So, it’s been another gap between entries. Is this a problem? I’m not sure it is, I’d rather be too busy doing nothing than spending all my time online thinking of things to write here… after all I’ve no idea if anyone actually reads this, other than myself!
So, where to start? Trip to Scotland didn’t go ahead, primarily because I got rather tipsy the night before in the company of Fred and Cécile and woke up at 8.30am on the floor of William and Cleeve’s living room… memories very hazy but suffice to say there was no way on earth I was going to make it home and to the station in 90mins so I rolled over and went back to sleep for another hour or so before getting up. Head was pounding, this seemed to be partly caused by cut on forehead – can only assume I bounced off a few walls on way from Fred’s place to William’s place and given they live about 10mins slow walk apart and it took me 2hrs 15mins to make the journey I must have bounced off a few walls!
So, I called Aurélie to let her know I wouldn’t be making the trip up to Edinburgh to see her, it felt strange that the first telephone call in 2yrs 8months should be one saying I won’t see you. But we chatted as if we had spoken only days earlier, she had booked tickets on the train to come to London with Hélène so it appeared I would see her after all!
OK, just realised as I was typing this that there was too much déja-vu going on and sure enough it appears Mr Omneo has already explained the chance meeting with Julie – it must have been that bump on the head *wink*
Well, anyway, met Aurélie and Hélène for lunch on Friday, wasn’t a beautiful sunny day but it was dry, we went for lunch at Cafe Pacifico and any feelings of awkwardness I had while waiting for them to arrive soon vanished. I wasn’t sure how long they planned hangout out with me but we went off to see the Jeff Buckley exhibition, which was very good, such a loss to music as a whole. After that we strolled up to Tusk as Hélène wanted her ear pierced, Marc was busy painting the ceiling when we arrived so said we should pop back in an hour, which we did and Hélène left a happy girl with 2 new piercings :) Then we hot-footed it to Camden to buy some magic mushrooms for Aurélie’s friend Julie after a drink in The Worlds End we made our way to Canary Wharf to meet Julie and her boyfriend Peter where we had a few drinks a smoke and a pleasant evening – just a pity it took me two and a half hours to get home :(
Saturday saw me suffering from a bout of paranoia, mainly because I had no idea what the 3 girls were talking about the night before (note to self: must learn French) I ended up thinking that perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea to tag along again and just let them enjoy the rest of their time in London alone. As soon as I said it I regretted it, but you know what it’s like, it’s hard to suddenly change your mind once you’ve said something. However Aurélie called and asked why I didn’t want to meet them and said I should re-consider, so I said I’d call her later to see what was happening :)
Met the girls in The Chandos and waited for a spell while they went off to see Caravaggio, met more of their friends, had another drink and then off to Canary Wharf again so the girls could prepare for the night, off to a party in Crystal Palace. On way there something happened… still not sure what it was about (note to self: must learn French) however the end result was of the five who set of in car for party, only three of us went inside… It was however a very good night – slightly awkward not knowing anyone but the people were very chilled so it was easy to chat with strangers, it’s been a while since Mr Omneo was in such a relaxed place. Left party at about 7am and got taxi to Canary Wharf, girls packed and we left for Kings Cross station so they could catch train to Edinburgh, had coffee and bagel and we said our goodbyes. Was sorry to see them go.
So…remember that talk of fate? It kicked in again. On way home I gave some thought to the events of that weekend. If I had gone to Edinburgh as planned I would have seen Aurélie but wouldn’t have seen Hélène as she was in Lille and when they were in London I would have been in Glasgow. As it happened I got to see both of them by missing the train and as a result realised that Hélène is as cool as her sister, I had only very vague recollections of Hélène from when I met her in Nice but it was a real pleasure to meet her again and I now have some people to visit the next time I’m in Edinburgh, rather than wandering around on my own, I can visit her and her boyfriend – so a bump on the head and a missed train can have so many more benefits!
Aurélie? That was strange, when I had been chatting with Cécile on Monday I had explained that when I first saw Aurélie I had never thought of her as attractive, but after a short time in her company it was her warmth and friendliness that won me over, to the extent that when I used to look at her I was convinced I was looking at the most beautiful woman on earth. I wrote an essay on the merits of meeting ‘cyber friends’ and one of the things I said then summed it up perfectly: You don’t love a woman because she is beautiful, she is beautiful because you love her When I saw her again it was the same feeling, I wasn’t struck by her physical beauty when she stepped out of the station, there was no ‘wow’ but after an hour I remember looking at her and thinking, “You’re beautiful” – I was never sure if she thought I still had ‘feelings’ for her or not, sometimes I thought she suspected I had and was acting in such a way as to stop me thinking them – but the truth is I was just happy to have her in my life as a friend.
I remember when I was about 19 saying to Hallie Rubenhold, someone I think about now and then, “I’d rather lose a lover than a friend” as it happens I chose not to have to many lovers and the number of friends is pretty low too but the ones I have are pretty damn good. I’m glad to have Aurélie in the friend category and even happier to have added Hélène as she is another one who triggers those feelings of, “I just know I need to have this person in my life in years to come”
Well, if anyone has read this far, thank you for sticking with it… it’s taken me a week to feel like writing it down and this is the 20th variation of what was in my head, but it’s down now so I can move on…
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