September 2nd that is. Here’s how it went down.

I was tasked with picking the trail for our Wednesday morning hiking group. I opted to go up the mountain from the Barretto side behind Angels Bakery. It had been some time since I’d been up that way and the concern was that the thatch grass would be out of control this time of year and obscuring the trail. My workaround was to take a path that’s a little lower with lots of tree cover, hence less grass. It worked for most of the climb, but the last portion up top was indeed covered in grass. The trail was still discernable though. After that, we intersected with My Bitch and followed that path to its terminus at Rizal Extension. We next walked to the end of Rizal, then followed Abra street back around to the National highway. At that point it started raining so we had a wet hike to Cheap Charlies and our scheduled Hash mismanagement meeting. 7K all told.

So, while we are having our meeting at Cheap Charlies, I get a message from “Janey”. She wanted to come there to see her girlfriends but wanted to be sure I was okay with that. I told her she could go anywhere she wanted without concern over my presence. Then she said she had had a big fight with her boyfriend and wanted to get drunk. She asked if I would buy her a tequila shot and I responded of course. She came in a little later and joined her friends (the girlfriends of other Hashers).

When our meeting was over, Janey beckoned me over to the stool beside her. I sat with her and had a beer then told her I needed to head home. I was tired after the hike and needed a nap. So we said our goodbyes and I left.

After my nap, there was another message from Janey asking me to join the group at BarCelona. I had mixed feelings about that and gave a non-committal answer saying I hadn’t showered yet. She responded she would wait for me there. As I showered I tried to decide what to do. On the one hand, this was exactly the situation I wanted to avoid–being her rebound boyfriend. On the other hand, I was going to go out anyway, and since I purport to be her friend I probably ought to act like it and accept her invitation. Frankly, it was the first time in weeks that she had even pretended to want to see me. So, I wound up going to BarCelona.

As I presumed would be the case, Janey was quite intoxicated when I arrived. I sat at the bar, across the aisle from the window seats she and her friends occupied. Their boyfriends had left them there while they pursued a guy’s night out. I had a couple of beers and a little chat, but clearly Janey needed to quit drinking while she could still stand. The problem is drunks rarely grasp that fact. Then Janey suggested to her friends that they buy a bottle of tequila and drink it at her house. I thought that was an excellent plan and even gave her the money to pay for it. So, I thought it was all decided and then suddenly another round of drinks arrived. That pissed me off and I didn’t hide it well I suppose. I told Janey she was being foolish and got up to pay my tab. I guess the girls got my message as they left while I was waiting to pay. When I got downstairs the girls were still there waiting outside. One of them said Janey wanted to come home with me. I responded that I wasn’t taking a drunk girl home, said my goodbyes, and left.

So, how about that? I stuck to my guns and maintained my singleness posture and I also showed some moral character by not taking advantage of a woman under the influence of alcohol. I’d call that progress!

And yes, I’ve done some second-guessing of myself during my longer than normal two-hour walk today. I need more time alone though before I’m ready to even consider entering a relationship.

And that’s where things stand as of now.