Never Felt So Alive

Well, it's been a while since I've posted ... but that just means more interesting details to catch back up!

I've been seeing Workaholic about 3 weeks now.  That's a new record for me.  It's going really well.  My interest level in him at first was only minimal, but now it has progressed to more than that. 

I've been spending Saturday nights drinking beers and playing video games with him and his friends and then visiting him periodically during the week after work. 

This past week was a challenge though because school started.  My schedule is rough.  Working full-time and then going to class until 8pm Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and 10pm on Tuesdays.  He's been really cute though.  I'll get out of class after an incredibly long day and I'll have a voicemail (sometimes two) from him.  And I'll call him back, and he'll talk to me until I get home from school.

So, after not seeing him the entire week, I was really eager to see him on Friday--my only night of freedom!  When I got there, we went to get some ribs and then we stopped at the grocery store where he bought me a toothbrush to keep at his house (next purchase--a hairdryer).  That night, we were both tired so we went to bed early and slept late (which is 7am for us).  It was perfect. 

I went home for a bit Saturday morning to do some work and homework ... and then went right back to his place.  He invited me to the 311 concert that night.  We spent 3 hours before the concert tailgating out in the sun with the smell of pot everywhere, so I ended up getting sick right before the concert started.  Here was this band that he is crazy about, hasn't missed a concert in 7 years, and he offered to take me home early if I needed to.  He ran his hands along my back and through my hair, hardly paying any attention to the beginning part of the concert.  I felt better by the end of the concert, and we went to bed early again.  Another perfect night.

Friday night, he was telling me about how Labor Day weekend was supposed to be a guys' weekend at the beach, but no one could make it ... so it now has turned into a weekend of just us ... spending four days together ... alone ... 5 hours away from home ... this is going to be very interesting ...

Meanwhile, I've got some jealous responses from the other men in my life.  I think they got so accustomed to me being single these past two years that maybe they thought I would always be single? 

One weekend when I went to Workaholic's, I put up an away message that read: "Spending time with one hell of a good looking guy."
When I got back home, I had a message from Best Friend that said, "WHO!?!"
Now, he calls or text messages several times a week.  Now, I've turned him down a couple times for a change ...

Great!  I've only been THROWING MYSELF AT YOU for the past month ...

I had run into Lacrosse Guy at school earlier that week, and he had asked me to go out that weekend.  I told him no.  I had wanted to keep my schedule open for Workaholic. 
He called me Friday at work and said, "So, what are you doing tonight that is more important than hanging out with me?"
"I have a date ..."
"Oh ... will he treat you better than I would?"
Wow, I was so not in the mood for him to give me an attitude when I had thrown myself at him too for a good two or three weeks this summer.
"I don't know ... we'll find out ..."

Hulk has not contacted me since he got back in town.  Good.  It's less complicated that way.

Val says it's hard to keep all these nicknames straight.  However! it would be more confusing without them because, ironically, they all have the same name ...

So, my worries that Workaholic did not have a good time at the club Saturday night were further alleviated by the phone call I received the next day.  He wanted me to come over to his place once he got back from his workout.  I ended up spending seven hours with him Sunday. 

Seven.  That's a lot.  I'm not used to being able to tolerate a guy for that long.  And it was nice because we were both worn out from a long work week and the club, so we just laid around watching TV.  Sometimes our conversation went quiet, but that was ok.  The silence wasn't awkward.  He kissed me again at the end of the evening ... but I was still left wondering what exactly he was thinking ...

Tuesday night, as I was leaving work, Emily stated that she needed a beer and that Kris and I were going with her to a bar nearby.  We had a great time playing trivia and pinching an old man's butt for some free beer (ugh, maybe I should delete that part ...).

