Laurent's Story
I contacted Laurent at the begging of the summer through one of my multiple online profiles. I have seen her profile in several sites, so I could tell that she was “new in town” and was looking for love (I think that perhaps she was more looking for a one-night stand... but I tend to be very innocent and think that everyone is looking for love and romance...).
She had a contagious smile and big red lips, blue eyes and dark hair with half of her hair shaved (very trendy among lesbians and/or feminists these days in Brighton....). She was what I call a "Brighton Fahsion Victim", a mix between a trendy hipster and a 60's hippie bohemian. She also commented that she loved to dance to electro music and enjoyed a good night out with plenty of booze, cigarettes and other soft (or not that soft) drugs if they were nearby.
We meet at the Brighton Pier around six in the afternoon, which in British time tends to be after dinner, but as I am from the continent I didn't eat anything before going on my date. I thought that we were going to go for a quick coffee/tea, and this is usually a 1-hour date... So, I planned to have my dinner after the date... Bad planning!
She told me that she had been already drinking (2 pints and a few shots of whiskey she confessed after...) and therefore, she proposed to buy some more booze and go to the beach. I accepted her offer and we went to an off-license to get some beers. I was going to get the usual light beer for lame drinkers: Corona, but she looked at me funny and took 4 long cans of Kronenbourg and we hit the beach.
The conversation flowed naturally (the beer helped). She had done illustration at University but had no intention of working in that field anymore. She was looking for a bar job to pay her bills while she was enjoying the night (and day) life in Brighton. She just moved from a small village and the city (for me very small) was a huge paradise for her.
We agreed on the "amazingness" of Brighton (one thing in common)... but we seem to have very different backgrounds and life aspirations... But I thought that perhaps, I should relax and enjoy the afternoon with an oversize can of beer and attractive company for once... - Life is too short! was the little devil inside my head shouting..... After all, I need to be less uptight and stop overthinking everything in my life...
At some point on the cloudy deserted beach, we got surrounded by angry seagulls that were throwing pebbles from the sky... She commented that it was a mating ritual and that the male seagulls do it to grab the attention of the female seagulls...
How interesting? I thought! She knew about animal mating rituals... I was impressed!!!
It makes sense that male stupidity might also exist among seagulls... I am often amazed by how many guys throw pebbles at the sea or at other objects (usually oversize beer cans) at the beach in a competitive ritual to see who gets their stone further... How fascinating it was that the same behaviour can also be found in animals...
Anyway, back to Laurent (which of course is not her real name). After the beach, we went to a cafe place, my intention was to order some food but she came back from the bar with two more beers and the message that the kitchen was closed.... oh well... at that point I should have stopped, go home, have dinner and think whether or not she was going to get a second date.... but the alcohol made me stay... after that third beer we tried to get food in another place, but the kitchen was also closed.... But it was happy hour in the place next door..... so, one more beer and some dancing followed....
At that point, I was drunk but sober enough to know that more alcohol was a bad idea, so I decided to stop with the booze. However, my companion seemed that had only started...
We dance and I bumped into a friend of mine and her girlfriend. They got us some shots and another round... I was definitely quite drunk at that point.... more dancing followed and suddenly some kissing!
We dance a bit more... or perhaps a lot more... I don't remember... but at some point I said:
"I am very very hungry, I'm going to get some chips, do you want to come?" and she did.
As I lived at the time in the corner of the most famous 24h Fish&Chips places in Brighton, we ended up in my house... I think that she pulled the trick of... I need to use your bathroom.... but I was drunk... so I felt for it...
She entered in my house and went straight to the toilet to puke her guts out... I was in the corridor feeling awful... not for her, but for me as I was going to have to clean that the next morning...
When she came out of the toilet, she rolled a cigarette... but after two drags she told me that she was feeling very bad and asked me if she could crash in my bed... and since I am a nice person and said: Of course! Thinking... Bad idea....!!! Bad idea!!!
And of course, she took all the bed and covers leaving me with a small space and no duvet left, but as I was still drunk and I fell asleep quickly anyway...
