Jogging Partners

Going to try to focus a bit more on character development on this one; at least' in the beginning. Also, as we go along and start getting into the sex and all that good stuff feel free to make suggestions on what you might like to see. Just keep in mind I'm not much for dressing my male characters up as girl' lol.

The heavy door to my house slammed shut, startling me awake and I groaned staring up at the ceiling above me. I sat up in the bed and tried to shake off the effects of my hangover; my head was hurting like hell. I could faintly recall the events of last night, heading off to the bar with a group of friends and somewhere during the night receiving a call from my girlfriend telling me she was moving out of our apartment.

I lived at an apartment in the upper Northeast section of Philadelphia and Jennifer lived there with me. Until last night any,

From what little I could recall, she had told me she was leaving because she was sick of the way I lived my life. She was sick of my love for video games and hanging out with my friends and partying all of the time; but was something she tried to make sound worst then it really was.

No one really liked Jennifer she was a bit of a bitch to say the least. She was controlling and manipulative and she was a selfish brat to. If she couldn't' have things her way then it always ended badly. Then she wondered why no one wanted to hang out with her.

I myself questioned many times why I was even with her and of course' my friends were always asking me what the attraction really was. Honestly, I didn't' even know; I just loved her. I always had and I had' also always loved the sex. As big of a bitch as she was, she was damn good in bed and she really knew how to make me feel good.

I sighed as the memory of our argument over the phone came back to me and I rolled out of bed. It wasn't' like I was some lazy asshole boyfriend who sat on his ass all day and did nothing but play video games all the time. I had a job, a good paying one at that and I'm' always going out of my way to make her happy. Taking her out everywhere, buying her nice things, treating her to dinner' as often as possible and not just to avoid her bitchiness either. I do it because I like to see her smile...

If I wanted to play some video games or go out with my friends from time to time, I didn't' really understand what was so wrong with that.

I tried to shrug it off as I walked to the bathroom though; from what I could remember, she hadn't' told me that our relationship was over. She just said she was moving out of our apartment and in with a close friend of hers, which sucked anyway; it sucked because I knew I would not be able to afford to keep paying rent here by myself. Not for very long anyway,

I figured maybe going out for a walk through the nearby park would do me some good to help relieve this hangover and take my mind off' of Jennifer. So' after freshening up a bit I slipped into a pair of fresh boxers followed by my blue shorts and Converse Sneakers. I grabbed a white t-shirt and made my way out of the apartment and out into the warm summer morning air.

My name is Tyler and I am twenty' five years old. I am what my friends would consider to be a very nice guy' who sometimes can be a little too nice for my own good.

I have never had a problem with the women and I do not mean to sound like a stuck up jerk when I say that; I've' just always had good luck. I'm' in good shape, around 190 pounds and I lift weights on a regular basis. Though lately, I haven't' been out walking through the park as often as I use to, which made this decision to go out this warm morning even better than it originally seemed.

I started off' walking down the path that led towards the nearest entrance to the park. There was a wide 1,600 acres in the park and many different entrances; some of them led into parking lots. Some of them were dirt paths that were more desolate then others and some of them were' meant for bikers and joggers.

I chose the nearest one to my apartment, an old dirt path to the left of the road that was easy to miss if you were driving by thanks to the trees that covered it up pretty' easily.

I carefully made my way down the steep hill into the woods and when I reached the bottom, I was on the path meant for bikes and joggers as well as people just strolling through. I did a few simple stretches at this point and then started jogging down the path in the direction of the boulevard.

As I made my way down the path, a good forty' five minutes passed by as though they were nothing. Time always flew by when I was jogging, and sometimes I wished it would go slower.

I had just crossed under the third overpass and was coming up on the waterfall when I noticed the sound of footsteps coming up behind me. I glanced over, and there was a woman perhaps about thirty one years old jogging alongside of me. She had a gray sports bra and a pair of shorts and a pair of Nike shoes. She had long black hair pulled into a ponytail, her bangs matted to her forehead with beads of sweat.

