the King of Clubs The King Of Hearts

I'm sitting here thinking.

Three roads diverged in a snowy wood, and I...

Haven't picked one yet. But I'm getting there.

Saturday I was thinking of calling Rebecca. R's the one I met back on Memorial Day Eve and had the good date with, and the one who went off for a couple weeks for her brother's graduation.

This is where Liz and...ooh, I really don't want to name names on the third. For completion's sake and because I like the name, we'll call her Jessica...step up further in my mind. Liz and I start flirting as I through a random series of events show up at the hookah bar more often. Jessica I meet out of the blue at a party and we get along great, especially on the dance floor.

Rebecca comes back, and I pull the Swingers over the holiday weekend on her. Why? Because I have to. Better to be aloof than needy. Don't play the game, I just make the rules.

So I'm about to call Saturday afternoon and get into the whole casualask to Rebecca of what she's doing Saturday night and see if she would also care to frequent the club I'm planning to hit when Aaron comes up and tempts me with the possibility of seeing Jessica.

And what option does my 142 IQ take? Jessica. Duh. And she doesn't disappoint, as at some point I am sure my overt staring of her when I can get away with it is going to cause a Clark Kentian eruption of fire. Doesn't, thankfully. But I do forget to call Rebecca back for a day or two, or up until right nowish.

I go see Liz with the date question cocked and loaded in my mind. Despite that, I play some of my best poker ever. If only we were allowed to bet money in the City of San Diego I would be quite far ahead--folding good, making fold-inducing raises, figuring out Aaron & Ivan's hands by how much they bet on some occassions. In fact, things are going well enough I sort of go on autopilot pokerwise and start focusing on the Lust Parallelogram I've wandered into. I think of the date I had with cute and funny Rebecca, I think of probably-way-too-young-for-me-but-that-just-makes-it-better Jessica's legs, I think of Liz inches away and it's like If it weren't for my horse... except the scenery's a billion times better when it all goes six ways from Sunday.

Earlier on, Aaron & I order hot chocolate while Ivan foolishly reveals he bought his hookah elsewhere. Liz goes as far as to jokingly call it a betrayal while we immediately sell him out and make sure our beverages don't get spit in. So when he says hot chocolate and hands me a five for two bucks, I decide to take a break from the game action and get him a second hot chocolate.

So, I get back, and Liz brings the hot chocolate.

Aaron just paid me back for the first one, since he didn't have exact change. Superflous! So after some embarrassment, I just take it in. And then, after putting the straw in but not having any, I decide to get a refund. What's more, I decide to announce it to my friends.

My friends who immediately look at me as if I am dancing the fox trot on Elliot Ness' corpse.

But fuck them, I'll get to see Liz, which is worth it. Back to the front I head, and then I explain to her exactly what had happened and calmly ask for my refund.

She says to me but you bought it. I say, this is true, but I didn't have any of it, all I did was put in the straw. I rotate the glass a bit to show her the level of liquid has remained unchanged since she made it, and we go back and forth about the rebate on the chocolate, the possibility of germs, and my flash of idiocy. And she says something, and I smile and ask if you're trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson, and she says no with a yes smile and then I turn away.

It was really something, the look on Ivan & Aaron's faces when I walked back with the rebate.

And the hot chocolate.

It's a Spectorian Wall of Sound, whatthehowthedidyouholdherupwhatthehowtheareyoufuckingkiddingme for about two minutes. All I can do is laugh and deliver one of my favorite quotes by an African-American philosopher: I'm a hustla, baby.

Poker continues. I'm too busy laughing. They're too busy wondering if I am, in fact, Lucifer Hisself. There's a followup move I have to do, and it takes me a while to figure out what it is. Clearly, heart chess is being played here and she's made a move. But while I ignore the poker, I think of everything possible to say and/or do.

And when it closes, I thank her one more time, and tip her the money she gave me back. An "Aww!" and "Thank you" later, with another fetching smile, I'm out the door with the Dirk Diggler Power Kick.

Aaron thinks I should've pulled the trigger earlier, and I'm willing to bet Rob does too. But she took a step forward, and I met it. So the next move is the all-in, not this one.

I mean, if I was smart enough to wait until the end of the night to drop the tip, I'm not about to blow my goodfaith wad in that early a stroke.

As for Rebecca and Jessica...well, clearly, some things are going to be done on my part on those fronts. But all I can think about now is a certain beautiful blonde and that second hot chocolate that tasted like heaven-coated sweetness.

Chris Griffin was right: the best things in life are free.

Current music: "Until The End Of The World" by U2