I woke up for work earlier the next morning (I didn't mention that it was a Thursday date, well, now been extended to Friday)... She was sleeping and perhaps pretending not to hear me waking up... I had a shower, had my breakfast and got ready, bad thing was that I mentioned that I could work from home the night before on the spur of the moment... and she took it as "working from home" day, but I actually needed to do some work.
She apparently had no intention to leave my bed as she was probably still drunk... She send me 'the look' of “come to join me in your bed” a couple of times... but I was not drunk anymore and therefore the "one-night-stand idea" from the night before seemed a bad idea the morning. After all, it was going against my principles and my search for true love.... So, at that point I started to get a bit annoyed at her.... she was being very needy and I had to do some work so I wanted her to leave.... But how do I say it?
Rule Nº1 of a one-night stand: NEVER take the girl to your place, otherwise you can't leave.... and I am way too polite to kick anyone out.... So, two or three hours later, while I was working and she was sleeping (pretending?), she got the hint and decided to leave.... I have to confess that if the night would have stopped in the first bar, I probably would have called her back again for a second date...but the night didn't end there...
However, even if there was no second date, we kept in touch for a while through WhatsApp. I did like her, perhaps more as a friend than as a potential girlfriend and is never a bad idea to expand your network of friends. However, neither of us made the effort to meet up again... I have seen her on nights out in Brighton, first, we talked a bit... but lately it seems that we avoid each other... I confess that I did avoid her the last time I saw her at Revenge (The only gay club in Brighton), but it was because I was with another online date that I liked (another story to come...).
We could have been friends... but you know how the online world works.... you pretend to keep in touch, to be friends... but you never are...
The rule of the online dating world apparently is: "keep your past dates close in case the current ones fail as a back up".... but I don't like to have backup plans... I don't like being on my own, but I think that the awkward feeling the morning after a meaningless hook-up is even worst... it makes me feel a bit empty inside. Perhaps this is just the consequence of watching too many Disney movies during my childhood, but.... I still (want to) believe in love so... I will keep looking... Laurent was not the one!
PS: She left a pair of white ankle shocks at my house that I washed and now use for the gym.... is that weird... ???
Some nights you just need to pretend that never happened....
I contacted Laurent at the begging of the summer through one of my multiple online profiles. I have seen her profile in several sites, so I could tell that she was “new in town” and was looking for love (I think that perhaps she was more looking for a one-night stand... but I tend to be very innocent and think that everyone is looking for love and romance...).
She had a contagious smile and big red lips, blue eyes and dark hair with half of her hair shaved (very trendy among lesbians and/or feminists these days in Brighton....). She was what I call a "Brighton Fahsion Victim", a mix between a trendy hipster and a 60's hippie bohemian. She also commented that she loved to dance to electro music and enjoyed a good night out with plenty of booze, cigarettes and other soft (or not that soft) drugs if they were nearby.
We meet at the Brighton Pier around six in the afternoon, which in British time tends to be after dinner, but as I am from the continent I didn't eat anything before going on my date. I thought that we were going to go for a quick coffee/tea, and this is usually a 1-hour date... So, I planned to have my dinner after the date... Bad planning!
She told me that she had been already drinking (2 pints and a few shots of whiskey she confessed after...) and therefore, she proposed to buy some more booze and go to the beach. I accepted her offer and we went to an off-license to get some beers. I was going to get the usual light beer for lame drinkers: Corona, but she looked at me funny and took 4 long cans of Kronenbourg and we hit the beach.
The conversation flowed naturally (the beer helped). She had done illustration at University but had no intention of working in that field anymore. She was looking for a bar job to pay her bills while she was enjoying the night (and day) life in Brighton. She just moved from a small village and the city (for me very small) was a huge paradise for her.
We agreed on the "amazingness" of Brighton (one thing in common)... but we seem to have very different backgrounds and life aspirations... But I thought that perhaps, I should relax and enjoy the afternoon with an oversize can of beer and attractive company for once... - Life is too short! was the little devil inside my head shouting..... After all, I need to be less uptight and stop overthinking everything in my life...
At some point on the cloudy deserted beach, we got surrounded by angry seagulls that were throwing pebbles from the sky... She commented that it was a mating ritual and that the male seagulls do it to grab the attention of the female seagulls...
