As the group walked down the street together approaching the bar, Timothy looked up at the sign, “Parrot Island?” he said in a quizzical yet sarcastic tone, “I was wondering where someone went to listen to a Buffett cover band in the city. At least it isn’t obvious,” Timothy mocked.
Todd looked at him with a goofy grin, “Ya, hard to figure out. Isn’t it?”
He opened the door for the other three and then followed behind them after they entered. As they walked in the smells of the ocean wafted over them, reminding Timothy of the few times he went to the Bahamas as a kid.
The place was expansive and well-lit with every wall painted like you were standing on the beach, looking out over the ocean. The plethora of ceiling fans added a feeling of a constant cool breeze. There were beach chairs around a circle of sand on the floor. The tiki bar in the center of the large room looked as if someone went and plucked it out of the tropics.
All the male staff were wearing Hawaiian shirts, board shorts and sandals. While the female staff were wearing bikinis, beach wraps and flip-flops. There were picnic tables and benches scattered around the room in no particular order. The stage area at the other end of the room was a painted island of sand in the middle of a clear blue ocean.
“Let’s grab a table and get some food before it fills up in here,” Todd said as he pointed out a table close to the bar and started to walk that way.
The rest followed his lead. Timothy made his way over to the table, following the other three. Looking around at the smattering of people in the establishment he noticed that most must have gotten here not too long ago. Very few had food yet, some had drinks while the rest were looking over menus and talking to the others at their table.
As they reached an empty table Todd and Josh went to one side and Gina went to the other. Timothy paused a moment before he took the seat next to her.
Josh started in. He spoke about the project they had just finished and how proud he was of the team. Noting how well they all worked together, touting this as the main reason for their success. The next few minutes was like the other times they went out after a project. Talking about the issues they had and what they did to resolve them. Adding in any new tips and tricks they learned along the way.
Timothy was impressed with the subtle manipulation Josh used to get everyone talking about something they were comfortable with, even though it was a job they would never return to. It was a cadence they were so familiar with that the mind naturally went with it.
Shortly thereafter the waitress stopped at the table, “Hi Todd! You brought some friends tonight! Great! You want the usual?”
“Hi Marline!” Todd straightened up, “Yes please. These are my friends from work. Gina, Josh and Timothy.”
“Excellent! Can I start you off with drinks?” she said as she handed them each a menu.
Gina chimed in first, “Definitely! Light beer please,” Marline nodded and looked at Timothy.
“Lager if you don’t mind.”
“Why would I mind?” Marline teased, but gave him a nod and looked at Josh.
“T&T with a lime…” he looked at Timothy and then back to Marline, “If you don’t mind,” Timothy rolled his eyes, the others started laughing and giving Timothy a hard time. Asking him if he minded this or minded that.
For the next few hours the four of them ate and drank, talking about previous projects, laughing about some of the big mistakes they made along the way and lauding themselves for their successes and so on.
Later their conversation started to drift toward the future and what it held for them. Each of them promised to one another to bring them with them if they could.
As Timothy looked around the table, he noticed everyone’s drinks were running low. The place was getting filled up now and the waitress was tending to more customers than earlier. Instead of waiting for her he made a gesture to everyone’s drinks. They all gave him a nod, so he got up to make his way to the bar.
Josh stood up as well, “I will give you a hand.”
“Thanks,” Timothy said, having to speak up over the rising ambient noise. With the place filling up, the noise was as well. It wasn’t unbearable, but it did cause him to have to speak loudly. The two made their way to the bar and placed their orders.
Josh turned to Timothy, soberly saying, “You know that girl is crazy about you, don’t you?”
Timothy’s eyes went wide, “Who?” he said with a contrived lie. It wasn’t as if women were throwing themselves at him as he walked around the bar, he knew who Josh was talking about.
“Common man, no one is that thick,” Josh rebuked Timothy with a wearied tone.
The quizzical look Timothy was giving Josh was so obviously forced that Josh gave him a light smack on the back of the head. Timothy’s expression was pure shock.
Josh chuckled, “Don’t look at me that way, I am not your boss anymore,” Josh paused and looked hard at Timothy then shook his head at his blank expression, “Gina you dolt! And from how you talk about her I suspect you feel the same. Do you?”
Timothy gave a small nod.
