One disaster and day at a time.

Yesterday was a crappy day. First of all I had to go back to work at the coffeehouse, and I pretty much hate anything that doesn't have to do with my ultimate goal of happiness. But whatever, I sucked it up and was happy to find out, once I got there, that I was working with Casee and Vladmir. That was until Casee decided to tell me that we were the team chosen to work the next few days because of some event going on in the hotel that owns our shop. All I heard after she told me this was, You're scheduled to stay late for the next four days. Sorry we're telling you this now, our bad...You didn't have any other plans, right?

I was mad to say the least. There wasn't much I could do about it, except for fume, which is exactly what I did for the rest of the day. As I realized how my behavior can be during times like these, I did my best to keep to myself, so I didn't sacrifice anyone who may accidentally step into my war-path. I text Patrick since he was planning to meet me right after my shift, and Ryan, because...well... that's just common courtesy when you're dating someone. Especially when you've made a routine of talking to each other after you get off work.

Of course, with my brother I vented and let him know how stupid I thought staying open later was, and how rude it was that they decided to tell me the day of said stupidity. My brother, being my biggest fan, joined me and it was viva la revolucion for the rest of the day through text and when he came in the shop. Bad days become not-so-bad days when someone goes through it with you. He does the exact same thing with me when he has a shitty day at work. I consider it not only my loving sibling duty, but a Good Samaritan act to make his bad days at work better, considering he actually has the power to fire people at his job.

With Ryan, I kept it short. Not even sweet, just short and to-the-point. I didn't want him to see me at my worst, and since he was at work, I knew he couldn't do anything to alleviate the crappy time I was having.

Then the Colombian valet from Del Frisco's came into the store. "Why you still open?" he asked.
"Because the hotel manager is a jerk", I replied with a smile.
"What is... jerk?" he inquired, naively.
"How about you tell me what its like to grow up in Columbia again", I quickly changed the subject.

I made his latte as he regaled me with another tale of his home country. This has become a game of ours, where he tells me a Colombian story and in exchange, I give him a free cup of coffee. Half the fun is trying to decipher what he's trying to say through his thick, Spanish accent. Ten minutes and a half-drank grande latte with an extra shot of espresso later, he's out the door, amped up and ready to run for the rest of his shift, parking cars he and I only talk about owning someday.

But something different happened yesterday. My Colombian friend came running back toward the shop. He's only done this once before, so I grabbed another empty cup and began to pull the extra extra shot of espresso he needed. He pushed open the door and entered again.

"Hey, long day for you too already", I asked, and caught the shot, and held it out for him to take.
"No, no", he motioned with his hand and panted. "For you", he said, mildly out-of-breath, and he pulled out from under his rain poncho, a black take-out box, and placed it on the counter in front of me.

He smiled and I smiled.

"I go back now", he said.
"Thank you", I told him, impressed, and he ran back out the door again.

I stood there for a minute with the espresso shot still in my hand, which Vladmir gladly took from me. "That was really nice of him", I said to Vladmir, hoping he would justify the power the valet had over my boyfriend's to brighten my shitty day. I avoided talking to Ryan the rest of yesterday evening as I stayed upset that I was going to be working late all weekend. It kinda hit me then, and even more so today as I woke up and remembered that he tried to call me last night.

I text Ryan the moment I opened my eyes and saw the phone laying next to me in bed. Good morning, hope your day goes well xoxo He called me a few minutes after I sent the text. Hey what's the deal with your work?...I'm sorry I'd be mad too. ..We'll grab some dinner tonight after you get off work and go from there..

I should have told Ryan what was bothering me from the start. Its hard for me to do that sometimes, especially because I don't want him to see me as bitchy, or weak and vulnerable, and find me unattractive. But where are we going to go if he doesn't see me for all of me? My brother and the Colombian aren't the only people capable of being there for me on a bad day.

All I had to do was open the door and let Ryan in.

I'm learning how to, one disaster and day at a time.