Hurlingham Ball

It's really such a pity. This is why I had so desperately wanted to see the 25-Year Old instead of constantly exchanging messages back-and-forth, as it's only when you meet up in person, I think, that you can tell if that elusive trait of "chemistry" is there. And tonight, at last, when I saw him? Oh dear. He really seemed lovely and sweet and all those nice things, but oh so terribly awkward and shy in person. And as I looked around at all of the possibilities, and all the fun times that awaited, I definitely was left with this sense that "A super-extrovert like yourself can't just be tied to this."

But I'd set out with the intention of having a good time, and I definitely accomplished that. I feel like 2 AM has never come around quite so quickly, I was having such a good time at the ball.

First, I was absolutely useless at work, as I basically was just thinking about how I was going to do my hair and getting ready for the ball. I think I finally just gave up even trying to pretend to work (although I was helped by my old roommate Jess, who called for a Skype chat, and we had a lovely time just "hanging out" together whilst I did my hair and she organized her room. Skype is lovely that way!)

Pinning flowers in my hair proved to be more difficult than I'd thought it would be, for while I accomplished the hairstyle readily enough, the flowers turned out to be quite heavy and prone to falling out. I snapped two stems attempting to get the flowers into my hair, and eventually realised that I needed to use my super-heavy metal vice clips to hold the flowers in place, and then cover them over with curls. All of this nonsense that you read about people just "sticking flowers in their hair" is just that, as it was really quite difficult to get the flowers to stay in place! Yet in the end, I finally managed it, and then hairsprayed my hair in place until it was practically shellacked. Still, hairspray is marvellous stuff like that...

I caught a cab to the event, which at £10 was excellent value. Once there, I immediately ran into Doro (girl I knew from Magdalene), and also saw Brian and Carolyn (a couple that I've gotten to know from all of these events). I saw the 25-Year Old and came over to say hello, and got that first sinking feeling that the chemistry just wasn't there. Apparently that kiss really had come about as the result of too much whiskey. {Sigh!} I also ran into the Scottish guy I'd ended up crashing on a floor with, and he almost acted like he didn't remember that we'd met that night at all. How silly is it, that when boys don't know what to say to you, they just pretend they don't know you? Anyway, I ended up talking to one of the girls he was talking to, who absolutely loved the roses in my hair.

Before too long, it was time to find our seats, and I found myself seated at a table with a whole bunch of army guys. I hadn't realised quite how much it was the done thing to just buy whole tables for this event, as I was the only singleton in the midst of two complete groups.

I ended up sitting inbetween a chap names Peter and one named Tom, both ex-army from Nottingham. Pete was cuter, but Tom had better chat, although all of the army boys seemed a bit too into getting much too drunk throughout the evening (keeping a bottle of wine by their chairs, filling the glasses to the very brim). They were amusing enough company throughout dinner, but did alarm me a bit with their insistence on banging on the table instead of applauding the speeches (nearly sent all of my cutlery flying), and just being generally loud and raucous.

Admittedly it was good entertainment when the boys tried to convince all of the tables around us to participate in singing "The Twelve Days of Christmas", having each table stand up and sing each verse (with our table doing "the partridge in a pear tree", of course). We managed to get up to seven days of Christmas before one table (where every member, btw, had arrived late) finked out and the whole thing fell apart. Oh, how I abhor people who can't just get into the spirit of the fun of these things!

It was funny then when Brian (Carolyn's boyfriend, a chap I've gotten to know through these random events), came over to say to me, "Of course you would be sitting at the rowdy table, Adrian!!" I had to laugh at that one...

After dessert was finished, I quickly made my way away from the army boys and went to try and find Brian and Carolyn, just to have an excuse to have a different conversation. I was then quite surprised when I ran into Michael Scott, an old friend from Magdalene College, Cambridge, on my way around the tables, and ended up talking with him, his girlfriend, his brother, and a guy I recognized from Cambridge. It was a nice chat, and good to see them.

Michael then ended up dragging me out on the dance floor, which was good fun for a bit. Good songs like "I've Got A Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas, and old S-Club 7 classics. I then ran into the 25-Year Old, and took a walk with him, convincing him to take a turn on the "Bucking Rudolf" game they had going, much like a mechanical bull in a bar. I suppose I was spending time with him desperately hoping to feel chemistry, but there was nothing. Nada. Zilch.

I then ended up back on the dance floor and circulating around with other groups, running into more Magdalene people from Doro's group, and ending up with lots of people buying me drinks. It was just a lot of circulating, talking to various people, and having a good time.

After a while, I ran into Doro and a few friends sitting at one of the tables over on the side, and so ended up just sitting chatting to them for a bit. It was as I was sitting there that I spotted Neighbour Guy, and his face lit up with instant recognition the moment he saw me. So I ended up talking to him for a while, before he pulled me over to talk to his friends.