She noticed me looking at her and glanced over at me, smiling and I smiled back at her.

She sped up a bit and was getting ahead of me now, and I sighed as I felt myself starting to get tired. I guess the hangover was making it a little difficult to jog like' I usually do. I was about to stop running and head off to the nearest exit and go home when I heard someone yelling out in pain.

Looking ahead of me, I noticed the woman who had been jogging alongside of me had fallen, face first in the dirt a few yards ahead.

"Hey, are you okay?" I called out to her. When she did not answer, I started running towards her to see if she was alright' hoping she was not seriously hurt. I caught up and' knelt down at her side and helped her turn over and sit up.

"You okay," I repeated.

"Yeah...I twisted my ankle,"

She was rubbing her left ankle and she moved her hand away so I could see. It looked like it was pretty swollen, and I knew she was going to have trouble continuing her way through the park.

"What happened," I asked curiously.

"I don't know I uh...think I tripped on the road."

It didn't' sound all that ridiculous really, as this particular part of the path was really beaten up and torn apart from hurricane Irene a year and a half ago. The park had not gotten around to repairing it and honestly, there were even still some trees blocking certain paths through the woods. That was the city of Philadelphia for you though,

"I'm going to have to head home now," she said disappointed as I helped her get up; she winced and cried out in pain as she tried to stand on her injured foot. "You shouldn't walk on this," I said looking her in the eyes.

"I don't know how else I'm going to get home,"

I looked around trying to think of a solution to this problem at hand; I didn't' drive and even if I did I had come down here on foot and so my car would have been back at the apartment. "Tell you what," I said. "Follow me up that path there," I pointed towards an exit. "We'll get you up to the main road and you can catch a bus from there."

She smiled at me as though she were surprised at my kindness but nodded her head and I let her lean on me for support as we began walking up the path. When we got to the main road, I helped her sit down on the curb and reached' into my pockets pulling out a token for the bus and handed it to her.

"You don't have to," she said pushing the token away.

"No it's fine really; I have more back at my place."

"Thanks...why are you being so nice to me?"

I laughed and sat down on the curb alongside of her, glancing down in the direction where the bus would be coming from. "I don't know," I said.

"Just guess I was raised to be a gentlemen' that's all."

"Well, your parents did a good job at that; I'm Lauren."

She reached out her hand to shake mine, and I smiled accepting the gesture and shaking her hand.

"I'm Tyler,"

"Tyler...that's a really nice name; and I think that's my bus coming," she said pointing down towards a large vehicle in the distance.

Sure enough, it was indeed a bus and it was hers to she realized as it pulled up to the stop. I helped her on board and she thanked me one more time before I jumped off the bus and made my way back down into the woods. I was happy to have met her for some reason; I know it sounds strange. Something about her just really made me happy, even if we had met in sort of a bad situation her' having hurt herself' jogging and all.

I was hopeful to run into her again sometime in the near future.

After that day I started to get back on a regular schedule with my jogs through the park; I wanted to put on a bit more muscle and get back into the habit of good old fashion exercise. Part of it was also because I was hoping to run into Lauren again in the park, though I doubted it given her injured ankle.

A few months passed by slowly; Jennifer and I continued arguing almost all the time. I was beginning to find myself frustrated; I wanted to be with her, I still loved her but I had no one to turn to and vent to about my problems. All of my friends had become tired of hearing about it, not that I could blame them, but where did that leave me? That left me to deal with it on my own.

Their simple solution to the matter was to get over her and end the relationship; that was easier' said than done I felt.

It was a beautiful sunny morning in early July, very warm to. It was supposed to go up to about 90 degrees by mid-afternoon, but that didn't' bother me since I was probably going to be back in my apartment by lunchtime. I started my usual stretches before heading off jogging down the old path that I always followed on my runs. I was about two hours into my jog when I realized it was getting hot rather quickly, faster than the weather channel predicted.

