I realised today that my job seriously gets in the way of my social life. Which some people would argue that a social life is something you fit in around your job, but for me it's definitely the other way around!
In the morning, I'd made plans to meet for lunch with a friend from my polo-playing days in Boston, who I hadn't seen since I moved to London. It was really great, as we met up at a Vietnamese noodle bar called "Phat Phuc" in Chelsea. What a name! It was also a beautiful day, as though the universe was allowing us one last taste of summer. So we sat outside and enjoyed the sunshine, and I told my friend's sister (who had just moved to London) all about the things I wish I'd known when I moved here!
After lunch we took a little walk through Chelsea, and just had a great time catching up and me telling stories about why I loved my life in the UK. Definitely a cool and surreal experience to see someone from my past again like that! Although boy did it take me away from work for a while... Barely made it back to my desk in time for a 3 PM conference call!
Not like I actually got too much work done whilst I was sitting on that call, because at 6 PM, I sat down at my computer and stared at the blank screen, knowing that I had to come up with SOMETHING to talk about on the call in an hour. And so I quickly bashed something together, frantically cutting and pasting and scanning through information as fast as I could read. And then at 7 PM, I talked my way through what I'd just put together, getting everyone to generate questions and thoughts and garnering lots of praise for the endless amounts of work I'd obviously put into this.
I really don't know if I'm grateful to be able to get away with doing so little work, or angry at my co-workers for not calling me out on it. After the call, I got a follow-up e-mail thanking me for my contributions that sounded somewhat like they were praising a 5-year old. I'm not sure if I get so much praise because they really think this is the best I can do and so they're giving me a condescending pat on the head, or if they actually think this is good work. Needless to say, I have very little respect for my team.
Still, not much time to worry about it, as I had to dash off to try and make it to the run for post-run drinks, even if I had missed the run itself.
When I arrived at the hash, just about the first person I saw was DM. Which, I have to admit, I'd kind of been hoping might happen. Because in a fit of self-confidence earlier in the week, I'd posted a message on his FB page, saying I would be there and hoped I might see him too. Of course, DM is notoriously bad at checking such messages, so I didn't really expect he would come, but imagine my delight when there he was and he greeted me by saying, "Where have you been? I came because you said you would be here!"
I laughed and pointed out that in my message I'd told him I would be late, and then we settled down into conversation. I had to laugh as he told me the story of a friend of his who had actually taken PUA classes (took me a moment to figure out the acronym, then I realised it was "Pick Up Artist"), and I confessed that I'd read "The Game" and thought it was all kind of interesting. DM protested there was no game to play, no theory beyond chaos theory, although I had to say that I definitely wanted to meet this friend, as I'd never met a real PUA before!
As I stood outside on the kerb talking to DM, I spotted Roofie's brother in the doorway of the pub. His face did that fantastic thing he does when he sees me, just lighting up with excitement. I think I could never get tired of that, the way his face looks when he sees me, always so delighted.
As he came out of the pub however, I nearly doubled over with laughter. In keeping with the "camp" theme of this week's run, he was wearing a tight yellow t-shirt and tiny pink hot-pants. I just about died, it was the funniest outfit ever!
And so I leaned in to greet him with a kiss, and although I went for his cheek, found he went a bit closer, and I really just ended up kissing him on the lips. I almost wondered if that were just a random accident, but when we moved for the kiss on the other side, he didn't move that much, it was just really another kiss on the lips. I have to admit, I was surprised at him doing that, but still just happy to see him. And then he stood there with an arm around me, holding me close for just a bit too long, but eventually letting me go so I almost wondered, "Did I imagine that?"
I spent the rest of the evening flitting between talking to DM and Marjanne (another dear friend I had wanted to catch up with), and just socializing with those I needed to talk to. I got a chance to catch up with Kim (sweetest American girl on the planet) and BB, which was good just to talk and chat with some people I simply genuinely like. And I'll be honest, although I enjoyed talking with DM, every time I turned around to see where he was at, he seemed to have gotten involved in conversation with the most deathly dull people. It was weird, because he always caught my eye, yet never seemed to make an effort to leave the conversation he was in. It almost made me wonder, "Are you ENJOYING talking to slightly drunken men in their 60's?" Hence, I perhaps didn't talk to DM as much as I could have, as I was sort of not wanting to get drawn into his conversational circles!
Finally at the end of the evening, DM said he needed to get going, apparently his dad was staying with him and he'd left him at home (?!). So I asked if he was coming on Saturday, and DM seemed not to know about it, but said if I sent him the info, he'd probably come. And then he shook all of the men's hands near him, and left without kissing me good-bye. Weird. Then again, I didn't know until this evening that DM was a vegetarian. I think the only thing I know for sure is that there's a lot I don't know about DM...
Still, I had a much better good-bye experience with Roofie's brother, who announced his intention to depart, and then stopped when he turned around and realised he could talk to me. And then stood for a bit longer as he hugged and kissed me good-bye and finished up the conversation with hands still on me...definitely makes him one more person I hope to see at the weekend.
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