MISPLACED DIRECTIONS, INSTRUCTION BOOKLET MISSING

Sometimes situations come up which are ... "peculiar". At least to one of the people involved. Like, erm, romance. And one is confused about the proper way to proceed. The work-supervisor of a friend of a coworker had some interaction with me in a professional capacity before the holiday, and has since expressed an interest in me to her subordinate with a request that he should ascertain through his friend (my colleague) whether I was perchance single and available.

Which I am.

But as I explained to my fellow employee, I didn't know the woman from Adam. He needed to give me more than just describing her as a redhead. So he messaged his friend, and an hour later showed me a photo on his cellphone. And asked what should he tell his friend on my behalf?


"Just say I'm mildly interested."


I realize that that did not sound enthusiastic, but in all honesty I still didn't know diddly about the woman. She could be all kinds wonderful, brilliant, engaging, extremely tolerant of the fact that neither my life nor my living arrangements are perfectly neat. She could also be an axe-murdereress who wishes to harvest me for streaky meat.
And I still cannot remember her.



Years ago an acquaintance got married after a whirlwind romance. Lordy, he was smitten. Within a year he regretted it, and it took over five years to extricate himself. "Fred", we would ask whenever we saw him, "how goes the divorce?"

It was a mess, but very entertaining, as such things are.

Heh heh heh.


I should also mention that the world's cutest cigar smoker is a divorcee. And one could see where a man would have easily been smitten by her, but I suspect that after a number of years she got unsmote, and realized that mere smite was not enough for her to continue that relationship.
Yes, I strongly suspect that she decided on the split.
She's very strong minded and intelligent.
I shan't ask, ain't my beeswax.



I am not a spring chicken, as you may have already surmised, and I'm odd of habit and rather set in my ways. Furthermore, it has been a while since I dated anyone, and even then I was not a dab hand (though at one point I was seeing three women concurrently; don't ask, it just happened).

I do not know how to proceed.

I am only mildly interested.

And I am chicken.

Mildly.



POST SCRIPTUM

The last time someone inquired whether I was single and available, it was for a friend of hers. At a restaurant, to which I have not gone back since, despite their nice food. That tells you something.




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