the third part of the story is pretty much where it ends

for bout a week and a half since i got back, the uk guy (who i shall now nickname springer for reasons more than just the drama that's happened and that he just sprung up in my event life) were emailing practically every day.

it's been a week and half that i haven't heard from him.

for some reason i decided to find him on facebook (okay, admittedly to "stalk") and realised that 2 weeks ago he and the crazy chick became facebook friends. given that her facebook name isn't a straight-up easy guess, i'm positive that either she searched for him first or they communicated bout this at some point.

he knew that she pulled some crap on me and made it personal (motivated most probably from, though not expressly said, jealousy). not only that but he also knew that she also embellished what happened that night with him and her in her bid to serve her own purpose and attempt to make me jealous. he didn't talk to her much and supposedly thinks she's a crazy chick that we all know she is. but the truth is, he did step into her room. he did engage her in some way. and maybe it was an ego boost for him, seemingly having 2 girls interested in him.

but i've decided that i don't care.

the crazy chick is definitely suspect but i'm leaning towards thinking that springer is just as suspect.

she practically digusts me now after all that she's done (and not just this springer incident in question) and frankly i'd be happy to never have to see her again. it's a pity that she also seems to be pretty good friends with "wayne rooney" who we all know i'm rather close to.

as for springer... i don't know... i just get the gut feeling that something's wrong there... with him. he's just someone i was instantly comfy with and could chat to, we'll leave it at just that.

the night after the morning after

two nights later i walked into the hotel bar. for the last week, the hotel bar was our home away from home. the place where after each day you’d be almost guaranteed to see familiar faces as you walk in.

it was the last day. the big one. i expected it to be.

so i walk in and see the boss lady chatting with the UK guy. i stop by and say hi. he seemed slightly awkward and moved away soon after. my boss lady confided in me that one of the first things he did was to ask her where i was. and then ‘coz the crazy chick and i have similar names she was confused for a minute if he meant me or her. he meant me. but that opened up the topic for my boss lady to ask him about the crazy chick… and that night.

he seemed awkward around me for most of the night. almost purposely not coming over to chat when he would have done so all previous nights before.

it’s all long and complicated but eventually the boss lady, the UK guy and i all manage to sit down and chat and the infamous topic was brought up again. the story went like this…

the crazy chick asked him to walk her to her room. he obliged admittedly ‘coz he thought she was cute. she asked him in saying that they could check out facebook together. he thought it was a bit strange but he stepped in anyway. and a few minutes later just thought it was really odd and left.

she however made it sound as though it was all his idea. and that they hung out in her room for a quite a while such that she wanted him to leave ‘coz she wanted to shower and sleep. like he was trying to overstay his welcome.

with that i knew in an instance what she was really like. and i didn’t like it. and i can’t shake it off. things will always be different between us now (though we were never really close to begin with). but after this, things just got a bit personal.

the rest of the night went pretty well though. i had a wonderful time singing karaoke with everyone. and the UK guy and i even managed to chat a bit here and there one on one. he still stood really closely. and the boss lady is still convinced that he likes me.

i don’t know. mostly it just feels like we're friends. we’ve been emailing for the last week. the good thing bout us marketing/PR folks is that we’re pretty eloquent in the written word.

the morning after

i’ve always felt funny around her, like there was something in our personalities that just didn’t enable us to click. there wasn’t any chemistry and conversations would just sound forced.

in my mind she’s just the crazy chick. the one who gets drunk half the time before anyone else is even remotely there, the one who threw up on our temporary onsite office ‘coz she drank too much with clients and inconvenienced everyone else who had to clean up the mess and send her home after a long days and nights of working. the one who seeks validation from guys and somehow manages to get all the guys proposing and being interested, the one who proudly proclaims that all her boyfriends have been stolen from other girls and that she even dated her best friend’s boyfriend.

right from the start i could tell she viewed me as competition for the UK guy who we met in the last event nevermind that no one is actually available. i met him first and we were already at the comfy chatting stage when she met him. so when she noticed that we were always chatting she told my boss lady that she thought that i liked him. my boss lady (who will always be on my side) replied that well, he’s cute which is undeniable to begin with.

she must have continued to notice that for the most part he actually comes up to me. case in point when right in front of everyone else, he once walked up closely behind me and poked me, bought me a drink and we started chatting bout everything under the sun all the while standing pretty closely even asking me why i didn’t come and look for him when i was onsite briefly that day. as is the case with everyone hanging at the bar, everyone moves around chatting with everyone else and one by one people start to do their disappearing act. after a while i noticed that he had disappeared while i was engaged in conversations with a group.

the next morning at the breakfast table i saw the crazy chick who then specifically told me that the UK guy went to her room the night before to watch tv at 2am and he was trying to convince her to come back down to the bar.

that was strange. the whole thing is strange.

he’s quite obviously never been interested in her. he doesn’t come up and chat to her and even says things to me that he thinks her tattoos are cheesy. and he actually seems like a nice fairly decent guy.

the boss lady is convinced that she initiated it. and really who knows what she may or may not have embellished. but the boss lady’s first thought also ran to the high suspicion that she probably did it (from the initiation to telling me the day after) as a dig at me. she’s just a crazy chick and i think this stunt she pulled further reduced my impression of her.

the boss lady suggested that i ask him what happened that night with the crazy chick.

i didn’t… but the boss lady did…

when will i see you again?

in the work that i do, it’s all too common to have fleeting moments with different people. we all walk in, frequently from different countries, spend too many hours in a day working together closely on a particular event and then one by one we go our separate ways.

it’s awesome as you walk into a brand new project and see familiar faces and hugs go around. sometimes you meet brand new people and you find out more with each conversation or late night dinner and drinks.

like this guy from UK who i’ve initially had some email correspondence with and who i honestly thought was a girl until i met him. a very attractive man indeed. and somehow we just clicked instantly. i had known some others in his office for 3 years but still could not hold a comfortable conversation with ‘em but with him? it just flowed. there seemed to be a fair bit of mutual attraction. the way his eyes always found mine when either of us walked into a roomful of others. of ‘coz he has a girlfriend. they all do.

the work can be tough and often immensely tiring. the end of the event always brings bout bittersweet feelings. on one hand you’re glad it’s over and done. but the leaving? the leaving is always the hardest. especially with people who you’ve build such bonds with through the years.

he: so when will we meet again?
me: i don’t know…
he: are you coming down to *insert state/country of his next event*
me: i’m not sure yet
he: you should try to
me: yeah maybe I would

with that “wayne rooney” stretched his arms wide open and i moved into them with open arms. we hugged. our usual big, tight, long hugs. and then he got into the car and left bound for the airport.

and strangely i felt more emotional than i might normally feel bout it all.

i think in the last year we have gotten closer as co-workers and friends. there is just such a sense of familiarity and comfort level with him and the ability to talk bout anything at all, at all times.

he wasn’t even on this project but as his project located a mere half hour away ended a week ago, he came round to join us for a few days. we spent a week apart in different countries on different events after the month we had on the same project ended. but somehow that week felt so long and the month felt so short.

and realistically, it could be very well be months before we might meet again.

that is my life.