St. Paddy's Run

Late in my work day, I was surprised when a familiar name popped up on chat, asking me if I was going to be at the run that evening.  It was DM!  I hadn't heard from him in ages!

I assured him that I would indeed be there, and then at the end of the work day, got changed for the run.  Since it was a St. Patrick's Day run, we were all to be wearing green.  I had a bright green shirt from a hash run ages ago, although they'd messed up the order and given me a men's shirt, which hung really shapelessly on my body, I hate how it looks.  Ill-fitting, I usually only have it for the Young Dutchman to sleep in when he stays over.  Yet, I couldn't deny that it was the perfect colour for the run, so along with a green ribbon in my hair, I wore it, figuring I'd have to deal with shapeless, ill-fitting running kit for one night.

When I got to the run, Matt was there, which was a great surprise.  I always love seeing Matt.  It was funny too when he asked if he could borrow a pair of gloves, after I'd already loaned him a pair of gloves two weeks ago.  He thought he'd left them at home, but a last-minute check of his bag revealled that he still had them!  Made me laugh, that Matt got to borrow my gloves from himself...

Roofie's Brother also showed up too, which was a great surprise.  When greeting me hello, he went for a kiss on my lips, I thought we were still doing cheek, so it got messed up slightly.  No worries, I figure we'd sort it out when we said good-bye..  I talked to him a bit about the move, although he didn't have too much to say about it, other than that he didn't have many things so it had all gone rather quickly.

We ran into each other a few more times throughout the run at various stopping points, where he moaned that he'd under-dressed for the weather, as it was colder out than anybody expected that evening!

We finally made it to a drinks stop near the end of the run, but I didn't see Roofie's Brother at all.  I'd been running with Matt when we got to the drinks stop in the park, so we stayed and chatted for a bit, and then finally I walked back to the pub with Matt and Lex, despite never having seen Roofie's Brother at the drinks stop.  When I got back to the pub I realised why, as he was already back there.

He was already chatting with The Blonde and a few people, and then I found myself stuck at the bar getting pints for myself and Matt (with the world's slowest bar service).  Then a few more people came up to me to chat, and Sister Fister arrived from who knows where...

Once I saw Sister Fister arrived, I figured that my opportunities to talk to Roofie's Brother would be limited, so I texted DM to say, "We're back!  Come play with me!!"  Indeed, he arrived shortly after in response to my text, and teased me about not texting him earlier to join everyone at a drinks stop near the end of the run.  I pointed out that he would have looked quite out of place wearing a suit in the middle of a park with a bunch of runners, and anyway, those drinks had been disgusting, tasting mostly like mint mouthwash.

I spent quite a while talking to DM about citizenship (hard to believe we both arrived in the UK at the same time six years ago), his travels in Brazil, and mutual friends in common.  He asked if I'd heard from an old flatmate of mine, the person who actually introduced us (as he was friends with her ex-boyfriend).  I confessed I hadn't spoken to her in a while, to which DM gave me the surprising news that he'd heard from her ex-boyfriend that she was six months pregnant!  Goodness, I need to be better at keeping in touch with people...

As I was talking to DM, Roofie's Brother came over and stood next to me, and it was weird because we kept bumping into each other and touching each other, standing in close contact like we always do, yet while he kept up a conversation with the guy he was talking to, and I of course felt like I couldn't not talk to DM...

We moved downstairs for the circle and I continued to chat with DM, kind of amazed as usual that I think I'm one of his closest friends, despite how rarely we keep in touch.  It's strange, but I get the sense I'm one of the people he's known the longest, and one of the few who always responds to him.  He's actually weirdly shy in that he takes small slights way too personally, so it takes someone exceptionally outgoing to constantly reassure him.

Wearing green in the circle post-run

We did have an interesting conversation about how he'd seen his father recently, and his father kept talking about when he was coming back to Australia, except that DM was unsure that he could ever really ever live in Australia again, as much as he missed the sunshine.  He was also quitting his job again (how many jobs has that boy had in the time I've known him?) to go travelling, again, this time to Costa Rica.  Except of course his work wanted him to stay on, and sort of not acknowledging that he'd turned in his notice, putting him on long-term plans past his contract end date.  As per usual, the guy really has no idea what he's doing...

