To Her Face A few years ago, I went with some friends to a New Year's event at a downtown bar. One of my friends brought his new girlfriend and her younger sister. I was drinking heavily that night, much more than usual because I was trying to forget something. The younger sister took a certain shine to me and spent most of the evening with me. Maybe I was too social that night because of the drink, but we talked a lot and danced a lot, and whereas I was being friendly, she was taking it more seriously. At the end of the night, I managed to sneak out to catch the LRT home.

When I finally woke up late that morning, there were no less than four text messages waiting on my cell phone, all from her and all within two hours. The first few were typical messages saying that she had fun with me and wanted to see me again. The next few were wondering why I hadn't replied yet. Over the course of that day, I sent about four messages to her and received more than a dozen. As it turned out, she got my phone number from my business card which was in my wallet, so I assume that at some point she must have found it lying around. Naturally, I was a little concerned, but decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and go out with her.

We went out for dinner once and I felt nothing, but still she persisted in pursuit. She sent me many more text messages over the next few days, mostly asking me when we were going out next. That she'd do anything. I decided against my best judgment to see her for coffee and tell her how I felt rather than just ignore her or tell her in an insincere text message.

It's ironic that she was pursuing me with such steadfast conviction when just weeks earlier I had been the one chasing a woman who had no feelings for me. At least I had the humanly fortitude to tell her to her face. To her face. No matter how hard it was for both of us.  ¶ 8:03 PM