goodbye stranger

A good buddy and neighbor of mine was sick recently and asked me if I would get him some food from the store if I was going out. Since I had to run an errand in the 'hood, I agreed. While running my errand I popped into the local drugstore thinking I could probably get my friend a deal with my store card. I have barely set foot in the store when I come across...Patty.

If you're new to this blog or may have forgotten her, here's the complete story. The gist: I met Patty in early '07 in one of my neighborhood bars. It was love at first sight for me but she never reciprocated those feelings. We did have sex on a regular basis, however, so we were in fact "friends with benefits". This made it a rocky situation, since, according to her, the guilt from not being able to love me back was killing her. After a few months of this she disappears for a year and a half until we bump into each other on the subway one morning. Shortly thereafter we rekindle our "FwB" status for 3 or 4 months, and once again she disappears. This time there was no warning; she just stops calling and e-mailing.

So now, after a year of not returning my initial emails, there she was. And she looked good, too. Patty gives me a big bear hug and asks how I am and whatnot. She then introduces as a friend some dude she was with and cuts to the chase.

"I want to meet up with you and give you an explanation for..."

Concealing my displeasure and disappointment, I smile and with half a chuckle tell her I'm not her parole officer. To which she gives me a look of what I interpret as regret while her companion muses something about being "diplomatic". Whatever. I say my goodbyes and she offers up an equally warm hug as before and I resume my shopping. (They didn't have any of what my friend wanted, btw. Which means my unintended and unknowing purpose there was to bump into Patty. Hmm...)

Man, she still does it to me...Fuck!