One Night Stand (3)

Crystal

     Happy Friday to me. It was almost the end of the day and then I had the whole weekend to just veg out. I hummed as I made sure all the returns had been put back, the racks of clothes were all in order, and things that could be were stocked up. Inventory for the week was complete. Now to just run a broom through the department and I was a free woman. "Crystal?"

     She answered the radio "Yes."

     "We need you at the fitting rooms please. "

     "Ok." What in the world could they possibly need. She had put everything away and all the rooms were cleaned out and ready for the next person. When I got there, Rachel was standing there with the ' I am so sorry' look on her face. This couldn't be good. "What do you need, Rachel?"

     She pointed to the floor where some kid had gotten sick. Ewwww. She couldn't clean it up because everyone knew she had a weak stomach and we would have been cleaning up two messes. "And someone knocked over your display of socks."

     "Seriously." I said with resignation. "I'll get it. Can you at least bring me a clean thing of mop water."

     She scampered off to get the water. I tried sopping up some of the vomit with paper towel but that wasn't really working. When she brought the water I said "Thanx. Have a great weekend."

    "I am. Some of the other girls and I are going out. You should come."

     "I don't know. I just planned to do a whole lot of nothing."

     "You need to get back out there. You can't just quit dating because of Darryl."She gave me that 'poor Crystal' look.

     "It is not because of Darryl." At least not entirely. " I just wanted a chance to relax."

     "You've been relaxing for like two months. Come on." She pleaded. "Just one night. Then I'll leave you alone. You know it will be fun."

     "Ok. Ok. But after that you let it be." I pointed at her and gave her my stern look.

     "Awesome. We'll pick you up at 9 tomorrow night. Oh! And dress fun. Not this sad attire look you've had going on." Then she made a quick retreat before I could change my mind.

     I looked down. Jeans and a big t-shirt. I guess that was kind of sad. I haven't really felt myself since Darryl broke up with me. We had dated in high school and, I think, out of habit just kept dating after. He went to a local college and I got a job here at the Supercenter. Not grand but it payed the bills. There was no money for me to go to college.

     I was raised by a single mom who worked a lot to make sure we had enough. She was great though. Always making sure to support whatever thing I was in. I wasn't a great athlete but I could hold my own on the basketball court. I was never a starter but I usually got to play some each game. Then there was my short lived art career. I had won one award and thought that this is what I'm supposed to do but I lost interest. Then I tried to be a cheerleader but I couldn't stand most of the other girls. Talk about being a bitch. They were always gossiping about someone.

     I mopped up the mess, cleaned out the trashcan, and disposed of the nasty mop water. Then I tackled my sock display. I had color coordinated them in a cool pattern that took over an hour to fix. I worked diligently and had it done before six. That was an hour past when I was supposed to get to leave.

     I clocked out and made my way to my VW Beetle. She was yellow and I called her Gayle. She wasn't new but she got me where I needed to go and was great on gas. I grabbed some food on the way home. I changed into my jammies and proceeded to binge watch Will and Grace for 4 hours. Just what I needed. A good laugh before I went to bed.

     Saturday I puttered around the apartment doing my weekly cleaning. I gathered up my laundry and headed  to the basement where the coin fed washers and dryers were. Usually around two it was empty. I was in luck. I loaded up my two loads and popped in my earbuds and listened to some music. You didn't dare leave your laundry. Someone may steal it or there had been times people took your stuff out and put it on the floor. They claimed they couldn't wait. They had to get their laundry in. Besides you should be courteous and timely doing your laundry. Not hogging the machines all day.
    
     After things were dry I hauled them back up the three flights of stairs to my apartment to fold them and put them away. I started taking inventory of my clothes. What was I gonna wear tonight? It had been five years since I had been on the dating scene. I wasn't even sure what people wore to go out. I settled on a silk blouse of blue and a black mini skirt. I had a chunky silver necklace and bracelet that went perfectly with the blouse. I topped it off with some dangly star earrings and two inch heels. My feet were used to tennis shoes and no shoes so I figured 4 inch heels might be a bit much. I wasn't sure I really even wanted to go. I curled my hair and put on some make up. Ok. I looked pretty good. My light brown shoulder length hair shined and my blue eyes popped. Maybe it could be fun. I looked at the clock. It was only 8 so I decided to take the shoes off and watch a little TV. The doorbell rang at nine on the dot. I slipped on my shoes, turned off the TV and lights, and psyched myself up for an evening out.

     There were five of us crammed in the car. They were all giggling and excited. There were five different perfumes trying to claim dominance and someone turned on some music so we all started singing along. Not very well but we made an effort. We pulled up to this new club called Club Z. It was supposed to be the happening place in town. We climbed out and I felt I could breathe again. Oh! Fresh air. We made our way to the line and waited our turn to get in.