Soundtrack: Hey Mama by Black Eyed Peas.
I felt Number 16’s presence before I’d even clapped eyes on him. I was working behind the bar at The Admiral, and he was quietly sitting in the corner, surrounded by squaddies, nursing a pint of Coca-Cola… and only looking at me. I could feel him looking. Our eyes met, and that was that. My Mr. Grey had entered my life.
Opposites Attract
We had absolutely nothing in common – and I mean nothing. He didn’t drink, didn’t take drugs, and owned his own apartment. I was a pisshead barmaid, regularly said yes to any drugs that were offered to me, and was barely keeping The Flat together (mostly because Bestie, my roommate, had lost his job and lied about it, so I had to pay all the rent and bills.)
He was a handful of years older than me, and so, so much more advanced in life. Our lifestyles weren’t the same, our music tastes weren’t the same, and we didn’t even like the same movies.
Grey and I were polar opposites.
But you know what they say: opposites attract. And I was attracted to him. I couldn’t explain why, though. He wasn’t my type at all. Tall, yeah, but also short-haired, with an athletic build, and a don’t-give-a-fuck sense of style that definitely wasn’t my style. I wanted to turn my nose up at him… but I couldn’t. I was drawn to him like the proverbial moth to the flame, like I knew that there was something beautifully chaotic hiding beneath his calm façade. I admired him – his intelligence, his dreams, all of him.
We talked as and when we could, all throughout my shift. By the end of it, I was entirely smitten with the new character in my life – and I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted a man before in my life. My body wanted him. All of me wanted him.
But he would only be temporary.
Temporary
“I’ll be travelling up and down the country for a while,” he told me. “Training stuff.”
“How long are you down here for?” I asked.
“A couple of days. Back home to Haggisland for a couple of weeks after that, then back down here [SE England] for a couple of weeks.”
“Back home to a girlfriend?” I asked, hoping more than anything that he would say no.
“Nope,” he replied. “My cat. Gotta let the cat sitter have a break at some point, right?”
I almost danced like a madwoman behind the bar as soon as I heard those magical words. The Lapdog didn’t enter my mind. Not once. It’s not like we’d had the exclusive chat, or anything… if that’s any kind of defence? As soon as I’d met Grey, though, I knew that I didn’t really want Lapdog. There was nothing wrong with him; he just wasn’t the right guy for me.
Grey stayed until the very end of the night, even when all of his military friends had left. When my boss kicked him out, he waited outside for me.
“I’d like to give you a lift home,” he said, and his eyes glinted with a smile that didn’t reach his mouth.
My heart sank. I already had a lift home… from The Lapdog, who was waiting in his Vauxhall Nova in the parking lot.
I pointed to the car, gutted. “I’ve got a lift home already, I’m sorry!”
“When’s your next shift?” Grey asked.
“Tomorrow. Two until eleven pm.”
He turned to walk away. “See you tomorrow!”
I had butterflies for the entire drive home, then thought about Grey when Lapdog fucked me that night. My bad.
The next blog post in the dating timeline is this one: RxHeaven.
Thank you so much for reading my blog today! 🖤
Want to read all about My Mr. Grey’s story, right from the very beginning? 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:
