Christmas was just around the corner, and he needed to get out. The holidays were never a good time for Gregory. Since his parents died his family had drifted apart, and his family gatherings were a shadow of what they once were. He had been talking to a new girl Karla. It was nothing serious, but they exchanged the casual text messages. One of his co-workers Sandra had invited him to her annual Christmas party. He really didn’t feel a connection to any of Sandra’s friends, or even Karla, but it was Friday and he was determined to have a good time tonight. Gregory showed up to the party around 9:30pm, he casually made his way through the room. He immediately made targeted Karla from the corner of his eye but he didn’t want to seem to obvious so he stopped at the bar and made him a drink. “Hi, so you made it after all,” he said as he greeted Karla. “Yeah. I wasn’t sure you were going to show up,” Karla responded. Karla’s glass was almost empty, and he didn’t want any extra inhibitions slowing the night so he quickly moved in to get her another drink. “Let me get you another one,” Gregory offered. Although he felt no deep connection he felt a casual attraction to Karla. The spent the night talking, but Gregory made sure to