A Cold Office And A Farewell At The City Hotel (Part 1)

Najla Gives Me The Cold Shoulder

Today was in interesting day at work in a full circle kind of way. Firstly, today would have been an all around pleasant day had it not been for Najla looking peeved off at the start of the morning right until the end of the day. I think it began because I was a couple of minutes late today and seemingly with the same circumstances yesterday morning, she decided to take it to her feigned perception of her punctual self.

In degradation, I feel that because Najla looks to be lingering on and shaping up slightly, my one prophecy looking like its not going to come through has created a stir between our relationship at work. Not by any part of my own, it just seems that Najla and I seem to get silently aggravated at each other moreso than with anyone else. I guess the saying is true, if you put two people together long enough, surely they will turn with time.

That’s what has happened to the both of us, being cramped up together has created adverse affects to what should have been a good work relationship, granting us too much too soon. I learnt Najla’s traits, she learnt mine and now we bicker in our minds about the indiscretions that we both hold. The whole day was virtually without utterance and if there was, it would be coldly blunt and without a please or thank you munched in there.

Flagrancy was fleeting but ever more so was our will to interact amiably. Alike of yesterday, we found some way to part each other’s company at the end of the day so our once blooming tradition of walking to the station could be thwarted. Today I decided to stay back a minute to try and fax something through, noting to Najla “It’s alright, you can go if you want”. Does this start a beginning of a degenerative phase as declines do upon themselves gather weight.

Making Friends With Women At Work

The good portion of today came with my being complaisant with life and carefree in my tasks at work. Ever since I started chatting with Selma in these past few days, my ambience has seemed to roll onto other women at work. It took two weeks to start making steady friendships with guys, it’s taken me nearly three months to get that same ball rolling with the women.

The reason I was so slow was because of anxiety but I figure, since I can’t go out with all of them, I might as well form a work relationship with them. Fearing that all the women would see me as a guy before a work colleague, that was my intimidation to speak, the reason why my voice continued to crackle in speech to them during the first couple of weeks. However, I’ve gotten over that now and slowly am starting to build up not only male friends but relationships with women.

Selma had been the first lady of the lot to spark my interest to which we bonded and now that she’s gone, it will take many others to fill her shoes. However, with this girl called Sorrel who has confidence in whom she speaks to and is an inspiring character, she has just as much mettle as any other. Nevertheless, I will start anew and try and mould another figure for myself to which everyone who is cautious to approach me because of my stern mysteries will change their tune sooner than later…

Behind On The Diary Again

There are only a couple more days before this month has concluded and therefore, all the more reason to begin upon another lagging week of chronology. I never realized how long ago my last entry was until tonight, last Friday seems such a distant memory compared to all the new memories I’ve obtained. Nevertheless, as I have nothing more to shed than the act of chronology amongst tonight’s entry and nothing to stop me from doing so, maybe apart from the Footy show. I’ll get straight to it without pulling any punches because before you know it, my Saturday night without more than three lines of notation will almost be nonexistent in my mind.

Heading To The City Hotel

With the conclusion of work on Friday night being our stepping stone, I begin with my meeting Rhett, Thao and Linh downstairs chatting away with Gawain and Matthias. From the onset, Linh didn’t look too comfortable with heading down to the City Hotel after hours, looking like he would rather avoid the act of getting together. Through the whole day Linh sounded a touch uncertain as I’d sent him an email asking if he was heading to Selma’s farewell.

With a touch of my persuasion as well as Thao who was eager to head down, we began our small walk down there and almost as instantly as we arrived, we headed to what seemed to be the safe haven downstairs, the gambling room. There was a fair horde of people in the City Hotel and at first glance as we walked around we couldn’t see Selma or anyone else from HIH but we figured that she would be on her way soon.

Scared away from the big lights and loud noise, Linh headed down to the gaming room and I along wit Thao headed down after him, not wanting to feel out of place too early in the night. Optimistic about the night, I knew I didn’t like the pub scene to which I’m all dressed up without the ability to drink or dance which is basically all my fun gone. Therefore, I am but just one entity of silence consuming the night with forlorn apathy.

Playing The Pyramid Pokies

Comforted by the fact that I could sit down at a poker machine and keep myself busy, I placed five dollars in the only machine I trust, the pyramid game. Linh was in another area of the small room downstairs to which he chucked in twenty dollars and to my knowledge lost the lot. However, as Thao sat down alongside of me (Said to be the ultimate good luck charm), I sat there with patience playing the numbers.

Chatting away with Thao as I kept gambling twenty lines, I was pleased that the three pyramids showed up near the end of my money’s run. This meaning that I had fifteen free spins which were tripled in earnings, I sat back with a smile on my face, noting that I would probably receive nothing and caring not to knock on wood. The money kept creeping up for me slowly to which when it reached just over $15 I was content.

“Take it out at fifteen dollars” Thao warned, “Don’t be stupid like Linh”. Sounding like a good plan and deciding it wasn’t the time to be greedy (As I never am anyway), I pressed the button and was surprised that I had to head out and call the assistant for such a small sum of money. Nevertheless, heading over to the counter to which there was only one lady there, she told me that she could be a couple of minutes to which I chatted with Thao some more.

In conversation, Thao told me how Matthias Italian friend with the blue eyes pulled out $750 from the pokies a couple of weeks ago and how another of his friends won the jackpot. Prior to that, Linh had pulled out around $70 a few weeks back and considering he only started to gamble when the two of us first won it big on our lunch break, he is beginning to gamble a touch more frequently now.

Matthias Brushes Me Off

Taking my earnings and Linh taking his losses, we headed upstairs to see what the go was now. Sifting through the plentiful crowd and making our short venture to the bar, we stationed ourselves near Matthias, his brother Kit and one or two girls from work. Staying afar from the midst of the conversation, from their wandering eyes which glanced at me and quickly averted, I started to believe that Matthias dislikes me.

Through the night I became more aware of this as he didn’t extend his hand to shake mine and he didn’t acknowledge me later on in the night. Walking past him alone, I raised my eyebrows in gesture and acting as if I was a blankly ghost, he walked straight past me with a wanton look on his face. Kit on the other hand who hasn’t associated with me fully has had the decency to acknowledge me in words but he too falls pray to uncertain action when seeing me.

Unable to predict how I will react, he too chooses to ignore me, thinking me too austere a person. With Linh being the first to part the group and head downstairs, I was now left between choosing to follow him down straying away from that negative magnetism or to stay and stick around Thao hindquarters. Opting to stick around with Thao, I stood behind them listening in to conversation and feeling I was like a bad smell, Thao ended up walking away without saying a work.

Taking a look back at me and my thinking that Matthias has already noted to him that he doesn’t like my attitude, Thao thought it would probably be best just to split. Leaving me hanging for a second, I quickly escaped the scapegoat position and walked my way to the bar to which I had originally stood there waiting for a drink of orange juice.