Jess's Apartment Keys

I was sad and down and gloomy and really had to see Jess. Last night I sent him a few texts and asked him if I could see him. I really needed to see him after he got done with work. He said he had dinner plans again after work and it would run late, probably till 10:30pm or 11:00pm and that would be way to late for him to see me, even for ten minutes. He told me that it would probably not a good time to meet. I was relentless, I told him, I didn't mind what time it was and that I would wait and would be happy to see him, even for ten minutes. He simply said, lets see what happens and maybe we can meet, maybe!. I left it at that. Eventually, Jess sent me a text and told me that he was working really late and had to finally cancel his dinner plans and he was heading home. Uh, I guess that was good for me, right? Well, maybe not.

By the way, Mary called me and told me that she finally told Jess just an hour earlier that he had missed my birthday. According to her (and don't forget, she is a fucking snake in the grass at times) Jess was shocked and felt badly about it. He asked her, why didn't you remind me. She said she thought he knew and he replied that he knew it was coming up but just simply forgot.

It was around 10:30pm and believe it or not I was still out, waiting. Click on the jump below to read more about what happened.

I called Jess on the phone at around 10:50pm. He was really grouchy. He hates his job and it was late and he was hungry but too late to eat. I asked if I could see him for a bit, and that I had been waiting. Jess was seconds away from telling me "no" and even closer to telling me that waiting all night was my problem and not his.

I'm not sure how it happened, but a minute later I was on my way to his apartment. I got there before 11:00pm. Jess was on the sofa and yes he was a fucking grouch. We talked and Jess was slow to warm up. He did get somewhat friendlier and soon we were almost having a strained but decent conversation. I tried to keep it light. I decided to mention finally (with a smile on my face so as not to seem antagonistic) that he forgot my birthday. I thought he would have said that, yeah I know, Mary just told me. But as soon as I told him, he acted as if he was just finding out about it for the first time. He apologized. I guess it was easier to say that and act that way then to mention that he had found out from Mary. So be it, I of course, let it slide. I was happy to be with Jess and wasn't going to try and make a bad situation worse.

I saw Jess's apartment keys on the counter. They used to be my keys that he had given me before I gave them back to me a week or two ago. I picked them up and said, are these my keys, almost with a smile? He smiled back and said, they were, before you gave them back. I told him that maybe I should take them back again. He said "fine" and smiled slightly as I put them back in my pocket. The rest of the hour that I stayed there was uneventful, not so much because of any one thing other then Jess was in his typical grouchy mood. I left by 12:15am with keys in pocket and nothing much else accomplished. Nonetheless, I was somewhat happier, not much, but somewhat happier.

I guess the purpose of this post is to reiterate "baby steps".  But I will accept that.