momentarily perfect

ah. twenty-four hours of nothing going wrong. finally.

last night i ended my four-day streak of working. and so, of course, i ended it on a high note: by plopping myself down at the bar at my Actual Restaurant Job and indulging in my shift drinks (plus some). happy saint patty's day!

ah co-workers. its the funny thing about working in a restaurant - one minute you are all about to kill each other, cursing their laziness that caused you to do ALL the side work or their inattentiveness that cost you that tip. and the next minute, you are all leaning on one another, drinking for hours at the bar and becoming Best Friends Forever. also sometimes one particular kitchen staff lady will start drunkenly showing you pictures of her cat. hm.

and so began my saint patty's day night. on beer number whatever, i was happily texting barista boy back and forth, trying to see if our paths could cross. i was distracted, however, because: 1. one of the kitchen prep cooks was getting boozy and talking to me about her cats. and 2. an old friend suddenly started texting me ridiculously flirty messages.

background info! summer 2008 was ridiculous in this girl's life. boy ridiculous. grade A ridiculous. details? no, too long of a story. facts. around july, i meet three separate boys: 1. McWaiter - an adorable server at the now defunct cafe around the corner. also an accomplished painter. 2. McCult - a gorgeous (think former model) film guy who works at amazon when he's not hanging out with his adorable and somewhat creepily close younger brother. also, he once confessed to me that his entire family was raised in a cult. absolute truth! 3. McBoeing - a nerdily cute engineer who had just moved up from california to work at the airline manufacturer. likes riding bikes and watching good movies.

did i mention the uniting fact that all three of these amazing gentlemen who each clearly pursued me during the last confusing six months of 2008 shared? oh yes, none of them were single.

thanks, universe. so, basically, each of them had either an off-and-on again gee-eff, a girlfriend who was currently in another continent or, in one case, a solid four-year relationship. and yet they all flirted, went on (basically) dates, called, texted, and in one case, confessed their attraction and attempted to kiss and subsequently, sleep with me.

stupid summer. i didn't let anything happen, but eventually, it destroyed the friendships i was attempting to maintain with the three guys. we fizzled out, stopped calling, and one guy moved away. but (back to the point!) on tuesday night, McWaiter reappeared in my life in the form of aggressive text-flirtation. all night, from my A.R.J. to (later on) the redwood, he basically text booty-called me. so bizarre.

avoiding the texts, kitchen staff cat lady and i headed over to aforementioned bar. i was eager to see barista boy, who was meeting me there, as well as some other co-workers. but as soon as i walked in, things started to suck. the co-workers who were supposed to meet me were so drunk that they were stumbling home. i couldn't find barista boy. and beyond being stuck with cat lady, suddenly my slutty capitol hill record appeared EVERYWHERE. McTrendy, McFlower, and this random guy who i don't even have a name for all boozingly surrounded me. i was forced to smile awkwardly, give the obligatory hug and 'oh hi! i havent seen you in forever!' and politely decline a drink. uggg. and yes, perfect timing, as the prior hookups of my life presented themselves in practically fucking alphabetical order (while my phone is going nuts with McWaiter texting like crazy AND kitchen staff cat lady is leaning on me asking if i want to drink more - yes.), suddenly behind me barista boy shows up. 'what's going on?,' he asks.

FML*

somehow i ward off the crowds of embarrassment and sit down for a drink with my coffee crush. and then, suddenly, things are good. kitchen staff lady finds a few friends to talk to. embarrassing mistakes disappear. drinks also disappear. and next thing i know, barista boy and i are happily stumbling home.

the next morning is warm sunshine spilling onto shared sheets, my cats climbing into bed with us and waking us up with their purrs. we slept in, well-aware of our lack of obligations for the day. around noon we finally dressed and walked over to his coffee shop, for delicious espresso and reading the paper. we grabbed lunch at a near-by vietnamese restaurant; catching ourselves feeding one another tidbits from our respective plates via shared chopsticks and elbows on tables; wanting the distance caused by the tiny table to be less. so relationshipXcore!

later we caught a bus to the u-district, with barista boy jumping off the bus at an unexpected stop, lightly tugging my hand along with him. why? because he wanted to show me an amazing exhibition at an art gallery. cute. next, we walked to his house and sat around listening to belle & sebastian records while screen printing t-shirts for my friend. double cute. the wonderful twenty-four hours of my life ended with him walking me back to my place, stopping in the middle of a sidewalk along a busy street to passionately smooch me. actually we were in front of a full bus. sort of public, sort of disgusting, sort of i melted.

i continued my evening in a haze of stopping by my new work for orientation and later, a housewarming party for a friend. yet i couldn't get my brain off my wonderfully amazing day. so silly, so not logical. but here i am. ugg.

appendix!

* FML - Fuck My Life. a phrase that immediately demands sympathy from others. often follows an unfortunate 'that REALLY sucks, dude!' story or series of unfortunate events (not the book). also a website. someone, apparently, had the wonderful idea of compiling submitted FML stories in handy, constantly updated blog form. http://www.fmylife.com