“Good!” With relief Josh continued, “I respect the fact that neither of you tried to start a relationship while we worked together, but that is over now. What are you going to do about it?”
Timothy looked away from Josh and back to the table, seeing Todd holding his hands up in surrender to Gina.
He looked back up at Josh before saying, “I don’t know. I mean, what if we all get a job at the same place again. Couldn’t that be a problem?”
Josh, being a whole head taller, looked down at him, “First. No. It is usually acceptable if you are already together when you are hired. Two, stop looking for ways to chicken out.”
Timothy avoided Josh’s gaze, “I have never been good at this. I get all nervous and can’t think of the right thing to say. Hell, I have butterflies in my stomach right now just thinking about it. What if I screw this up?”
Josh gave him a sideways look, “I don’t get you. At work you are always confident. When you have a good idea, you just do it. No hesitation, why would you now? This is a good idea.”
Timothy was about to respond but stopped himself and started to think. Of course Josh was right. He was always right.
He looked at Josh with shame in his eyes, “Because I am afraid. Afraid of rejection, afraid of failing a relationship but, most of all, I am afraid of failing a friend.”
Josh put a hand on Timothy’s shoulder. “That answer was far heavier than I was expecting,” He paused for a moment and thought before adding “We are friends, right?”
Timothy nodded and gave Josh a genuine smile.
Josh continued, “Good. I want you to have good things. This is a good thing. I want to push you toward it, but I will not push too hard,” Timothy looked up at him and burst into laughter. Josh looked confused for a second before realizing what he said and started laughing too.
“It is a good thing you are not my boss anymore. That could have been a trip to HR,” Timothy said in between chuckles. The bartender finished their drinks and pushed them over to them.
Josh turned to the bartender, “Please add it to the tab,” the bartender gave a nod and a thumbs up. Josh turned back to Timothy, handing him his and Gina’s drink.
“If you are going to do it, do it tonight. You never know what tomorrow will bring, as we found out today,” Josh picked up his and Todd’s drinks. “Let’s get back to the table. Just know that if you need some help, I will be there.”
Timothy looked up at Josh, saying, “Thanks Josh,” He paused a few seconds then continued, “You know…I really enjoyed working for you. Most people complain about their boss, I never could find a reason. You were a good boss and you are,” emphasizing the words, “a good friend. I couldn’t have asked for anyone better. You never pushed too hard,” They both started laughing again.
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Back at the table, after Josh and Timothy left for the bar, Todd turned to Gina, “One day I am going to marry that girl,” and gave a quick look toward Marline.
Gina looked conspiratorially at him, “Who? The waitress?”
“Marline, yes…” Todd corrected.
“Marline is it!” Gina broke in “Why don’t you say something? She seems to know you well already. You spend a lot of time here, huh?”
“I do,” Todd said,” and probably more money than I really should,” He chuckled to himself. “I got a question for you if you don’t mind.”
Gina perked up, flicking her hair behind her shoulder, “Sure, what’s up?”
Todd took a second, his thoughts were on Timothy and their conversation before going into Jim’s office. Timothy saying that making any move towards Gina was not right because they worked together, which was true, but he believed there was more to it.
“Gina,” Todd said with sincerity, “What would you say to a guy if he didn’t think he was good enough for a girl he liked?”
Gina looked straight at Todd, “First, you are good enough for anyone. Heck, you are far better than ‘good enough’ you’re awesome! Why would you not think you are good enough for someone?”
Todd looked at her saying, “Oh! You got the hots for me?” Gina gave him a sidelong look as Todd continued, “I have got really big… glasses,” He finished with a wink.
“Never mind, I take it back. You’re a creep,” Gina teased, “But seriously. If you like Marline, go, take a chance.”
“Baahh!” Todd scoffed, “She is out of my league.”
“No, she isn’t. You are the one putting her in another league. That is on you though. I'll tell you what. You have two minutes to get off your butt and go say something to her. If not, I will,” Gina threatened.
Todd shook his head, “You are a force, you know that right?”
She glared at him, he put his hands up in surrender.
“I will, I will, sheesh! But truth be told I was not asking this for me, I was asking for Timothy,” Todd did not miss Gina’s expression turn sour.