When I left the bar, I had a voicemail from Workaholic.  He wanted me to come over to his place to hang out a bit before he went to bed.  I protested at first because I reeked of cigarette smoke from the bar.  He didn't care.  By that time though, I was already on the freeway, going the wrong direction.  It would probably take me an hour before I could get turned around and at his place, leaving us with about an hour to hang out.
"What about tomorrow?" I asked.
"I have to workout tomorrow.  I haven't worked out in two days."

I was reserved to waiting for the weekend to see him again, but when I left work on Wednesday, I had another voicemail from him.
He said, "I'll be home at 8pm.  If you want to come over, just show up around that time."
Wow.  I didn't even have to confirm.  I could just "show up."
I called him back to confirm anyway.  "You're not going to workout tonight?"
"Well, I was going to but not if you want to come over ..."

So, I arrived at his place a little after 8pm ... and no sooner did I walk in the door did Hulk send me a text message.
"Hey i'm back in ga wanna hang out for a bit?"

Fuuuuuuck.

I didn't respond right away, decided it might be a tad rude to answer that at that moment.  Workaholic goes to bed about 10:30pm--I would just respond when I left his place.

I tried not to be distracted all evening, tried not to watch the clock, but I don't know how successful I was.  Meanwhile, Workaholic was being super-attentive ... running his fingers through my hair, holding my hand, etc.  He kept offering me pillows, blankets, the seat he was sitting in.
"I'm fine!"  I said.
"Yeah, well we already knew that," he responded.

At one point when he grabbed my hand, I leaned over to kiss him on the cheek ... and he practically attacked me.  It was 10:30pm.  Could these two guys have any worse timing?
"Don't you need to go to bed?" I asked.  hehe
"I can stay up for this," he said.
So, I stayed until 11pm. 
"I have to go.  Don't hate me,"  I said.
I didn't need it to go any further anyway, didn't need to complicate things. 

I got in the car.
And called Hulk.

"You're back?"  I asked.
"Yeah, just got back yesterday.  Wanna hang out?"
"Sure."
"Ok, I'm hanging out with one of the guys from the team right now.  Can I call you when I leave here?"

So, I went home and napped briefly until he called me at 12:30am. 
"You still awake?  You still want to hang out?"
"Yeah."
"Ok, come on over then."
"Oh, I thought you were coming over here."
"Don't have a car."
"What?  What happened to your car?"
"Sold it ... for tuition."
"Ok ... where are you staying?"
"With Walsh."

Fuuuuuuck.

He must have sensed my hesitation, because he quickly said, "But he's not here.  He's out with his girlfriend."

Whew.

But when I got there, a chick answered the door.
"Hi!  I'm Becca!" she said.
I looked in the apartment at Hulk who said, "That's Walsh's girlfriend."
"Ohh, it's nice to meet you!"  I could hear a voice in the back of the apartment.  "Who else is here?"
"Walsh."

Fuuuuuuck.

Fortunately, the exchange between myself and Walsh was short, and he and his girlfriend went off to bed.  Hulk and I were on the couch, talking, when we heard the screams coming from the bedroom.
"Seriously?" I said.
"No way," Hulk said.  "No way Walsh is that good."
"Definitely faking," I agreed.  After all, I knew what a horrible kisser he was.

I knew the girls from work were going to give me a hard time for seeing him.  He was gone all summer without a phone call, text message, or email.  But I wondered, what would we have talked about?  What was there to discuss?  All either of us did all summer was work.  We were all caught up and right where we left off in about half an hour.

The best part of our conversation was what I knew was coming the moment he left GA for the summer.
"So, how many guys did you hook up with while I was gone?"
And I could look him in the eye and say, "None."
"What?  No summer flings?"
"Well, the last time I had sex was the last time we had sex and that was--what?  April?"
"Shit! ... you know, I haven't had sex since then either.  Gonna have to break this streak.  We've got lost time to make up for!"

Don't get attached, I keep telling myself (and everyone else keeps telling me).  The girls at work approve of my seeing him as long as it's for physical reasons only.  I can't help but see something good going on between us though every time we're together. 

