Miscommunication

I could have also called this post Rejection #1, but the girl ended up going out with me so one might say it wasn't technically a rejection although yeah, it truly was. I also added the #1 because #2 and #3 are surely bound to happen over the course of time and I may or may not post them depending on the severity of the rejection, in which case I may skip directly to Rejection #7 and you'll be allowed to imagine what you wish. Hopefully with enough rejections under my belt, the sorry state of my dating life, if you could even call it that, which is kind of pushing it, may eventually progress into a sordid state, which I will likely enjoy, but probably will be unwilling to reveal a great amount of detail regarding the sordidness. That again would be left to your own imagination and I would have to ask why would you want to even envision me in such affairs. Are you trying to live vicariously? I would suggest you don't.

Please note: names have not been changed to protect the innocent.

So, I met the girl in question at the "hotel" I stayed at during my first couple of nights back in Saigon. Her name was Nina. It was more of a guesthouse than a hotel, but details are irrelevant. She lived with her family on the ground level, over which rose a few stories of nice rooms at relatively cheap prices. She was always downstairs as she was the "check-in" person and she was always pleasant, well sort of, and she spoke pretty good English. And she happened to be thirty three, single and attractive.

I should have taken it as a sign when she failed to hold my reservation after I returned to the hotel after a tour of the Mekong Delta. But I didn't. Instead, I popped my head into the hotel "lobby" after obtaining my morning iced soya and casually began conversing. She seemed more engaged than normal. I asked if maybe she'd like to get a drink sometime. She said yes. No hesitation. I made that up. I asked when was convenient. She said the next day at 1pm.

The next day I arrived shortly after the proposed time after killing time most of the morning. I asked if she still wanted to get a drink. Her response was "Yes. The room is ready." as she pointed upstairs. Did I miss something? There was a moment's hesitation before I overcame my humility. I told her no, I already had a room. What I had in fact been asking was if she would like to get naked, I mean get a drink, a beverage, a coffee, with me. "Ahh, ok, but not now" she said firmly. Ok, when? I do not give up that easy despite the fact I should have let this one go. "Later" was her response. Nice.

I decided to check in later. Just to see. Just to complete the story. It was around 8pm and she was talking to a foreign female guest of the hotel. Great, I thought, now I am that guy. She seemed prepared for my arrival and I only had to wait ten minutes for her to shower. And then we went down the street to a cafe where her friend worked. It was okay she said because she needed to catch up with her friend anyway. It was so nice of her to take pity on me like that.

She only spoke with her friend, in Vietnamese of course, for about half the time. The rest of the time I was informed of her boyfriend, whom she was going to marry and how he wasn't attractive, but she loved him. He was a Vietnamese guy from California who worked for a company developing hotels in Vietnam. He was informed of our "date" and I asked why she even bothered. "It's ok" she told me, "you were a guest at our hotel." Gee, I am so flattered. I paid the bill and went off to find dinner leaving her there with her friend, with whom she had some more catching up to do.

I must say it wasn't that terrible. It was a learning experience. And kind of funny. A little bruising to the ego, but not scarring. I would even go back to the same hotel. Not to ask her out again - I'm certainly not that stupid. Perhaps just to make her feel a little uncomfortable. Because that's the way I am. But more likely is that I'll just let this one go. It's already gone.