“Anaya Beth Parker! Come on, it’s time to party!” Margaret popped her head over the cubicle wall and glared at me. “Get your Latina butt off that computer. I will NOT allow you to stay in another night!”
“Margaret, I have so much work to do,” I sighed, staring at the reports in front of me. Our team had just finished some testing, and I was the unlucky one who had to work on a summary for our boss.
“Yeah, and half of it is due in a month from now! Take a break for once! Let’s go stare at some guys!”
I rolled my eyes. “Not everything great is about sex.”
“No, but sex is great,” Margaret grinned and winked at me. Her brown eyes twinkled mischievously. I couldn’t keep a small chuckle from escaping.
“Alright, just let me finish up this section on the report for that shampoo mishap. You know, the one that had the issue in testing? Management is pissed that their product isn’t working properly,” I responded as I stacked some papers in front of me and opened a drawer. Putting the file folder in, I closed and locked it.
“Isn’t that the project that they decided to skimp on funding, so the MatSci people skimped on their work?” Margaret moved around the wall and through the entranceway. She stood leaning against the wall, picking at her nails but giving me a smile of genuine interest.
“Materials Scientists, yeah. So now everything is a bit of a mess,” I sighed. “Why did I decide to take this position again?”
“Because you like the money?” Margaret winked at me. “You love your job, though. And you’re such a better boss than that other guy. What was his name again?”
“Flannigan.”
“Man, I hated that guy. I just knew he was creepy!” Margaret threw her hands up expressively. Her purse on her right arm almost went flying, and she quickly turned, catching it. I just laughed at her.
“You’re telling me! I’m the one he hit on,” I complained. “Let’s just get out of here; I’m never going to get work done with you talking to me.”
“YES! She is converted!” Margaret cheered. She pumped a fist in the air, her blonde hair bouncing with the movement. “Whoo!”
Saving and closing the document on my computer, I stood up to leave. I sighed, running my fingers through my dark brown hair.
“No more sighing for you, missy! Let’s go to the pub. We’re going to get you a boy toy! I think the others are already there,” Margaret informed me.
I grabbed my coat and turned off the desk light.
“I don’t need a boy toy,” I told her as we stepped into the elevator, but it fell to deaf ears.
“Have a good evening, ladies,” the security guard nodded at us as Margaret and I walked out of the building.
“Evening,” we smiled.
“You say you don’t need a boy toy now, but just try it. Maybe even little asexual you will enjoy it,” Margaret grinned. I buried my face in my hands.
“Sure. Whatever you say,” I groaned at her antics, running my hand through my black hair.
Margaret and I walked down the block to our cars. As we went to get in our respective cars, I stopped Margaret.
“Which bar is it again?”
“The usual – Crazy Chris’s,” she responded.
“Not that other lame one we tried a few months ago?”
“Yeah, Lily vetoed it,” Margaret shrugged casually. I laughed at the memory of the fiery redhead giving the bartender an attitude when he tried to hit on her.
“Sounds good. See you there!”
Soon enough, Margaret and I walked in, fanning ourselves at the heat. We joined Dave, Lily, and Shelbie at a table for our monthly Friday night out tradition.
“Hey guys!” I shouted over the noise of the music.
“Heyyyyy!” Lily responded, dancing in her seat to the beat of the song. Margaret and I glanced at each other and laughed.
“How much have you had to drink?” Margaret teased.
“Not that much, actually! I’m really hyper though.”
“We can tell,” Shelbie laughed, tossing her dark hair as she rested her face on her hand. “She’s driving us insane!”
“Hush, you! How was work? Did you finish that stupid report, Anaya?”
“No, I still have to work some more on it.”
“I don’t get it: You’re a manager! Why are you writing a report? Can’t you just make someone else do it?” Shelbie questioned.
“I’m only a manager of our small team. I could delegate, but I don’t trust you engineers to do it,” I responded, winking at Shelbie. She narrowed her already small Asian eyes as she glared at me.
“We’re not all that bad,” she protested.
“Whatever you say, whatever you say,” I responded, making her roll her eyes and throw her free hand up.
Suddenly, “Bailando” by Enrique Iglesias and Mickael Carreira started blasting through the pub speakers.
“BAILANDO! LET’S DANCE!” Lily and Margaret dragged Shelbie and I onto the dance floor. Lily and Margaret started dancing their hearts out as Shelbie and I tried to follow their moves and antics. Dave just laughed as we glared at him, willing him to come help us. He just sipped his beer in response, a half smile cracking his otherwise solemn face. A brown Stetson cowboy hat covered his forehead and sunglasses, even in the dark pub, were glued onto his face.
“C’mon Anaya, shake it!” One of them yelled as the song came to a close.
“I need another drink,” I muttered and wandered off to the bar.
“What would you like?” The bartender asked, turning to me after serving a couple. They were getting pretty lovey-dovey in a seat, all squished up against each other and shoving their tongues down one another’s throats. I rolled my eyes. Public displays of affection made me sick.
“Well, aren’t you a pretty little thing. I can buy that drink for ya,” a voice from behind me stated, reaching an arm around me. One hand patted my back, a little too low for comfort. I shifted in my seat, trying to get him to leave me alone.
“No, thanks,” I stated firmly, not even turning around. “Just a Cosmo please. I have to watch my friends tonight.”
The arm around me shifted, and a hand moved to thrust money at the bartender as I reached into my wallet.
“Excuse me!” I snapped, irritated. “I can pay for myself, thank you very much.” I shoved the man’s hand away and gave the bartender my money. Whirling around, I slapped the man. “What gives you the right to feel me up like this? I am NOT a piece of meat!”
