The World's Weirdest Valentine's Date

Happy Valentine's Day!

I had been chatting online with The Blonde when she was debating with me about what to do for Valentine's Day.  Apparently the Tall South African wanted to do something (he'd been saying this to me as well), as much to simply do something on Valentine's Day other than sitting at home as much as anything else.  The Blonde's take on things was that she didn't really want to do something, feeling that it would give the Tall South African encouragement when she was pretty sure that they were going to be broken up for good, but on the other hand, given that she wasn't entirely sure it was over, she didn't want to not do something either.  So as a joke, I wrote, "Group date?" and was surprised at the enthusiasm with which The Blonde said that would be a great idea.  Oh lordy, what I have just gotten myself into?

Even better, is that the obvious choice of who to go out with us (since it couldn't just be me as a third wheel with the Tall South African and The Blonde) was Qatari Boy, given that he's a friend from university of The Blonde's.  But given that I have the best relationship with him and am still probably closest to him, I was the one who had to ask him out.  (Basically neither the Tall South African nor The Blonde really had the guts to do it).  Slightly mortifying to ask out a guy you are no longer seeing to see if he will go out with you on Valentine's Day, but I guess it's a sign of his affection for me (or how much he's game for a laugh) that he agreed to do it.

So on Valentine's Day, the Tall South African called me to suggest we meet up before dinner for drinks, and we were soon joined by The Blonde.  Despite texting Qatari Boy to tell him where we were going to be, there was no sign of him.  It was funny how it became like something from "Waiting for Godot" where The Blonde got progressively more nervous as there was no sign of Qatari Boy or any word from him.  The Blonde was saying, "I'm sure he's coming.  I mean, he wouldn't not come, would he?  He'll definitely come.  Maybe he'll come.  I'll just call and check that he's coming.  I mean, if he doesn't come, we'll still have a good time...."

Oh honey, if you think I'm sticking around to be a third wheel with just the two of you, you've got another thing coming...

Luckily, when we got to the restaurant, Qatari Boy was there, explaining that his phone had died, so he couldn't call anyone or get messages.  Hence the radio silence, but there he was, thank God.

The Blonde insisted that we sit side-by-side, with me across from Qatari Boy.  So it resulted with the Tall South African and The Blonde holding hands across the table, while Qatari Boy and I talked about European markets and his job applications.  Call me a wimp for wanting to keep things friendly but light between the two of us, but I just wasn't interested in going back there.  The fact that Qatari Boy has been flaky enough in the past for me to seriously wonder if he would stand me up on a Valentine's date tells me all about his reliability as anything other than an occasional friend.

Dinner was good, although it made me regret having eaten anything all day beforehand, as I was stuffed after the first course, but yet had to keep plowing on through the food.  I was feeling slightly ill by the end of dinner in fact, just over-full from food.  I just wanted to either go home and puke or just like down after eating so much...

Our table at dinner

I didn't want to have dessert, but the Tall South African seemed determined to hang on and stretch out the evening, so I stuck in there for it, and it was nearly midnight by the time we left to go home.

When we got to the trains, I put all of them onto one train (so the Tall South African went home with The Blonde), and I just gave Qatari Boy a peck on the cheek.  I felt a bit badly that I wasn't more warm to him, but I just wanted to go home and sleep, and I wasn't interested in resuming our romantic relationship in any way (even though I'd asked him out on Valentine's Day).  Yet when I spoke to him later, I was reassured that he'd thoroughly enjoyed my company and had been delighted to see me, even if our dinner companions obviously had some issues.

The next day, I was chatting with The Blonde, who had finally realised after that night that things needed to end between the two of them.  Apparently nothing had happened when the Tall South African had come home with her, just the two of them talking until 2 AM with the Tall South African continually asking about what had gone wrong between the two of them.  Poor boy.   There's a reason Joel and I refer to him as "Kicked Puppy" anymore...

Although the kicker was that the Tall South African had ordered some flowers to be delivered on Valentine's Day, but the company had screwed up and they didn't arrive until the day after.  When he'd become aware of the delayed order, I'd advised him to cancel them, but apparently he didn't take my advice.  And indeed, apparently that was just the over-the-top, too much gesture that had convinced The Blonde it really needed to be over, and they just needed to spend some time apart.

In the end, what a weird Valentine's Day.  Two couples who aren't dating any more, out for a romantic group date.  Still, one more story to add to the arsenal about all of my weird love life!