Jamie’s Journal

There are times in life when all you want is someone to hug. Someone who you can hold tight before sinking into a deep kiss. A person who can make you forget about everything else except for that moment. Job application stresses cease to exist. Work deadlines don’t matter. Food poisoning isn’t noticed. You just feel loved and complete. The last few months I’ve been highly stressed and frequently sick. Consequently, I haven’t had time to do anything about the fact I’m single. Last night I was free from commitment and appeared healthy. Thus, I seized the moment and went clubbing with friends.

The night started really well – I found my way there without being diverted off the freeway and becoming thoroughly lost like the time before, easily found a car park, entered the club immediately as the line was tiny, and didn’t have to wait for a drink at the bar. Unfortunately, because I appear to be cursed, Dom & I were just starting to groove when my stomach gave a horrible lurch. I’d been in the club for less than 5 minutes and I’d gone from perfectly healthy to dashing to the bathroom to let loose a jet of chunder. Being the highly supportive friend Dom is, he offered to drive me home. However, I was so frustrated that my night was being ruined that I resisted and decided to go for a walk. At this point we met our other friend Chris who decided to tag along. However, as we walked I discovered there was yet more chunder inside me trying to get out. Thus, into the Hungry Jack’s loos I dashed (only one for both men and women and no lock) and out it came. This was a truly horrible experience as not only was I kneeling in a very unsanitary area in an undignified position, but I had four people walk in on me. They all assumed I was completely wasted, and one girl lectured me saying I shouldn’t drink so much if I couldn’t handle my alcohol. As I was driving, I hadn’t had a drop of booze. However, she didn’t appear to believe me (to be fair I wasn’t putting up a very convincing argument). Nevertheless, at this stage I awarded the night a negative 5 star rating. How low can you go?

After this unsavoury incident, I strongly considered going home. However, through optimism (or sheer stupidity) I decided to give it another shot. Thus back to the club we went. For the next hour I would have appeared bi-polar with the mixed signals I was sending out. I’d make eye contact and dance enthusiastically towards someone… Yet then my stomach would lurch and I’d quickly reverse back in the direction I came. It wouldn’t be a good look to be sick in front of someone you were trying to court… and with my lack of experience… I’m bad at courting on a normal day. It was at this point I conceded there was no point pursuing anybody until I knew my stomach had stabilised. Thus I settled for dancing non-vigorously with friends.

This time was time well spent as I spotted someone who absolutely captivated me. They were very attractive, yet didn’t have the arrogant “you know you want this” look. Quite frankly, I thought they were way out of my league. Yet I remained optimistic.

I spent the next quarter of an hour trying to figure out what to do, praying my stomach would stop spasming. However, at this point I made unplanned eye contact and burst into an unrestrained cheesy grin. Much to my surprise and delight, I received a smile in return. Thus, after turning to one of my friends and mouthing, “OH MY GOD!”, I plucked up the courage to walk over and deliver my fantastic opening line, “Hey there. I’m Jamie.”

We then exchanged pleasantries and with great apprehension on my part, started to dirty dance. I survived! I’m sure it was appalling by many people’s standards, yet I felt it passed. It was based solely on the tips provided by my squash team - “Try and put one of your feet between theirs”, “Just keep moving your hips”, “Watch what others are doing” and “Don’t suck”. Thanks guys – you pulled me through.

Hours later when the club had warmed up significantly, we were no longer in the mood for vigorous dancing. However, as sitting down wasn’t really appealing, we adopted what I can only describe as a ‘slow rotational dance’, whereby you’re locked in an embrace and turn slowly. This was absolutely perfect. I would have stayed doing that forever. We made conversation, yet the silences weren’t awkward. At one point, we were interrupted by a small group of people who said, “You guys are just so sweet - the perfect couple”. This just confirmed what I was feeling inside. I’d forgotten I was sick, forgotten about everything else. I was all in the moment.

I don’t know what the future has in store. I seem to be cursed in many regards. I know most people will roll their eyes and think I’m insane. This may be due to the fact I’m a newb at clubs and have had disastrous relationship attempts. However, last night I experienced something I’ve only ever dreamed of.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 5th, 2009 at 7:24 pm and is filed under Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.