Many, many thanks to Gayle for editing my work!
Comments welcome.
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I've always found it amazing how quickly emotions and thoughts can change over a single issue when one's beliefs are challenged. Something recently happened in my life which at first shocked, and candidly disgusted me, yet within only hours I came to see things quite differently.
My name is Danielle, but all my friends call me Dani. I am a twenty four year old single woman, living in Boston, Massachusetts. I grew up in a suburb to the north of the city, where my dad still lives, about thirty miles from my current apartment in the Back Bay.
After graduating from a great private college in Maine, I accepted an entry level finance position with a large insurance company in Boston. The pay wasn't great, but there appeared to be a lot of room for future growth, so I signed on. Given the state of the economy, I was just happy to have a decent position as so many of my classmates were still looking for work.
My parents divorced when I was in high school, and then while I was in college my mom remarried. She and her new husband moved to the Midwest two years ago, so during the summers and most holidays I stayed with my dad. I wasn't happy about the divorce, but it was nice to stay with Dad as it gave me a bit of normalcy.
After receiving my diploma, I moved back home with my dad for a year and a half or so and commuted via subway to and from work each day. Just six months ago, along with a friend from work, I signed my first lease on a two bedroom apartment, not far from our office. It may sound silly, but I felt amazingly proud to be on my own in the city with what seemed like limitless possibilities ahead of me. Neither my roommate, Heather, nor I made great money, so we shared a fairly Spartan space, and didn't lead an overly extravagant lifestyle.
Every couple of months, my friends from high school would set up a night out, so I'd make my way back home to party with old pals. After having an evening of drinks and laughs, I'd head back to Dad's and crash in my old room. It was on one of those occasions that I found something that rocked me to my core, and made me reevaluate some long-held beliefs.
Jen Scott, my best friend from high school, sent me an e-mail to let me know the girls were getting together the next Saturday. I had no real plans, and a night with old friends sounded good, so I sent her back a message to say I was in.
I called my dad to let him know I would be heading home for the weekend, and he informed me that he'd be out of town at a trade show in Chicago. My dad is a marketing manager with a major manufacturing company, and often spends time on the road, so this was not an uncommon event. He said I was welcome to stay as always, and since I still had a key, it was no problem.
I went out that Friday evening with folks from work for a few drinks. I had had my eye on Luke Matthews from accounting for weeks, and tried to engage him in conversation on a few occasions, trying to let him know I was interested without being too over the top. As the evening wore on, I became angrier with my roommate by the minute. Every time I tried to get Luke alone, Heather would suddenly show up looking to join the conversation. She knew I liked him, yet she appeared intent on keeping us apart for some reason. I was so mad I left the bar early and headed home alone to get some rest, knowing I was heading out the next evening as well.
I awoke fairly early the next morning, and made myself comfortable as I ate my cereal on the couch. Only a few minutes later I heard Heather's door open, and was shocked to see Luke walk out clad in only his boxers. He didn't seem to notice me, and slowly made his way into the bathroom.
I may have been mad the night before, but suddenly my blood began to boil. At that moment, I needed to get out of that place fast for fear I might kill the both of them. I hadn't even taken a shower, but I threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, before packing my bag to head out. I had brought work home to do that weekend, so I grabbed my laptop and briefcase, and before I even knew what was happening, I was on the subway heading towards home.
As I rode the train, I couldn't help but feel betrayed. Heather had never even shown any interest in Luke, yet she knew I really liked him. She and I are both attractive, but in my opinion she comes off a bit slutty where as I am more of the girl next door type. I could only think that she must have done it to intentionally hurt me, but for what reason I just couldn't figure out. Regardless, right there and then I made up my mind that I was done with the both of them. When my lease was up in six months, it would be goodbye, Heather.
When I arrived at my dad's place, I decided to pour myself into work and try to forget about the previous twelve or so hours. I opened the laptop, and set about diligently working on the spreadsheet I had created earlier that week. After only an hour or so, my fingers actually hurt as I realized I was furiously typing, apparently taking out my frustrations on the keys.
I took a few deep breaths to calm my nerves, and then continued on. The spreadsheet I was working on was over forty pages, and I always found them hard to review on the computer, having to flip forward and back so often. I wanted to print it out to review a hard copy, but my laptop was not hooked up to anything at my dad's place.
Dad had an office in his home, so I went there to see if he had a computer I could use. I knew he almost exclusively worked on his laptop, but was pleased to see he still had an old desktop in the study. I booted up the computer, and thankfully found it not password protected. After only a few clicks, I realized I'd be able to sign into my personal e-mail, so I decided to send the spreadsheet to my e-mail address, so I could print it from Dad's computer.