I've been trying to remember if I ever saw them both on the same night before. I can't recall any such night.

Hey universe, seriously, one per night is enough, okay?

My night started out at The Pub in Louisville, with some curry fries and a yummy Newcastle (2934). Shortly after I arrived, I found myself wondering if I'd see MixedSignalGirl. I just had a feeling that I would. I actually got a little nervous just thinking about it. So, to either ease or confirm my concern, I asked her. I texted her, told her I was at The Pub, and asked if she'd be there.

She responded that she'd be there at 8:30.

Yay!

I found myself with forty-five minutes to kill - forty-five minutes which dragged on for a million years. It would have been nice if I could have gone into a quickie coma or something so I wouldn't have had to wait. It's funny. I've played very important pool matches. I've presented to captains of industry, and generals of the military. I can speak to any crowd on a wide range of topics. I don't get nervous doing any of those things. Yet, when it comes to MixedSignalGirl, I still shake like a leaf. I had another Newcastle (2954) to calm my nerves.

She showed up right on time, which was odd. She was beautiful, which was expected.

The Pub was pretty busy. There were no booths open. Plus this one cow that we didn't want to see was there, so we went across the street to the poolhall Felt where we could have some privacy.

It was very nice to see her. The friendship is still there. I'd had no real idea, until last week, how much the thought that she hated me was dragging me down. When I saw her last week, a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. This was more of the same. I float when I'm with her. We're friends again. Anything else, well anything else still seems to be beyond our capabilities. Eventually, we'll learn to deal with that.

At 9:30, her friends started calling her, wondering where she was, and so we parted company.

Next, I went to Hard Rock and had a Winter's Bourbon Cask Ale (84). I tried to talk to CoolHairGirl, but it was pretty busy in there, so we only got to chat for a minute or two. One thing she told me was that she'd never had a Newcastle. I told her that The Pub has the best Newcastle around, and she said that she might go in there with her friend later. She promised to let me know what she thought.

Next, I went over to Rich O's. I went to the restroom as soon as I arrived, and when I came out, lo and behold, there was LaptopGirl, standing there talking to ExBartender.

Yay!

I said Hi and waved at her, even though I was standing about a foot from her. I was a little flustered. I'd been all set to spend the rest of the night missing MixedSignalGirl, and those plans had suddenly gone out the window. Now, I had to shift gears. Now I had to act like a normal person for a while. Make LaptopGirl think I was a normal person.

Inside Rich O's proper, I talked to MisunderstoodGirl for a minute or two. Normally, of course, seeing MisunderstoodGirl would be a cause for minor celebration and several minutes of talk. But not with LaptopGirl in the room. Plus, she was busy talking with OddlyPrettyGirl.

The throne was empty, so I sat there. On the sofa sat BigWheelGirl, LaptopGirl, and WeatherGirl. On the loveseat sat a couple of hippies. Those five were all there together, and I felt a little bit like I was intruding. But what was I supposed to do, sit at the bar? With LaptopGirl to my back? No fucking way.

Oh yeah, beer. I had a Wostyntje (109), and a small sample of something new to me.

Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout (4)

(draft) Black with a large tan head. Fantastic chocolate and malt aroma. The flavor is chocolately and roasty. Very roasty. I'm not even sure that's a word, but I'm using it anyway. Pretty damn good. The 10.6% ABV is very well hidden.

I spent the next hour or so pretending, as well as I could, to be a normal person. I tried several times to make eye contact with LaptopGirl, so that we might actually exchange words. On those occasions when I succeeded, I wriggled like a puppy.

But, she wasn't there to see me. She was there with her friends. And I didn't want to intrude. Actually, that's a lie. I most certainly did want to intrude. I wanted to intrude the hell out of her. Drag her off someplace so we could have an actual conversation. Like the old days. I wanted to intrude, but I somehow restrained myself. Like the old days.

After a while, I gleaned that she'd be heading Westward again soon. So when she got up to leave, I must have said goodbye about a million times. That wasn't enough, so when she was out in the front area saying goodbye to some people out there, I stood and I watched her, and every time our eyes met, I mouthed the word goodbye again.

And then she left, and I started missing her again.

After that, I spent some time spilling my guts to WeatherGirl, because she asked, then I spent some more time trying to undo that damage.

After they started kicking everyone out of Rich O's, I went over to this Jack's place and had myself a PBR (36) and pretended that I was a normal person again.