Unfortunate Series of Events

Well, I finally heard from Blast! Drum roll please…..….nope, I didn’t get it. I’m pretty bummed out to be honest but I told myself that it was good experience which I can put to use at my next interview. Which, since I am now actively looking, will hopefully be in the near future. 

I received the email Monday morning about their decision to choose someone whose “skillset was better suited for the position”, and felt pretty rejected all morning long. Elena could sense I was upset about something, but seeing as we work together I felt weird confiding in her about wanting to leave Platform. Always the polite one, she didn’t pry. 

“I’m in desperate need of a dress for a wedding I was invited to as a plus one,” she said as we returned to our desks with fresh Starbucks after lunch. “Want to come shopping with me after work?” 

“Who’s the guy?” I asked. 

“Oh I don’t think you know him,” she mumbled, casting her gaze suspiciously anywhere but at me.

I narrowed my eyes at her, “Elena Henderson what are you hiding!?” 

She looked up at me sheepishly, “It’s with Jeff...”

I swear my jaw literally dropped. “Jeff?! As in, our co-worker Jeff?!”

I could see her sucking in the corners of her mouth, trying to suppress her smile, “Yes, that Jeff.” 

“When did this happen?! Tell me everything!” I squealed excitedly. Sure, Jeff had a reputation as a playboy but Elena was well aware of that. So if she wanted to have a little fun, I wasn’t about to stop her. Plus, he could always change, and the rumors about him had always been just that - rumors. 

“Shh!” she hushed me, half laughing. “I’ll fill you in tonight. Just swing by my desk when you’re ready to leave.” With that, she scurried off to her desk. My eyes quickly darted to the other side of the room where Jeff was preoccupied on a phone call. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I had been so selfishly absorbed in my own dramas lately that I hadn’t even picked up on it until now. But Elena had been wearing ridiculously adorable outfits to work lately and her shiny hair had been even more perfect than usual. Also, I could now distinctly remember two occasions when I had walked over while they were having a conversation and they immediately stopped talking. Grinning, I turned my attention back to my work. The faster I got through the afternoon, the sooner I could get all of the details from Elena. 

There wasn’t a whole lot of work to do that afternoon so the hours dragged by. I even went in and cleaned up who Platform follows on Twitter, I was that desperate for distractions. Maybe I was so eager for a new job because I just didn’t feel challenged anymore. For the past few months my tasks had felt like second nature, and I could hardly remember the last time I got excited about a project. I made a mental note to try to talk to my boss about taking on some more responsibilities. 

Finally, it was 6 o’clock. Elena and I decided to head downtown to one of my favorite boutiques. On the way there she filled me in on the Jeff details. Apparently the Friday that I had been up at Penn State, a bunch of work people went to happy hour. One thing lead to another and Elena woke up at Jeff’s apartment. Ever since, they had hung out a few times and now he was inviting her to a wedding. 

“This is seriously so great,” I enthused, bouncing alongside Elena. 

“Calm down, it’s really super casual,” she replied, but I could tell she just didn’t want to jinx it. 

“Soooo..” I said, wiggling my eyebrows at her. “Is it true?” 

She gave me a stern look. “Danielle Fitzgerald I have no idea what you’re referring to.” 

“Oh come on,” I said. “I’m dying to know.” 

She bit her lip, but smiled, “Fine! Yes, he’s as good as we always thought. Actually, even better.” 

“Ahhh!” I yelped. “God I’m jealous.” 

We stopped into one of my favorite stores, Darling, first. Which was fortunate because Elena ended up buying the very first dress she tried on. It was a ridiculously flattering green number that when paired with nude pumps, was going to make her legs look like a gazelle's.

“Want to grab a drink or something?” Elena asked as we stepped back out onto the street.

“Sure,” I replied. We started to walk uptown, looking for somewhere we could sit outside. The weather was gorgeous and we, along with every other New Yorker, were eager to take advantage. 

I had my nose buried in my phone, googling good happy hour specials nearby when Elena grabbed my arm. 

I looked up to find her staring alarmingly ahead of us. “Actually, I think I know a place near here. Right over on 7th..” she started. 

“You just said you never come down here…” I trailed off once I saw what she saw. Heading right for us was Bray, arm draped casually around a blonde, his face nuzzling her neck. Clearly he had not seen me yet. I was contemplating whether or not to try and slink away when he decided to extract his face from his pretty friend, about three feet before he smacked right into Elena. 

“Danielle, hey..” Bray said. He made zero effort to remove his arm from where it was resting, hand dangling dangerously close to her boob. Seriously, does every guy that I like have to run into me when they’re with someone else? What is this? 

“Hi..” I replied awkwardly. 

“Oh um, this is Chelsea,” he said stiffly, gesturing to the girl. 

“Hi,” I repeated, not even offering my name. “We should get going,” I snapped, grabbing Elena’s hand. I wanted nothing more right now than for the ground to swallow me whole. Once we were a block away, Elena spoke.

“Wow, jerk,” she offered, looking sympathetically at me.

I shook my head. “We’re not exclusive,” I defended. “I mean up until a few weeks ago, I was sleeping with Nick too.”

She gave me a look. “Don’t do that Dani. Don’t try to defend him. You slept with Nick before you and Bray had even hooked up. Aren’t you now sleeping with Bray regularly? You deserve way more respect than that.” 

She was right, as Sheryl Sandberg as she was being. I needed to stand up for myself. “Should I text him?” 

“No,” she replied firmly. “Let him text you, and then ignore it.” Grinning, she looped her arm through mine. “Now you definitely need that drink." 

I walked alongside her, quietly contemplating what had just happened. In one day I had managed to lose my job prospect and my boyfriend prospect. Lesson to take away: stop leaving my bed on Mondays.