A Chance Encounter
The annual work Christmas party was always an excuse to let one's hair down and drink to excess without judgement. Of course, many from my workplace were not about to go overboard regardless of the unspoken tradition that 'what happens at the party, stays at the party,' but without question, the hardcore and the closeted hardcore were sure to take advantage of this guilt-free night of booze and loose lips.
In getting ready to meet my mostly conservative coworkers I had not decided what level of party objective I wanted to arrive at. My truly crazy partying days had been mostly left behind at university or at least, not long after. These days, my wild nights usually consisted of multiple glasses (bottle), of pinot grigio with the girls of my book club each Tuesday night.
So maybe tonight had all the good excuses to let loose and blow off some steam assuming I could find a wingman or two so that I didn't stand out too much on my own. I knew there would be a handful of the men that would go all in at the bar but most of them fell into the category of politically dangerous and the rest of them were best to keep at arms-length both literally and figuratively. Considering the cast of characters in my mind I concluded that I would need one of the ladies to be into it if I was intent on really letting loose.
As the night evolved I was well on my way to making it memorable but had still managed to keep it looking mostly respectable. And to be sure, I was pretty confident I would have finished off the night that way but for a chance encounter in the women's bathroom. I hadn't seen anyone I knew on the way in but as I checked my look in the mirror I felt a pair of unfamiliar arms around me.
"Sarah, I can't believe it!"
"I had no idea what happened to you after school."
"What are you up to?"
A trip to the bar together brought us up to speed on each others' lives post university. Breanna or Brea as everyone called her had never been a close friend. We weren't in the same faculty and I couldn't even remember when we first met. We always seemed to have a few good friends in common which meant that although we'd never really planned outings together, throughout the university years there were many parties and nights at the bars where we would hang together until the end of the night would lead us in opposite directions.
Over the next couple of drinks I learned that Brea had just come out the dark side of the end of a relationship she had mistakenly thought would go the distance. Though Brea was unable to mask a very real sense of emotion about the circumstances that had led to her current single status, on this night it was fully apparent that she was intent on having all the fun that could be found.