I have a button that I wear on my spring jacket. The button reads Almost Single, which, when I bought it seemed appropriate as I was in an open long distance relationship. I hadn’t really thought about the button until a few days ago when a bunch of people – here at the conference I am at - felt compelled to comment on my button, what does that mean, how provocative, isn’t that funny/interesting and so on. The most notable came from a man that I have met once or twice but know of quite well by his reputation as a ladies man/lover of women/slut, depending on who is giving the answer.
He was very intrigued by the button and made jokes and comments and I became all flirty and blushed and sputtered my way through a conversation. Once it was over I commented to my coworker that I am traveling with that I thought he was hitting on me. “Probably”, she replied “he is known to do that sort of thing” and we left it at that.
Later that evening I attended an event and the flirtatious man ended up occupying the seat next to me. He went routing through his bag and pulled out a sandwich. “Do you think they allow eating here in the auditorium” he asked looking around nervously as he started to unwrap his sandwich. “Probably not, but it is a small sandwich and you have large hands, I am sure you can be discreet but it.” I replied. Thank you for noticing he said and he unwrapped his sandwich and ate it.. “You know, you are going to get caught because you look like someone trying not to get caught.” I told him as he cautiously watched for ushers. “You need to eat your sandwich with confidence as though you know you are aloud to eat it here.” As I said that he stood up in the middle of the auditorium faced me and chewed on his turkey sandwich in defiance. I giggled profusely and recommended he sit back down.
We continued our small talk and flirtation right up until curtain time. As the evening was about to begin I decided that my short legs would be more comfortable if I sat cross legged for the 75 minute presentation. After crossing them I turned to the terribly flirtatious man and said “I hope you don’t mind my leg being so dangerously close to yours.” Apparently he didn’t as he spent the next 75 minutes very subtly caressing my leg.
After the show we were to go to a reception, but I decided I wanted to quickly change, as did the flirtatious man. We headed toward our respective hotels, continuing to discuss my button and flirt outrageously. He told me I should meet him in his room once I was ready, he even offered me my own key. I declined the key offer but did make my way to his room. He offered me ice cream and I sat on his bed and watched him iron his shirt while I enjoyed a few spoonfuls of chunky monkey. It was there in his room we first kissed, and then in the elevator leaving the hotel, and the elevator on our way to the party.
Once we entered the reception and we parted ways for a few hours, each of us with colleagues to talk to and new friends to make. I ended up chatting with a very attractive man from the city who gave me some insight about his city and its people. After about three hours I was ready to leave the party, as was the Flirtatious Man. We decided to go for a walk.
We chatted a bit about ourselves as we walked away from the regular cityscape and into a park area. I found out a little about him and his family, how he ended up working in the business and what his plans for the future were – work wise. Once in the park he took me by the hand and asked me to follow him off the well lit path. I cautiously agreed as we wandered into the woods and up a steep hill. He seemed to think there was a ledge in a clearing that we could hang out in, but no it was only a fallen log part way up the hill. Instead of leaving we ended up making out leaned against a tree on a most precarious angle for about 30 minutes. I am not one for salacious details, but I will say it was a lot of fun to make out in the trees. We each had early mornings so we wandered back towards our hotels and parted ways for the evening.
A few days later we met for brunch and another walk. This time we just wandered the city streets in the light of day and chatted about life and work. He talked about his romantic life and the three women he was currently dating, and I talked about the new guy I was excited to fly home to see in a day or two. As we ate brunch and shared stories I decided the Almost Single button should go to him, he really liked it and with three girlfriends it is more appropriate for him, than for me these days. I took it off my coat and slid it across the table to him. He happily accepted and put it on his coat and then we went back to our omelets and idle chatter.
xo
The Single Girl