I'll continue to see them both as long as they'll continue to see me.  If things progress with me and Workaholic (or anyone for that matter) to the point where being exclusive came up, I will have sit down and have a talk with Hulk and either make this into something or end it ... because, truth be told, he is the one I really want--everyone else is second choice.  

For now though, we are just making up for "lost time." 

Great night last night!

Hannah, Kristin, and I have not all hung out together since my 21st birthday.  One day, as we sat around reminiscing, we decided that we had such an amazing time that night that Hannah and Kristin would put aside their strife for a moment in order to try to relive it. 

We decided on Tongue & Groove, since, as Kristin put it, "We have NEVER had a bad night there!" (I don't know though ... being ditched by Kristin and having to catch a ride home from some Egyptian guys was NOT such a great night!).

As we were planning our evening, I was also messaging  a guy I had been talking to for a couple of weeks through myspace.com. I was convinced that he would never meet me in person since he hadn't mentioned anything about it and was always talking about his busy work schedule, so I was surprised that morning when I got a message from him that said he would be going to American Pie and that I should come with my girls. 
"You know you want to go to Tongue & Groove instead ..." I responded. 

I didn't realize my mind manipulation powers were so strong ... I didn't think he would actually show up!

The girls and I got there a little after 11.  When we looked around and realized the place was practically deserted, I said, "I'm gonna need a shot ..."

While at the bar, I spotted him sitting at a table a few feet away from us, but I played coy and acted like I didn't see him.  I wanted to see if he would approach me.

The girls wanted tequila.  Ouch.  Shots in general are not a good idea for me ... and tequila is really not a good idea, especially on an empty stomach.  We did a toast to Girls' Night Out.  Luckily, I didn't get much of it in my mouth.  For some reason, I cannot drink out of a shot glass and managed to spill most of it down my chin. 

After I finished wiping myself off, he walked up, held out his hand and said, "Hey, I'm The Workaholic.  Nice to finally meet you." 

Wow.  Cute.

I shook his hand and introduced my friends.  I asked him where his friend, Dan, was.  He pointed over to the table where a guy was sitting, drinking beer out of the side of his mouth, one of the strangest things I have ever seen.
"Why didn't you bring him over here with you?"
"Well, I was hoping I could convince you girls to come sit with us."

We did, but the girls were back at the bar shortly after we sat down and came back to hand me a glass of something blue, as if I wasn't already far gone. 

But I drank it.  And I also drank the beer the guy at the table next to us bought me.  He was there with his wife and she wanted to dance, but he didn't.  So, she was on the dance floor by herself when she was approached by some creepy guy.  The husband rolled his eyes at the guy and asked me, "Will you please go dance with her?  That would make her night."

I went out there.  When she spotted me, she grabbed me and said, "Save us from this guy!"  So I manuevered my way in between her and the creep ... and that is how I earned a beer for myself and everyone at my table.

I kept bugging Workaholic to dance with me.  He said he didn't dance, said he just wanted to watch me dance.  Dan also said he didn't dance.  You could tell just by looking at Dan that he was extremely shy, probably nervous around girls, probably has very little to no game, but he was sweet.  The girls had run off to dance in another room, so when they came back, I pointed to Dan and said, "Girls, he wants to dance!"  They managed to drag him off.  Workaholic and I joined them.

When we spotted them, I think my jaw dropped.  The girls were all over Dan, and he was moving in a way that I never would have imagined that he would. 
"We just told him to pretend like he's having sex!" Kristin laughed.

About 1:30am, Workaholic was ready to go.  He motioned to Dan that it was time to go.  I thought that meant he wasn't having a very good time.
The kiss he gave me at the door told me otherwise.

We closed the place down.  I ended up exchanging phone numbers with a guy from Delaware who seemed very nice. 

Hannah took one for the team and distracted a creepy guy who was attempting to talk to me while I was attempting to talk to Delaware.

Kristin exchanged numbers with a guy (who had a great accent) in the middle of traffic. 

