A Familar Face

I realize I told the majority of you that I knew no one in London.. that wasn't entirely true. Turns out I know one person but before I tell you about him I need to give you all a little backstory.

Let's take a trip back in time to 1997 on my first day of classes at UC Santa Barbara. It was Day 1 of Economics 101- gag! I had just walked into this huge lecture hall on campus and I spot this cute guy in one of the rows so naturally I proceed to sit myself right in back of him. Cause you know the view was so great. Seriously, was I always this retarded when it came to guys???!! So I stare at the back of his head all through class cause I could care less about the theory of demand and supply. Two days later I'm walking into section for that class and whose sitting front and center but cute guy! I was ecstatic that he was in my section. I plopped down right next to him. All I remember from class that day was how smart he was.. cute and smart! I had found a winner :) Naturally, being the player I was I played dumb and told him how hard this econ stuff was and that I was going to need a study partner... and thus the relationship began. For the next two years cute guy, let's call him "V", and I began a great friendship which started with economics. I ended up having two boyfriends through college but V and I always had a close bond and I secretly had a crush on him. He would fill in for my boyfriends when I needed dates for my sorority functions, we would meet on campus for lunch, he would tell me about his girl problems, we would shamelessly flirt, it was the perfect friendship.

Fast forward three years.. "V" graduates college and moves to LA. By the way, he was two years younger than me. We end up hanging out post college quite a bit, hitting the club scene, etc... making out once.. ooops did i let that slip! Again, just friends but the school girl crush remained plus I had a boyfriend. The last time I heard from "V" he was off to Oxford to get his MBA. That was three years ago.

Now the present day.. I had found "V" on Linked In, that social networking site, so i reached out to him a couple of months ago hoping he might still be in the UK. Turns out he was, living and working in the city. We agreed to meet up once I had moved to town. Well, last night we finally did. You know when you're about to see someone you haven't seen for a long time the first thing you start wondering is do they look the same? Are they just as cute? Did they get fat and bald? Do I look fat and bald? Those thoughts were spinning through my head as I walked to meet him at the tube stop. Let me just say the man did not disappoint. Out walks this tan, dark haired slicked back, Hugo Boss suit wearing god! On the inside I was hyperventalating and naming our two kids, on the outside I was as cool as a cucumber. We walked to a bar and proceeded to catch up for three hours. It was so nice seeing a familar face in a new town. I immediately felt like I belonged. It was also great to hear about his experiences when he first moved to London and how they were so similar to what I was going through. It was nice to hear the shin splits and the back aches I was feeling were not my old age but signs of walking around so much. During the course of the conversation the topic of our love lives emerges. I tell the depressing tale of being single, J/K! and he casually mentions he has a girlfriend whose not in London. I immediately try to figure out a way to sabotage the relationship. J/K, not really.. Turns out his girlfriend lives in Turkey and is some hot model/buyer for Harvey Nichols. Just my luck! Who the hell can compete with that? Anyhow the night ends with him asking me to go to dinner the next night which I can't cause moms is still in town so we make plans for early next week. He's already agreed to introduce me to his friends, we've talked about traveling Europe together, going to his favorite rests, etc.. Basically we're right back where we started, great friends who are shamelessly flirting. Except this time he has the girlfriend and I'm single... Let's see what the future holds.

Sorry for the long post, but I thought it was too good to cut short. I will say last night was my first night going out to a bar in London and it was fabalous! I think I'm going to be very happy here :)