I was supposed to have a late conference call this evening, but when I got a last-minute invitation to drinks at the Caledonian, my boss encouraged me to skip the call, advice which I had no trouble taking!
I arrived at the Caledonian at 7:30 PM, to find only two faces I knew, the chap who is the head of the Inter-Club group, and Steve, an American guy I disastrously hooked up with a year-and-a-half ago. Much after that incident, I learned that Steve actually had a long-term girlfriend (making his behaviour with me both puzzling and somewhat reprehensible), and that Steve's flatmates David and Gordon were two of my favourite fixtures in Clubland, meaning that my ill-advised hook-up had quite seriously put my entire future in Clubland in jeopardy. Needless to say, Gordon and Dave did not invite me to any events at their flat for a year after the incident.
Thankfully, time helps everyone to forget, and since then I've learned to keep my nose clean. So Gordon and Dave have invited me to Henley this year, and to drinks this evening, perhaps proving that my social rehabilitation is nearing completion now that I've learned my lesson. No matter how "frisky" you might be feeling, don't do anything so stupid as to even kiss somebody when you're out with Clubland people. I've always thought that Clubland society hasn't progressed much since the days of Jane Austen, and it appears that the harsh social restrictions on romantic behaviour definitely remain in place.
Yet even as I've slowly repaired my damaged reputation, every time I've run into Steve he's pretty studiously avoided me. Hence, as we were confronted with each other and there was nowhere else to run, I wondered what on earth would happen.
Thankfully, another step towards recovery took place, as we actually chatted, made jokes, and just acted completely normal, like another other two acquaintances in Clubland. We shared jokes about being Americans living in the UK, and kept the conversational ball rolling without any perceived awkwardness at all. Phew! It only took a year-and-a-half to get there, but finally it seems that all is forgiven (at least publicly). I hate having to be so well-behaved, but the consequences of societal mis-steps have been clearly outlined for me at this point.
I also found myself chatting with the head of Inter-Club, who I've always been friendly with, but have never exactly connected with. I still think I may have made a few faux pas in comments that I intended to be harshly funny (but I think feel a bit more on the harsh side of the line than the funny side of the line), yet at the end of the evening he invited me to a club opening along with a few others the following night, so I must have done something right.
Still, we did have a very funny conversation about the low-cut dress I had been wearing to the Christmas Ball, which made me turn red after a bit, and with a bit more conversation, the head of Inter-Club was turning red too! Apparently there's a somewhat legendary photo out there of me and a super-nice guy from Clubland, with the super-nice guy caught apparently distracted by my cleavage. It was untagged and taken off of Facebook before I could see it, but I suppose that reinforces the idea that it's definitely time for me to retire that dress!
Spent more of the evening chatting to random people, including a lovely girl who worked in costume design. Missed my opportunity to buy drinks back for those I owed them to, but hopefully I will be able to do so next time. Finally, just in time for us all to catch the last Tube home, we said our good-byes and made our way onto the Tube.
The head of Inter-Club confirmed with me once more that I could make the drinks tomorrow, and I enthusiastically agreed, pointing out that he was going to have to make it worth it for me to skip drinks with some folks from MIT. He laughed that he was sure he could manage that, and then off we all went, home again!
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