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Bonnie doesn’t usually feel one way or another about the secrecy.
She doesn’t like it, not in the way Ginger does; Ginger gets a real kick out of knowing something no one else does, out of playing with the boundaries, pushing to see what might let people catch on, how much they can get away with by hiding in plain sight. Ginger loves that. Bonnie doesn’t mind.
She doesn’t hate it either — she’s had girlfriends who couldn’t stand being in the closet for her, who wanted her to meet parents as a girlfriend, to attend family weddings and birthday parties and kiss her on the steps of their office building before a workday. Girlfriends who got angry when they realized Bonnie wasn’t kidding about wanting to keep it on the down low.
Bonnie will never tell her parents; another thing she really doesn’t feel one way or another about. She loves her parents, she’s loved them for thirty-two years, and she’s not interested in damaging her relationship with them over her relationship with Ginger — or anyone else. She used to be angry about that, but she’s made her peace with it really.
Her mother wants to see her married, her father wants to see her get a master’s degree. She tells her mother that she’s fine being alone, but accepts the numbers her mom gets her of the sons of every auntie in DC, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. She tells her father she’s still thinking about what she’ll study.
She doesn’t tell them about Ginger beyond telling them her roommate in DC works at the White House too. Ginger is okay with that being their relationship status to Bonnie’s family for the rest of their lives.
Eventually, Bonnie thinks it’d be nice to tell their friends or the people they work with, but she’s in no rush. She doesn’t mind keeping this between the two of them for a few more years at least.
Sam and Toby don’t know that they’ve been dating since a particularly eventful night on the campaign — when they won California in the primaries and the place went wild and the excited peck on the lips Ginger gave her was written off as silly drunk shenanigans by everyone but Bonnie herself.
They were already sharing rooms in every hotel they stayed at — they made good use of it that night.
Carol knows, because Ginger figured out that Carol’s head over heels for CJ, and that secret felt like a fair trade to theirs. Bonnie doesn’t know how that’s escaped everyone else’s notice — Carol’s heart eyes can make Donna’s feelings for Josh look subtle.
She and Ginger tease her about it, but it’s actually quite nice to have a shared secret like that.
It makes Bonnie wonder what it’d be like if more people knew, but she’s fine with not finding that out for years to come.
She doesn’t mind it one way or another — she’s just happy to have Ginger, not mind it with her.
Ginger comes back into the bullpen, wearing Bonnie’s powder blue coat because after having stolen it from her several times, it’s basically shared property now. No one notices that.
She carries lunch in two bags and hands Bonnie a container with a cannoli from the place they like best even though Bonnie hadn’t asked for it. Ginger sits down by Bonnie’s desk, taking out two salads and two sandwiches and the iced coffee Ginger prefers and Bonnie never liked much but indulges her in anyway.
The cannoli is payment for the coffee — it works out nicely that way.
Toby’s in his office, Sam’s trying to get CJ’s attention in a hallway just outside the bullpen, and when Bonnie takes her iced coffee from Ginger, she kisses her cheek in thanks. No one bats an eye — they’re affectionate, is all; they’ve been used to that since the campaign.
She sometimes understands why Ginger finds it fun to be hiding in plain sight; she sometimes like to test the limits — see how blind people are willing to be to things they’d rather not become aware of.
It’s a fun game, some days.
Most of the time, Bonnie doesn’t really care one way or another. It’s just the way it’s going to be.