“Whoa there, honey, slow down,” the man slurred. I glared at him in response.
“Fine, I’ll leave,” he held his hands up in defeat and walked away. Or, I suppose I should say that he stumbled away; he was a bit too drunk to walk properly.
Annoyed, I shook my head and turned around to take my drink from the bartender.
“Thanks,” I smiled at him. He nodded and moved onto the next customer. I sat down at the bar, keeping an eye on my girl friends, who were going crazy on the floor. A tall, dark shadow came and sat down beside me.
“Hey Dave,” I greeted him, not turning towards him and instead watching my friends. I noted some creepy guys in the corner, giving them a glare when they looked like they were enjoying the show a bit too much. One of them caught my eye and scowled back at me, but thankfully he turned to watch a different group of scantily clad girls.
“Not Dave,” a masculine voice said, much deeper than Dave’s. I whirled around to see a tall man with black hair sitting next to me and sipping a beer. Unlike Dave, he didn’t have a hat nor sunglasses. His eyes seemed to twinkle a bit with amusement.
“Crap, sorry!” I responded, flashing him a small smile of embarrassment.
“Not a problem. I’m Daniel, by the way.”
“Cool. I’m Anaya.” We were both silent for a moment.
“Are those your friends you’re watching?” He asked me.
“Yeah, they’re going a bit crazy. Would you believe that only one of them has been drinking, and she hasn’t even had that much to drink?”
“No! Really?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.
“Yeah. It’s going to be an interesting night.”
We sat and watched my friends dance like crazy. Time passed, but the quiet was a pleasant one, though the bar itself was not all that quiet. Thankfully, unlike the drunk man, he didn’t try to hit on me and was comfortable sitting in peace. I finished my Cosmo and got a soda.
The girls got tired of me being a party pooper and tried to make me come to the floor. Lily actually called me that, and Shelbie just laughed at me.
“Come out to the floor!” Margaret screamed at me, tugging at my arm. Lily bounced up and down beside us, here blue gray eyes and ruby red lipstick colored lips grinning at me.
“I’m good,” I replied, raising my soda.
“Laaaame!” Shelbie teased me, but grabbed Margaret and Lily. “Let’s just go dance ourselves!”
“Your drink is almost gone!” Margaret protested and stuck her tongue out at me.
I just raised my eyebrows. “Are we five?”
She glared at me, and the crazy twenty six year old flounced onto the floor, pulling Shelbie and Lily behind her. Shelbie and I exchanged an exasperated look.
“Food soon!” I called after her. She nodded once, indicating she heard. I was so thankful Shelbie was in our little friend group. I didn’t know how I would keep track of Lily and Margaret without her level head.
I finished my drink as I watched Lily and Margaret jump up and down as another song came on through the speakers. Turning around, I got a water from the bartender.
“They look like they’re having fun,” Daniel commented, making me jump. He chuckled.
“Sorry, I forgot you were there. Yes, they really enjoy the crazy partying scene. Except for Margaret, they’re fresh out of college, and enjoying their twenties.”
“How old is Margaret?”
“Twenty six. The others are twenty three and twenty four. Margaret’s still close enough to college age. And she’s a young soul at heart.”
“Sounds like it. You don’t like partying?”
“I don’t mind it, but I’m definitely not a dancer. Too many creepy guys on the dance floor.”
“Me neither. Never hurts to have a bit of fun here and there, though.”
“Yeah. Shelbie and I keep an eye out for Margaret and Lily, so as long as we’re in our group, it’s all safe and good.”
He nodded and we resumed our peaceful silence. Eventually, Dave came up, and it was the real Dave this time.
“Hey Anaya, the girls want to go grab some food at the diner. Are you ready to go?” Dave asked me.
“Yeah,” I said, getting up from my chair. “Nice meeting you, Daniel.”
“You too,” he nodded and smiled, and Dave and I walked out of the bar to join Lily, Margaret, and Shelbie outside.
Later, the five of us sat at the diner.
“That was fun!” Margaret said, bouncing in her seat a little. She reached into her handbag and pulled out a hairband, tying her hair back into a ponytail.
“You certainly seem to have a lot of energy,” Dave commented. “Surprising, after spending an hour dancing the night away!”
“It was an hour? It felt like no time at all!” Lily exclaimed.
Shelbie, Dave, and I rolled our eyes at her.
“Well, I’m exhausted,” Shelbie stated.
“Getting’ old!” Margaret said cheekily.
“You’re older than her! Besides, what does that make me?” I questioned.
“Ancient!” Lily cheered. I glared at her playfully and she winked at me. “So who was that cute guy you were talking to?”
“Who?” I asked, a little confused.
“That guy sitting next to you – he was so hot!” Margaret exclaimed.
“I guess. I’m not really into him,” I responded simply.
“Why don’t you pursue him? He could give you a fun time…” Lily commented, giving me a sly grin as I sighed in exasperation at her.
“You need to get out and have some fun sometime,” Margaret complained.
“Love you too,” I responded dryly.
“Ladies…” Dave signed, exasperated with our antics.
Just then, the waitress bounded up to our table, and we all settled down to order. I mulled over what Margaret had said. ‘Was Daniel hot? I suppose he wasn’t bad looking.’ I mused. ‘But hot? I don’t usually call guys that. Whatever Margaret said, though, was probably right – she’s the one with many boys chasing after her.’
“Anaya?” Dave asked me, grabbing my attention and pulling me back down to Earth.
“What?”
“Your order?”
“Sorry!” I responded, ordering quickly.
‘What’s the point of chasing after Daniel, though? I don’t even know his last name. I doubt I’ll ever see him again…’ I thought.
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Photo on the right: Anaya! (Naya Rivera)