the 6pm walking group

With my closest work friend K's departure to pursue medical school, I felt like I have gone back to my first few weeks at the job. Everything is so awkward and uncomfortable and it's a miracle if I've gone through a day without taking a Xanax. The little rookie circle we've kept feels shaky. They bring a sense of comfort and a break from the greater performance that I must keep up when I'm inside the office, but they too feel too good to be true. It's like I'm always bracing myself for the time we'll all eventually crash and burn. It feels like a temporary good thing, but I'm still very grateful for it. These days, with K's absence, I've been forced to interact more with my other team members. Her leaving really left me no choice but to step out of my comfort zone. Without which, I think, I wouldn't find myself with the 6pm walking group. It's not an official group. We're not a 'group of friends'. It's just a term I've started to internally call it because for some reasons, I find…