Last-Minute Club Crawl

I was woken up in the morning with a text from the Tall South African. "Good morning, trouble!" It made me laugh. As he said when he first met me, "I have a feeling you're going to be trouble..." and now it seems to be his pet name for me. We then spent the entire work day texting back and forth, as he provided a lovely distraction from my mundane workday.

Finally at the end of the day, he told me he was planning on having a quiet evening, whilst I'd promised Caroline that I would join her and Navy Boy and a few others for drinks at the Army & Navy Club. So time to stop texting and head out to actually talk to people.

I arrived at the Army & Navy Club at around 6:30 PM, just slightly late, and after managing to get buzzed in (they were quite tight on security!), went upstairs and joined Navy Boy, Tom, and another girl in the bar. Had a lime and soda water (since it's January), and got teased quite a bit by Tom and Navy Boy for that one.

Caroline was late (of course! When is that girl ever on time?) and so we headed without her across the street to the RAC, where a Club Crawl was beginning. I had originally thought about going, but then opted out at the last minute because it was being organised by Drunk Girl, and I just didn't want to deal with her. But yet, it seems I was going to end up going along anyway...

It then became one of the pleasant surprises of the evening that Drunk Girl did not show up to the very event she had organised, and I was shocked at how much that made me enjoy the evening overall. I'd known that she wasn't my favourite person, but it was still amazing to realise what an impact one person had on my enjoyment of the club scene. Suddenly I was free to chat and socialise and catch up with people without being stressed out about what that girl was going to do next. So lovely!

I was surprised at one point when Lotte's boyfriend pulled me aside and said, "Hey, Lotte and I have something we want to tell you." Ugh, I was wondering if they wanted to tell me the story of the Tall South African on New Year's Day, and wondered if I could somehow head it off, since I already knew.

Yet I went along with Lotte's boyfriend, who pulled me over next to Lotte, who was talking to somebody else. At which he apologised saying, "I'm sorry, my fiancee is still talking." I did a double-take, thinking I must have mis-heard, and so just turned to talking to Lotte when she finished her previous conversation. At which point her boyfriend said, "I'm sorry, my fiancee talks so much." Okay, no I definitely heard it that time...what? And so when she nodded and confirmed it was true, gave them my excited "Wow! Congratulations!"

Admittedly, internally I was thinking, "But I've only known of this guy's existence since December 11th. And I thought that was the night they got together. How long have they known each other, anyway?"

Given that this was the night I guess they planned on telling everyone their news, they had brought all of their flatmates out with them, and so I found myself chatting to the Blonde Dutchman, who I had mentioned before from the Young Dutchman's birthday dinner. I greeted him with three kisses (so Continental!) and then settled in to chat with him for a bit, admittedly still surprised that he seems to enjoy chatting to me so much anyway.

I got quite a surprise the more we talked however, as I realised that the boy has an absolutely filthy mind. He delighted in telling some dirty jokes that were truly funny, but I think I was turning red as I laughed. Apparently the wholesome blonde looks are just a cover, because that boy, with his broken English, was definitely making me blush. Who knew?

After one drink at the RAC, it was time to move on to the East India Club, a place I'd never actually been before. As I was leaving however, I ran into Scottish Boy (who I hadn't seen in forever), and Scottish Boy's School Friend, who I had last met in September, in fact at the RAC. It was funny because he instantly recognised me and seemed thrilled to see me, and was so instantly trying to avoid having to go along with people, as he wanted to stop and talk to me. We chatted for quite a bit, but finally I had to be dragged off to the East India Club, and him into the bowls of the RAC, although he assured me that he'd see me again at the East India Club.

The East India Club is rumoured to be the haunt of Public School boys, and being there, that definitely seemed to be the case. We made our way to the "American Bar", this dark, panelled oak bar, very old school, like a hunting lodge. I found myself in conversation with Gordon (always a favourite), and after I bought him a drink to save him the trouble of having to go find cash, he told me the history of the club, including the fact that the timber to build the bar we were in came from America, hence the name. Apparently a gift from the American officers to rebuild the bar after it was bombed during WWII.

