She looked at me like a mother scolding her child, arching an eyebrow. “Julia, you’re a pretty intuitive person most of the time. Don’t tell me that you honestly think you didn’t make some sort of lasting impression on him. From how you described the whole evening, he was totally into you. He’s probably thinking the same thing you are right now. Stop selling yourself short.”
“That’s exactly what he said,” I mumbled.
“What?” Anna looked confused.
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “It doesn’t matter. Like I said, I have no way to get in touch with him. It’s too late, so let’s just drop it.”
She sighed. “Fiiine,” she exaggerated.
I needed to change the subject. In an effort to keep myself from tearing up, I asked Anna how the meeting went the other night with the Edgewater Hotel catering staff. I knew this would lead to other wedding plan discussions that would occupy our conversation for the next hour.
Anna talked about dinner entrée options; my slow-rising emotion finally surfaced and bittersweet regret flowed over me. I’d completely blown it with Ryan. As I listened to Anna ramble on about salmon versus flank steak, I just wanted to crawl back into my bed and cry.
With my Starbucks tall drip coffee in hand, I headed towards Building 36, looking for my new office. I was starting my new job today and feeling a mixture of excitement and anxiety.
I had decided to take a three day weekend before starting my new job and spent the weekend cleaning house, both literally and figuratively. Two weeks had gone by without any further Ryan sightings. After the whole dinner episode with Ryan, I found myself in a funk again. My initial relief at letting him go quickly turned into regret and it left me in a somber mood. I realized I had been sulking ever since my breakfast with Anna. However, over the weekend, I decided I was ready to shake off all this negativity and sadness. My mood and attitude really needed a makeover.
To get my groove back, I applied some retail therapy and bought new clothes to spice up my summer wardrobe. I got a pedicure with sexy, bright red nail polish, which I planned on showing off with my new open toe wedge sandals. I also added some summer highlights to my dark brown hair, hoping the lighter look would lighten my mood. The most satisfying thing about this weekend was that I had cleaned out all reminders of Andrew.
At the start of the weekend, I’d found myself flipping through the GAL again. I was feeling pretty pathetic, especially as I tried to decipher the GAL and come up with some code that would miraculously reveal which entry was the right Ryan. If I continued this worthless pursuit, I knew I would drive myself nuts, so from that point forward, I decided to stop obsessing further about Ryan. No more. He was merely a memorable chance encounter. I would focus on my new job and I give myself a break from men. I would remake myself again, as I’ve always done. Why should this time be any different?
With that decision made, I settled into a weekend of alone time. I dug out my Harry Potter books, because I needed to stay away from romance novels for a while. I started at the third book. I needed a literary escape and it was my opinion that Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was when the series started getting really good. This was also a tribute to the nerdy part in me. The four remaining books in the series were a commitment to get through over the next several months, but they were my favorites and the ending always made me feel so hopeful.
As I rounded the corner at the top of the stairs, I admired my pretty toenails and new sandals. I had a clear head and was nervously excited. As I followed the office number signs down a hallway, I passed a lobby area with a foosball table, big screen TV and contemporary white leather lounge sofa with matching white chairs. As I passed several more halls, I noticed each hallway had a green street sign under the office number signs. Each was the name of a famous city. I passed by New York, Miami, New Orleans, and finally saw my office number range located under “Los Angeles.”
As I entered my office, I took in my new surroundings with renewed energy. I had a meeting with Catherine later this morning, but I had thirty minutes to unpack and get situated. Over the weekend, all my boxes were moved from my old office to my new one. My keyboard, docking station, and monitor had already been set up—you had to love MS moving services. They had this down to a science, making you as efficient as you could be as soon as you could be. Anything MS could do to support working long unreasonable hours, they did so with enthusiasm. I docked my PC to make sure everything was working and hooked up properly. Before I could login, I found a smiling guy standing in my door. He looked cheerful and welcoming. He appeared to be about my age, maybe a little younger.