Chapter 4 Mingle
Mingle
brIGIT
"What are you up to this weekend, Brig?" Antoine asks as we clean up from the quarterly "check in" that the owners refuse to call a meeting.
Meeting just sounds so formal. We're just checking in.
It's boring, takes forever, and could just as easily have been a dozen one-on-one check-ins that would have taken less time.
But it's done now, and we have no time left to get much of anything done today. The banks are closing soon; nothing needs to be done that can't wait until Monday.
We'll all go back to our offices and pretend to work for another 20 minutes, then skip out the door to the weekend.
"I'm not sure yet," I lie. It's been weeks since my last trip to Mingle, and my skin is itching to go back.
I probably shouldn't get a kick out of people illegally beating each other to a pulp, but there's just something about the recklessness of it all. The pure, primal energy that fills a room when something so wild is happening right in front of us.
I know more than a handful of people have used it as a backdrop for their sexual escapades. While it’s not something I’ve tried myself, there's no denying that the idea makes my blood race.
"Why don't you come out with us?" he raises a brow at me. "We were going to just go get a couple drinks, nothing crazy."
I hold back a chuckle, knowing if anyone was going to be a part of something crazy tonight, it would be me. "I don't believe you," the smile spreads at my lips anyway. "I know what you and Kelly have been getting into together."
"You do?" his face flushes. "Man, I told her not to say anything."
With a pat on his shoulder as I walk by, I assure him, "It's fine. I trust you not to do anything stupid that's going to cost me the best assistant I've ever had."
He nods frantically, "For sure." An awkward, heavy pause fills the room. "But like... what has she told you?"
A laugh spills out of me before I can stop myself, "She just said you've been having fun together. And sometimes that fun finds you nearly getting caught with your pants down in a back alley."
"Jesus, Brigit,” his flush grows to his ears as he nervously wraps his hands around the back of his neck, likely praying for the ceiling to swallow him altogether. "Well, obviously I'm not inviting you to do that."
"Obviously," I grin.
"And I'm like... for real about Kelly," he assures me, his shoes shuffling across the floor as he paces. "Like for real for real."
"Then what do you need me for? Go have fun with your girl," I gather the last of my papers, taking my sweet time. "I can entertain myself, I promise."
"You just seem, I don't know, lonely," he refuses to make eye contact as he says it, the conversation more bleak than I was hoping to have on a Friday afternoon, or ever. "We've worked together for three years and I've never heard you talk about a single friend or boyfriend or even family."
"You're my friend," I tell him earnestly.
He is my friend. I just don't really know how to maintain that kind of relationship anymore.
We see each other every day, and I genuinely root for him and hope he gets everything he wants out of this life, but is friendship dependent on how much time we spend together outside of work?
"Great!" he beams. "Now that that's settled, as my friend, I'm telling you that you need to get out and have some fun tonight."
I cough out a laugh at his insistence, "Antoine. I really shouldn't."
"Ugh fine," his shoulders slump. "We were just going to go check out that cool bar downtown. Meddle or something. Kelly got a table."
Fuck.
"Mingle, you mean?" I hope I'm wrong, but I know that I'm not.
With an excited nod, he gestures for me to leave the conference room first, closing the door behind us as we head toward my office.
"Yeah! I guess her roommate booked table service, then had an emergency come up, and gave her the reservation since she had already paid the deposit like three months ago.
So like, who knows when we'll get another chance like this?
I've heard it's so cool in there! And they say there's even a secret back room. "
I force out a guffaw of disbelief that sounds fake even to me, "A secret back room?"
"Yes!" his excitement nearly has him bouncing on his toes with every step. "A secret back room that's like a sex dungeon."
With a relieved breath, I shake my head. At least the rumors are mostly wrong. Yes, people definitely fuck behind the curtains towards the back of the space, but it's not a sex dungeon.
"You have to come!" he insists, grabbing Kelly's hand to force her out of her cubicle as we walk by. "Kelly, tell her she has to come with us!"
Kelly squeals, "Oh, my god, yes! It's going to be so fucking cool."
There's absolutely no way I'm getting out of this and still going tonight. Mingle's whole thing is exclusivity; it's an intimate cocktail lounge. It would be impossible for them to miss me.