He smiled in his head, “He has had it for this girl for quite a while now and never seems to nut up and approach her about it. I was wondering how to push him to make a move.”
Gina’s expression continued to sour, “In that case I think I need to meet this girl. Tim doesn’t need to worry about being good enough for some girl, she better worry about being good enough for him.”
Here we go! Todd thought, This is the reaction I was hoping for.
Then he turned to Gina, “Ohh, she is, and I think you would agree,” a smirk touching the corners of his mouth.
Gina’s eyes narrowed, “I will be the judge of that, who is this girl?” she nearly spat the last word out.
Todd gave her a flat look, “Well…she is a work acquaintance.”
“Who is it Todd? A vendor, customer?”
“Umm…well…” Todd was cut off by Gina reaching over the table, grabbing him by the shirt.
“So help me God, if you don’t stop delaying, I will beat the name out of you,” Gina said in a visceral tone.
Todd’s smirk was plain for everyone to see now, I can’t wait for her to turn this on Timothy. I don’t think he will have a choice but to tell her how he feels. And I will watch it all unravel.
As Josh and Timothy returned to the table, they were taken aback by what was going on. Timothy had never seen Gina this mad before and Todd had that stupid smirk on his face, the one he gets when he knows something no one else does. On top of that, he was pretty sure that smirk was only winding her up more. Why would he do that?
Timothy looked from one to the other, “uh, what’s going on here?”
Gina kept her glare on Todd but spoke to Timothy, “Todd here was just telling me that you have the hots for some girl at work, but you think you are not good enough for her.”
Timothy’s stomach dropped to his feet.
Gina continued, “I was telling Todd,” drawing his name out “that the girl better be good enough for you. I want to meet this girl and judge her for myself,” she looked up at Timothy with rage on her face, then she released Todd’s shirt. Timothy recoiled at first, but then he saw pain lingering deep within her eyes.
Timothy took a quick sip of his beer to calm his nerves, “Todd is wrong.”
Todd stood up so fast he nearly spilled his drink, “That is BS Tim!”
Timothy put a hand up, “You didn’t let me finish,” He took another sip of beer, his hands trembling the whole time, but his voice was firm. “Again, Todd is wrong. I do like someone, but she is not a girl, she is a woman.”
This infuriated Gina and with a deep growling tone said, “Who is it!? I want to know now!”
Timothy gave a devilish smile, for the first time he felt as if he had some semblance of control over his nervousness.
“Wipe that smile off your face and tell me,” Gina demanded.
“Well…Her name is Gina...”
Timothy stared in amazement at Gina, she was one of the smartest people he knew and yet, when he dropped her name, it took her some time to realize he was talking about her. It was as if the name Gina had no meaning to her initially, but her brain was trying to put a face to it, then finally landed on her own. Her face lit up as she stood up and gave him a hug, melting all his anxiety away.
Gina tensed up for a moment before pulling back from the hug. Looking directly into Timothy’s eyes, “I am the Gina you were talking about?”
Timothy guffawed, “Na,” he said dismissively “There’s another Gina that I am crazy about,” he finished with a wry smile. She gave him one of those looks only a woman can give, vulnerable and hurt.
“Okay, okay, okay!” He said.
He backed away from the hug, holding her hands in his. He looked at her face, realizing now how beautiful she really was, before continuing, “Yes, I am talking about you.” He said affectionately, and they returned to the hug.
“It’s about time!” Josh exclaimed, breaking the silence at the table. “This calls for some shots. What do you all say?” Todd agreed almost instantly as the other two separated and nodded their approval.
“Maybe get a second round?” Gina asked Josh. He smiled and agreed.
“Let me give you a hand with those,” Todd stood up and started to make his way to the bar with Josh.
“Hold up!” Gina said to Todd.
Todd turned to face her, “What’s up?”
Gina looked at Todd matter-a-factly, “You only have a minute or so before I say something to Marline.”
Todd broke out his devious smile, “I made that up. She is married.”
Todd turned his back to Gina and started heading to the bar, leaving her stunned. Timothy cocked his neck to one side, looking at her face.
“Wow! Never thought I would see the day when someone left you speechless,” Timothy teased. Gina gave him a playful backhand slap on the chest.
“Shut up Tim,” she said, with mock exasperation.
