Apologies in advance for how long this got. There’s a good amount of context needed to explain the situation, but hopefully the writing is decent enough that it’s a fun read.
This story starts years ago when I was in college. I had gotten out of a pretty bad relationship a few months prior, and didn’t really have dating on my mind. At a party, a friend and I were cracking jokes back and forth, just riffing off each others’ humor in a way I’ve only been able to do with a couple people over the years. Some folks were a bit exasperated, but this one woman I hadn’t met before was getting into it with us. I’d seen her around campus before, and definitely knew she was pretty, but as she joined in with our jokes and stupid references I realized, “Oh shit, if she’s single I should ask her out.” I walked away to get something to drink, planning on coming straight back and asking for her number, but when I did it turned out she’d just left the party with her roommate. At that point I knew her first name, and that was it, so I kind of figured it was over.