By around 10am, I was sweating profusely and I was exhausted. I slowed down, my lungs straining and was relieved to find a bench off to my left' which I quickly made my way over to. I plopped down on the bench and popped open my water bottle chugging about half of the bottle and then splashing a little more on my face before wiping away the sweat.

"Fancy meeting you down here," came' a voice that startled me. I looked up and suddenly felt surprised to see standing in front of me Lauren, the woman from a couple months ago.

"Hey," I said smiling. "I guess your ankles doing better?"

"Yeah thank god," she replied. "I only sprained it, it healed up real nice."

"I'm glad to hear that," I said. She nodded her head and I smiled, patting the spot next to me indicating that she should sit down.

Lauren got the point as she sat down next to me and smiled. I was trying to think of something to say, but she beat me to it this time. "So, are you okay? You look kind of...pale."

"Oh yeah, yeah I'm fine; just didn't expect it to get this hot so fast."

"Yeah I hear you; it's like boiling and it's only about 10:00."

"Yeah I know I'm heading home once I rest up actually; I'm exhausted and I'm in dire need of a shower."

She stood up and held out her hand to help me off the bench. I took her hand, and she pulled me up and I chuckled.

"Well come on," she laughed. "You helped me last time, so this time I'll help you, let's walk together."

I accepted the offer and we started walking back down the way that I had come from towards the entrance I came into the park through earlier. Just walking would take longer then jogging had taken to get to this point, but I didn't' mind. I had cooled off enough that now I could stroll down the path with Lauren and enjoy a nice conversation with her.

I learned a lot about her, I was a bit surprised at how easily she opened up to me. She told me she was new in this area of Philadelphia, having recently moved out of her sister's house and into a single one' bedroom home not far from where she had run into me today. She was thirty' one years old and would be turning thirty' two in September; she wasn't' very excited either.

We laughed and joked about different things as we walked and before long we had reached the exit I would need to go through to head back home.

"So this is it I guess,"

"Yeah...you mind if I walk the rest of the way with you?" she asked.

I hadn't' expected that, but I had, had so much fun talking with her to this point that I was not going to say "no" and so we continued making our way to my apartment.

"So tell me Tyler," she said as we walked up the slope leading out of the woods and out onto the sidewalk. "Is there a lucky lady in your life?"

"Oh," I laughed. "Well sort of yeah."

"Sort of, what's that mean?"

I sighed as I motioned her away from the wrong direction and she followed. "How can I explain this," I wondered out' loud.

"We're together and I love her but...she's not the nicest person in the world. Not many people really like her and it's definitely not easy to be with her."

"Oh...is it really that bad," she laughed.

"Yeah, unfortunately," I said. She had no idea just how bad it really was and I couldn't' help but laugh at that thought.

"Well she's a bit...mean. That's the best way to describe it,"

"You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to," she said.

I bowed my head thinking about whether or' not I wanted to go on about Jennifer. I had a lot on my mind regarding her and I did feel like I needed to get it off my chest but I didn't' want to drop it all on some girl I just met.

"Maybe another time,"

"Okay."

And' it was' left at that, no questions asked, no pushing; I liked the way this girl worked. She wasn't' trying to force me to talk about things I did not want to talk about and yet at the same time she was willing to listen if I decided I did want to talk about anything. We were coming up on my apartment now and I glanced over at her, noticing her cheeks were' flushed.

Mine probably were to, and we were both sweating pretty badly.

"Do you want to come in and just cool off," I asked.

"If you don't mind; I really have to use the bathroom."

I led her up the stairs and unlocked the door to my apartment and in we walked. I shut the door behind me and made my way straight to the kitchen to get us both a glass of water.

"Bathrooms just down the hall and to the left," I said pointing her in the direction of the toilet.

By the time' she came out of the bathroom I had poured two huge glasses of water and Lauren looked just as excited to see her glass as I was to have poured my own.

We clanked the glasses together in a toast jokingly and together chugged like' we had not had anything to drink in ten years. I felt the cool water soothing my throat and the air conditioner was beginning to kick in now relaxing my exhausted body and slowing down the flow of sweat.

