Charming, but single

I was snuggled in bed the other night when a text message from a high school buddy (My Prom Date, actually) invited me to come have a drink. He's recently moved back to town and it seemed like a good idea and he was at a nearby bar and I figured what the hell. I slid back into my wrap dress from work that day – minus the camisole that made it work appropriate. In 10 minutes I was out of the house and heading to the bar for a Cosmo with Absolut and good company.

I found my friend and joined him in a slouchy leather couch and immediately saw a good friend's ex-husband sitting across the way. He had to have seen me and my friend and it was made worse by the fact that both of us were in the wedding. The ex-groom unites with his ex bridesmaid and ex groomsman? Classic.

I procured a Cosmo and settled in to catch up with Prom Date, who is looking for a job and generally enjoying his first few days back in town. He's sweet and when I was 16 I was so sure he liked me oh so much. (He didn't.) But there's no chemistry at all and we just get along really well and it is nice to have him back from New Orleans. (My grandmother still thinks we're getting married.)

In the middle of out nice conversation, I noticed a group of people enter and gather nearby our couch. And one of them looked oh-so-familiar. It was The Crier, with his friends.

Of course he rushed over to say hello and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek and started talking nonstop about how his divorce was final Monday and he was closing on his townhouse on Thursday and he's been so busy and he misses talking to me. And then he invited me to join their group in the next room for a birthday celebration and I politely declined.

I settled back into the couch and Prom Date was like, "Who is that guy?" And before I could tell him the story, The Crier was dragging a friend over to meet me. I stood up and shook hands and smiled.

I sat down on the couch again, slightly annoyed because I really just wanted to drink my Cosmo with my pal and talk about stuff. And I finally got a chance to tell Prom Date about The Crier and seeing the movie. Prom Date interrupted me.

“Wasn’t that movie a comedy?”

“Yes, but that really isn’t the point.”

“Well, that guy OBVIOUSLY likes you.”

“Really? Still?”

“Yes, really. Obviously. Totally.”

I giggled uncomfortably and we continued our conversation.

Then, Prom Date giggled as a man walked by. I raised an eyebrow.

“That’s your friend,” he said.

“Who?”

“[The Blackberry].”

The Blackberry actually knows Prom Date and was there the first night we met. And after the messaging and finding me on MySpace and trying to get me to come out, The Blackberry never actually met me for a date and it kind of fizzled. And he sat at the bar near our couch and didn’t come over and say hello. He just drank a lone glass of red wine and played with his Blackberry.

“Are you going to go over there?”

“Um, no, he never asked me out. He e-mailed me and found me on MySpace and we chatted, but he never went as far as asking me out and he could come say hello now and I’m not running over there. Plus, I’m kind of dating someone. Not, like, exclusively or officially or anything. But, you know, we’re seeing each other.”

And then I told Prom Date about The Nurse and got all mushy and it was fun.

I ordered another Cosmo and snagged a cigarette from Prom Date. I lit it and took a drag. It tasted not as good as when I share them with The Nurse.

In walked The Crier, with another friend.

“[Charming], this is my college roommate. He’s the birthday boy.”

“Oh, Happy Birthday. Nice to meet you,” I said, standing up for the third time, regretting ever having smiled and waved and hugged him when he came inside. We talked for a few more minutes. I was starting to feel more than slightly uncomfortable with this attention. His friends seemed mildly confused as to why he was introducing me. We went on two dates. Hardly anything to write home about.

He left us alone and I rolled my eyes and settled back into the couch.

I tried to determine if The Blackberry had noticed me. There was no way that he hadn’t. Had he not recognized me? My hair was back, but surely he saw me with a mutual acquaintance.

We rambled on and I labored over my second Cosmo, just enjoying hanging out with Prom Date and not being at work and getting to relax and have a good time.

And then The Crier and company came in. They were leaving. So, of course, he had to come tell me goodbye. And talk to me. For the fourth time that night. (That’s TWO times for each date we went on!)

He gave me a hug and kept an arm around my waist, promised to check in with me (yay, right?), told me how great I looked and how glad he was to see me and how he missed talking to me and how happy he was to be divorced.

I smiled and nodded a lot. I waited for him to leave the bar and collapsed (in a very ladylike way) on the couch next to Prom Date.

“What did I do to deserve to have this guy that I don’t even like fall all over me like that? I mean, really. Who did I piss off?”

He just laughed.

We finished our drinks and decided that it was probably better to sleep than for me to have a third Cosmo. As I headed out, I put my shoulders back, smiled and walked past the bar where The Blackberry was, wondering if he’d check me out.

He did.