung up and started the brief drive from the school to Town Hall. On her way, she decided to take a quick detour and swing by the high school. Martha slowed to let a group of kids walk across the street, and also look for her sons.
She didn’t think she’d find them in the crowds, but sure enough there was Eric walking with his arm wrapped around Cassie. Martha smiled when she saw the two laughing together. She was glad Eric finally found some happiness. The car behind her made a quick honking noise, letting her know that the group of teenagers had finished crossing the street.
Reluctantly, Martha continued down the street. She wanted to stare at her son a little longer, as creepy as that sounded. She found things at Town Hall were pretty quiet. Martha expected that with Martin gone, things would be much busier.
“Martha, over here!” Samantha called from up a short staircase. Martha briskly jogged up, and then followed Samantha into her office. Martha had never been there before. It was small, Samantha’s secretary not around since the work day was winding down. Samantha lead Martha into her own office, which was considerably bigger.
“So, what’s going on?” Samantha sat in one of the extra chairs in the room, offering its twin to Martha. Sitting behind her desk, it made Samantha feel like she was a principal addressing a student (or something like that).
Martha told her about Coach Johnson approaching her after class and asking her out. And then how, for whatever reason, she said yes.
“Is this what you want?” Samantha asked.
“I don’t know. I’m not sure if I’m ready to start seriously dating yet, but I do want to start making other friends. Not that I haven’t been enjoying your company, or Frances’.” Martha added quickly.
“It’s okay honey, I understand. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“I’m just worried Kat is expecting more from this than I am. You and Frances are… well I don’t know if I’m ready to sleep with someone I’m not… familiar with.” Martha felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She felt like a child again, asking all these questions to her own mother.
“I get that. You’re still pretty new to the whole were lifestyle. And aside from us and William, you haven’t even dated anyone else, let alone slept with. Before William did you ever date women?” Samantha asked.
“No. So I guess this would technically be my first date with a female. How sad is that?”
“It’s not sad. You said it yourself, you spent far too long denying you had feelings for women. There’s nothing wrong with that. My advice is see what happens this afternoon. If Kat wants something more, let her know you’re not ready for things to get serious yet. The wounds for all of you are still relatively fresh.”
Martha leapt forward and hugged Samantha. She simply hugged Martha back, understanding this wasn’t the easiest time for her friend. In less than three months, she’d become a werecat, her husband had been attacked and then killed by a crazed rogue vixen, and her sons each had their own problems going on.
Samantha admired Martha for keeping it together as well as she did. If it were her, Samantha was certain she could have cracked a long time ago.