I don't know what's going to happen next. Lena doesn't seem like she's going to stop anytime soon. But for now, I'm just focusing on my job, making friends, and remembering what it feels like to not be someone's second choice.
Whatever comes later, I'll deal with it when it comes.
The Denver life is honestly exceeding expectations.
That hospital project I mentioned? We finished it 2 weeks ahead of schedule and under budget. My boss pulled me aside and told me they're already looking at me for an even bigger role when the current director retires next year.
2 months in, and I'm already being groomed for upper management. That would have taken me 5 more years at my old company, minimum.
But let's talk about the Quinn situation, because yeah, it's definitely a situation now.
We'd been grabbing coffee pretty regularly. Always keeping it professional, always project-related.
Then about 3 weeks ago, we were working late on a bid proposal. Just the two of us in the conference room, trying to get everything perfect for this big client presentation.
Around 9:00 p.m., she sat back and said, "Okay, I'm ordering pizza because my brain is fried. You want in?"
We ended up talking for 2 hours. Not about work.
She asked me about why I moved to Denver, and I gave her the abbreviated version. Left a relationship that wasn't working.
She nodded and said, "I moved here 2 years ago for similar reasons. Whole life in Portland, boyfriend who turned out to be engaged to someone else. Decided I needed a fresh start somewhere nobody knew me."
That's when I realized she wasn't just smart and good at her job. She got it. She understood what it's like to walk away from something that looks good on paper but feels like slow poison in real life.
We started hanging out outside of work after that. Grabbing dinner sometimes, checking out this photography exhibit she wanted to see. Normal stuff.
Last weekend, she invited me to this cooking class her friend runs. "I have two spots and my friend bailed. You interested?"
Kind of random, but I said yes.
The class was great. We made pasta from scratch, drank wine, laughed at how bad we were at it.
Afterward, we were walking back to our cars, and she stopped and said, "Look, I like you. I'm not expecting anything, and I know you're probably not ready for anything yet, but I wanted you to know that I'm interested. Whenever you're ready, or not. No pressure."
I appreciated how direct she was about it.