With my new blonde hair and fabulous white pantsuit, I sashayed into my office building with my briefcase in one hand and a bag of homemade muffins in the other.

I’d woken up hours before I had to be at work, so I made a batch of zucchini chocolate chip muffins. As I entered the downtown Baltimore building, I stopped at the round security desk where two middle-aged black men sat, looking surly and bored, but alert.

“Hey, guys!” I said brightly.

“Good morning, ma’am,” answered the man closest to me.

I flashed them my biggest first-day-on-the-new-job smile. “I’m Laurel Campanella. Today’s my first day at Logix Systems.” I set down my bag and held out my hand, which he reluctantly shook.

“Ma’am, you don’t have to check in with us. You’re gonna wanna go to your HR department,” said the man.

I waved him off. “Oh, I know. I just wanted to stop by and introduce myself since we’ll be seeing each other every day. I’m Laurel—none of this ma’am business.”

The man farther away, who’d been silent until that point, looked over. “I’m Ron, and that grumpy bastard is Tyrell.”

I chuckled. “It’s Monday. Who isn’t grumpy?”

Tyrell furrowed his eyebrows. “You seem mighty chipper.”

“That’s because it’s my first day. Wait until next Monday, I’ll be dragging my ass through the doors.” I opened up the brown paper bag and tipped it toward the two men. “I don’t know if either of you are interested, but I made muffins this morning!”

Ron pushed Tyrell aside and took a long whiff of the bag. “Damn, that smells delicious. I think you’re going to be my new favorite person.”

Tyrell pushed Ron away from him and snatched the bag. “Sit down, man.” He shook his head. “Making a fool of yourself over a muffin…” Then he took his own whiff and groaned.

I laughed. “Good, right?”

“If they taste half as good as they smell, I’m about to be in heaven,” Tyrell said. He pulled an oversized muffin out of the bag and peeled back the wrapper before taking a big bite...and then he groaned again.

Ron had gotten to work on his own muffin, but he stopped chewing long enough to say, “You need anything, anything at all, let us know, okay?”

I smiled. “Thanks, guys. It was really nice to meet you.” I waved over my shoulder as I started toward the elevators. “Have a good day!”

When I first started working in an office, I found it strange to pass the same people every day, the security guards, and not get to know them. So I did. We hadn’t been best friends by any standard, but I knew their names and how old their kids were. And since I had a habit of baking when I couldn’t sleep, they’d been the happy recipients of my creations.

I had a feeling Ron and Tyrell had stories to tell. I made a mental note to come in early with my muffins so I had more time to chat.

Logix Systems took up the top two floors of the building. My office was on the upper floor, and the walls and door were made entirely of glass. That would take some getting used to. At my old job, I’d been able to lock myself away in my cave while I poured over contracts until my eyes crossed, and the opaque walls had been good for...other activities. Not that I’d be having sex at this office. New me definitely wouldn’t do anything like that.

The space was fairly large, with enough room for a leather loveseat, two bookshelves, a desk, and two chairs facing it. I walked to the window and peered out. My view was of another office building, but if I craned my head to the right, I could just see the river.

“Not the best view, huh?”

I turned around and smiled at the man in my doorway. “The view could be of a brick wall and I’d still be happy to be here.” I walked to him and gave him a friendly hug. “Hey, Alex.”

He smiled back. “Happy first day, Laurel. Getting settled?”

Alex had been college roommates with Rachel’s husband, Joe, and the two of them stayed in touch over the years. He’d been working at Logix Systems since grad school, and over the last few years, the company had really taken off. He’d been my cheerleader during my interviews for this job, and let’s face it, I needed someone in my corner professionally.

“I am. I haven’t really met anyone yet, except Ron and Tyrell in the lobby. I didn’t notice if Marcia was in yet or not.”

Marcia was the head of HR and had also been working as the in-house counsel until the responsibilities of both became too much for one person. That was where I came in.

“She usually gets here on the later side. I’m sure she’ll have a pile of work for you when she gets in, though.”

I rubbed my hands together. “I can’t wait. A month off work and my legal brain is atrophying.”

“Well, then you’ll be excited to check your email. I sent you a few documents detailing everything coming up and a timeline of the deals we have in the chute we’ll need your help on.” He laid a hand on my shoulder. “Let me take you around and introduce you to everyone.”

