My bus was late today, making me miss my transfer. Luckily, there was one not long after. Thank goodness for smart phones or I’d never find my way.

Happy hour. I guess this is a natural part of working in an office. Everyone gets wound up, frustrated, depressed from sitting in a box all day. Occasionally, you have to let it all out. For some reason, despite spending forty hours a week in close proximity to the same people, they want to spend a few hours more.  

After being invited by a few different people, I reluctantly agreed. Sometimes part of having social anxiety is avoiding situations. Knowing this I decided to push myself. My fella was working into the late night anyway. I was being accepted.

Armed with Valium in my system from earlier in the day, I walked over to the nearby watering hole. Some of the people attending got off earlier than me and had started the festivities.

I was handed a margarita. Apparently the drinks were buy one get one, and there were too many to go around. There was also a continuous spread of Mexican food. I don’t know who kept ordering it, but it kept coming.

People act very differently outside of the confines if the office. Some that I thought were reserved were flamboyant. Others, too flirtatious. There were only 3 girls to begin with, and the other two left before me.

What had started slow, became surprisingly fun, began getting uncomfortable. I even text my boyfriend, asking him how do I escape. Eventually, I just said, I got to go.

It was true. I wanted to catch the bus before it got too dark. I asked my share, they told me not to worry about it. Free food and drinks. It’s good to be a girl sometimes. Or perhaps they were just being nice cause I was new.

It’s so strange to see people in a different element. Neat in some ways, scary in others. I worry about how social they will expect me to be back in the office. This far, I mostly keep to myself. They’re nice, but I tend to like it best that way.