Law and Disorder

Wow. You’re really going out of your way to be nice to us.

One Saturday night, my friend Fiona invited me to a party hosted by her friend Sara. Though I didn’t know anyone there, and had only met Sara a couple times, I assumed there would be plenty of eligible bachelors. (Sara had recently started law school. Cha ching!)

Fiona and I showed up to the bar early, and Sara introduced us to the few people who were already gathered. She than pulled us aside to tell us about the new guy, Chris, she’d just started seeing. She seemed so excited about him, and said he’d be there later that night.

About twenty minutes later, Chris showed up, and Sara introduced us before running off to dance with some of her law school friends. Chris seemed sweet, and he stuck around with Fiona and me, asking us tons of questions. Aww, I thought, He’s trying to suck up to Sara’s friends.

Throughout the night, Chris kept coming back to me to chat, and even sought me out on the dance floor once or twice. I considered telling him that Sara and I didn’t know each that well (He was making such an effort!), so he could drop the friendly boyfriend act. But he did give me someone else fun to talk to at the party.

Meanwhile, my eye was on a guy across the dance floor. And thanks to the braveness brought on by a little too much alcohol, I made my way over. His name was Kevin, and he was just my type: tall, scruffy, and with the attitude of a true jackass. He seemed to be feeling me too.

Kevin and I talked and danced for a while before getting separated by my friend Fiona, who’d come to tell me she was heading home. Intrigued by the romance that was brewing with Kevin, I decided to stick around for a bit.

Before I could make my way back to Kevin, Chris approached to tell me he was leaving too.

“Well, it was great to meet you,” I said.

“You too,” he said. “Can I get your number? Maybe we could hang out some time.”

I was confused as to why Sara’s new man would be asking for my number, but he was nice enough, and I was eager to get back to Kevin, so I gave it to him.

Kevin and I reunited and picked up where we left off. We even had an awesome dance floor kiss. Then I realized it was 3:30am. Damn it, I thought. I promised myself I wouldn’t stay out this late.

“I should really get home,” I said to Kevin.

“I’m going to pee, so I’ll walk you towards the door,” he said.

We walked together and paused at the point where we had to part ways. I waited for him to ask for my number. He didn’t. We hugged. He still didn’t ask for my number. He walked toward the bathrooms. Seriously? We’d just kissed and now he was leaving me high and dry!

Feeling disheartened, I got into a cab. That’s when Chris texted to tell me how great it was to meet me. That lifted my spirits a little, but I was still so confused. He was either just being a super friendly guy or a huge dickhead to Sara.

The next day, Chris texted again: “So when are you free for a drink this week?”

“Hey Chris, I don’t mean to make things awkward,” I replied, “but aren’t you dating Sara?”

“Why would you say that?” he asked.

Shit. The last thing I wanted to do was make things uncomfortable between Sara and him. After all, it’s not like she’d ever said they were in a serious relationship.

“I just got that impression,” I said.

“Listen, all I’m asking for is a drink,” he said. “I just thought it would be fun.”

He still hadn’t answered whether or not he was dating Sara. And for all he knew, she and I were best friends that he was coming between. “Way to avoid the question,” I texted.

Chris never responded to that one. No word from Kevin either. All in all, my whole “meet lots of cute future lawyers” plan was an absolute bust.

—Raz, 25, NYC