Coming Back Around

I was feeling particularly sick and miserable today, but by the end of the day I was so desperate to get out of the house that I left for the evening's run a bit early, even knowing that it would make me arrive at least 45 minutes before the crowds.

When I arrived, I learned that our hare for the evening had done a "cloverleaf" run, where we did three big loops, each ending at a drinks stop in the middle. I ran the entire time with a handful of serviettes that I'd stolen from the pub, and kept ahold of my cup for the drinks stops as well, as I didn't want to infect anybody else.

Yet for the most part it was a really fun run, as everyone kept coming back to the middle, and I was pleased with myself, as I'd thought about quitting and going back to the pub early, but in the end I stuck with it and completed the whole run, despite being so sick. Well done, me!

Once back at the pub, I spent a lot of time chatting with Cookie, Kim, and Kitty, all of whom were sick as well. There is definitely something going around! And of course, because I had the good gossip, told them all about all of the dates of the past week (although to my credit, for once I left out the story of the silly boy's poor performance in the bedroom). Yet, even without that detail, they all decided that based on his poor record of calling and evincing interest inbetween dates, he was officially declared to be a "twat." Which, when they said it outright, I had to agree was a totally accurate description. He is a twat.

So, when at a later point in the evening Reece asked me if I were "nearly single", I just laughed and said we didn't even need those qualifiers. I'm single. If the silly boy ever does call, we'll see if I'm free, but it's kind of funny how unconcerned I am about whether he calls or not. He's just more of an interesting diversion at this point than anything else...

Of course, some of my protestations may have had something to do with the fact that the Giant Australian was there. And it was weird, because at the start we didn't even talk to each other at all, almost as though we were weirdly avoiding each other. I didn't want to make a big deal of it, but it was nice when he later came to sit down on a bench next to me and talk to me.

After a bit, I'm sure it was obvious to anyone in the room that I was totally turned to him, as he was to me, and we'd finished our drinks but couldn't stop laughing and talking to each other. I was really running the gamut of inappropriate topics, from the economics of prostitution (quoting things I've read in the most recent Freakanomics book) to the idiocies perpetuated by romantic comedies. And he was making me laugh and telling me silly stories, and all of a sudden I remembered, "That's right. I really like you."

One that I remember was the tale of a friend who got drunk and then woke up in another girl's bed, when he already had a live-in girlfriend. And the live-in girlfriend called him at work the next morning, where the friend desperately tried to convince her that he'd just been working late and had slept in the office. To which, the live-in girlfriend said, "Nobody sleeps in the office. If you didn't come home to me, it's because you don't want to me with me. I'll have your things packed up and waiting outside by the end of the day."

I had to say, I was really impressed with the strength of the girl in the story, and I was pleased to see that he was telling the story from the same perspective, that the girl appeared that much more attractive by virtue of her unwillingness to accept what was obviously a feeble excuse. A good reminder that boys really do respect girls who stand up for themselves...

Particularly as he commented at one point, "I'm just not attracted to a girl if she's not smart," and I know that one of the things he likes most about me is my intelligence. Which is to say, it's not just that he thinks I'm cute, but he actually likes ME.

Eventually at around 11 PM, we looked around and realised that everyone had left the pub except for the two of us. Gosh, our ridiculous flirting must have been obvious to everybody. Yet, I enjoyed it so much. Just pausing for a moment and enjoying the company of a guy I've always refused for reasons that I suddenly can't quite recall.

So we walked out together, and then paused as we reached the point where we needed to go in opposite directions. "I'll see you on Friday, right?" he asked, referencing the party we're both going to. "What time will you be getting there?"

We parted without even a kiss on the cheek, which disappointed me, except that with my cold I realise I truly should not be kissing anybody. (The silly boy is undoubtedly deathly sick at this point after what I did to him on Wednesday!) So we parted, with me suddenly very much looking forward to Friday...