Caroline FINALLY arrived as we were getting ready to leave the East India, but we decided we had time for one more drink, and Navy Boy managed to convince me to have a G&T, breaking my January resolution (after six days!) Oh well, back on the wagon tomorrow...

We then went on to the Army & Navy Club, where we went to a different bar than we'd been in previously. At this point I saw that I had some texts from the Tall South African, so I mentioned to him what was going on, that I'd run into Lotte and her boyfriend and was with that crowd. He wrote back asking if Lotte seemed happy, so I guess he'd heard the news.

Then at 9:30, we all hopped in cabs to make it to the Lansdowne before 10 PM and the end of Happy Hour there. Was rather relieved to be in my own club at the last stop...these club crawls are fun but kind of stressful all the same!

After having not seen the Blonde Dutchman in a while, he reappeared and so we chatted for a while, compared abilities to touch our toes, and I just continued to listen to his salacious conversation. It was definitely a learning experience about the Blonde Dutchman, as while he's funny, I'd had no idea that his mind was this dirty. In fact, he then started telling me about all of the places Lotte and her fiancee (!) had already had sex in the club...yikes!

Then it made me wonder why if the whole crowd was out, the Tall South African was not here. And I suddenly realised how mortified I would be if people knew we were involved. How on earth would I handle it, if he were there, wrapping an arm around me, kissing me? How would I handle the whispers and the people saying to me, "You know he's a baby, right?" Or "You know he's slept with half of the world, right?" It would be hugely embarrassing. Jeepers, what a mess I have gotten myself into? And still, I missed a call from him before midnight...He still seems to love to talk to me!

Just after I'd said goodnight to the (Former) Head of Inter-Club, the Young Scotsman showed up, disappointed to learn that he'd just missed seeing his flatmate. Still, we managed to convince him to stay for a drink (there was a lot of champagne circulating, and quite a few boys had made sure my glass was never empty), and told him the news about Lotte and her fiancee.

Which totally made his head spin, because apparently he'd made out with her a month ago, just before she was dating the guy who is now her fiancee. Wait, doing the math, that means...that was right around the time we got together. Which I'd never been quite clear about what he was doing at that party in the first place. Oh wow, so many things are suddenly clicking into place. (I really do need to pay attention more!)

I suppose I should be offended, as it seems that I was second choice when the girl he'd been after took up with someone else. Surprisingly I'm not however, as I find he's looking so pale and stunned, that I'm more just concerned for him. Okay, not attracted to him anymore, but still concerned for him as a friend. Still, I raise an eyebrow when he tells me that for the past 3 years he's been on good behaviour with Clubland girls, and then it was just in just the past 3 months that he's finally engaged in some bad behaviour. Oh, so I was a part of that? His caving and giving into the temptation of bad behaviour with Clubland girls? Interesting.

The bar then closes, and people are trying to figure out where to go next. It's like herding cats (as usual), but some people were going on to the Savile, and some were going to some nightclub in Vauxhall, called "Bunga Bunga" (just like Silvio Berlesconi's parties!) There was a spare spot in the cab with the Young Scotsman, so on a whim, I jumped in.

I then found myself in the interesting situation of constantly texting the Tall South African during the cab ride, while also listening to the Young Scotsman continually talk about his shock about how quickly Lotte had gone from him to being engaged. This is intriguing because, 1) I'd had no idea that Young Scotsman and Lotte even knew each other when he showed up to that party, and 2) He seemed so upset at the news that you sort of wondered how much he'd liked her.

We got into the nightclub and the Young Scotsman bought me a drink, but mostly it was loud and noisy and crowded, and I was spending far too much time and attention texting the Tall South African. And when I mentioned the boy who was upset, turned out he already knew about Lotte and the Young Scotsman. Jeepers, why do I feel like the last person to find out anything?

As it was approaching 2 AM, the Tall South African urged me to go home and to call him in the morning and we'd talk about it then. Wise advice, I think, so I turned off the phone, said good-byes to a few people, and then went outside where one of the bouncers got me a cab.

Headed home thinking about how I want to have an affair with the South African, but I cannot imagine a situation in which we were out at a club as a couple. Definitely no dating him, but I can't help but notice he was still the one I wanted to talk to most this entire evening. Grrr...this is doing my head in.