As he introduced me to one of his friends saying, "This is Swifty", I nearly fainted with shock. I said, "Swifty? Did you play polo at La Mariposa down in Argentina two years ago?"

It was the same guy!! So we had a great time chatting and catching up, talking about all that had happened in the past two years, and talking about polo of course, as two polo people are apt to do. As it turns out, Swifty was one of Neighbour Guy's best friends. I was just stunned at the incredible connection of it all, as what are the chances that I would run into a guy I once played polo with on the other side of the world at a ball like that, and he would be the best friend of Neighbour Guy? I think choruses of "It's a Small World After All" should start playing now...

Neighbour Guy was concerned about his other friend, who we'll refer to as the "Distressingly Short Guy." Apparently he was one of those classic friends that everyone has. You know the ones, completely non-confident with the opposite sex, who you drag out to parties and things in the hopes that they'll have a good time, because you are a good friend who tries your best to help out your friends. But alas, you spend most of the party fretting about whether or not they are having a good time.

Once we found Distressingly Short Guy, it was all too obvious why he was one of those non-confident guys, which was probably related to his height. I did have a funny conversation with Distressingly Short Guy about how I'd thought Neighbour Guy was quite handsome and charming when I first met him, but he'd never followed up. Although as I spoke to Neighbour Guy in later conversation, it turns out that Neighbour Guy swore he'd never received my party invitation or half my messages. What's up with that? Apparently he's bad with e-mail, and really is a texting type of person. (And then in a related note, on Sunday I found his business card and texted him. Wouldn't you know it? He responded within 5 seconds, saying he'd been looking for my number that same morning. I guess it really is all about picking the right communication medium for the right person...)

Anyway, I do hope that Distressingly Short Guy won't say anything to Neighbour Guy that would embarrass me, but so you have it. Distressingly Short Guy did at one point drag me back into conversation with Neighbour Guy, saying, "I think you need to talk about rugby", and we did indeed get into a conversation about the 2003 Rugby World Cup final, as that's when I'd first been in England and fallen in love with both the sport and the country. As it turns out, Neighbour Guy had actually been present in Australia for that fateful final game. Although I was a bit puzzled, wondering, "How on earth did Distressingly Short Guy know that I was into rugby?" Seems like quite an extraordinary coincidence or just a particularly good guess.

I spent the rest of the evening mostly talking to Neighbour Guy, chatting with other friends, and eventually spent the final part of the evening just dancing around with various friends, and ended up with Brian (guy who I'd met at these other events) absolutely insisting that he and Carolyn be able to take me to dinner at the RAC on Tuesday. He seemed a bit tipsy at the time, so my hope is that he forgets about it and we can just do it in the New Year, as I think I'm completely partied out. I did catch sight of Neighbour Guy slow dancing with another girl, so what to make of that? Although then again, I'm a total flirt with other men at these parties when I don't know what the men around me are thinking, so perhaps that's all it signifies...

So then at 2 AM (how did it arrive so quickly?) I ran into Neighbour Guy as everyone was collecting their coats, and asked, "Are you going back to Sinclair Road?" Indeed he was, and offered me a lift in his cab. So I stuck with him, and we did indeed catch a cab, although since he insisted on putting on seatbelts, quite far apart from one another (although it was sensible, I know). He actually spent most of the ride quizzing the driver about how much he likes the cab company and his working conditions, which I found interesting, since I almost never talk to cab drivers (or the hired help of any kind really at all). Perhaps I should more however, although I somehow think it's different when a man makes conversation with the male cab driver rather than me.

The fare was only £7.50, but Neighbour Guy gave him £10 anyway, saying that the cabbie should drive me around up to my house (as Sinclair Road is one-way at the very end by where Neighbour Guy lives). I found that just silly and said I would walk, so Neighbour Guy then insisted on walking me to my door. So when we got there, I invited him in for a cup of tea. He seemed to enjoy poking around the place, trying Lady Grey tea, and just chit-chatting about nothing in particular.

And as I sat there however, curled up on the couch with him, it was all so confusing: Here was a guy I really liked, and who I'd invited into my house at 3 AM, something I don't do with ANY man. And yet, as we sat there, I've also never felt quite so relaxed and at ease in someone's company. And even as he laughed at my jokes and talked on for ages, he told me that he's just started seeing someone, although at such early days he wasn't sure how it was going to work out. Apparently started seeing her right after we'd met at the Reverse Dinner. And I wondered, "Is this whole thing not going to work out due to simple timing?"

Yet at the same time, he was so insistent that we needed to do drinks at his place, to have a drink at one of our local pubs, and to do dinner at our respective clubs, already I'm thinking we'll be seeing a lot of each other. And at the end of the day, I realise it's a perfect set-up: He likes me, and I like him. And yet, it's a chance to really just get to know one another with all of the pressure off. Because ever since I first met him, I just have a funny feeling that I'm going to like this guy. It's going to be interesting to see what happens next...