Soundtrack: Bathwater by No Doubt.
I’ve done a lot of things in my sexual and dating history. Some of it was good, and some of it was bad. It was up and down like the proverbial rollercoaster a lot of the time. One thing I’ve tried really hard not to do along the way is regret anything. I mean, yes, I’ve fucked people that I probably shouldn’t have fucked, but that’s how we learn those lessons, right? We cheat, then we get cheated on, and it usually breaks our hearts in barbaric and cruel ways – that’s the cycle. You have to live it, both sides of it sometimes, to feel it and know it.
There are a few people that I would regret, if I let myself, though. Number 17, The Fireman’s Sister, was one of them. That one action started a series of events that would come back to bite me in the ass in quite some style.
But we’ll get to that in due time.
For now, allow me to introduce you to Number 17.
The Fireman’s Sister
The Fireman’s Sister, who I shall now call Jane, was someone that I didn’t particularly like, let alone feel attracted to. I tolerated her because I was dating her brother. She tolerated me because everyone else in the family seemed to like me. That’s as far as it went, though. We were civil at family events, but aside from that, we essentially pretended that the other didn’t exist. No malice or real bitchiness; just plain ‘n simple friendship incompatibility.
The good thing about separating from The Fireman (for the bazillionth time) was not having to pretend to like her anymore. We didn’t hang out in the same places, have the same friendship groups, or even similar hobbies. I was hurting, and I didn’t want to see her, or any of his family. They’d have questions. How would I answer them? I wasn’t healed enough for all of that, but, thankfully, there was no chance of Jane and I ever bumping into each other again… or so (as I frequently say) I thought.
The Gay Bar
I was out drinking with some of my queer friends in a local popular gay bar when I thought I saw the back of Jane’s head. But why on earth would strait-laced and pretty conservative Jane be in a gay bar? I shook the idea from my head and carried on having a jolly good time.
An hour or so later, someone tapped me on the shoulder. “NotSo?”
I turned around, and who did I see? Yes, that’s right: Jane. She was standing right in front of me, wide-eyed, big smile on her face, clearly a little tipsy. I was, too.
“Hey, you!” she said, giving me a hug. “It’s good to see you!”
I was taken aback. Was it? Didn’t we hate each other?!
“Hi,” I said, awkwardly hugging her back. Then, because I was uncomfortable and drunk, I said, “Are you gay now?”
Thankfully, she laughed. “Nope. Are you?”
We weren’t exactly off to a flying start, but it was a step in the right and unexpected direction. Jane bought me a drink, and the floodgates were open. We got absolutely bladdered together, forgetting all about the original friends that we were meant to be socialising with. She admitted that her relationship wasn’t going well and was thinking about calling off the engagement (with a man.) We both cried a bit: her, for her failing relationship; and me, for my former one.
“He was a bit of a prick sometimes, wasn’t he?” she said, referring to The Fireman, AKA her brother.
I wasn’t going to get into all that with her. Nope. I didn’t trust her; she’d go back and tell the family everything I’d said.
“Let’s just drink and forget about the men,” I said, buying more shots.
And that’s just what we did.
Come closing time, Jane asked me if I wanted to carry on drinking at her place.
“Are we becoming… friends?” I said, mock-shocked.
She laughed. “I thought you were a bitch, but you’re actually alright!”
It was a backhanded compliment and a half, but I took it. Ten minutes later, still laughing about it, we fell into a taxi… but the night wasn’t quite over just yet.
The next blog post in the dating timeline is this one: Tingle.
Thanks so much for reading my blog today! 🖤
Want to read all about The Fireman’s Sister, from start to finish? You’ll find that right here.
You can also read all about my disastrous dating history, right from the beginning, right here: Table of Dating Contents.
Alternatively, why not have a little peek around here: