And then it all went horribly wrong...

I have to admit, yesterday was a really good day.

Saturday - first day of the weekend - got to sleep in a little. Naturally woke up at 7:30 am, but that was just too early for what I had planned as a lazy weekend morning. Actually managed to convince my brain that it wasn't time to wake up yet and slept until 10. Nice.

Woke up, had a cup of tea, made myself a pretty scrumptious omelet (getting pretty good at those - discovered that adding a few oregano leaves to my egg mixture - along with pepper, salt and some milk - adds that right amount of extra flavour...). Pretty relaxing.

Next, I headed off to my Pilates class. Was on time for a change - even a little early - and it didn't absolutely kill me. Still felt like I worked out, but was able to keep up with the instructor. So far, so good.

Spent the rest of the afternoon with some friends, hiking around Manly Dam (great thing to do - scary to believe I've lived here 18 months and prior to our hike - didn't know there was a Dam in Manly.... obviously need to get out more...). Beautiful autumn day - bright and sunny but not too hot.

The friends I hiked with, invited me out for dinner and drinks that night at the local pub. Figured, why not? A good meal followed by a few drinks. Everything was going swimmingly. Really, if it had all ended there, it would have classified as a Grade A day.

But it didn't stop there. A few more drinks, a new pub and some new people. And in particular, this nice Irish bloke. He caught my eye - and I seemed to have caught his. Spent the next couple of hours talking and then talking and flirting. You know how it goes: first its eye contact, then its standing closer, then its accidental touching (like arms brushing), then its intentional touching (like arm around the shoulders). It's the age old flirting ritual. All in good fun.

So, I was getting all the signals. Even my girlfriends were thinking something was going on. And it was - well, until I said something - and then it all went horribly wrong.

I can't remember exactly what it was - but it was flirty (okay - I do remember, but I don't feel like telling you - but believe me when I say it was relatively harmless - something along the lines of walking me home). Not too forward - it was all in context - but WHOA - you should have seen the reaction. It was almost like he suddenly thought I had an infectious disease. He literally backed away from me (I was sitting on a stool - I wasn't really going after him...). In his long ramble of rejection, he said things like "I don't date from this suburb" to what I think was an attempt at salvaging all the effort put into the evening with him saying "Well, I haven't had sex in four weeks, I'd be up for that." Now really - with an offer like that - could I really refuse?

Of course I could. I do have some self-respect. The funny thing is, I was having such a good day, I wasn't really looking for anything that evening. I was enjoying having had a full day and hanging with friends. It was fun flirting, but it wasn't like I was on the hunt or anything.

It was soooo awkward. Then he just up and left. Left all his friends behind too. So weird.

So, although it went horribly wrong in the end, I decided not to take it personally. I had had a good day and I was going to remember that.

But man.... sometimes I wish I had a video camera to record the behaviour in the pubs out here. You need to see it to believe it....