Time flies when you're having fun...
"I wouldn't like to think that this had been one of those dates where you knew within the first ten minutes that it wasn't going to work out, and then spent the rest of the date looking at your watch and feeling really uncomfortable."
I immediately shifted my arm so that it didn't look like I'd been about to check the time, and flashed him a nervous grin. "Of course it wasn't like that! I've had fun."
He smiles, "Good, I didn't think, I was just checking, you seem happy enough."
Well, he was at least good at summing up the date in one sentence. Though horribly wrong at both body language and having even a bit of a clue about me.
It dragged. He was lovely, Confetti was hilarious, though marginally inappropriate as a first date film really, and the atmosphere was good. The only thing lacking was any chemistry whatsoever. Evidently he didn't feel the same. His parting comment: "All good things must come to an end... unfortunately." To which I hastily kissed him on the cheek and then ran down the bus with as much poise as I could on a moving bus and approximately two minutes before I would normally even contemplate getting up and wandering down the aisle. Generally I just press the button and make the driver wait for me, this time we had a nice chat about driving in the dark before he pulled in.
I was ready to go home at nine. I was tired, we'd seen the film, and I knew that it wasn't exactly a Romeo and Juliet match. And we would of, we were within metres of the bus station and freedom when he decided, "I feel like going for a drink." It was blurted, quick, he didn't want to go. So I let him drag me in for two hours. Two hours so that we could just catch the last bus, two hours of awkward silences and me inwardly berating myself for flirting with other men over his shoulder. And that was the worst thing about it all. Every other man in there could tell that I was bored stiff and cold for his company, except him. People were laughing. And when he started leaning in closer and steering the conversation towards sex, normally I'm in my element. Even my dad thinks I'm queen of the innuendo. But all I could do was nod, look uncomfortably about me for some sign of relief, and then decide it was time to take a toilet break. And come on, when someone starts talking about how they're really quite dirty...
So I sent Stacey a text saying that I wasn't going to earn my double points on this one, and then went out, downed my drink, and said that we'd better go catch the bus. Which meant another hour of awkward silences and me edging away from him in the seat, but at least we were in the home stretch. I did, admittedly, contemplate getting off the bus on the A1 somewhere and walking it when he brought up further dates, but I contained my urges to run, and not-so-subtly dropped hints that I had too much going on with the exams, and that my break up with the numpty was still fresh in my mind. Bullshit really, but even that was over his head. "You'll be able to get at least one night off sometime, you can't work all the time. And you need someone who will treat you better than he did." All true, so awkward to argue with.
And now I have to think of some way to let him down nicely. I can't just ignore his texts and phone calls because he's Stacey's boyfriend's best friend. Or one of them. And I see him in the pubs all the time. A lot of the time he's in the group that I'm going out with. He's going to be impossible to avoid, and he'll be crushed that I'm not interested. Damn.
I immediately shifted my arm so that it didn't look like I'd been about to check the time, and flashed him a nervous grin. "Of course it wasn't like that! I've had fun."
He smiles, "Good, I didn't think, I was just checking, you seem happy enough."
Well, he was at least good at summing up the date in one sentence. Though horribly wrong at both body language and having even a bit of a clue about me.
It dragged. He was lovely, Confetti was hilarious, though marginally inappropriate as a first date film really, and the atmosphere was good. The only thing lacking was any chemistry whatsoever. Evidently he didn't feel the same. His parting comment: "All good things must come to an end... unfortunately." To which I hastily kissed him on the cheek and then ran down the bus with as much poise as I could on a moving bus and approximately two minutes before I would normally even contemplate getting up and wandering down the aisle. Generally I just press the button and make the driver wait for me, this time we had a nice chat about driving in the dark before he pulled in.
I was ready to go home at nine. I was tired, we'd seen the film, and I knew that it wasn't exactly a Romeo and Juliet match. And we would of, we were within metres of the bus station and freedom when he decided, "I feel like going for a drink." It was blurted, quick, he didn't want to go. So I let him drag me in for two hours. Two hours so that we could just catch the last bus, two hours of awkward silences and me inwardly berating myself for flirting with other men over his shoulder. And that was the worst thing about it all. Every other man in there could tell that I was bored stiff and cold for his company, except him. People were laughing. And when he started leaning in closer and steering the conversation towards sex, normally I'm in my element. Even my dad thinks I'm queen of the innuendo. But all I could do was nod, look uncomfortably about me for some sign of relief, and then decide it was time to take a toilet break. And come on, when someone starts talking about how they're really quite dirty...
So I sent Stacey a text saying that I wasn't going to earn my double points on this one, and then went out, downed my drink, and said that we'd better go catch the bus. Which meant another hour of awkward silences and me edging away from him in the seat, but at least we were in the home stretch. I did, admittedly, contemplate getting off the bus on the A1 somewhere and walking it when he brought up further dates, but I contained my urges to run, and not-so-subtly dropped hints that I had too much going on with the exams, and that my break up with the numpty was still fresh in my mind. Bullshit really, but even that was over his head. "You'll be able to get at least one night off sometime, you can't work all the time. And you need someone who will treat you better than he did." All true, so awkward to argue with.
And now I have to think of some way to let him down nicely. I can't just ignore his texts and phone calls because he's Stacey's boyfriend's best friend. Or one of them. And I see him in the pubs all the time. A lot of the time he's in the group that I'm going out with. He's going to be impossible to avoid, and he'll be crushed that I'm not interested. Damn.
