Careful Whose Ass You Kiss

So work has gone well up to this point. Looks like it'll be a tough but good job with great experience. I like the people. The company seems to be pretty good.

Everything has been going well, up until today. I take that back, today even went well except for this event:

I had to attend a laptop training today. Mind you, I have trained systems before and am pretty decent with computers. I really doubt they could show me something I don't already know or couldn't figure out. But I will appease them. No biggy...gives me something to do.

So I arrive a tad early and get a little time to chat with the instructor. At one point, I make the comment that you have to be nice to your IT folks and that I'd have to buy him a drink sometime. I've made that joke at every place I've worked. Actually, it's not so much of a joke. I do kiss up to the IT people and if given the opportunity, I do try and do something for them. Those are the people to have on your side!

So, as I'm leaving, he asks, "Were you serious about that drink?" I nonchalantly said, "Sure, we'll have to do that sometime." Not thinking too much of it. If we did go, it wouldn't be so bad...he was funny, and hey....gotta get in good with the IT people.

Later on, I was at my cubical, waiting for my laptop to be delivered from a different IT guy. However, to my surprise, the guy I owe a drink to shows up with it. He sets it all up, we joke back and forth and with a few others around. Then, the girl that sits next to me asked if he wanted to go to lunch with us. He accepts and I end up having to ride with him to the restaurant.

This is where I find out that we aren't just joking back and forth, he is flirting. And he's laying it on thick. Too thick for my comfort! When we get to the restaurant, I am sure to make it where we aren't sitting right next to each other. I knew I needed to start giving signs to show that I was interested. I was polite, but definitely didn't return any of his flirtations. I actually made the attempt to seem a lot different from him. He has a kid and I am assuming is in his late 30's early 40's. I made it a point to mention that I was 25 during lunch. We were then talking about going out, going to bars and what not when he made the statement that he doesn't drink. So I made it a point to say how often I drank. I may have sounded like a lush, but at that point...I didn't care.

Afterward, the girls that were with us made the comment of how he was "googling" me during lunch and was laying it on pretty thick. They had no knowledge of anything that had previously happened.

So we ride back, where I find out he lives 1/4 of a mile from me. Just great! I rush to a meeting and hope that's the last of that for awhile.

Then I get an email from him. I waited a little while to read it. I was dreading what it might say. To sum it up, he asked if I was serious about drinks and that if so, he would love to. The email was as forward as you can get without coming right out and saying I'm interested.

I didn't reply. Not yet. And now I'm kicking myself because I'm sure he put a read receipt on that thing!

He's a nice guy. He's a funny guy. If you've seen Sex & the City, he's basically the divorce lawyer guy Charlotte marries after her 1st husband. He's not my type, not at all.

And the thing is, if he wouldn't have been so forward....if he wouldn't have laid it on so thick, I would have no problem going out for a drink, shooting some pool and just hanging out. None at all. But the fact of the matter is, if I do go, he's going to take it wrong. And I don't want to be miserable the whole time because I know that each of us is there for different reasons.

So, the girls next to me think it's hysterical. I don't find it as amusing as they do.