I don't know what the current temperature is as I'm writing this. I don't even recall the time I fell asleep last night. I know that I was tired though. That sort of thing happens when you work more than 12 consecutive hours in a day.
I would have liked to have written an entry last night, but I was much too fatigued to do so and my eyes were especially dry. I'll go so far as to say that my eyes were much drier than usual. Typically, I don't write on Friday night anyway, but even if I wanted to, it wasn't going to happen. I could have resorted to using some eye drops, which I would have done had it been earlier in the evening, but I decided to just go ahead and go to sleep about a half hour earlier than I normally would. I was able to sleep it off across six and a half hours and when I woke up this morning, my eyes had effectively returned to normal. I slept well, as I normally do. As I may have mentioned this in a previous entry or two, I do not have any on-going or even historical sleep challenges and so getting to sleep in a timely manner and staying asleep through the night have never been problems for me. The day started early for me once again.
Work was work. I was able to remain productive and get things done as I normally do on my Saturdays. There weren't too many people in the office today, except for those who are typically there on Saturdays, as well as security. Those of us who work Saturdays in the office tend to know who else is going to be there and as a result, we don't surprise each other anymore. We have just come to expect that we're going to run into certain people on Saturday and in some weird way, it creates a sense of comfort. Maybe it's familiarity? Maybe it's knowing that there are others sharing in the misery of working on a Saturday? I actually don't mind working on Saturdays. There are fewer people in the office, which for me and by itself, is comforting enough. When I work on Sunday, the office is practically empty. Security is around, but they're always around, unless they've fallen asleep in the restroom.
Speaking of security, I think her name was Ria. Or was it Rhea? Rea, maybe? Possibly Rhia? I don't know. I didn't ask her how she spelled it. The conversation never went in that direction. She was one of the newer security guards in the office and one that prior to three weeks ago, I had never seen, nor met. I bumped into her one Saturday morning. It was early too. It was still very dark out and I happened to step outside because I needed to go and gas up one of the company vehicles because I didn't do it the Friday before. This whole gassing up thing usually takes me just under 30 minutes to complete, from the time I leave the office, go the gas station, fill up, and come back. It's an easy and peaceful ride and when I leave the office at 5:20am to make that gas station run, the sun is still close to an hour and a half away from rising. It's quiet. It's dark outside. The roads are still mostly clear.
That morning, I was returning to the office, specifically the parking lot where the vehicles in the company fleet are parked. At that hour, there is no reason to anticipate that there would be anyone outside, whether this would be security or some random transient. I saw someone inside of the lot as I pulled into the lot and parked. I turned off the car, stepped outside, locked the car, and made my way back towards the office. Still very much in the midst of that morning darkness, I saw Ria's silhouette (I'm just going to settle on that spelling) approaching me, as though she wanted to see who I was or what I was doing. She didn't even try to hide it, as she walked in my direction. Given the lack of reliable lighting, aside from the one parking lot lamp which sometimes acts like a motion lamp (maybe it's in my head, but this light only seems to come on when I walk underneath it - street lights don't typical work like that), I was only able to deduce that there was a small female walking towards me. I break the proverbial ice as she approaches.
"Sorry for startling you. I know that it's still early, but that car needed gas".
She proceeded to reply, "I didn't expect anyone to be here, especially on a Saturday".
I suppose, we were in a conversation at this point, which I didn't mind.
I'm here every Saturday at this hour. The other guards know me.
As she points to my old Honda parked in the employee lot, Ria continues, "The other guards told me that that car is always here just before 5am".
"Oh yeah, that's me. That's my Honda. I'm here every morning before 5am".
As I attempt to make my way towards the office again, I tell her to be careful out there and to enjoy the rest of her shift.
I take two steps before she calls out to me.
My name is Ria.
I had zero reason to anticipate that we would be doing introductions and exchanging names, but I walk back to her. None of the other security guards in the building had ever gone so far as to exchange names with me. Small talk exclusively. I might be an introvert, but when I activate extrovert mode, I can talk to anyone.
I'm Amnesiac. Nice to meet you. If you're looking for me, I sit on this side of the office near one of the windows.
She responds, "I know. I saw you earlier".
In parting with Ria, I told her...
Well, clearly you know where I sit. You be careful out here and stay warm.
It was cold out that morning. She walked back towards the company vehicle lot. I went back inside the office and continued my morning.
This happened almost a month ago. I haven't seen Ria since. I know that security tends to cycle different guards in and out of the various company buildings, so it could be possible that Ria may have been assigned to another building and when I saw her, she was merely covering for someone. Then again, maybe she was momentarily assigned to my building, only to be moved elsewhere? I don't know. I don't dwell on it. I don't know where she is. I'm not actively looking for her.
I don't want to say, at least with any measure of confidence, that Ria was pretty. She looked cute as we spoke in that mostly dark parking lot, but the light was not good. Poor lighting can lead to misconceptions, especially with regards to how attractive people we might perceive others to be. Until I see her again, in better lighting, I will have to reserve judgement and refer to Ria as what is known as a "strobe-light honey".
What is a strobe-light honey, you ask? Well, according to urbandictionary.com, a strobe-light honey is defined as "A girl that looks great in a dark club under strobe-lighting but is a different story under normal lighting".
So as of this writing, Ria is a strobe-light honey. Until (or if) I see her again, she will stay that way. Only time will tell, I suppose.
As much as I enjoy my job and even going into the office on the weekends, sometimes I have to sit back and enjoy the little things that come with working in the office on the weekends. I've never been the type to ever do the whole nightclub thing, but never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined finding a strobe-light honey at work.
90's rap duo "Black Sheep" just so happened to do a song, aptly named "Strobelight Honey". I've always liked the song and as it pertains to this entry, it seems highly appropriate. Feel free to check it out.
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