I accidentally lied to you in that last post.
Well, is it lying if it was just a mistake? Who knows?
Anyways, I did break something in that office. A box fell over and a small candy dish shattered. I cut my hand on it. I can’t imagine how I forgot about that since I bled on my jeans, but it was just part of the experience, I guess.
Anyways.
**ETA - I worked in the morning. I don't usually work on Fridays, but I got caught not working and was given things to work on. It was unanticipated. I don't even remember how long I was at the office. Maybe we left after lunch?
Friday was “Moving Hotels Day!” We had been staying at a place near the airport, but we ended up moving downtown so that we would be closer to the place where the Christmas party was being held. The party was at The Francis Marion Hotel (a place I’ve stayed before and loved wholeheartedly) but due to the season and the rooms being booked up, the people from our company booked rooms across the park from it at the Embassy Suites, which looks like a castle. I think it used to be the Citadel Military School. It was old and pretty cool!
We left the first hotel, dropped off the rental car early, because you can walk wherever you want downtown, and got into our room. I actually took about half an hour to walk down King St. before I got ready because I was looking for a gift for someone. I was hoping to find a local business, but it was all chain stuff as far as I was able to walk and I never found what I was looking for. Oh well.
I got back to the room and got ready for our party!
I had to be there early to make sure everything was ready to go, so I left Steve in the room, grabbed my folder and supplies, and hoofed across the park to the event venue.
I suppose I could describe the party in painful detail, but I won’t. I’ll just say it was a great party! The hotel did a wonderful job, the food was fabulous, and everyone seemed to have a really good time! I met a lot of really cool people that I’ve only ever talked to on the phone, and everyone was very impressed with the way things turned out. The VP introduced me to the entire room and complimented me on the party and on the work I did at the office and they applauded. I was touched, but I don’t think I deserved it. I was just doing my job. It made feel like I wanted to go hide in the bathroom, but I didn't. Haha!
When it was all over we got everyone out of the room and down to the bar for after party drinks, and while we were there, that was the exact moment my ass fell off. I remember it because it came out of nowhere. I was, at this point, mentally and physically depleted. I sat off to the side and watched people drinking and talking and having fun, and I’d planned to stay there until everyone was gone. Steve came and sat down next to me and we were talking, and he- comfortably blurred from the drinks he’d had at the party- said something to me that hit me the wrong way. It wasn’t his fault because it wasn’t anything bad, or mean, or even very important. At some normal time, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. Maybe it would have deserved a “Dude, we should probably look into that.” or something along those lines, but it broke me.
I overreacted. I knew I was overreacting at the time, and I tried not to, but I was so tired and worn down, and just mentally spent from the lack of sleep and normal food (by that point I was 33% trail mix) that I couldn’t do anything to stop myself. I’m very good at holding back tears, I promise. Over the past year or so, I’ve gotten even better at it. I don’t even let myself cry in private anymore, but I knew in that moment I wasn’t going to be able to stop and I had to run out of the hotel bar so no one would see.
BTW, If you ever visit the Francis Marion and find my ass in the bar, please mail it back to me.
I walked back in the rain, trying to get a hold of myself, but I wasn’t able to do so until I got back to the room and got into bed. I was embarrassed and ashamed of myself because I knew Steve didn’t deserve my reaction, so I crawled under the covers and fell asleep. Hard. I don’t even know when Steve came back (Late, is all I know, because he went out for more drinks with some party people.) He was annoyed with me, for good reason, but I apologized and he got over it. Such is life.
We had to get up early the next morning to catch our plane home, and so we did. It was fairly routine. When we got home, we slept for hours and hours! As much as I love Charleston, I was very glad to be home. Kind of an anticlimactic ending, but again, such is life.
So that was my great adventure in Charleston! I want to go back under less strenuous circumstances, and maybe when it isn’t so hot. Is it ever not hot there?
Let’s go and eat at Chubby Fish and visit the museums, and stay in some historic place and just…not work! Wanna go?
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