Time Heals
Chapter 4 Feeling The Pull
Bella
The two weeks following the promise I'd made found me realizing it was much easier said than done. I'd never been a social butterfly, but now I was so inept at even talking to people that I really didn't know how I was going to go about making friends.
I'd tried to think of what my options were that didn't have me meeting a complete stranger and the only ones I had were someone in town or at work.
Of the kids I'd went to high school with and actually talked to only three hadn't gone away to college and hanging out with Mike, Jessica, or Lauren was not my idea of a fun time. If Angela was still here I would try and rekindle that friendship in a heartbeat now, but she was with Ben in San Diego. So town ended up being a no go from the start
I figured work would be easier since they had all been really nice when I first started; someone would always ask me to join them for lunch and the girls has asked me to girl's night out, but after saying no each time they'd eventually stopped and they never spoke to me now unless it had something to do with whatever we were working on The few times I tried to speak to one of them though all I'd ended up doing was standing there, opening and closing my mouth a few times before turning and going back to my work, earning a weirded out look from whoever it was.
I knew I needed some kind of gesture that would show them that even though I'd turned down any attempt of friendship early on I was wanting to change that and then maybe that would lead someone to approach me then. Maybe? I could hope at least.
Glancing around the kitchen I tried to think of something I could do when the coffee pot finishing its brewing cycle pulled my eyes to it and an idea began to form. When my eyes then landed on the fridge and the calendar sheet I had there I realized today would be the perfect day for it.
Tomorrow was Thanksgiving and because this weekend would be a busy one we had an early meeting this morning. Everyone that worked at the bookstore had to be there.
I still had twenty minutes before I needed to leave, but if I left now I could stop and get coffee, doughnuts, and bagels. Smiling to myself for what I thought just might be a good plan I flipped the coffee pot off, grabbed my stuff, and headed out to my truck.
As I drove I tabulated how many there were of us. There was the manager-Alexis, the assistant manager-Nathan, Sarah, Samantha, Jamie, Leslie, Allison, Tom, Josh, Frank, Bobby, Chad, and me. So that was thirteen in all.
Once I made it to Port Angeles I stopped at Dunkin' Doughnuts first getting a dozen assorted and a thing of doughnut holes.
I then made my way to the closest Starbucks. As I sat in the drive thru I realized that maybe not everyone drank coffee. Fuck now what did I do. Pulling forward to the order box I glanced quickly over the menu. As the speaker crackled to life my eyes fell on something that if you didn't like it something was wrong with you. Once the guy did his spill on what their special of the month was I ordered 13 plain bagels with butter on the side of each as well as 13 hot chocolates.
After spending a few minutes at the window and paying I made sure nothing would tip over and turned toward the bookstore arriving about five minutes later. I could see everyone, but Alexis and Nathan standing in the parking lot as I pulled in and after they gave a quick glance at my truck they all turned back to whatever conversation they had going on.
Sliding my truck into a parking spot I stepped out and then furrowed my brow. My balance problems had improved slightly in the last few years, but not nearly enough for me to even attempt getting everything at once or even just the hot chocolate.