How interesting? I thought! She knew about animal mating rituals... I was impressed!!!
It makes sense that male stupidity might also exist among seagulls... I am often amazed by how many guys throw pebbles at the sea or at other objects (usually oversize beer cans) at the beach in a competitive ritual to see who gets their stone further... How fascinating it was that the same behaviour can also be found in animals...
Anyway, back to Laurent (which of course is not her real name). After the beach, we went to a cafe place, my intention was to order some food but she came back from the bar with two more beers and the message that the kitchen was closed.... oh well... at that point I should have stopped, go home, have dinner and think whether or not she was going to get a second date.... but the alcohol made me stay... after that third beer we tried to get food in another place, but the kitchen was also closed.... But it was happy hour in the place next door..... so, one more beer and some dancing followed....
At that point, I was drunk but sober enough to know that more alcohol was a bad idea, so I decided to stop with the booze. However, my companion seemed that had only started...
We dance and I bumped into a friend of mine and her girlfriend. They got us some shots and another round... I was definitely quite drunk at that point.... more dancing followed and suddenly some kissing!
We dance a bit more... or perhaps a lot more... I don't remember... but at some point I said:
"I am very very hungry, I'm going to get some chips, do you want to come?" and she did.
As I lived at the time in the corner of the most famous 24h Fish&Chips places in Brighton, we ended up in my house... I think that she pulled the trick of... I need to use your bathroom.... but I was drunk... so I felt for it...
She entered in my house and went straight to the toilet to puke her guts out... I was in the corridor feeling awful... not for her, but for me as I was going to have to clean that the next morning...
When she came out of the toilet, she rolled a cigarette... but after two drags she told me that she was feeling very bad and asked me if she could crash in my bed... and since I am a nice person and said: Of course! Thinking... Bad idea....!!! Bad idea!!!
And of course, she took all the bed and covers leaving me with a small space and no duvet left, but as I was still drunk and I fell asleep quickly anyway...
I woke up for work earlier the next morning (I didn't mention that it was a Thursday date, well, now been extended to Friday)... She was sleeping and perhaps pretending not to hear me waking up... I had a shower, had my breakfast and got ready, bad thing was that I mentioned that I could work from home the night before on the spur of the moment... and she took it as "working from home" day, but I actually needed to do some work.
She apparently had no intention to leave my bed as she was probably still drunk... She send me 'the look' of “come to join me in your bed” a couple of times... but I was not drunk anymore and therefore the "one-night-stand idea" from the night before seemed a bad idea the morning. After all, it was going against my principles and my search for true love.... So, at that point I started to get a bit annoyed at her.... she was being very needy and I had to do some work so I wanted her to leave.... But how do I say it?
Rule Nº1 of a one-night stand: NEVER take the girl to your place, otherwise you can't leave.... and I am way too polite to kick anyone out.... So, two or three hours later, while I was working and she was sleeping (pretending?), she got the hint and decided to leave.... I have to confess that if the night would have stopped in the first bar, I probably would have called her back again for a second date...but the night didn't end there...
However, even if there was no second date, we kept in touch for a while through WhatsApp. I did like her, perhaps more as a friend than as a potential girlfriend and is never a bad idea to expand your network of friends. However, neither of us made the effort to meet up again... I have seen her on nights out in Brighton, first, we talked a bit... but lately it seems that we avoid each other... I confess that I did avoid her the last time I saw her at Revenge (The only gay club in Brighton), but it was because I was with another online date that I liked (another story to come...).
We could have been friends... but you know how the online world works.... you pretend to keep in touch, to be friends... but you never are...
The rule of the online dating world apparently is: "keep your past dates close in case the current ones fail as a back up".... but I don't like to have backup plans... I don't like being on my own, but I think that the awkward feeling the morning after a meaningless hook-up is even worst... it makes me feel a bit empty inside. Perhaps this is just the consequence of watching too many Disney movies during my childhood, but.... I still (want to) believe in love so... I will keep looking... Laurent was not the one!
PS: She left a pair of white ankle shocks at my house that I washed and now use for the gym.... is that weird... ???
Some nights you just need to pretend that never happened....
Picture taken in Las Vegas September 2014
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