Concern.

I'm hosting a gathering at mine this weekend. It's not a big one - half a dozen people or so, but it's people like my sis, FP and KfW2. I put the invite out ages ago and left it to my guests to decide on a date. As a single man, I don't have many commitments, but people like KfW2 and my sis have baby-sitting requirements. Everyone said they'd attend, but the chat went quiet. Eventually, KfW2 suggested a date to me that she and her husband were free, but didn't post it to the group chat. I put it to the chat, and got agreement albeit with little fanfare.

That's been an issue with the invite and group chat - people haven't been engaging.

Despite the agreement, KfW2 asked me last weekend if it was all going ahead and I replied that it was. A few days later, KfW2 then tells me that she might turn up on her own as her baby-sitter was busy. She blames me (in a light-hearted way) for not making a decision sooner despite expressly saying at the very start that I thought the guests should arrange a date between them.

That disappointed me - the blame was real, if delivered jokingly - but more importantly, KfW2 turning up on her own would definitely be seen (by her) as us having a night out and would rule out, for the foreseeable future, any chance of a night out in the pub, alone.

Then, over the course of the past two days it's become apparent that KfW2 is in a much worse place, mentally, than I had thought. She's unhappy, stressed and that kind of thing, but to the point where I think she's on the verge of panic attacks. She says that she feels she can talk to me (about this), because as a co-worker, I know the background and details more than her hubby. I don't know what to say. I feel that I need to get her alone, to sit down properly and talk it through, but she doesn't have the time to do it.

And then, it turns out that her baby-sitter's plans have fallen through, so Mr KfW2 will be in attendance. That really pleases me, not just from a hosting perspective, but also from a future "night in the pub with KfW2" perspective.