One rotten apple spoils a dozen

The day has arrived! It's been exactly 4 years and some change since I've been longing for this day!

If the saying "One bad apple spoils a dozen" is true, then we've been having barrels of rotting fruit every season since her arrival.

The smell was so revolting at times that my friend Erin gave her a new name by attaching four very meaningful letters to its base "be ay tee cee heych" and an A to the end.

I was blindsighted at first.
Having had the experience of living in New York City at this stage I took the newcomer under my friendly wings and introduced her to the big apple (the unspoiled, red one) full of excitement, dancing, bars/cafes, restaurants and pals. Our friendship blossomed. For at least two months!

I did not know that behind the part-time smiles there was a hidden dark side.

Things started going wrong somewhere along the line - I suspect, the first time was when her lover gave her "the speech" that she became the wicked witch.

Since this time, the 9 am morning pleasant "Hello" or "Ahoy" was replaced by a bang of the door, not even a grimace towards my person. Every one of her movements was followed by a noise, a whack of a staple on the table, a crash of the chair to the wall or the forceful pounding of the keyboard.

Walking every morning to the office from the subway I'd play the guessing game ...
"Is this her good day?"
"Is she happy today?"
"Did the sun smile into her window?"
"Did she find her matching socks?"
"Did her current lover satisfy her ego?"

If the answer was YES - I'd get my "Hello"
Should the answer be a NO, I'd have a choice of trying to make her mood right by kissing some un-royal butt or "simply" digesting the "mood of the day" and pretend that this was all OK.

These situations repeated many times with boyfriends coming and going - at times after a fist fight and various other good-byes.

When our confrontation time came she'd scream
"You abuse my friendship" ... (Aaaaha! Yeaaaah!)
"From now on you'll call me, like you should, a Ms.!"
(What a punishment!)

For those that wonder about the difference - I'd say it's almost as if your mom told you tomorrow "Don't call me mom anymore, just Mrs. Smith".

And so we battled for long until I gave up and refused to wait for the "Hello" or "Ahoy" and simply, but sadly ignored her presence and moved on to becoming friends with people with essence.

Hooray!~
Today, she is gone ... my other co-workers?
It's a sunny day with matching socks and assumingly fully fed EGOs!