Yesterday's Feelings

"You know, she's a very strong person." The man in the suit suit said, sidling up to the bar next to John. The man in the suit tapped his card on the bar.

John looked at the man as he waited for the bartender to get him another round of drinks for him and the rest of the crew that he was with, "I know." was all John could reply as the man in the suit hung around for another minute.

The man in the suit, "How do you know Miss Mitchell?" The man asked curiously as he flagged down the bartender and ordered another pitcher for his own table. He chuckled, "Oh, and, I'm sorry, let me introduce myself. I'm Colin Thompson of Thompson, Murray, and Jones."

John's brow was raised, "You're.."

The other man nodded, "A lawyer." he said as John was handed five beers from the bartender. "Say bartender, put those beers on my tab." Colin said, turning back to John, "Look, we've all got meetings from 11 to 2, you seem to know Miss Mitchell but clearly it's been a while. Why don't you stop by the firm to catch up? I think we're ordering in and you're welcome to join us." Colin said just as another pitcher arrived in front of him.

Colin left John standing there scratching his head. Actually it only seemed to leave John with more questions than answers about how she had ended up working for a lawyer, Especially one that was so.. nice. Weren't lawyers supposed to be blood-sucking, money-hungry, animals when it came to things?

—

"Thompson, Murray, and Jones." I paused, "No, he's in a meeting till this afternoon may I take a message?" I frowned a little, "Ma'am I'm sorry but I can't interrupt the meeting however if you leave your name and number I can see to it that he calls you as soon as possible." Another pause and then I scribbled down her name and number and then hung up the phone.

I sighed and looked at the front desk. I wasn't used to being up here. I mean, I was but Judy had called in sick, her daughter had the flu so she wasn't coming in. I could very much sympathize. No other receptionist was willing to forego their post and be a team player so I took control and deceided that it would be good for me to refresh my skills and work the front desk.

I forgot just how hard it was day in and day out. Nonetheless I was handling it pretty well after having been away for nearly a year. I was doing Judy's job and mine, which was hard on top of just Judy's job. I was grateful though to be so busy, it was rewarding. I wasn't just sitting around and filing my nails. I was even more grateful as I glanced at the clock, 11:45am, 15 minutes to lunch time.

Just as I glanced at the clock, the elevator dinged and a familiar face entered the office, staring at a piece of paper. I was surprised to see John but he wasn't all that surprised to see me. I took a deep breath and answered the phone but I was suddenly distracted, I tripped over my words and it was like it was my first day all over again. Way to make an impression— wait, why did I think I needed to impress John?

"Hey." John said with a smile once I was off the phone. I quickly put the phone on a setting that made it go straight to voicemail as we were so close to being closed for lunch anyways that it didn't necessarily matter.

I was still a little shocked that John was standing in front of me, at my work. The last place I expected or wanted to see him, "John.." I said, "What a wonderful surprise." I said, trying to push any worry, any thought, out of my mind.

John smiled just slightly, "Uh, Your boss, Mr. Thompson, invited me to come by for lunch—"

I cut John off, "I'm sorry John, he's in a meeting but I can tell him you stopped by."

John smiled and shook his heads, his dreads longer than ever now, "I meant lunch with you." John said, "I was thinking we could go grab something."

I sighed and nodded, "Of course, let me go grab my things." I said, returning to the back of the office to grab my purse.

John and I headed out of the building quietly. We walked along, both of us silent to one another. What was there to say? Not really anything to be honest. Once John and I headed in to the small restaurant (a favorite of those in the office including my boss') we were seated and ordered away. I wasn't really sure what to say but, leave it to John to break the ice.

"A receptionist.." John said once we ordered and the waitress had dropped off our drinks. I was drinking a diet soda, John was drinking a beer.

"It's a job." I said softly. "It pays the bills and allows me to be with Danielle as much as I can." I shrugged a little, my eyes looking over John's face. I had to admit, it was good to see an old friend.

"A desk job." John said, "I didn't think after working for us that you'd choose a desk job." John said.

I rolled my eyes, "John, You know how I strugged that first year."

John shrugged, "I offered you guys to come stay with me."

That was true. I had made the mistake of telling John about how hard I was struggling during that first year with Danielle and job and making minimum wage. He offered Danielle and I to stay with him, take care of the dogs, house sit. I would have taken him up on it too, but I was tired of having handouts. I had to do it on my own. I had done a lot of things on my own already but I had to stand on my own two feet this time. "I know." I paused, "and I thank you for the offer but we're doing fine now. I promise." I said softly.

Lunch with John was good. After the initial hesitancy we talked about what had happened, the trial of the teens, and about John and what he was doing. We spent more than an hour just talking and eating. It felt really good to catch up however I couldn't help the nagging thought in my mind that wanted me to ask about Eric. It wasn't the best topic, in-fact, I didn't want to talk about him at all. Seeing him at the bar last night, drunkenly yelling was plenty enough. It had also stirred feelings of resentment that I thought had faded long ago.