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"It's the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter." Marlene Dietrich
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Trinity Events occupied
two offices in an old four-story brick building situated between an indie
coffee shop called 37 Drops and an arts
supply store, which made for an ideal location. After she picked up a large cup
of coffee and a packet of dried apricots, Trinity climbed the familiar steps to
her offices, as she never bothered for the elevator.
A hair salon, Amazing Cuts, took residence in the first floor, and its owner was
a sweet lady named Annabelle who never opened before 11, so Trinity usually
greeted the middle-aged woman at her lunch break. Up on the second floor were
several paper and copy services; third floor, a travel and real estate agency
among others; and the fourth floor hailed her events business, along with a
couple of environmental grassroots organizers and premium kitchen knife
salespeople.
She wasn’t
the only one who came early thirty minutes before show time. Someone had turned
on the main lights of the offices, and Trinity had a good guess about the early
bird’s identity. She opened the door and wasn’t surprised to see Acadia Jyung
in one of her many spring dresses, her long auburn hair curly at the ends. She sat
at the large semi-circle reception desk with a croissant in her petite hand and
brown eyes on the computer screen. She looked up.
“Trin! Good
morning,” she said, covering her mouth, but her eyes smiled.
“Morning
Acadia.” Trinity leaned over the tall desk. “You know you don’t have to be here
this early, right?” The metallic square clock behind her friend said it was a
little after half past eight.
“And you
know you don’t have to worry about me and time, right? Croissant? I bought a
whole box for everybody to share.”
Trinity
jiggled the plastic packet of dried fruit. “Thanks, but I’m good.”
“You can’t
live on coffee and that every morning. Come on, take one. They’re delicious.
You’ll make me feel bad if you don’t.” Acadia stood and placed the box of
freshly baked croissants right under Trinity’ nose.
Trinity admitted the warm aroma was
beyond inviting, and her stomach grumbled in approval. “Oh, alright. Just one.”
“Very
good.” Acadia grinned and turned her head slightly to the right whenever she
got her way. “Our newest member is finally coming in today, right?”
“Spiro?
Yes, he starts today.” Trinity knew that
her friend had the date circled in red permanent marker on her calendar. She
asked every day of the new member’s arrival just to make sure he hadn’t changed
his mind.
Acadia sat
back down and rested her elbows close to the computer screen. “Spiro Karimov…where
did you find such an amazing beauty? I’m actually getting goose bumps at the
thought of meeting him today. Seriously Trin, he looks like a model!”
Trinity
laughed. “Just between us, I got him just for you.”
“Ha. Ha.
Nice try. Come on. You’ve been all secretive about it, and I want to know.
There’s no use hiding it now that the day is finally here.”
“Then wait
a little longer. He’ll tell everybody his story.”
“Ugh, why
are you so mean?” Acadia stuck out her lower lip.
“No no,
missy. There will be no pouting in this establishment,” Trinity teased, and
winked.
“Heartless
as always,” Acadia said.
Trinity chuckled and strolled away
from the reception desk to her own desk situated at the opposite end of the
room.
She organized the office space into
four worker stations with a large conference table that cut through the middle
of them. The walls were a warm olive green with orange accents such as the
border of the windows and doors. Large high-definition framed pictures of past
successful weddings, graduations, banquets, and other celebrations and
ceremonies decorated the area. A collection of plush orange furniture sat in
the corner with a refreshment stand for clients and guests. The second office
space served as storage, and now, thanks to the addition of their newest member,
a digital darkroom.
Sterling
Xing was the first person to trickle into the office after Acadia. Trinity’s handsome
six-foot tall college friend responsible for finance, budgeting, and supplies chatted
a little with Acadia, swiped three croissants from the box amid her protests,
and sauntered over to Trinity with a croissant half down his throat. He took a
banana from his leather bag and threw it at her.
She caught
it and shook her head. “Why does everyone have the need to feed me today?”
“Have you
looked in a mirror? It’s like you’re running for Ms. Anorexia or something.
Here you can have my cinnabon too.” He placed it in front of her.
“Not funny,”
she said and raised her brows high.
