He slowly made his way back to my desk and sat in the chair in front of it . Our eyes never left each other ...
He slowly made his way back to my desk and sat in the chair in front of it . Our eyes never left each other ...
“ Good to Great ” By Author Monica “ MoGeSu ” Sumter
“ Ugh ,” I thought to myself as I watched the crowd from the bar .
My eyes scanned the different faces and paused when I got to the crew I ’ d come with . I loved my friends dearly but I just wasn ’ t feeling apart of the whole scene tonight . I ’ d been working extremely hard to close out the year ’ s files and I was exhausted . I couldn ’ t help but notice how happy they all were . My friend Jasmine was married with kids . Todd was newly engaged . Kristian was single but had a long time boyfriend . We were expecting him to propose any day now . Those were my closest friends but out of my entire circle I was the only truly single person with not even a hint of settling down .
“ TEN ! NINE ! EIGHT !” The countdown had begun .
I turned away from the crowd and back towards the bar . The bartender stood smiling , watching over the crowd .
“ You better hurry up and grab someone to kiss on at midnight ,” she yelled at me over the noise .
“ Nah I ’ m flying solo ,” I yelled back . “ Well you at least made your resolution ?” she asked .
“ Just to go harder in my career this year than I did last year ,” I told her proudly .
“ Well maybe that ’ s a big part of the reason why you flying solo ,” she said as the crowd hit “ ONE !”
“ HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!” everyone shouted and the crowd went wild .
Confetti and balloons streamed from everywhere and people blew horns and kissed . I sat in silence , absolutely stunned at the bartender ’ s words . Pissed , I abruptly got up and stormed out of the club and into the crisp , cold night air .
Auld Lang Syne could be heard billowing from every building out into the streets . I had no earthly idea where I was going but I just knew I had to get far away from that damn bar .
“ Just who in the hell do she think she is ?” I asked out loud to myself .
“ I worked my ass off to get where I am and I ain ’ t letting no bartender take that away from me !”
This year so far had gotten off to an awful start and it was literally only two minutes in . The last place I wanted to go was home just to be alone with my thoughts but the wind was relentless and my hands were cold as ice . I ducked into my favorite diner and basked in the warmth that greeted me . I looked around and the line was longer than I cared to stand in . I took a window seat and decided to wait it out there instead .
While staring out the window I saw visions of the happy couples kissing and bringing in the new year together while the bartender ’ s words played over and over in my head . I closed my eyes and just wanted it all to go away . It wasn ’ t like I ’ d never been in a relationship . I ’ d been in a few but they all just brought stress and heartache . I didn ’ t need either one of those while trying to further my career . My parents were well taken care of and I was able to put my little brother thorough college so all was good on my end as far as I was concerned . I was happy that they were happy and that was enough for me . . . right ?
“ Happy New Year ,” a close by male voice greeted me .
I jumped and turned around . Standing there with two cups that had steam curling up from their tops was a guy I ’ d seen around in the diner and the building I work in . I figured he worked there too . I had the slightest idea what his name was .
“ Yea same to you ,” I barely said as I turned back towards the window .
“ It ’ s pretty cold outside . I figured you could use a little something to warm you up . That line was long and those heels are hella tall so I just took it upon myself to get you your usual .”
I snapped my head around . “ And what is that ?”
“ A large hot chocolate heavy on the caramel but light on the whipped cream ,” he quoted .
“ Stalk much ?” I hesitantly reached up and took the cup as he was handing it my way . He could see the weirded-out look on my face so he explained .
“ We ’ re in here at the same time most mornings . I hear you order the same thing all the time .”
12 THRIVE MAGAZINE