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My brain needed to get its shit together. He was nice to me last night and that was it. It could never be anything more than that. I needed to focus on my own life and I wasn't going to let some overly confident hockey player get in the way of that.
I needed to erase Mac from my mind as quickly as he had entered it.
Pushing the lingering thoughts and the tiredness from my foggy head, I went through the motions of getting ready before leaving my condo. I was sure to bring my keys this time because the last thing I needed was a repeat of last night. If I were smart, I would keep my distance from my neighbor across the hall.
After getting ready, I headed down to my car. It was early and the sun was just barely cresting the horizon as I drove through the city to the hospital. It was only a twenty-minute drive and I was thankful for finding a place to live that didn't have a long commute.
Today was just my first day of orientation. I had to go through a few days of learning the systems and the hospital's policies before starting training with the actual marketing department. When I walked into the room, there were six different places set with packets of information. Since it was orientation day for the hospital, there were going to be other new hires from different departments with me today.
I was the first one there, so I took a seat at one of the tables at the front of the room. It wasn't long before everyone else started to arrive and the seat next to me was occupied. I glanced over at my table mate as she sat down with a bright smile.
"Hi!" she greeted in a cheerful voice. I felt like I was half asleep, while she looked like she had been awake for four hours already. "I'm Lyla."
I stifled a yawn. She was too kind for me to be rude, even if I wasn’t exactly a morning person. “Hey. I’m Juliette.”
Lyla’s blonde hair was pulled back in a ponytail without a single hair out of place. She looked to be in her mid-twenties and was dressed in scrubs. I scanned her for a moment for a name tag but couldn’t find one. She didn’t notice as she took a sip of her coffee and glanced around the room.
“What unit are you going to be working in?” she asked me as her gaze met mine once again.
“I’m actually not a nurse. I’ll be in the marketing department.”
Her face lit up and excitement slid across her expression. “No way, me too! How cool,” she said before the smile fell from her face. “Sorry, I know I can be a little much sometimes. I just moved here recently and I don’t know anyone.” She laughed nervously.
I stared at her for a moment, instantly feeling regret for the coldness I had been exuding. It was easy for me to give off the vibe and appearance that I didn’t care. Especially in the morning when I slept terribly the night before. This poor girl was simply excited at the possibility of making a new friend, and here I was making her feel insecure about being authentic.
“Don’t ever apologize for something like that. You never owe anyone an apology for being yourself.” I paused for a moment, my face softening as I offered her a warm smile in return. “I just moved here too, so I know exactly how you are feeling.”
Lyla let out a sigh of relief. “It’s so hard meeting people and making friends as an adult. I only lived an hour away but I figured moving to the city would make things easier with work. I didn’t realize how lonely it would be here.”
I didn’t come here looking for a new friend, but Lyla was right. It was incredibly isolating and lonely. The closest thing I had to a friend was my neighbor across the hall, and there was a part of me that couldn’t stand him. He also wasn’t a friend—just merely an acquaintance I had contact with.
“Well, you know what? We will tackle that obstacle together then.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? I mean, I don’t want you to feel like we have to be friends or anything.”
“Lyla, just stop,” I told her, shaking my head. “We’re friends now, so I’m going to be upfront with you. Stop apologizing to me and making assumptions. If I didn’t want to be your friend, I wouldn’t.”
This poor girl severely lacked confidence. I didn’t know who told her she was too much before, but whoever they were, they were an asshole.
“Okay, okay,” she said as she laughed softly. The other seats in the room had since filled in with the other new hires, and Lyla and I both turned to the front of the room as the man leading our orientation walked in.
I yawned as he wasted no time diving straight into the hospital’s policies. Lyla had her notebook flipped open and was eagerly following along.
This was going to be a long day.
After a full day of listening to the policies and going over all of the paperwork, I was finally free. Although, I had to come back tomorrow to head into the next phase of orientation. There was a part of me that didn’t want to go back. As much as I enjoyed marketing, I wanted more from life. I wanted something that I was passionate about, not just a mindless job to pay the bills.
I wanted hockey, but that wasn’t an option. At least, not in the capacity that I wanted it to be.
Lyla was sure to give me her number before I walked out of the building. We parted ways with the promise of making plans soon and seeing each other bright and early the next day. I didn’t know where her energy came from because she barely looked exhausted when the day was over.
The elevator took me up to my floor and my feet felt heavy as I stepped into the hall. I was ready for a glass of wine, a bath, and a good book to get lost in. Just as I was reaching my door, I heard a sound behind me. I turned around without even thinking about it.
Mac’s gaze met mine from across the hall as he stepped out of his condo with another guy following behind him. I watched his face transform from annoyed to amused, the creases falling away from his forehead as his eyes softened and a smile crept onto his lips.
“Hey you,” he said slowly, his voice warm and welcoming. “How was your first day of school?”
My mouth twitched and I snorted. “It really has me second-guessing my life choices.”
