"Charmin"

On a recent business trip, I had a opportunity to catch up with my friend, Holly, whom I hadn’t seen in several months. The last time we had spoke, she had just met an attractive stranger at a friend’s wedding and was very excited about the possibility of a new romance. She had attended the wedding solo, sitting with her colleague and husband. When the husband went to the restroom toward the end of the evening, he was gone for longer than usual and finally returned with another man in tow. It seems the other man approached the colleague’s husband while in the restroom, telling him he had noticed the beautiful woman sitting at his table and asked if he would introduce him (I am told this sort of conversation is a rarity in male restroom culture and generally viewed with great intrepidation). Nevertheless, the husband escorted the man to the table and politely introduced him to Holly.

From there, Holly and Jeff spent the final hour of the wedding reception engaged in conversation. And, when the party ended, they moved to a nearby bar to enjoy another glass of wine. When they parted company, Jeff ensured he had Holly’s phone number and a plan to see her again. The only problem was that he lived 250 miles away.

After two weeks and many entertaining phone conversations, Holly agreed to meet Jeff in San Francisco, approximately half way between each of their homes. In an effort to maximize comfort and ensure the relationship progressed slowly, Holly insisted on having her own hotel room. However, after a first evening of fabulous food, witty conversation and several cocktails, Holly found herself sharing a bottle of wine on the couch in Jeff’s room...

Her next memory is of being jolted awake by a loud explosion. Before she knew it, she was sitting upright in the bed, trying to shake off her wine haze and assess her surroundings. Jeff was not in the bed next to her but as she surveyed the room, she noticed a sliver of light coming from beneath the bathroom door. As several more smaller explosions took place, she quickly realized the “explosions” were indeed human - abnormal and seemingly very severe but definitely human. Her next move was simple: avoid confrontation and minimize embarrassment by simply “playing dead”. In her effort not to move, she eventually fell back asleep and awoke again to a sunlit room and still, no Jeff. Upon calling out his name, the bathroom door opened a few inches and Jeff revealed a pale and forlorn face, mumbling something about dinner not agreeing with him and promised to be out in a few minutes.

While Holly expressed her sympathy, it was clear Jeff was embarrassed and unwilling to further discuss the situation as he sat in the hotel’s restaurant, sipping broth and attempting not to vomit. By early afternoon, it was apparent that he was not recovering and both agreed it would be best for him to catch the next flight home, rather than staying an additional night as originally planned.

Jeff did not correspond with Holly at all the following week. Then, after ten days, she received a detailed text message from Jeff (now nicknamed "Charmin" in Holly's cell phone) expressing how sorry he was that things had not worked out between them. He went on to explain that the weekend in San Fran had made it painfully clear to him that he was not yet over his past relationship and was simply not ready to date again. He wished her well and asked that she please respect his feelings by never contacting him again.

Hmmmm, so the question left in Holly's mind was this: did Jeff's sickness actually remind him that he suddenly missed his ex-girlfriend (as per their previous conversations, he has been single for several years, with no significant recent relationships) or rather was it an elaborate excuse to mask his embarrassment??

Holly has another friend's wedding to attend in a few weeks... will this one be "better luck next time" or is three times the charm???

Lemon: Well, if it was indeed an excuse, I think that unfortunately, as unsexy as it may be, we are all human and well, stuff happens... get over it, Jeff.

Blush

A friend often describes the feeling of meeting a man she really likes romantically as meeting someone that makes her "blush.” By “blush”, she is simply referring to what seems to be that all-too-rare feeling of childlike giddiness and excitement about someone… ideally, it lasts far longer than a first date, month or year. And when you feel it, you know it immediately... you know, that person that you sometimes catch yourself daydreaming about at work as you stare at the computer monitor… the one that makes you involuntarily smile when you receive a text message from him… the one that your heart skips a little fraction of a beat when you see his name illuminate your phone… and again, you find yourself smiling when you hang up the phone after a great conversation... and even more so, it’s the one that when you actually see each other in person, it’s even better than the anticipation of the meeting…

While it has been (and will remain) my "policy" to not discuss my current relationship in my blog, I will say this: he… makes… me… BLUSH and I really like it.

So Readers: when is the last time someone made YOU blush? Who was he/she (no no no, we don't need real names)?? What was the situation???

Honey: Duh…