Notes on New York in These Foolish Things

As you know, the Bulldog opted out of going on my weekend work trip to New York with me due to his foot pain. I told him that I didn’t mind if he backed out, but from my previous entry you can probably tell that it hurt my feelings pretty badly. I’m over it at this point, but I won’t forget that it happened. I’m not holding a grudge; I just don’t want to have more expectations than I should have.

I touched down on a beautiful, sunny yet chilly, windy Saturday afternoon. By the time I got my luggage, cabbed it to Midtown and got all checked in at my hotel, it was mid-afternoon. I wanted to get some work research done, but I also wanted to get a little personal time in as well. I headed to SoHo where I could do both! Found a few good finds, and texted an old fling for a while.

Lo and behold, said former fling actually had NO plans for that evening. And it was Saturday night, no less. We realized that we hadn’t seen each other in almost a decade, and decided that I should cancel my dinner reservations (I mean, who wants to go solo to a romantic restaurant meant for me and the Bulldog?) and we should meet in a bar we’d frequent way back when. It’s actually a bar where he still hangs out – close to his place where he still lives, ten years later.

I canceled dinner and headed to Union Square - walked a couple of cold, cold blocks and met him in the same old location. Former Fling looked the same, only better. Now 37 (yeah, I robbed that cradle hard!), he has matured into a fine-looking gentleman. I mean, he was cute when I met him but I think he’s aging quite well. Thankfully, he said the same about me.

What a blast from the past! It was as if no time had gone by, and yet we had so many things to talk about. The guy is hilariously funny, charming and clever, and we picked up where we left off very easily. I’d say I’ve done a lot more than he has from a life experience standpoint – I found it strange that he didn’t have a whole lot to report over the last ten years. I think he comes from a wealthy family and doesn’t hurt for $$$, and I wonder if that’s stunted his growth, so to speak.

We talked relationships, and even that kind of threw me as he’s had a few girlfriends, but none much longer than 6 months. Weird, right? Eh. Who knows anymore?

Even saw his buddy from way back when we were living in the Great Midwest and he was a resident at the Med School. Now this guy has done AMAZING things. He’s gone from being a medical student to having 14 dermatology offices across the New York area. Former Fling is a part owner in this biz, so I guess maybe he has done stuff, I just can’t really tell. Or didn’t really get a lot of that from our conversation.

I got HAMMERED. So hammered that I decided that I wanted to take it waaaay back and go back to his place. So we did. Major making out had been happening for hours at the bar at this point, but I had no intentions of fucking him, so I didn’t. We just cuddled together in his bed and groped a little, but it felt weird. All I could think of was the Bulldog, and this has happened before with other guys (did I ever write about Quentin from my trip to the Great Midwest over Thanksgiving?). I have an issue. I am clearly in love with the Bulldog. Otherwise, I could screw other guys, right? Right?

Regardless, I was still drunk when I woke up. We talked a bit and he tried to get in my panties again, but again I stopped him from doing anything hot and steamy. I told him I had to leave and go to this trade show all day, so I needed to be going.

He was cool with that and we got dressed and he walked me to the corner and hailed me a cab, just like so many mornings so long ago. It was such a weird feeling to be doing that again.

Back to the hotel, shower, dressed, and then off to the trade show.

Show was great, but I was hurting quite a bit. During the show, the Bulldog and I texted off and on and he told me that a friend of ours was going to be there, but she and I never connected (I think it was on purpose – there’s some kind of weird story there that I don’t even know…do I even want to know? My guess is, no).

Anyway, I had to go back to the hotel and nap for a bit before meeting [Charmingly Neurotic] at her friend’s place to watch the Stupid Bowl. I was burnt tired to a crisp, but actually looking forward to the evening.

Got up and got ready and cabbed it to [CN]’s friend’s place. It was freezing cold, snowing and spitting a little sleet, so the party was small and intimate – which turned out to be perfect because we could all talk and enjoy the game (heh…I didn’t watch any of it – I only watched the commercials and the crazy half time show). It was a lovely, mellow time and [CN] needed to go before the end of the game anyway, so we said our goodbyes and I cabbed it back to the hotel where I met up with some brand new friends I’d made at the lobby bar the evening before (before I even met up with Former Fling…long story!).

It was snowing pretty hard by the time I made it back to the hotel – I was expecting heavy snow, and here it was.

Had an absolute blast hanging out with these fabulously wonderful people! They are caterers in the DC area who were in NY to attend the trade show, and we spent hours at the bar talking with the bartender about dating, relationships, marriage, dogs, tinder, etc.

When all was said and done, I almost got a Tinder date out of the whole thing. TONS of laughs and drinks and such. Fun, fun! It did my heart so good.

Next morning was miserable. Snow and slush and ice and weathercasters warning that Winter Storm Linus was upon us, so I decided to get out and see if I could make a go of it. It really wasn’t meant to be, so I decided to take a chance on getting out, so I checked out of my hotel and headed for La Guardia airport.

The airport could be a whole entry in and of itself. I will bulletize: