Reckoning in the Sunshine State

Chapter Seven

A week had passed since my in person therapy session with Dr. Oliveria. It was now Angie's birthday and I had messaged her in the morning wishing her well.

Work was much busier than I had imagined. We had 493 checkouts and 561 check-ins. I was scheduled for the 10 AM to 6:30 PM shift and wasn't sure if I liked it or not. Most of my day just felt like work with not much else to do though I was going to be off on the next day so was Angie so we opted to hang out tomorrow.

"So do you have any plans after work tonight?" A voice asks from behind me. It was Christina, she was a 5 '5 Filipino woman around my age. It was finally slow after the massive morning rush. I look back at her and there are a few other Front Desk Agents looking my way.

"What's up?" I try to avoid answering the question in case I need to come up with an excuse to get myself out of it but it seems she can tell.

"What are your plans tonight?" She asks again and I sigh, caving in.

"Probably just going to the gym, cooking, and watching Netflix tonight. Why do you ask?" She smiles at my response as if I had told her I had no plans at all but they were indeed my plans.

"We want to do a little welcome celebration for you! Are you down to go to Mangos tonight?" She asks and I'm confused as to why she is inviting me to fruit.

"What, where?" I ask and she understands that I have no idea what she's talking about. She leads me to her computer and removes the dark screen cover. She searches Mango's Tropical Cafe Orlando and shows me their website. She explains that it's like a dinner show and I nod my head.

"So we'll be meeting up at around 8 PM for the Michael Jackson show." She says and writes down her phone number on a sticky note before handing it to me.

I take the sticky note and stuff it in my pocket. The rest of the day went by in a blur and soon I'm off and headed back to my car. I mulled it over for the day and texted Christina that I'd be able to make it and she heard the message and sent the address to the place.

There is an unsettling feeling that has set in the pit of my stomach but it's hard to tell if it's just the nerves from accepting an invitation for a social event or not. I figured that it wouldn't hurt to open up, try new things, and meet new people. Besides, my co-workers didn't seem too bad either, at least those at the Front Desk. I look around and no one else is in the garage with me.

I get in my car and drive home and get dressed. I opted for a maroon mock turtleneck tank and black jeans, and chose my white Sketchers for comfort over style. I style my hair in a messy neat bun and just a bit of lip gloss, nothing crazy.

Unsurprisingly there is a lot of traffic and when I arrive I struggle a bit to find parking behind the building. When I make it to the front there is a group of people laughing and my stomach drops. I can't stop my anxiety from creeping up and decide to text Christina but before I can I hear someone call my name.

"Nicki!" Christina yells waving her arm from the large group that was laughing earlier. I give her a small smile and walk over though I'm not happy that this is a much larger group than what I anticipated. I thought it's be fine to meet new people, not a whole community.

She grabs my arm and drags me to the large group of people and I recognize a few people from the front desk and a lot of people I didn't know.

"So I didn't know this but apparently a few other departments were also having a get together today as well!" she says excitedly and I hope that my smile and nod don't show how uncomfortable I'm feeling at this time. I look up and my eyes meet a familiar pair of eyes I had seen not too long before and when his eyes meet mine see a light of recognition that he also remembers me as well.