I'll Be Seeing You

Bowling Alley

Monday passed uneventfully. The most Lydia could say was that she had done more of nothing, the same as every other day. She was tolerating her job better than she had been when she started. But she still felt unfulfilled. With all of the drama of Jamie and Tim brewing in the background, she forced herself to focus on her own life. After work yesterday she had gone home and submitted her grad school applications. She needed a win and she would take the small accomplishments like pressing submit on a future opportunity as a reason to celebrate.

Walking into the bowling aisle she couldn't help but smile. There was something hilarious about seeing her coworkers in the large clown-like bowling shoes. It made everyone seem friendlier.

Bev greeted her with a warm hug. "I'm glad you came"

"So am I." She looked around spotting Brendan a few lanes over. He was sipping a beer chatting with a group of people.

"How much do you love me?" Bev held her clipboard close to her chest.

"Hmm if I say, so much, do I get to skip playing?" Lydia had never been a huge fan of bowling. She wasn't very good at it. If she didn't feel foolish playing with gutters she would have.

"Absolutely not an option. But I played fairy godmother tonight." Bev winked and Lydia's stomach dropped.

"Oh my."

"Oh, my is right, tonight is your lucky day. You and Jamie are on the same team."

Lydia felt excitement course through her veins followed quickly by anxiety.

"That's – wow, thank you so much. Tonight, is going to be fun." Her voice sounded anything but excited. She had to put on a better poker face. Luckily she was saved from further conversation by someone calling for Bev's attention.

"Thank me later, he's a lucky man!" She waved her off and Lydia wandered towards her lane.

"Hey Lyd! Over here!" She followed the sound of the voice to find Tim and Tina flagging her down.

"You're with Jamie and you're versing us. We're going to kick your ass right after I find us drinks." Tim was eager to get the game and competition underway. His persona was why Lydia despised sports. Competitiveness was her least favorite personality trait.

"Where's Jamie?" She asked Tina and Tina shrugged.

"Don't know, that man is never where he needs to be. He'll show up eventually." Lydia gratefully accepted a beer from Tim and clinked against his and Tina's bottles. She deliberately kept her eyes fixed on her lane. She didn't want to make a show of looking for him. Plus, she wasn't ready to say hi to Brendan. There were too many dynamics in this room; none of which she wanted to handle. She took a swig of beer and pushed up her sweater sleeves.

"Alright let's get this over with."

---

For the first two rounds she played with Bev.

"I'm sorry Lyd, I know you were looking forward to see him." Lydia didn't have the heart to tell her she was actually relieved he wasn't on her team. She didn't know how to be in close proximity with him. She still wanted him. But she was reeling from the pain of his rejection. He could not have been meaner about it. After all of that, maybe some space was a good thing.

Tim and Tina kicked their asses and Lydia enjoyed the ease of not needing to try. She felt the beer take the edge off. She hadn't been this easily buzzed off of one beer before but she chalked it up to nerves. She hadn't exactly been calm the last three days.