Sterling half
smiled and sat on her desk. Locks of his jet-black hair fell a little over his
eyes as he leaned forward. “You broke up with her again, didn’t you?”
Trinity
unpeeled the banana and sighed. All these food offerings actually made her
hungry. Sterling did well. This banana was ripe and succulent in her mouth. “This
time is final. We won’t be getting back together.”
“Yeah,
sure. Maybe you two should go see a therapist.”
“A
therapist? I don’t think so. Like I said, it’s over.”
“For you and
Val, it’s never over. Just another hiccup in a series of many. Trust me. See a
therapist.”
“Thanks for
the advice, but it’s not necessary. So, how’s Olivia doing?” Trinity asked,
switching the topic to Sterling’s wife of one year. Conversations about Valerie
always ended up in a spiral to nowhere.
“How come
you never ask me how I’m doing?” He
crossed his arms.
Trinity
smiled and threw the banana’s peel into her trash bin. “That’s easy. I like her
a lot more than you now.”
He laughed.
“Liv is peachy and happy. Should we still expect you for Saturday?”
“Of course,
you know how much I love your wine collection.”
“Yes,
unfortunately I do,” Sterling said and groaned.
“Hello,
beautiful people! And how are we this fine morning!”
That was Rhett de la Cruz,
the queen of social media and marketing and another college friend of
Trinity’s. The three of them started the events company a few years after their
college graduation and recruited Acadia soon after its inception. Her presence
always brought the energy of the room to overdrive, which Trinity loved and
appreciated for when they had to be on the grind.
“We’re
contemplating whether we can jump from the roof and successfully die thanks to
your voice,” Sterling said dryly.
“Sterling!
What are you doing here?” Rhett marched over. Her medium brown layered hair bounced with each step. “I thought I told Olivia to hide the key to your
cage.”
“Nothing
can keep me from seeing your beautiful face naturally,” he said.
“Too late.
Damage done. I hate you.”
“I’ve been
getting that a lot lately.” Sterling turned his attention to Trinity who smiled
innocently.
“I didn’t
say I hated you. Only that I liked you less than Olivia.”
Rhett reached over to pinch her
cheeks. “Sweetie! What happened to your face? You look like you made out with
Death and she slapped you around a few times.”
Trinity
burst out laughing. “Are you serious?” She honestly did not know what she would
do without her friends, her second family.
“Take
this,” she gave Trinity a small bottle of Ensure drink. “I was going to give
this to my grandfather later, but I can get him another one. You need it.”
“She broke
up with Valerie again,” Sterling said like a first grade tattletale.
Rhett
clapped her hands in ear-popping fashion and widened her brown eyes. “Again! Ay dios mio. When will it
end? This can’t be healthy for a person’s heart, especially you honey. I’m so
sorry.”
Trinity
smiled sadly. “It’s okay.”
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| Rhett de la Cruz - outside work :) |
She remembered when she briefly
dated Rhett when they were juniors in the middle of Trinity and Valerie’s
second break-up. They had a wonderful time together, but Trinity reconciled
with Valerie, and crushed Rhett’s heart. But Rhett forgave her and later met a
nice girl named Holly who she married a few years ago. Nearly all her good
friends were hitched now, and it made Trinity anxious to start this new part of
life.
Acadia
screamed.
Trinity
jumped to her feet, alarmed. “Acadia, what’s wrong?”
“He’s here.
Mr. Spiro Karimov is here!” she said, gesturing outside the office window.
Trinity
sighed in relief, and then shook her head.
“And here I
thought someone had finally kidnapped her and spared us of our misery,”
Sterling said.
Rhett
punched him in the shoulder. Hard. “Oh, you wicked man.”
“I’m
ashamed to say that actually hurt,” he said, rubbing his shoulder.
“Okay, you
silly bunnies. Let’s be sure to give Spiro a Trinity Events welcome,” Trinity said.
“So. Where did you find this guy?” Rhett asked with her eyes on the window. “It’s
like Men’s Fall Season in Milan is walking straight for us.”
Trinity
took a sip of her coffee. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
to be continued...
to be continued...
Adolescence 2.0 © 2013 C.S. Severe All Rights Reserved.
