I looked down at my phone to double-check the address that I was given. Daniff & Brussels was a very common chain of sports bars. Though, personally, I can't remember having gone to one since a mixer in College that I was more-or-less forced to tag along for. It was a very awkward situation to be in and I'd rather not think about that at the moment. Granted, considering how cold it was this evening, having something to occupy my attention wouldn't be so bad.

"Well, here we are," I said to myself.

"Yes, here we are," Ping said, and I was once again reminded that they were still here with me. "Well, shall we go in?"

"Absolutely," I said, not moving a muscle. "We'll head in right now."

"Uhh, Sue?" Ping asked.

"Yes?" I asked Ping.

"I'm pretty sure you have to open the door and walk in in order to go in."

"Do I look like I don't know that?!" I snapped at Ping. But, truth be told, I didn't actually want to go in there. I was even having trouble remembering why I decided to go in the first place.

"Well it was your idea to come here in the first place, and you DID promise Jonathon that you would," Ping said. "He seems like the kind of guy that would notice if someone he invited who said they would be there didn't show up."

"It's not that easy, though!" I said. "I don't talk to these people very much! It-it's not like I'm hanging out with friends! What if they're weirdos?! What if they're creeps?! What if they just asked me to tag along so they could make fun of me?!"

"But you're adults, you make it sound like this is elementary school."

"You would be surprised," I said with a sigh. I looked down the street and could see Violet exiting a cab.

She was dressed in sweat-pants and a graphic hoodie. Her hair was down but it didn't look particularly done-up, and standing next to me who was wearing a brown overcoat on top of a cute floral dress that I had picked up on sale, she stood out like a sore thumb.

"God, why did I agree to go along with you on this," Violet said, hugging her arms to her chest in response to the cold. "More importantly, why did you DECIDE to go along with this, I thought you hated these dumb little 'team-building' nights just as much as I did."

"I-it was spur of the moment, I'm sorry," I said.

"Was the 'spur of the moment' some cute office guy? Why are you dressed up so much?" Violet asked.

I felt taken-aback by the comment. "D-don't you usually dress up on these sorts of evenings? I thought that was the standard practice!"

Violet snorted. "Dude, we're just going out for drinks, it's no big deal."

"Well, what do I do now?! Should I go home and change? Do I just call it off? Are they just going to make fun of it like you?"

"Whoa there, girl, calm down," Violet said, placing her hand on my shoulder. "I was just teasin', you look great. 'Sides, I'm sure a few guys in there are gonna be WAY overdressed compared to you. Think dressing classy all the time impresses the chicks or something. What year do they think this is, 1947?" We both laughed at her joke, and I could feel some of the tension of the evening lift away.

"You're right, I'm sure it's going to be fine," I said.

"Cool, cool. Now can we get in there? It's--" A car that sounded as if it had no muffler ripped past, the driver clearly with his foot on the gas, "--ing cold out here!"

"Yeah, okay, let's head in."

When we pushed the doors open and stepped inside, it was like walking through a wall of warmth, noise, and thick, grease-laden air. From what I read in the description, the food here was very typical pub food: fries, burgers, the whole deal. Most of the portions looked almost way too big for any normal person, and I could swear they drizzled a spoon full of fryer oil over every serving of fries AFTER taking them out.

"Okay, do you know who we're looking for?" Violet asked, shading her eyes with her palm and squinting as she scanned the crowd. The place was packed, and it took me a few minutes before I spotted Jonathon waving us over.

"Oh! They're over there!" I said.

"Wait, Jonathon? That's who you got eyes for?" Violet said with a dramatic gasp. "Damn Sue, I didn't know you went for the hyper-social type!"

"Shut up! I don't have eyes for him!" I snapped back, but Violet kept giggling. There weren't many others at the table, a few other coworkers that looked like they mostly didn't want to be there. A couple other women were there, seated as close to Jonathon as possible and dressed up even more than I was, along with at least two other men sporting full suits almost trying to get the attention of those women.

"Peacocks," I heard Violet scowl under her breath.

"Sue! Vi! I'm so glad you could make it!" Jonathon announced happily, walking over and placing his hands on our shoulders. I could see Violet's eye twitch in response, but she gave no other reaction. "Did you guys have any trouble finding the place?"

"No, not at all!" I said. "Sorry we're a little late, it just took me a bit longer to get home and get changed is all."

"I just lost track of time is all," Violet said, though probably a lie.

"No worries, please take a seat! We were just getting ready to order drinks!" Jonathon said, and pulled two chairs out of the long table for us to sit in.

"You owe me one for this, big time," Violet whispered as she took her seat. But really, how bad could an evening out like this get?