Good times ...

"Neil" may be older than the guys I typically date ... but fortunately, I do not miss out on the drama that comes with dating a 20-year old! (*cough* sarcasm)

It must have all started on Thursday when the company Hooker came into my office and asked me about my weekend.  This was unusual.  Normally, we don't speak.  I only know her by reputation, obviously.  I thought she was being sincerely nice, so I told her about my trip to Ohio. 
She nods and interrupts, "And are you going to see him again?"
"What?"
She waves her hands in exasperation at my confusion.  "Neil!"
"Oh ... you wanted to know about THAT--well, um--I don't know.  Probably?"
She nods ... and leaves.

Bizarre.

I came to work Friday and received an account of the events that occurred that Thursday evening when one of the departments of the company (which includes Hooker) went out together for drinks.  Neil showed up to give a co-worker, Adrian, some memory cards for her camera ... and he got something while he was there too--Hooker's phone number.

Emily and I laughed about this, but she was angry that Hooker would do that.  That's pretty much a direct violation of girl code. 
"I should email him!" I laughed.
So Emily and I composed, "Soooo, I hear I have some competition!  I should have known ... you probably have three or four girls after you!"
And got back: "Competition?"& nbsp;(Guys are so clueless) and an invitation to the movies that night.  I accepted and we met up at his place where he keeps a little Neil Diamond statue on his TV (He is so obsessed, I think he might worship it at night before he goes to bed--hence, the nickname Neil).

On the way to the movies, I couldn't resist asking him about Hooker. 
"Yeah, apparently I said something that gave her the wrong idea," he said.
"What in the world did you say?"
"Well, she lives by this bar I love but I can never have a late night there because it's too far from home, so when I found out she lived there, I was like, 'Oh, great! Maybe I can sleep on your couch sometime!' which I didn't realize meant that I wanted to have sex with her!"

Again.  Guys are so clueless. 

So, I had a better second date with Neil. 

...the only problem is his small hands.  Deep breaths.  Gotta look past that one ...

Well, this date was a difficult one to interpret ...

I was at my co-worker's birthday celebration at a Mexican restaurant when a guy who used to work at our company shows up.  I had never met him before, just heard his name in passing a few times (let's call him "Neil").

I didn't really think anything of him.  I was too busy enjoying conversations with my co-workers while spilling salsa all down my shirt and walking around with my zipper down after I came out of the bathroom.

Despite my two big mishaps (which I hardly noticed), Emily came to work the next day saying, "Did you see Neil checking Michelle out?"
"Really?  I didn't notice.  Doesn't he have a girlfriend?"

Nope.  He emailed me the day after that, asking if he could take me out for drinks.  I said yes.  I realized I was really attracted to him. 
"Really?  How old is he?"  Emily asked.
"28."
"How do you know?"
"Myspace."
"He looks OLDER than that!  Like maybe 35 or 40."
I didn't think so.  I thought he looked good for 28.

I was excited about this date.  I was thinking, Yes, this is what I need.  This is what Mom and I were talking about when I was in Ohio--an older man, established, mature. 

So, we emailed back and forth and made plans to go out tonight.  He picked me up at my house, a little weird since we live in the same neighborhood.  We drove to a bar down the street.  Ate, drank, talked about work. 

He told me about his hectic life--full-time work, part-time business, working weekends, going to bed at 1am, says he can't just sit there and not do anything.  It exhausted me just listening to him talk about it.

So then I started questioning whether an older guy would work. Maybe I need someone my age/younger (like usual) who doesn't care about anything and just lets things happen.

Or maybe I just need to stop being so damn picky ...

We left it very strangely.  He told me that his friend is having a party on Saturday to celebrate her boob job.  He warned that because it was this type of celebration, it would be very likely that I would see the new boobs.  In addition, his friend would be very happy to have my sister and our roommate over as well. 

Yeah, right.  Then Val's boobs would be the center of attention. 

Probably not a good idea.