TKB - The Time Apart

Chapter 24 - Out in the real world

Elle POV - 1st year after graduation

Settling into a real job is definitely different, but I'm enjoying it so far.  As an entry level employee, my hours aren't too bad, the standard 9-5ish.  There are a few of us that started together, Caleb, John, Leah, and Randy, so most days, the 5 us go out to lunch.  We've taken turns picking restaurants, getting to know each other, and genuinely forming a pretty tight bond.  In addition to our lunches, we've also taken to finding spots for Friday nights after work. We've been trying different happy hour spots around the city, some of which I already know from living here, but I'm the only one local to LA - the rest of my new friends are from all over the country. John is actually from Ireland, so he's quite a ways from home.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, even though we're all new, none of us report to the same bosses, so there isn't real competition between us.  Caleb and John are both hard core programmers, but working in different specialties.  Leah is in Marketing, Randy is in tech support, and I'm on a design team for new concepts.  

Basically, my team helps come up with new games, Caleb or John's team develops them, Leah's team does the marketing when they're ready to go to market, and then Randy's team helps customers who call in with questions or get stuck.  Randy's job entails lots of playing video games all day between calls, so he knows what kinds of things might trip people up.  We're quite the well rounded bunch of friends.  

My group is really easy to be around, no pressure, laid back, and easy going.  There's no guy/girl dynamics, we're all just friends.  And while we all have our own personal histories, we're all looking forward to growing up in the real world and seeing what's out there.   

Before I knew it, it was time for my annual trip to Napa with June.  Linda couldn't join us this year, as she was travelling for work, so it was just June and I, like old times.  We haven't had as much time together lately, especially since Lee has been gone for so long, so I haven't been over to their house in ages.  We're both really looking forward to Lee and Rachel coming back.  June has been helping Lee apartment shop for the past few weeks, and I know Rachel has been doing virtual interviews too.  I can't imagine anyone not wanting to work with Rachel, so I'm sure she'll get whatever job she wants.

It is a little strange though, because while I'm here with June, I know Lee is with Noah.  For the past few years, even though we were not at school together, we were always still relatively close.  Having Lee across the country for the past few months has been pretty rough for me - its definitely the longest we've gone without seeing each other.  Add to that, the fact that he's with Noah, and I'm actually missing him even more.  

They're brothers, right?  I mean, they're supposed to hang out.  But, I also know that the last time they spent time together ended up with Noah showing up to that awkward breakfast.  This means that they talked about me when they were together - what if they're doing that again this weekend?  Its driving me nuts, and I know that it shouldn't.  Normally, I can block Noah from my mind - I've been doing pretty well at that the past few months, being busy with work and all, but being with June, Lee being WITH Noah - its a lot.  

Between spa appointments, wine tastings, and fabulous meals, (have I mentioned just WHY I love these trips so much?) I've probably sent Lee a few too many texts.  I'll just chalk that up to the wine, right?  

By the time Lee called me on the bus ride home, I was a little distracted - not only did I probably drank too much wine, but the massage I got this morning had really put me in zen mode, and I was still there in my mind.  Honestly, I half-heartedly listened to his stories about hanging out with Noah.  I'm not sure how much I wanted to know either, when it really came down to it, but it sounded like they really had a nice time.  I was getting ready to cut him off, so I could close my eyes for a bit, when he casually threw out the fact that Noah was celibate as a monk, and appears to have been for quite some time.  My ears perked up to that.  Wait, what?  My Noah?  Mr. girls-throw-themselves-at-him-constantly Noah?  The same Noah who, before me, and probably after me, seemed to always be with random girls?  Wow.