3 is a magic number (sorta)

After a bit of a dry spell, things have been looking up, somewhat: This past weekend I made out with 2 separate ladies at my local watering hole. The first, on Friday, was Katie; a short, full-figured actress with the face of an angel, who lives close to the bar and who I'd never met before. The following night it was Carrie, a cute waitress who is so my type: tall, thin, nice boobs and hips; "shaped like a woman", indeed. Carrie also lives nearby. I'd seen her before and wanted to meet her but the opportunity had not materialized. That all changed Saturday night when she hit on me and asked to run her fingers thru my hair. Always a good sign. (Btw, the tongue wrestling was done outside during smoke breaks each time. At the bar is a bit of a no-no. Can't be that guy too often, you know?)

All of this is well and good but I'm too old to be just making it out with 20 somethings. Some fucking is in order, right?

But I also bumped into Daisy, a chick with whom the mutual hots for each other had been evident in the past, but there was a boyfriend at the time. I hadn't seen Daisy in about 6 months but she was at the bar Friday night, having ditched the bf, some weight, and the "meh" hairdo. Obviously, I pounced in no uncertain terms. But I suspect Daisy is enjoying and taking advantage of being single and a little more attractive to the opposite sex a little too much: I could be wrong, but while she was receptive to my advances--and we made tentative plans--she gave off a "yeah, now that I'm in play, I think I'm gonna be a bit pickier" kinda vibe. Whatever. Hmm...

Things seem to be looking up, but as a good buddy said, "These are birds in the bush, and you need to get their bush in your hand." Amen, brother.

stop me if you've heard this one before (part deux)

On a whim, and after deciding I had nothing to lose, I finally contacted Irene, who'd I'd met thru a couple of mutual friends last summer. We hit it off and went on what turned out to be a great date a week later. One in which she repeatedly mentioned the following:

a) how glad she was that I contacted her (t'was originally via Facebook)
b) how glad she was that I asked her out
c) how much she enjoyed the date

I walked her home afterwards and along the way Irene informs me she's just getting out of a relationship and wants to take things slow, but tells me to call her and ask her out again. An hour later on FB she thanks me again for "a great night".

A couple of days after the date I send her an e-mail, letting her know that I'll be asking her out again and reminding her of my upcoming birthday party.

Nothing.

B-day party.
Nothing.

Give her a call the following day.
Nothing.

Then, on my actual b-day....
Nothing.

I was a bit unsettled by the radio silence from someone who had profusely mentioned how much they'd enjoyed my approaching them, our subsequent date, and wanting to see me again. I started to believe in the possibility of our female mutual friend--a clingy, possessive nutjob, with whom I had an incredibly brief hookup, some 5 years ago and not since--having said something to scare Irene off. This was the bullshit I was dreading.

When I finally hear from Irene, two days after my unanswered phone call, she emails her belated birthday wishes, apologies for missing the party and brings up a work-related situation that allegedly screwed up her schedule. She then mentions preparing to leave town for a family reunion but asks if we can see each other when she returns.

One the one hand I'm relieved no one has poisoned the well--which makes me feel slightly guilty about thinking our mutual friend might've been conspiring against me--but I'm a bit turned off by Irene's nonchalance.

I suspect she's playing hard to get. This is NYC, but NO ONE is so busy that they can't call, email or message someone who's courting them, considering the circumstances. Especially not Irene, in her "pretty stress-free" job. We all know that when women want to, they're all over you. So, the way I see it, she knows I'm interested. And since her radio silence has now earned her a bit of my own, this will happen between us if I hear from her. Otherwise, good luck out there. Not chasin' after her; ain't no lapdog. Let her make the next move and then we'll see.

In the meantime, I'll put romantic endeavors on hold and lean towards just getting some ass, especially in light of recent developments. As we all know this will likely lead towards the occasional weird situation, including making the wrong phone call and sleeping with a girl who's clearly not the best candidate, but I don't have to believe, trust, and/or have faith in them. So, there's that.

Despite being a bit tired of just hooking up and doing the dance that goes with making it happen, a relationship is not much of an option when you lack much faith in finding the woman that would make that situation worthwhile, due to all the clunkers I've encountered out there. And I guess that's the reason why I choose to remain single.

(I did have a drunken little tryst with a girl named Annie who I met at the tail-end of my party. But that, once again, is literally another story.)

stop me if you've heard this one before

I met Katherine a few weekends ago--where else?--at my fave neighborhood watering hole. A 41 year old, stunningly cute, blue-eyed blonde, she caught my eye as I walked in and saw her hanging with 2 mutual acquaintances which I immediately joined.

A few jokes later, we got deep into romantic talk, eventually went outside to share a smoke and a few sweet kisses, and made plans for a date during the week. Katherine and I spent the rest of the evening joined at the hip and pretty much smitten with each other. At one point, while outside sharing another cigarette, she mentioned how there was a stupid Aqua song she couldn't get out of her head. Being the silly romantic I am, I took her in my arms and we slow danced while I sang The Beatles' "I Will" in her ear. Needless to say, major points were scored and I was duly informed as much.

She e-mailed me from the bar, so that I would have her address. I replied and a few days later "friended" her on Facebook, which she accepted but did not reply to otherwise. A day or two afterwards I e-mailed but didn't hear back from her. Hmm...
The day before our purported date I e-mailed to ask if we were still on. Again, no response from Katherine. OK, so she had a change of heart, I assumed. It happens. Wasn't the first time and probably not the last. I was bummed out but them's the breaks.

Two weeks after our fateful encounter, I'm sitting at the same bar we met. It was 3 AM and almost empty when Katherine walked in with 2 friends. My back was turned to the door, but the bartender--a friend of mine who knew the story--saw and discreetly relayed to me her shocked look as she registered my presence. So, did Katherine come over with an apology or a feeble attempt at one? Nope. She actually--get this--sat about 5 feet away, facing me diagonally across the corner of the bar and completely ignored me. Yes, boys and girls, that's how she chose to play it.

I did notice she was uncomfortable so I decided to do nothing and let her squirm. I wasn't about to call her out and give her the ammo to assuage her guilt. However, letting her off scot-free was not an option, so in order to make her acknowledge me I went outside to smoke a few minutes after Katherine and her friend did the same. (The second friend had already left by then.) I positioned myself right in front of the bar's front door, which meant I'd have to step aside for them to re-enter the premises. When they were done and approached me I moved slightly out of the way. The friend went first, smiled and said hi. And Katherine, as if nothing had happened, did exactly the same. Wow. I did or said nothing further and they both left a drink later.

We've all had nights of drunken romantic interactions of varying degrees which we regret the following day. All the time. But when I've been on the business end of 'em I've always gotten an e-mail with some variation of "thanks, but no thanks". Hey, that's just how it goes. No need for sour grapes. But for a woman in her 40s to behave in the tacky manner in which Katherine did is just inexcusable and very bad form for someone her age. Seriously. Next.