But if they start getting a little too tipsy, it wouldn't be hard for me to sneak away for twenty minutes to see a fight.
"Fine," I hold up my palms, surrendering to their machinations.
I'm not sure about the ethical implications of spending time with my colleagues outside of work, since I'm both their lawyer and their boss's lawyer, but where else am I supposed to make friends?
I can go out with them from time to time, especially if it keeps them from finding out exactly what I get up to when they're not around.
"Yay!" Kelly claps. "My roommate’s cousin, her girlfriend, and their best friends, are coming, too! So there will be a group of us."
Even better.
The more of us there are, the less likely it is that someone is paying attention to me. As soon as I'm able, I'll find an opportunity to sneak away for a bit.
With a grin, I step away from them, backing into my office to grab my purse. "That sounds great. Am I meeting you guys there?"
"Why don't we just pick you up?" Kelly suggests, linking her arm around Antoine's elbow. "I don't live too far from you and my roommate’s cousin is sober so she's driving."
The lack of control in a situation like that gives me pause.
But rationally, I know it's hardly different than getting a rideshare or something.
I don't like those either.
Some might say that I have control issues.
But the truth is, I know what can happen the moment I don't have control over a situation.
Control is safety. It's a way out of harm.
It also tends to be a wall between me and anyone who might bring something good into my life. That's just the price I have to be willing to pay.
Jesus Christ, I do not need to be spiraling over this right now. It's a fucking ride to a bar downtown, not a ship to the middle of the ocean.
"Sounds great," I finally breathe.
She jumps up and down, beaming happily and jostling the giant man by her side. "Be ready at nine!"
"Nine, it is," I nod, stepping into the office.
The two of them follow shortly behind, observing me suspiciously.
Leaning over my desk, I shut down my computer, feeling their eyes on me.
"What?" I laugh, raising a brow at them.
Antoine blinks, "I'm just waiting for you to back out."
"Of plans we just made? What excuse could I possibly give you?"
With a shrug, he lists one by one, "Family emergency, flat tire, ooh maybe the plague!"
Their surety that I'm going to cancel on them prickles at the back of my throat, a pressure I can't shake. The last thing I want is to be the kind of person they don't believe they can count on to follow through.
"Have I ever pulled out of plans we've made before?" I ask.
"Well, no," Kelly tilts her head to the side, thinking. "But you've never agreed to any plans before. I guess we aren't sure what to expect."
With my computer shut down, I pull my black faux leather bag over my shoulder and usher them out of my office.
"It's going to be fun," I assure them. "I'm really excited. I've heard Mingle is stunning inside."
The walk down to our cars is mostly just theorizing about what it might look like and be like, what to expect in terms of drink prices, and whether we need to stop for something to eat beforehand, in case they don't offer many food choices.
By the time I make it home, I'm actually feeling excited about the prospect of hanging out with them. Usually, the only human interaction I have is at work or with the people who already know me at Mingle.
But tonight, I'm going to be someone I'm usually not anymore. Someone who lets people know her.
Well, a little bit.
Some things I'll keep for just me.
At 9:03, I step out of my apartment complex and climb into a massive dark green car, filled to capacity with people.
Kelly and Antoine squeal with excitement as I clamber in, having started the party already, if the mild scent of vodka surrounding them is anything to go by.
They're both dressed for a night out: she in a glittering silver dress, he in a black button-up and slacks.
Seeing them outside of a professional environment is almost jarring, but that's my own fault. My isolation has led to my not knowing who they are aside from their work personas.
Antoine only gives me a brief second of friendly attention before his sights are back on Kelly, giggling under his arm in the cramped back seat.
On his opposite side sits a man dressed similarly in black pants, but in a short-sleeve button-up of dark green, showing off his chest and arm tattoos.
The driver, a woman probably my age, pulls out into the road as I buckle, shouting over the music, "Hi!
I'm the roommate's cousin, Grace, this is my girlfriend, Lena.
The quiet one in the back is Mitchel with one L, and the one you're next to is Michaell with two L's.
The two drunkies started about two hours ago, but the rest of us are sober. "
I grin, waving at everyone and introducing myself.
"Sober... for now," Lena grins.