Groove on.

Quiet Girl's just sent a message about the music festival that's in town at the end of the month. We were talking about this a few weeks back at the last work's event. Her and her husband are taking in a few gigs that weekend, but they've also decided that they want to see my favourite local band who are playing that weekend as part of the same festival.

I've texted M to see if he wants to go. I'll happily go on my own - my ticket's been bought for a while, but I've not seen M in ages, so it'd be nice to have a pint and a catch-up. 

Oh yes.

Ideas Girl has already leaked the details for the work summer party. It's at the same place as last year. We had a good time last year, with Quiet Girl, Stalky Guy and another couple of people hanging around afterwards and getting a much later train home. The weather was good too if I recall correctly. Fingers crossed for more of the same thing year.

I still have the memory of QG laying her head on my shoulder on the train on the way home. That's not helping the loneliness. I do not have a thing for QG (well, maybe a little crush), but it's not QG that's provoking the loneliness, but the action itself.

The day after the day after.

I think spending some time with Quiet Girl on Friday night has sparked a feeling of loneliness. I was off-kilter for a lot of yesterday afternoon which I initially just put down to being drunk the night before and not getting enough sleep.

But as the afternoon wore on, it started feeling like something rather than just a vague apathy/melancholy that I sometimes get after a good night out with people.

And it's not Quiet Girl herself, but rather wanting to meet someone. She was talking about going to gigs with her husband and how the music festival I mentioned in a previous post was her favourite weekend of the year. And I think it was that conversation that kicked off the funk: I want to meet someone where I can do stuff like that. And if that's a romantic partner, then all the better.

The day after.

The work event was good fun. Unsurprisingly, I spent most of my time chatting with Quiet Girl. We also had some chat with a woman who I was convinced was about 25 but she claimed to be "nearly 40". I was also very drunk. To the point where I didn't enjoy it. I like being tipsy. The weight loss over the past year plus not really drinking that often any more has really damaged my tolerance.

Anyway, QG and I made some tentative arrangements for the end of June when there's a music festival across the city. I doubt they'll come to fruition, but they're out there. 

So, a quiet day planned. I see the sofa and football in my future this afternoon.

Let's not go :(

D's just messaged to say that he can't make it for Saturday night's planned event. He has a family thing out of town which means he won't be in town for the thing he was originally planning on attending which then means he won't be out for drinks afterwards.

I'm pretty sure that also means that Friction Guy won't be out.

The plus side is that if Friday night gets messy (work thing with Quiet Girl and others) then I have all day to recover without worrying about meeting D in the pub at 5 PM.

Cheers!

Last week, I questioned Ideas Girl about the lack of work events over the past few months. She promised to see if she could arrange one for this month, but i held out little hope. However, on Monday, IG pinged me and said that she'd gotten permission. Could I suggest anywhere? I gave off a couple of suggestions and left it at that.

24 hours later, I was chatting to Stalky Guy "complaining" about IG going quiet when an email from our organising committee landed in my inbox.

Next Friday then.

I quickly messaged the usual group of people about going out. IG was saying that the funding was our social events was being slashed, so it makes sense (to me) that we get numbers out to show that we still want these events.

Quiet Girl is on holiday, but I sent her a text message. She was quick to reply. She wants to come out, too.

Hopefully next Friday will be fun. 

Nooooo!

We haven't had a work event in over two months. I messaged Ideas Girl who's part of the organising committee and she shared that their budget had been slashed. That's disappointing. They've really cut our social budget over the past few years, but yet almost demand we go into the office "to chat and network with our colleagues".

We just can't do it on a Friday evening with a couple of drinks.

She also admitted that the annual summer party is likely to be a victim of the budget cut. I don't really blame them - it was expensive and, in my opinion, there was a lot of waste. However, a trimmed down summer party could be doable. I suggested this to IG, though I know she single-handedly arranges the summer party, so I was light on the observation about the waste. She liked the idea and said she's see what she could do. It'd be less like a summer party of old and more like a more posh version of our monthly event, and I'm all for that. 

All I really did at the summer parties was drink and chat to the likes of Quiet Girl. And that's what I do at the monthly events.

Fingers crossed.

I had hoped that this weekend would see our regular monthly work thing. It's been a long month and I quite fancied some drinks, socialising and a bit of banter with Quiet girl and that group of people.

I forgot it was Easter weekend, so that's never going to happen. Maybe next weekend then?

Urgh.

I've not slept well over the past few nights and I am really feeling it today. I woke early this morning but got back to sleep. In this second spell of sleep, I had a dream. It featured two women from work. One of them was Quiet Girl, the other was a girl I've worked with briefly who gives me Kate Mara vibes.

We were at some kind of work retreat, Quiet Girl was being her usual friendly self. Maybe a little more tactile than usual, but nothing out of the ordinary. And the Kata Mara girl was also getting friendly. There was nothing more, just the three of us being a trio at a work event.

I woke up with a headache - a lack of sleep - and a desire to take today off work and get a lie-in, but I have too much urgent work to complete to even consider it as an option.

