Post Ten; things get A Bit Better

Sorry this hasn't been updated for a while, I was on holiday (Sweden, since you asked).

In the previous episode, Our Hero (me) got dumped. It was not pleasant. I've no doubt that you've been refreshing this blog every minute or so since it was last updated to see what happened next, to see if there was a happy ending. Well refresh no more, for Post 10 is here!

I sat on the bus home, and I was miserable. Being dumped was a rubbish way to bring in the New Year.

I couldn’t stop thinking about Emily, and yes,  I realise how cliché that sounds. Anyway, I kept going through my mind, looking at where we went wrong, thinking about what I could have said or did differently.

I was driving myself mad.

Sure, it wasn’t the longest or most serious relationship, but I loved every minute. She was loads of fun.

For weeks I was feeling sorry for myself, and not exactly in the mood for finding another girlfriend. I just wanted to get back with Emily.

And then my mate Dave got engaged. He’d been seeing his girlfriend Amanda for about 4 years, and they have a beautiful daughter together. He proposed in New York with a ring from Tiffany’s. Now, I don’t know much about the fairer sex (a fact which will no doubt leave all you readers bewildered), but I think – as far as engagement goes – that that is A Pretty Damn Good One.

I was at their engagement party with Mike (Tim was visiting his parents, I think). It was a great night, we were in a posh bar in Glasgow’s Merchant City, and I there were a few faces that I hadn’t seen in years, and members of Dave and Amanda’s family I’d never met. It was a lot of fun.

I was telling Mike about Emily, about how things hadn’t worked out and how I was still a bit mopey.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ he said. ‘You’ll find someone else.’

But I didn’t want anyone else; I wanted her.

After a while, Mike and I were at the bar together. I ordered a Sailor Jerry and coke, and the girl at the bar started talking to me:

‘Did you know they changed the flavour?’ she said.

‘No,’ I said, because I didn’t. I took a sip. It was indeed different, and not as good.

The barmaid chatted a bit more about rum, though I can’t quite remember what she said. Dave and Mike were there too, perhaps I’ll ask them.

Anyway, we sat down, and I said, ‘She seems cool.’

‘Do you think she was trying to fire in there?’ Mike said.

‘Nah, I doubt it,’ I said, though I actually thought that maybe she was. She was slim and cute, in a tomboyish, punky kind of way. And, when I thought about it, she was all smiles whenever I was at the bar.

‘She did seem a bit flirty though, didn’t she?’

‘Totally,’ said Mike.

‘She’s quite attractive…’ I said.

‘Yeah, she’s not bad. You should talk to her.’

‘Nah...’

‘Go on, it’ll be funny.’

‘Man, don’t tell me it’ll be funny, I’ll end up doing it.’

‘Go on - it’ll be funny.’

And thus the seed was planted.

I sat for a while thinking of what to say to her. Perhaps I should have been thinking ‘Why is Mike convinced that it’ll be funny for me to chat a girl up?’, but I didn’t. Hindsight and all that.

I still wasn’t over Emily, but so what? I was out having fun, and it’d be good to maybe get a girl’s number. Also, Dave wasn’t the first of my school mates to get engaged – my single friends and I were a dying breed.

With this in mind, I contemplated what to say to her… I’d never done this before, not really. I was – and still am – useless at flirting. I knew she liked rum… Maybe that’s why she became a barmaid? What else was there? She seemed to smile a lot, maybe I should do that too? I’m sure I read somewhere that emulating aspects of a person you like was a good way to get them interested.

Maybe I should try and talk like her, laugh like her? Perhaps I should develop breasts?

 I could ask her what music she likes, but if I was to judge by her appearance, I’d say she leant towards the more emo pop-punk stuff than the heavier music that I listen to.

Fuelled by a bit of alcohol (though I wasn’t drunk, I’d like to add), I thought ‘Screw it’, and just went up to the bar.

‘Hello,’ I said.

‘Hey,’ she said, smiling again. ‘Sailor Jerry and coke was it?’

‘Cheers!’

She left to fetch a glass, and I thought, Say something witty. Say something to hook her. She seems interested, seal the deal with a witty, off-the-cuff remark then get her number. Do it.

She returned with my drink.

‘Thanks,’ I said.

‘No worries.’

Do it.

‘Eh, are you single?’ I said.

‘I’m not, no.’

‘Oh right then.’

Champion effort.

Later on, seeing how happy Dave and Amanda were, and how I curiously enjoying chatting to a girl who was completely uninterested, I resolved not to get into the same cycle as before; online dating had broadened my horizons, and dating Emily opened my eyes to how fulfilling a good relationship could be.

So I decided to give online dating another go.