Curry Run

The Tall South African woke me up in the morning with a text, asking "how are you today?" To my long response, he wrote, "In other words your still in bed ;) lol" Damn him for being right. And when I confessed he was right, I got, "Laaaaaazzzzyyyyy lol might possibly let you off".

We texted back and forth throughout the day, and then he called me at lunchtime, asking if I was okay, because apparently there was a huge fire in my area. What?

Given that I hadn't noticed anything amiss, I looked on the BBC website as he directed me to, and saw that indeed he was right, that there was apparently a huge factory fire going on just a half mile up the road from me. (Although to be fair, it was a half-a-mile away... How on earth was I supposed to have noticed that out my window?)

So we chatted for a bit, but he seemed incredibly disappointed that I didn't have any exciting stories to tell about the fire. We definitely need more to talk about these days. And so, he cut the conversation short, and I went back to work.

Still, I got another good pick-me-up message that morning when I saw that CBDG had left me a message: "Hey trouble. I won't be hashing tonight as I hurt my foot hashing on Sunday! I am planning on coming to the pub to meet you all after though :)"

It made me chuckle. He calls me "Trouble", just like the Tall South African does. How cute!

So later in the evening, once I had finished up my conference calls for the day, I headed out for the evening run, despite the sub-zero temperatures. I had wanted to get to the pub early, as there was a big plan to have curry served towards the end of the run, and as the person in charge of the finances for it all, I wanted to make sure it went off without a hitch. (As per usual, "organisation" and the running club don't really seem to go together). I was glad I arrived early, but it did mean that I spent quite a bit of the early part of the run standing around talking to nobody interesting. One guy did ask me where CBDG was, and I found it funny that instantly he knew that I was the person to ask about CBDG, as we spend all of our time together. And well, I did know the answer, didn't I?

The run itself was good (if freezing), and we did indeed all get a nice (if mostly rice) vegetable curry right on Brick Lane, which we all then ate as we walked back to the pub. It was surprisingly filling, and then when we got back to the pub, they had even more food for us. What a great surprise!

Even better, I had just put away my gloves and headband, when I came downstairs and saw that Matt was there! Hence, I enjoyed chatting and catching up with him, even as I was keeping one eye on the door for CBDG.

As we talked, at one point when Matt said to me, "Let me buy you a drink! But this comes with a caveat: I only have £5, so you're going to have to make a contribution towards your own drink." I laughed at that, as only a really good friend could say something like that! And so indeed, Matt gave me his £5, I gave £10 to the bartender, and then the bartender attempted to give the change to Matt. It was hilarious, as it was a funny 3-way exchange...eventually I got the spare change though!

We then sat with Nobby's Nuts and talked about buying houses... Apparently Matt just put in his first offer on a house (it was rejected, although they then put in a revised offer this weekend), and so then we were talking with Nobby's Nuts, who had just bought a house and had gotten engaged. And as they talked about buying houses and insulation and freeholds and leaseholds, I realised that NONE of it appealed to me. I think I will be a renter forever.

Too quickly, once the circle was starting, Matt announced he was heading home, so I popped upstairs to write some cheques, as I'd promised Blunder the hash would pay for the curries. Got those done, and then when I came downstairs again, was greeted by the brilliant surprise of CBDG. In a suit. {Swoon!} What is it about guys in suits? The only way it could have been better was if he hadn't had a shirt on at all (which would have been odd in this weather!)

So I stayed talking to CBDG, and without the presence of Matt or Oxford Boy, was able to just indulge in focusing all of my attention on him, which was nice for once. Okay, so we talked about football and rugby league and lots of things I have no real interest in, but gosh is he cute!

And then he mentioned something about his parents being at home on their own now for the first time in 23 years, and I mentally thought, "Please be talking about the age of your younger brother.." because it was suddenly all clicking into place: Incredibly cute guy who isn't that smart who I flirt with all of the time who is inappropriately young for me? AND he calls me "Trouble"? Dammit, CBDG and the Tall South African are practically the same guy!!!

At least now I know that I have a type...

He bought me another drink (I didn't really want one, but I was so enjoying talking to him that I couldn't say no) and then when we finally finished that one, he walked me out to the Tube, leaving me with a kiss on each cheek, as he wanted to go off in search of some fish and chips.

I went down to the train platform, but since he'd walked me to Aldgate East (instead of Aldgate), I had to wait forever for the Hammersmith and City line to take me to Liverpool Street. And then when I got out at Liverpool Street, I could swear that the guy walking 20 feet in front of me looked familiar. So I yelled out his name, thinking that I was about to seem an idiot if it was just a random guy in a black trench coat. But it WAS CBDG!

Apparently I'd been waiting so long for a train that he'd gotten his chips and had come back just in time to catch the same train I had. And so we changed trains together, he gave me some of his chips, and we rode one stop on the Central Line together.

When I tried to explain that I wouldn't see him next week because I had a meeting at 7:30, he admonished me, "Come afterwards!" Well, now that I think about it, why not? After all, he's not the only one who can look good in his work clothes! So with another kiss, he left me, with promises to see me next week...