Despite his obvious enthusiasm for seeing me, about midway through the circle he told me that he was leaving to go out with some random guy in Soho for the evening (hence the suit).  I was kind of surprised that after making such a point of seeing me, he was leaving, but then again, I've never really understood DM's fondness for me in the first place.  Kind of hilarious when I think back to that first night in a bar six years ago, the mutual friend who introduced us had suggested we date.  I wonder if we'd still be circling around each other so much if we'd taken up her suggestion six years ago...

With DM now gone, I figured that this might be my chance to talk to Roofie's Brother, except Matt was there and obviously keen to talk.  We actually had quite an in-depth conversation about uncertainty at his job and worries about his career, and he told me what a relief it was to talk to someone about it, as apparently I'm the only person he's told.  Not even his live-in girlfriend knows.

Which made me think of something Sweetheart had been telling me when we were out on Friday, that he didn't think Matt and his girlfriend were going to last long-term.  Which surprised me, because they are both such lovely people.  And for cripes sake, they've been together for years and have even bought a house together!  Except they still haven't gotten married, and this isn't the first time that Matt has felt more comfortable talking to me about something than he has to her.  It's all a bit of a puzzle...

Then, after the circle ended, Matt wanted to dash off home, at which point I figured I might finally get to talk to Roofie's Brother.  Except no, now The Blonde wanted to talk to me!  Argh!!

Still, I know she'd wanted to talk about the latest guy she was seeing, who in the usual pattern of The Blonde, she's managed to find fault with.  A brilliant guy, who by her own admission she really enjoys spending time with, except she thinks he's got a not-very-posh accent, isn't quite career-driven enough for her (in that he has no concerns about money, or where his might be coming from), and has the irritating habit of getting into bed entirely naked, without even something to undress once they get there.  As she said, "We've only been dating a few weeks, and yes we're sleeping together, but it's a bit presumptuous, don't you think?"

To add a spanner into the works, she met up with an ex-boyfriend last Sunday, and apparently suddenly remembered why she'd found him so attractive in the first place.  The chemistry, the attraction, the je ne sais quois...it was all still there.  And so the ex had kissed her and wanted to get back together, so now she's sort of dating both at the same time while she figures out which one she prefers.  At least she said to me, "I'm only going to sleep with one at a time though, as I figure overlapping on that isn't a good idea."  At which point I had to shake my head and think (to myself), "At least you have SOME standards, my dear..."  Goodness, that girl really has slept with too many people.

Anyway, all of this drama was interesting enough, but all I could think about was that across the room, Roofie's Brother was surprisingly not being monopolized by Sister Fister for once, and I'd love to get a chance to talk to him before the evening was over.  I mean, I was already a bit surprised that he hadn't come over to talk to me, but perhaps he didn't want to interrupt a girly chat.

Yet The Blonde wasn't letting me escape, constantly holding me in conversation, leaving me to think, "You're the one person who actually knows about this and who knows I might want to talk to him!  Why on earth are you trapping me here like this, every time I try to get away you keep pulling me back in!"

And then to my distress I saw that Roofie's Brother was leaving.  Well, at least he'd come over and say good-bye, right?  Our good-bye kisses are what I have always enjoyed...

Nope, he just dashed right out without even pausing, much to my surprise.  I wrote him a cute (I thought) message about it before I went home, which he didn't respond to until midway through the following day, even though I knew he'd seen it sooner.  To which I got the most lame response about how he needed to run home, an excuse that he couldn't do drinks until after Easter, and then the kicker sign-off, "Have a good day."  Who on earth says "Have a good day" to a crush?  Hmmm...maybe he doesn't like me as much as I thought.  I was so annoyed, that I just never replied.

Boys...when they're not confusing me, they're just being lame!