"You can sit down," I said and she nodded her head taking a seat on the couch next to the window. I dropped down on the recliner across from her and set my glass of water down on the coffee table.

"Thank you for letting me come in," she said. "I think I was getting to be a little dehydrated."

"Yeah, it's no problem really. It's brutal out there,"

"I know this sounds silly," she said. "But I've had a lot of fun walking and talking with you today; I kind of don't want to go home. Do you...maybe want to get some lunch together or something?"

I hadn't' expected her to ask me that, but I was definitely up to the idea. I was just as reluctant to have this day end' as she seemed to be, and so I welcomed the suggestion of going out and getting something to eat; or rather maybe we would order something and eat here in my apartment.

"We don't have to go out," I said. "I have a few pizza menus." I walked out into the kitchen and came back with a couple of the menus handing them to her and we flipped through them trying to decide where to call for food. We eventually settled on a nearby shop around the corner and ordered a Turkey Club for her and a Bacon Cheeseburger for myself.

I hung up the phone after placing the order and noticed she was checking out the shelf of pictures over the computer desk. She picked up the picture of Jennifer and me; the one that we took on our first date a few years ago.

"This is your girl?"

"Yeah," I replied sadly. "That's her."

She must have noticed the saddened tone in my voice and the look of sorrow on my face as I sat down on the couch. She put the picture down and sat down beside me smiling over at me with those beautiful blue eyes.

"Talk to me about it," she said. I do not know why, but I just couldn't' hold back; I heard her say to talk to her and I just...did.

"Wow," she said when I finished explaining my complicated relationship with Jennifer.

"I hope you don't mind me saying but...she really sounds like a bitch. I mean hell, I'm thirty' one years old and I love video games! I certainly wouldn't mind if I had a boyfriend who played them."

"Seriously, I think you're the only girl I've ever known who said something like that." We both laughed and she glanced over at the TV where my Xbox and PS3 both sat with two stacks of games alongside of them.

"Is that your collection?"

"Yeah, that's everything I own."

She slid off the couch and started shuffling through the stack of games, pulling out call of duty and holding it up in the air.

"I love this game," she said sounding impressed. "Want to play?" I asked.

"Sure," she replied opening up the box. I got up off the couch and she handed it to me. I slipped it into the system and once everything was' up and running we started playing the game. After about an hour, the doorbell rang and I got up to answer' it to find the pizza man had arrived.

I paid him and gave him a three' dollar tip before plopping back down on the floor with the bag in front of the TV. I tore the packaging open and handed Lauren her sandwich, and we continued playing the game as we sat and ate our lunch together.

Before I knew it, it was almost five o'clock when Lauren stood up and stretched before walking out to the kitchen to get rid of her trash. She came back out and smiled at me as I pushed myself up off the floor and knew what she was going to say; it was time for our day together to come to' an end.

"I need to get home," she said sounding disappointed. She walked towards the door and I followed her opening it for her as she stepped out into the hallway. "I had a lot of fun today," she said.

"Yeah me to; and I'm sorry if I dumped all my problems on you."

"Not at all," she said giving me a hug. "You can call me if you need to talk; I left a piece of paper with my phone number on the counter. Maybe we could hang out at the mall or something."

"Or, I could just see you again in the park...maybe tomorrow morning?"

"That sounds good," she agreed giving me another hug before we said our goodbyes and she walked away. As I watched her walk down the hallway and out of sight, I sighed' feeling suddenly a little depressed.

For some reason, I felt like my best friend had just walked away when I had only known this woman for one day.

I shut the door and walked out to the kitchen where sure enough I found the piece of paper with her phone number. I decided that if I didn't' by some chance see her at the park tomorrow, I would give her a call as soon as I got home in the afternoon and see if she wanted to hang out later.

I had made a new best friend, and probably the first female friend who was only a friend I had ever had; and she seemed like a really' nice person to.