Finding Rory

Chapter 62: First Day

Rory awoke early on Monday morning and dragged Tristan to the gym with her to work off some nervous energy before her first day at her new job. Now she was standing in the kitchen, pouring a cup of coffee into her travel mug.

"You excited for your first day, baby?" Tristan asked as he joined her in the kitchen.

"Was that not made abundantly clear by my excitement this morning?" she joked.

"You're right - I don't really need to ask that question," he said, holding up his hands in surrender. "So, do you have everything you need?"

"Yeah, I think I'm all ready to go."

"I hope you have a great day, Mare," he whispered, pulling her into his arms to kiss her.

"Thank you, Tris. I'll see you at home tonight," she replied. They'd moved the rest of her things into his house - their house - over the last few days, and she was settled now.

"Yeah, I'll see you tonight," he whispered, kissing her again. He picked up the keys to the Escalade and put them in her hands. "Have fun," he smirked.

"Aw, he knows how much I love driving his cars!" she fake swooned, causing them both to laugh.

"Alright, you need to get out of here," he said, turning her toward the door and sending her off with a pat on the butt. "I love you, Mare. Have a great day. You're going to be amazing."

"Love you, too, Tris. See you tonight!"

Rory walked out to the car and set off for the forty-five minute drive to Yale. Luckily, she'd left early enough that traffic was light, and she enjoyed an easy commute for her first day. She parked in the employee lot and quickly grabbed her things and walked into the medical school.

"Good morning, Kimberly," Rory said as she approached the departmental secretary's desk.

"Good morning, Rory! We're all very excited to have you here. You got a delivery this morning." Kelly walked over to the conference room and grabbed a vase and brought it to Rory.

"Oh wow, they're gorgeous," Rory enthused, leaning down to smell the beautiful arrangement of sunflowers, white daisies and pink roses.

"Did your boyfriend send them?" Kimberly asked. She and Rory had hit it off while Rory was decorating her office.

"Fiancé, actually," Rory replied, holding up her left hand and proudly displaying her ring.

"Oh my goodness! When did this happen?" Kimberly asked, walking toward Rory's office with her.

"He proposed on the Fourth of July," Rory gushed.

"Well, congratulations! We should get lunch together on campus today so we can chat more."

"Yeah, I would love that," Rory said, grateful to be making friends.

"I'll leave you to get settled in, but I'll duck in around noon and we can walk over to get lunch. Have a great first day!"

Kimberly walked out of Rory's office, leaving her alone for her first day. Her morning passed by in a flurry of meetings, coworkers stopping in to introduce her and wish her well on her first day, and getting acquainted with the departmental policies and procedures. Before she knew it, Kimberly was ducking her head into her office for lunch.

"You ready?" Kimberly asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Rory replied, grabbing her purse and phone.

The two women conversed easily on the short walk across campus, having fun getting to know each other better.