Tales of a Single Girl....

Chapter ten: New Friendships Found

"So have you asked Robert out yet?" Judy asked me the next day and I looked up from my computer screen in surprise. I hadn't counted on her being so pushy about the whole thing.

I looked at her and the almost familiar sense of weariness came over me. "Judy come on, give me a break. I can't believe we're having this conversation again."

"No need to get touchy," Judy replied and swung her legs off my desk where they had been resting as she had sat in the chair next to me. "I'm just curious. Pardon me for being a friend and actually giving a shit!" She stormed off and I stared after her, startled.

"Hi!" Shelley said to me a few minutes later as she came bounding up to my desk. "Hi. It's Eva, right? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," I replied, my mind on Judy's weird mood. "Uh, what did you need to know?"

"I just need to know where this file goes." She waved the manilla folder around in some frustration.

I smiled at her. "Sure. We have a central filing system, so it does tend to make things a little bit easier."

As we walked over, I noticed she was wearing the exact same lilac blouse that I had been eyeing myself  some weeks ago in Candy Store, one of the coolest boutiques in town. I couldn't help but comment on it.

"I really like your blouse," I said to her. She smiled winningly.

"Thanks! It is really pretty, isn't it? I just thought to myself that it was the perfect colour for me."

I nodded my head. "Yeah, it's absolutely lovely. I've had my eye on a similar looking top."

"Well, it seems like we have similar tastes then. Maybe we could get together and go shopping sometime," Shelley offered. "Actually," she began and paused. "I hope this doesn't seem very  presumptious of me, since we hardly know each other but I was wondering if you were free to go out to dinner tonight. It's a kind of getting to know you exercise, if you will."

I was a little taken aback by her request but for some reason, I felt compelled to say yes. It made sense to make the effort to get to know her, especially as we would be working together, so it wasn't as if she were a total stranger or anything like that.

"Sure!" I said to her. "There's a place called Café Deluxe that isn't far from here. We can probably go there." Of course, they were the real reasons for my wanting to go there, it had nothing to do with Robert. Or so I told myself.

"That sounds great," Shelley answered. "How about we get ready to go there at six?"

I nodded again. "Sure!"

Once that was done, I headed back to my desk and collided with Kate.

"Hey sorry, are you okay?" I asked. She was pregnant and of course, I needed to be careful.

"Yeah sure, I'm fine," she said. She sighed. "I'm feeling so tired all the time," she continued.

"Of course," I replied. We walked back to my desk. "Hey do you know what's wrong with Judy?" I asked.

"No," Kate said. "Why?"

I relayed the conversation I'd had with her earlier.

"I wouldn't worry about that too much," Kate brushed it off. "Sometimes she can be a bit of a drama queen."

"I guess so," I shrugged. "She just seemed to react in a slightly over the top manner, that's all. I can't work where she's coming from...."

"Look," Kate interrupted. "You need to understand that Judy is just being a friend and she's worried about you. She doesn't want to see you wasting your time. I really think that you would be grateful, having a friend who cares about you as much as she does. As much as I do. As much as we both do."