Sigh-prisingly.

Surprisingly, the chat with my ex-work peeps about meeting up hasn't died. And doubly surprising, it was KfW2 who kept the topic going.

And then I got a message over WhatsApp, from KfW2 suggesting we do the long-overdue night out that she's promised me since Summer 2021 and asked when suited.

I gave her the answer that I've given her for the past few years - whatever suits her. This isn't just pandering to her. My diary is currently empty, she has commitments and rather than have a back and forth about availability, it's easier (IMO) just to let her pick a date.

Then came a question that made my blood boil.

"Should we ask the work peeps along?" I assume this would be instead of doing our planned dinner and drinks (date TBC).

I was instantly super-paranoid... again. Why would she ask that?

I was reminded of a Reddit post I saw yesterday:

And I was reminded of CC's self-invite to the dinner and drinks that KfW2 and I had arranged not that long back. In all honesty, I'd thought that KfW2 would have known enough to tell her that she wasn't welcome on this particular occasion.

Clearly, it's not a date for me and KfW2. But I will admit now (and have done previously) that there are times I want to get a friend out, just the two of us, and chat. It's one of the reasons that my friendship with CH bit the dust. It's been over five years since I last recall having done so with KfW2. Again, I don't count sitting in her house with her kids running around as fulfilling this. There's something that changes when we're out, with a kind of privacy and a completely different tone. The conversations become more personal.

My reply to KfW2's question was that I thought we should do this thing by ourselves. The work peeps stuff can be something else. Let's see what the reply is.