Brave Enough To Be Bliss

Chapter 2 — Meeting John

“There are people you meet who become impossible to forget. They were not sent to you by accident, but instead, destined to open a doorway to a different version of your life.” Erin Matlock

While I had officially met John when I started working at my new job , it wasn’t until he came by the office with his niece one evening that I really noticed him. She needed help with something she was working on for school, so he came into my office and asked if I could help. I noticed how sweet he was with her and that made me soften toward him. Prior to that, I had tried to limit personal interaction with any of the employees because I hadn’t planned to stay long, so I didn’t want to get attached. I was working on a consulting basis, not as a full -time employee. The perception around the office w as that I was the CEO’s secretary. I knew that and I didn’t tell anyone my background, I just tried to lay low, not draw any attention to myself and limit the interaction since I thought I’d only be there a few months. Looking back, however, if I really di dn’t want to draw any attention to myself, I probably shouldn’t have dressed quite like I did. I was used to wearing suits or dresses every day to work, so needless to say, my attire didn’t exactly make me “fit in” given the loose business casual dress pol icy. Regardless, after this evening interaction, John was more friendly toward me, perhaps because I was more friendly toward him. Not too long after that a vendor was hosting a happy hour for the staff, and he asked if I was going. I hadn’t planned on it as I really didn’t enjoy that type of thing. Certainl y, I had attended many community and corporate events throughout my career, but those were a requirement of my role. I could certainly fake it when it was required, but since this role was only temporary, I h adn’t really thought it would be necessary for me to attend. I would much rather stay at the office and get more work done. As always, I wanted to be productive and couldn’t imagine the gathering would be enjoyable since the CEO was the only one I knew well. But when he asked again on the day of happy hour, there was something about the way he said it that caught my attention. While I can’t recall the exact words, it was something like “Are you going tonight? I’d like to find out what GB’s all about.” And that is when the JV smile first emerged. Our mutual friend coined the term “ the JV smile ” because inevitably when he would send a text, or we talked on the phone or I told her something he said or did, the smile I had on my face would give it away that I was communicating with him or about him. He often shortened employees ’ names to initials, so of course, I was GB. While he might deny it, she said he had a telltale GB smile, as well. Fun, that’s something I hadn’t ever allowed in my life. I was much too serious; life was much too serious for fun. And when I really think about it, why would someone who didn’t even want to be alive consider having fun? Using my name and fun in the same s entence would have been an oxymoron. Me and fun, they just didn’t go together. I had been a lot of things in my life: responsible, conscientious, dependable, thorough, punctual…you get the idea, but fun…nope. It just wasn’t something I had been known for o r even had a desire to ever be. It felt frivolous, wasteful, irresponsible, unexpected…unsafe. And yet, with one small hint of interest that afternoon before happy hour, I was intrigued enough by this man, who seemed like the epitome of fun, that I decided to step outside my comfort zone and go to happy hour at a restaurant in Kansas City’s River Market area. Getting to know him was sweet, it was new…and it was very fun. “Stay afraid , but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.” Carrie Fisher

“Sometimes growth requires new company, new locations, and new mindsets.” Unknown

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