If I hadn’t known better, I would have thought the dress code consisted of jeans, hoodies, and Chucks. Alex was the least casual of my new coworkers in a light sweater...and jeans.

The office was mostly made up of low-sided cubicles—another thing I’d have to get used to. At my old firm, everyone had an office, even if they had to share. Here, people were actually speaking to one another.

Alex introduced me to so many people, their names were a jumble in my head. Dev, Nidhi, Vlad, Elisabeth, Askari, Valentina, Mark, Larry...it was a lot. But everyone was lovely, friendly, and seemed happy to be at work. So what if a few of them gave a side-eye to my suit? I side-eyed their ripped jeans, so all of us had something to get used to.

Once I’d met so many people my head was spinning, Alex led me back to my office. He stayed in the doorway while I settled at my desk.

“I’ll check in later, make sure everything is running smoothly. And you can always send me a message on the intra-office messenger.” He rapped his knuckles on my glass door. “You good?”

I nodded. “Yep. I’m ready to dig in. Thanks, Alex.”

He saluted and wandered off to his office on the other side of the floor. Damn was he a nice guy. Why couldn’t I be interested in someone like him? New me would want an Alex. Not Alex Alex, because coworkers were strictly off limits to new me, but someone like Alex. Handsome, successful, uncomplicated.

But enough about men.

I clicked open the email Alex had sent, and when the glorious, detailed spreadsheet he’d created downloaded, my lawyer brain switched on and I got to work.

It was past five when I emerged from my office. My new coworkers had been in and out all day, asking legal questions or just saying hello. At the firm, my clients had been off-site, but the company I now worked for was my client. It was quite a change for my clients to have ready access to me and not think about billable hours as I answered their questions.

Marcia had stopped by midday with a turkey sandwich for me. She joined me in my office and we ate lunch while going over the way we’d split responsibilities. Basically, we’d pick up each other’s slack. Nothing formal, which I was beginning to realize was the norm around this place. Marcia had worked in HR for most of her career, but she’d started out at a large firm—just like I had. She told me Logix was by far the best place she’d ever worked, giving me hope that despite the learning curve, I’d be able to say the same thing eventually.

My stomach had started rumbling again, and I needed to stretch my legs, so I went in search of food...only to find the office emptying out. Some people were already gone, their computer screens black, while others were in the process of getting their things together to leave.

As I walked around the perimeter of the cubicles, passing dark office after dark office, I realized five o’clock was actually the end of the workday here. Alex was just exiting his office as I approached, a messenger bag slung across his chest.

“Hey, Laurel. Good first day?”

“Uh, yeah. Though, I have to tell you, I’m not used to the day ending quite so early. Normally I’d be at work until seven or eight at the earliest.”

He chuckled. “We like to have a work-life balance. That’s not to say a lot of us don’t log in from home and get shit done. We definitely do. But it’s not necessary to be here.”

I glanced around at the unoccupied cubes. “So, I should...go home?”

“Yep. Get outta here!”

There was more work to do, proposals to read, but nothing that was urgent. And I could read at home if I wanted. I sat down in my chair, shut down my computer, and picked up my phone. I’d noticed a text earlier, but I hadn’t looked at it, so I did now.

I laughed when I read it, because I could almost hear his rolling accent saying the words.

His immediate response surprised me so much, I almost threw my phone across the office. I hadn’t actually meant tonight. I’d mostly been stalling for time. But what the hell?

I texted him the address, then tossed my things into my briefcase and headed out. I hadn’t seen five-thirty traffic on a weekday since...well, not since I’d started working full-time. I probably could have done without it, but luckily, my commute wasn’t far.

Locust Point wasn’t exactly a hip, trendy area of Baltimore—not like Fell’s Point where my previous apartment had been. It had once been an industrial and blue-collar area, but over the last fifteen years, it had gone through gentrification and redevelopment, so surrounding the classic Baltimore rowhomes were tall condo buildings and new construction townhomes.

I’d always thought of myself as more of a classic kind of girl, so I bought a rowhouse built in the late 1800’s. Even though it had been completely gutted and renovated more than once over the years, I could still feel the history in its bones.

While I was a little snooty about preserving “old Baltimore,” I couldn’t thumb my nose at all the shops within walking distance that had been built in place of the factories that once stood along the waterfront. Sometimes change was a good thing.