Remember?

I was only out with Quiet Girl, Stalky Guy and the others for about 2 hours, but it was fun nonetheless. Quiet Girl is a hugger, so I got one when she arrived and another when I left. She's not a bad hugger.

For the first time in 18 months, her friend was out, the one that may have asked me to get in touch but I was too drunk to recall if I imagined it or it she actually did.

She wasn't as cute as I remember, so I wouldn't say there was a lot of attraction there, but she's good fun.

Plans.

I've just been speaking to D about Friday night. He's going home after the gig rather than staying over, so my plans are to meet up with Quiet Girl for an hour or so, have a few drinks and then meet D at the gig venue.

Potentially, I could meet up with the work people after the gig, which isn't going to go on too late, but I suspect QG will have gone home by that stage. She's not a big drinker. Neither am I these days. Three Pina Coladas and half a dozen beers were my limit on Saturday night at KfW2's (though there may have been some additional factors, if you know what I mean).

Oh dear.

Wouldn't you know it? I log on to my laptop this morning to a message from Quiet Girl.

"Are you going to this? I'm going with my friend."

It's our monthly work thing. And, yes, that friend.

FFS.

"I might pop in for a couple of drinks, but I'm out at a gig that night"

And then we started talking about other things. But the timing is not great. I've been wanting to meet QG's friend again since that night just over 18 months ago.

Like a bus.

I started thinking earlier about our work night out for this month. If my guess is correct, that'll be two weeks from tomorrow. So I was contemplating whether or not Quiet Girl would be out. I quite fancy being social this month.

Then I remembered that I am out with D that night at a gig. The night before that, I'm meeting a few ex-colleagues for dinner and drinks and the weekend before that I'm meant to be at KfW2's (unless she's forgotten).

So not bad at all. Definitely the most social I've been this year. 

Bah!

Neither Quiet Girl nor Stalky Guy are going to this month's work event. I'm disappointed. It's not just Quiet Girl's non-attendance, but in general. My lack of social life over Xmas has continued into January, so I was hoping to get out to the pub, have a few drinks and do some people watching.

I've reached out to a few other people, but I am not holding my breath.

Housebound.

As expected, our monthly work night out has just been announced for the end of next week. I've already posted in our shared chat in work that has Quiet Girl and Stalky Guy in it. No replies as yet, but fingers crossed. It'd be good to get out and socialise and do some people watching. I've barely left the house this month.

Plans.

It hasn't been announced as yet, but I am assuming there's going to be a work thing at the end of the month. If that's the case, I'll be trying to get people to attend. Quiet Girl, of course will be top of my list, but there are a few other people who are fun, and if not, then Stalky Guy.

That's something I'm going to try to do this year: more socialising - build upon what I did last year by going to more concerts, which I think was reasonably successful.

Cheers!

So, my plan of getting Quiet Girl, Stalky Guy etc. out to CB Pub actually worked. Originally, QG was going to call her husband to get a lift home around 7 PM and offered me a lift, too. But then I threw out the CB Pub proposal and everyone accepted.

"You know, I could be talked into that..." pondered QG.

"I didn't ask you cos you said you were going home, but you're more than welcome to join us."

"Well, it is on the way home."

And with that, I ordered a taxi. 

We only stayed for a couple of drinks, but that was the plan. I was home around 10 PM, and quite drunk. My alcohol tolerance has plummeted this past year.

QG's friend was also in the office, but she didn't join us at the drinks reception. Apparently she left, mid-afternoon. I've not seen or spoken to her since the work event where she might have slapped my ass and asked me to text/call her.

It's still so quiet.

Quiet Girl will be coming into the office tomorrow, she announced earlier. There's a drinks reception afterwards, but I'm kinda hoping that I can talk people into leaving that and going somewhere more public and neutral.

For the people I have in mind, CB Pub is the prime location. It's on the way home for three of us: Stalky Guy, QG and myself, and a few others. That's a long shot, mind you, but depending on how things go tomorrow, I'll throw it out as a suggestion.

It's oh, so quiet.

We have a work thing on Wednesday in the office. It was OK last year, though I do recall an attractive woman in a stunning backless dress. I am, by default, against socialising things in the office. I much prefer getting people into neutral spaces where I feel people let their hair down a little more.

I've just messaged Quiet Girl to see if she's going. I've not seen her in months, and it'd be great to catch up. She said she'd think about it and see if other people were going, but not, I noticed, her redhead friend who may have asked me to call her. 

So, potentially seeing QG on Wednesday. 

Let's see.

I've already asked Quiet Girl if she's going to go to the next work night, which is in two weeks time. She's not said anything yet, which is unusual. I'm torn. I'd like to go out. I've said it before, but she's good company and I don't really go out enough. But I have two gigs on either side of the work night, and it's been a while since I've done two nights in a row, never mind three.

And there's still my ongoing back pain. I should look into that once I get this work project from hell out of the way in a few weeks.