Michelle stood before the full length mirror and wiggled into her yoga pants all the while cursing and muttering over and over "stupid, stupid, stupid." Then she pulled her favourite varsity sweat shirt over her 34B breasts before getting her brown hair into a tight ponytail. She threaded the ponytail through the back of the Yankees baseball cap her father bought her, when he took her to the stadium last summer, and then looked at herself in the mirror before throwing herself face down on the bed and cursing all over again. "Stupid fucking time differences," she muttered, staring at the blank screen of her smartphone, referring to the fact that most of her friends from college were still in their beds back in New York, while she was stuck in England, five hours ahead in time, but years behind in many other ways.
It had seemed like a great idea at the time, having just finished her senior year at college, she remembered her parents offering her the prospect of six months in England, as a gap year, while she made up her mind whether to get a job or go to graduate school. It sounded so wonderful at the time, even though her Mom couldn't accompany her & her Dad. While Mom would miss them both, she had to stay behind for her job.
What Michelle hadn't counted on though, was that her Dad's assignment was in a rural village, and not in the midst of the London rock and punk clubs that she was envisioning. The locals all talked funny and she couldn't get over how damned quiet everything was in the countryside.
At first, the quaint, little cottage seemed idyllic, nestled in a small hamlet, looking like something out of Camelot or Harry Potter. However, the reality set in that there was only one pub in town, full of old farmers and their strapping sons, who were as thick and dense as the cows they prattled on about.
It had been three months since they had been in England and the glamour had worn off. Michelle was homesick and face-timed with her Mom whenever their schedules would jive with the time difference. If there was any saving grace about this God forsaken village, it was their neighbour Julie, who had been so kind to Micelle the month before.
Julie was driving home late one night after a dinner meeting, and saw a girl walking in the same direction, about two miles away from the cottage, that looked a lot like Michelle. As she slowed down to greet her, she noticed Michelle was dressed a lot nicer than for a walk down a country road, and her face was covered in tears.
"Get in love," Julie called to Michelle, "let me drive you the rest of the way home."
Michelle was angry and in no mood to talk with anyone, but her feet were killing her, from walking almost three miles in her nicest Kenneth Cole heels.
"Thank you," she said with a sniffle, and got into the car, trying to hide her tears and bloodshot eyes. The skirt showed off a good portion of her thighs as she sat, and she pulled her sweater tighter around the silk blouse she was wearing, shivering a bit from the damp evening air.
Julie knew better than to pry, having helped raise her niece when her brother-in-law and sister split, so the two rode in silence as the car bounced and jostled down the old dirt road.
"Tell me what happened, dear," Julie finally interjected, sensing the time was right to talk.
"Even in England, men are jerks," Michelle finally blurted out, blowing her nose into an overused tissue.
Michelle went on to recount the particularly disastrous date she experienced earlier that evening. She had finally been asked out, since coming to England, by one of the cuter farmer's sons. When they got to the pub, she figured out it was just one of the local boys showing her off like a trophy, as the one to take out the American girl staying at the old Wellington place.
At first this made her feel special and unique, and it was nice to finally be with people her own age, and males other than her father and her dog. However, William, her date, seemed more interest in drinking with his mates, and them all taking the micky out of her "quaint" accent and her "cute way" of talking, than in learning more about her. After he downed his 6th pint, and refilled it without even offering her another drink, she decided there was no way she would be letting him drive her home. When he and his mates went to play darts, she left the tavern, without anyone of them noticing, and started the long walk home to the cottage.
Julie listened quietly as Michelle poured her heart out, and she really felt sorry for her neighbour.
Dropping her at the front door of the cottage, Julie offered, "if you're feet aren't ruined from walking in those bloody shoes, would you like to join me tomorrow for my morning run?"
Michelle's face lit up at the invitation, and the opportunity to work out some energy and aggression, although not quite the way she was hoping for when she headed out on the date several hours ago.
The next morning, Julie knocked on the cottage door, and Michelle was already up and dressed, and stretching in the kitchen.
Over the next month, the two women became fast friends, despite the over 20 year age difference between them. And the two struck quite the pair. At 5'8" Julie was a good 4 inches taller than Michelle, and her broad shoulders and 40C breasts equally dwarfed her younger companion.
Julie would often pull her dark auburn hair into a ponytail, or some times in a French plait, but could never understand the American fondness for baseball hats. Even though she was older, her fitness level was such that on some days Michelle had to push herself to keep up. While competitive, Michelle didn't mind, as the sight of Julie's firm behind in her spandex running pants, reminded Michelle of her sophomore year girlfriend, who first got Michelle into running.
Michelle had also started to look to Julie as almost a surrogate Mother, and when they weren't running or going to gym together, they would talk about all sorts of things. Julie clearly wasn't from round the area, and explained that she came from Newcastle, and her husband was from Ireland.
Over dinner the two women chatted though Michelle was conscious that she revealed far more than Julie. The topics ranged from Michelle's work plans after returning to America through to travelling the world. Michelle was spell bound as Julie described some of the wonderful places she had been ranging from the Taj Mahal in India to the wild bush of South Africa. Julie didn't mention much of life before her husband but clearly it was her second marriage and there was a significant other before that.
Michelle's mind wandered to the last gym session when she had watched Julie get stripped for the shower, and she couldn't help noticing Julie was totally shaved down below. Michelle nervously blurted out a question about it, and Julie simply smiled like a sphinx, and explained, "keeps things neat and simple." Michelle sat, pondering her words, and staring at Julie's still pert ass, as she wandered into the shower.
