Julia

She looked around at her office. She loved her job and she had worked hard to get there. She was smart, she had been the co-valedictorian of her graduating class. She went to college and finished in three years. She got a master's degree but decided that a doctoral degree wasn't necessary for her field. She could have been anything, but she had chosen to become a campaign worker for the candidate that she believed would be elected President in 2016.

It was kind of a funny occupation for someone like her, seeing as she was one of the quiestest, shyest, most soft spoken women most people had ever met. She barely had any friends in high school and that was still the case. She was awkward and she never could bring herself to come out of her shell. She went to school or work and then went home. She worked at home or she wrote on her blog, which only had a handful of followers. She liked to read and she had a handful of shows that she followed.

She had always hoped that her life would be less solitary by the time she turned twenty-seven. She had thought that she would have friends or maybe even a family of her own. She had always assumed that in college she would find her niche and come out of her shell a little, but it hadn't happened that way. She closed the office up and sadly watched as several of her coworkers got ready to go out together to a party. They always invited her but she never felt like their invitations were sincere.

As she walked to her car she started to think about work and about a big press release that would be coming out the next day. She had written it and she was hoping that her message would come across to the world the way she intended. She was so lost in thought that she didn't see the other girl until they smacked into one another.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry, I was thinking about work and I didn't even see you," she stammered.

"Oh no, totally no big. I was texting and wasn't looking up either," replied the girl she had bumped into.

"Wait a minute, don't I know you?" she asked.

"You look familiar, did we go to school together? I went to San Francisco State," replied the girl.

"Actually, I think we went to the same high school. I went to Centennial in Pueblo, Colorado," she said.

"Oh my God!! Yes!! I did too, I graduated in 2004. You're Julia, right? I'm Cassie. I remember you, you were the valedictorian! It's so nice to see you. I can't believe you live in San Francisco, too. Don't you love it? I came here after high school and just fell in love. I couldn't imagine leaving ever again. I have a degree in fashion merchandising and this is a great city for someone in my line of work," said the girl.

Julia was taken aback at how much the girl, Cassie, could talk. She didn't think she had said that many words to her coworkers over the past year. She was searching to find a reply within herself, but luckily for her Cassie just went on.

"I'm not married or anything and I was just headed to meet some girlfriends at the martini bar two blocks away, you wanna come?" she said.

"Sure," said Julia, totally marveling at the fact that she just got invited to hang out with this girl.

She flashed back to high school and remembered Cassie. She was popular and pretty and really nice. She would always talk to Julia in class and try to make conversation with her. She was one of the only popular girls that Julia had thought truly deserved to be popular. She fell into step next to Cassie and looked over. She took in the ragged looking tights that Cassie was wearing and the stylish, purple dress. Cassie had feathers in her hair and her makeup was perfect. She was walking along in four inch heels as though they were tennis shoes.

She looked down at her own outfit and took in the plain, gray slacks and the white button up shirt. She had on basic black pumps and her hair was as straight and limp as a pile of sticks. She felt like the dowdy secretary, walking along next to the mega-platinum rockstar. Cassie had just asked her a question about what she had been doing since high school so she left her thoughts in her head and turned to her to respond.

"Well, I actually graduated from the University of Chicago with a bachelor's degree in political science but I never really fell in love with Chicago so I went back to Colorado and did my master's degree in communications at CU in Boulder. I wanted to see somewhere new after that so I started applying to as many different jobs within my field as I could find. I got a lot of interviews but I ultimately decided that I wanted to work on a campaign for Riley Talbot. I think she has a real shot at becoming the next President of the United States of America and I really believe in her message," she finished and took a deep breath, not being used to talking that much to anyone.

Cassie looked at her curiously and then smiled, "I never would have pegged you as the type to be into politics. I'm a democrat too, by the way. I love Talbot, I have voted for her for Senator since I became a California voter. That sounds like a really awesome job. So, what else do you do aside from work?"

"Not much, actually. I keep to myself. I don't really date or go out or anything. I am not really a workaholic, I just have always been kind of quiet," replied Julia.

"You were quiet in high school too, I remember," said Cassie, "there isn't anything wrong with quiet. I would probably save a lot of money if I went out less and wasn't so focused on not being alone. I can't stand it, I have to constantly be surrounded by people or else I go stir crazy. I live in a pretty crappy studio because I allot so much of my income to my social life. Hey, if you aren't into the martini bar I totally understand."

"Oh no, I am. I would love to catch up and I haven't ever been there. I haven't had a drink in ages, I think it'll be good for me," said Julia.

"Well awesome, I have a couple of kind-of friends here but definitely no one that I have known since high school. I don't just party, I do a cooking class and I'm also part of a couple of crafting groups. I like to go out and party but I don't like to drink every single night at all. Remind me before the end of the night and I will give you my number because I think you might like some of the stuff I do. Do you ski or anything? I love to ski and bike."

"I love to bike and run, but I never did learn to ski. I'd definitely like to start getting out more," said Julia.

They smiled at each other and then walked into the martini bar.