This Could Get Awkward

It started with a late night call yesterday from a former coworker. A woman I did not work closely with, was never good friends with, but knew and acknowledged in passing when we worked for the same company, on the same floor, from 1982 – 1998.

It was a big company with lots of office space, so seeing the same face for 16 years, but not really getting beyond “hello” in passing wasn’t at all odd.

At any rate, it was in July 2013 that, after running a few errands out of the area, I stopped into Trader Joe’s Rancho Cucamonga store and, on the way out, looked quizzically at a woman walking in because she seemed familiar. She had the same look on her face as she looked at me and then asked if my name was Shirley.

It was she, that former coworker.

What was odd about running into her like that, with her remembering my name even – when I did not remember hers, was that she did not live or work anywhere near the area. Living and working in Los Angeles, she was up in the mountains on vacation, decided to drive down to pick up sandwiches at Trader Joe’s and bam!

After that meeting, we became facebook friends and met for breakfast when she returned to her mountain vacation retreat that August.

She did bring up the subject, shortly after, of getting together for Thai food on one of her trips to the mountain, but I was non-committal, so even though she’s been to that vacation retreat many times since, neither of us mentioned getting together again. That is until she texted me last night saying she was heading back to the cabin Friday, bringing another coworker from my past with her -- a guy who she said “asked about you and was wondering if you wanted to meet up”.

Interesting.

Especially since the guy was kind of an a-hole total prima donna, and didn’t like me much back-in-the-day, because I wasn’t impressed with who he thought he was and didn’t play his game.

I can’t believe I said yes to the invite, but only because her cabin is in an exclusive area, near a lake – the kind of area where one would locate some of the much desired rare pokémons that are not likely to be found in the places I normally go.

This game is changing my life.

It’s making me willing to step out of my comfort zone to gain access to more and different pokémons and, in this situation, causing me to place myself in what might turn out to be an uncomfortable situation ... one of those days that can't end soon enough.

Not that I expect him to be rude, anything like that. It's just that I don't trust myself not to bring up how surprised I am he wanted to meet up, discuss old times, considering old times with him weren't all that good.

Yet and still, my feeling last night was uncomfortable or not, the hunting will make it worth it.

Waking this morning, I feel completely different. I'm so dreading a get together that involves him that I’ve given myself a little headache and am praying that, if this isn't something good for me, that the universe will step in and run interference. Nothing too drastic, just some little something to give me a valid reason to bow out.