When Love Takes a Detour

"Sigh," I look at the screen in front of me, waiting impatiently for the clock to reach 4 o'clock, it’s 03:50, and it feels like time is standing still. I open some files on my computer acting like I'm busy, but I'm definitely not doing absolutely nothing. I look at the time again 03:58. 2 minutes have never taken so long in my life. I look around me. Not that I can see much. I’m sitting in a cube like the rest of my colleagues. I sit up straight, lift my head and look around. Everyone looks like they're doing very important work. I work in a niche position, so most of the time i have work but todayis really a slow day. That doesn't bother me as much as it usually would. I’m just here to do my job and go back home. I look back 04:00. "Thank god" I whisper under my breath. I start packing up just as I start hearing people starting getting a move on around me. I finish packing up, get up, tuck my loose-fitting blouse and smooth my skirt down. I don’t normally like tight skirts because they're uncomfortable to sit and move in, but today is a special day. Today is my last day at work. I'm going on leave for a month. I had days from last year, so that means i have extra days to fully enjoy my free time. I can't believe I have an entire month to myself, it sounds unreal to me. Which is why i decided to make a thing out of it. My 2 close friends, Ivory and olivia and I are going to stay at a lodge in Maple Ridge in North Carolina. Thinking about it brings a smile to my face. I can’t wait. I hurry what i was doing and make a move to the elevator with the rest of the people. I get along with a group of them; the suffocating feeling cannot bring me down. Nothing can get to me because I’m too giddy. I can’t keep the smile off my face. The elevator doors open, I get off at the bottom floor. I make a beeline for my car, which was a birthday gift to myself. I didn't need it because I traveled mostly by public transport like everyone else, but I wanted to travel more locally and doing it by car made sense. Getting into my light blue Nissan, I take a breath. Starting my car, I drive back home. I stop in front of my apartment building, showing my key card to the guard, who lets me in. I park in my parking spot, get out and make my way to the stairs. "Sigh, 5 flights of stairs here I come" I make my way up the stairs "This isn't so bad" maybe it's my excitement making these stairs feel like a breeze. Finally, making it to my floor, "Oh thank god" even though it didn't feel too bad in the beginning. Thw end definitely made me realize i overestimated my athletics “Damn” "One step at a time, Nora. You got this” I say while slowly moving to my door. "Or not." I get a cramp in the back of my left leg, making me hobble. "Damn, it really. I was having such a nice day. I'm not in the mood for this nonsense." I hobble to my door, hoping my neighbors don’t decide to try to figure out what one legged creature is hopping around in the hallway. Luckily for me, I make it to my door and get in just in time before I hear my neighbor’s door open. "Oh, thank God. I made it." I say with my back pressed against the door. I reach to the left and turn on my hallway light. My place isn't big, but I love it. When you walk in, you get the hallway, 3 steps from the door, you turn left and you get the livingroom that holds my tv light green couch that I love so so much. My bookshelf is to the right, and a small coffee table that’s next to the bookshelf that’s right in front of a window facing the neighborhood. Opposite the living room is the kitchen. It's not big, but it can fit 2 grown people, and that's enough for me. Going down the hallway, you get the main bedroom on the right and the second bedroom on the left, and in the middle is the bathroom. It’s a decent apartment for one person considering it’s a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment for $3100 in my neighborhood that’s affordable. I hang my keys on the key rack on the right side of the wall, take off my coat and walk to the bedroom. I put the coat in the basket and switch on my light. "The day is finally over. All I want to do is sleep, sleep and sleep," I take off my clothes and go and take a bath. The best decision i ever made was getting a bath and a shower head. After the bath my legs are feeling much better u put on clean clothes. I lay on my bed and grab my phone. I call Ivy, “Ring," I wait till i hear ivy on yhw other side. "Hey girl, you at home?” I smile. "Hey yeah, I just got home not so long ago. You on your way?" I say excitedly. "Yeah, I'm on my way. Do you want me to pick something up on my way?" She says, sounding like she’s in a busy area, "All I need is for you and Liv to get your butts here so we can get this party started." She laughs "Yeah, yeah, we'll be there soon don’t worry. Did you talk to Liv? I haven't heard from her yet. She should be getting off work soon, right?" She says, almost out of breath. "No, but she did text me this morning telling me how much she can’t wait for our trip. She should be on her way though, but i haven't checked in with her yet. I'll send her a text, you know she doesn't like to be on a call while shes busy," I say while getting up and making my way to the kitchen. "Yeah, i know. Multitasking isn't her strong suit. Anyway, see you soon. I'm just gonna go into the shop to buy us something to drink while we celebrate our month of being wild and free," she says in a cheeky voice "Dont get anything too strong. We have to be on the road early tomorrow morning and you know half of us can’t handle our liquor," i say while rummaging through the fridge, taking out stuff we can eat on our journey. "I threw up on your favorite shirt one time and I don’t hear the end of it. I'll have you know i have definitely increased my tolerance over the course of...almost a decade if im remembering right now I can’t talk for Liv but I definitely have redeemed myself over the years.” She says with a mock appalled tone. "If you say so, but I could never wear that shirt again after that, and it broke my heart, you know. I was devastated," I say with a mock sad voice. "You're so dramatic." She laughs, “Talk later, bye" I giggle, "Okay, bye" I finished putting some fresh fruit in some zip-lock bags and put them in my cooler bag because I don’t want them to get soggy. I have everything packed. My clothes are packed. Toiletries are packed. Food is packed. The last thing was just some snacks. Liv and Ivy are bringing the sweet and shop bought snacks I got the rest covered. "Okay looks like that was all of it. Oh damn, I should send Liv a message.” I get my phone from the counter and sent her a quick text. She replies back not even a minute later, telling me she’s on the way, she just got some snacks for us. Okay, so I have finished everything now and I am just waiting for my friends to arrive and start things. I was busy getting my bags from my bedroom to my bathroom when I hear my doorbell go off. I immediately drop the bags and gleefully run to the door and throw it open. Both Ivy and Liv burst through the door yelling happily while we hugged. This is gonna be the best friends trip ever. The rest of the evening went by faster than I expected. We ate, talked about the trip, laughed about old memories and somehow ended up going through our plans at least three more times. Ivy brought out a bottle she had picked up on her way over, and even though we knew we had to wake up early, we decided to have a little anyway. Eventually, the talking turned into yawning, and one by one we started getting ready for bed. Liv was supposed to sleep in the guest bedroom, while Ivy and I were going to share my room. But Liv insisted that she wanted to sleep close to us, so she ended up making herself comfortable on the floor with a pile of blankets. I remember laughing at her before finally going to sleep. Tomorrow was finally here.​