so it turns out that this quarantine thing puts a big damper on being single. mingling is borderline illegal. that being said, i was thinking about how much better this entire scenario would be if i had someone to quarantine with. it was just bad timing for me. my boyfriend and i broke up mid-february and then covid-19 shut down my city mid-march. i didn’t have very much time in between to meet anyone to hunker down with, especially considering i work as much as i can and go to the same shit bar after work where no one goes OR to the bar next to my job and interact with the saaaame 10 people.
there was one night before the world ended though. i walked into the shit bar after an exceptionally terrible shift, ready to drink wild turkey and catch up the bartender on the details of my fucked up break up. to my god damn dismay, a very handsome man was sitting in the first stool who immediately noticed me and locked in on his prey. literally, not even trying to allow anyone to meet me, i ignore him and pet his dog. he states, wide eyed with a southern twang, that i was “the most beautiful creature.” i hate the word creature. i bought a beer and a shot.
he’s persistent, i cave. he’s not exactly my type, but him and his dog are both cute and well behaved. he overheard the bartender and i talking about my breakup earlier, which may have been because i was practically shouting about it in hopes that he would get discouraged...didn’t happen. he very genuinely tells me he’s sorry i’m having to deal with all of the nonsense. that leads into him telling me his dog belonged to his exgirlfriend. i think (i don’t know, i was drinking y’all) i asked when they broke up. they didn’t. she committed suicide about six months ago. they were together for like 5 years and he wanted to propose to her. i had no fucking idea how to react. so naturally, i took a shot, probably babbled some shit about how “that’s wild” or “i’m sooo sorry.” i have no idea, but i do know that my brain couldn’t wrap itself around how abruptly he shared such a massive experience with me...but it’s his experience and i can’t tell him how to live it.
after the initial shock subsided, we deferred the conversation to something more lighthearted. it’s nice to feel nice. he’s very generous with compliments and quite the gentlemen. as the night ended, we got a bit of togo food and he insisted on driving me home rather than having me pay for an uber. he put his number in my phone, told me to text him, there may have been a shy kiss (drunk), and i went inside.
i recollected the conversation we had so many times. i acknowledged every red flag and reason i should not fuck him. ultimately, a few days pass and i make the decision to text him...
and on that note, i pause this story until tomorrow morning’s coffee.