“You know, I never thought this would happen,” Timothy said to Gina as he sat back down, picking up his beer.
Gina did the same, looking at the bottle, “Me neither,” Gina said, “I tried to drop hints, but you never seemed to pick up on them. You can be very hard to read, you know that, right? I just figured you were not interested in me.”
Timothy looked aghast, “How could I not be? You’re smart, fun and incredibly gorgeous. You think I came into work early every day because of the job?”
“I am guessing that was not the reason?” Gina asked.
Timothy shook his head, “Maybe part of the reason, but not the majority of it. You always got to work early. If I got there early as well, I would have some time to talk to you before the day started. Five minutes some days, fifteen on others. I was willing to take whatever I could get,” he paused for a second, frowning, “I know we talked all day on the job, but I wanted time off the clock. I hope that doesn’t make me sound like a stalker.”
She laughed, hiding her face in her hands.
“What is so funny?” Timothy asked.
Gina took a second to compose herself, “I was doing the same thing. Going in early because I knew you would be there.”
They both laughed, clinked their bottles together and took long pulls on their beers. Just then it sounded like the band was done with their warmups and starting their first song…
Now I don’t know…
“I LOVE THIS SONG!” she said with exuberance as she stood up and pulled Timothy out of his seat toward the dance floor area, causing him to stumble over the bench.
“Wait! What about the drinks?” he asked as he regained his balance.
“They will wait,” she said, beaming a smile at him, leading him to the dance floor. He shrugged and gave in to the moment.
Todd leaned an elbow on the bar as he and Josh awaited the double round of shots, gave a quick look at Josh and then turned his attention back to the table. Josh followed his look and leaned on the bar as well.
“What did you do to rile her up like that? It worked, but wow! Tim better not make her angry,” Josh chuckled, “That girl is a firecracker.”
Todd leaned over towards Josh a bit so he could be heard over the noise, keeping his eyes on Gina and Timothy. “That she is. He is a lucky man.”
Josh agreed, “But what did you say to her?”
Todd did his best Mr. Burns, putting his thumbs together, tapping his fingers against each other in succession. “I may have led her to believe that Tim was interested in another girl,” he said with a devilish smile, one the Grinch would be proud of.
Josh gave him a stern look.
“What?! I wanted to gauge her response,” Todd said, “If she blew it off, I would have been pretty sure there was not much interest, but if she tried to dig or deflect, I would think differently. I did not expect that reaction though. That was a treat. I knew I had to keep her going until Tim got back. I wanted to see her turn that on him.”
“You are an evil little man!” Josh said with a smile.
Todd gave him a quick look, “Hey man. It worked, didn’t it? And look!” he said as he gestured toward the other two. “She is nearly dragging him to the dance floor.”
“That boy is going to have his hands full,” Josh said as he turned to the bartender who was delivering a tray of their shots. Josh picked up the tray and started heading back to the table.
“Do you think they are expecting us to wait for them?” Todd said sarcastically.
“Probably,” Josh said, “Should we?”
Todd pondered for a moment, “Yaaaah…”
Shortly thereafter Gina and Timothy returned to the table and sat down. Josh and Todd noticed Timothy was slightly out of breath.
“You okay?” Josh asked Timothy as Todd spread the shot glasses around the table.
Timothy just smiled and shook his head.
Josh smirked and grabbed the shot glass placed in front of him, raising it up. “I would like to offer a toast. Not much longer than three years ago we barely knew each other, if at all. Over that time, I have grown to appreciate each of you. For your merits, for your flaws, for the good times we shared and the bad times we endured. I regarded you all as coworkers at first, then friends, but now, family,” he paused for effect “And what is most important to family? Love. From this point on, our journeys may pull us away from one another but remember this. Neither time nor distance will change the way I feel. You are my family, and as such will always have a place in my heart and in my home. So let us all raise our glasses,” they did so, staring at him transfixed “To friends becoming family, to unexpected endings leading to exciting new journeys and to the love that friendship brings,” they clinked their shot classes and drained them.
As the next few hours went by, they continued to tell stories, drink, dance and listen to music. When the band wrapped up around midnight, they squared up their tab and made their way to the door. Outside they said their goodbyes and promised to keep in touch with one another. The last thing they decided, before parting ways, was to meet up here again next Friday.