Platonic infatuation.

So here's what happened:

I was at the Fiery Furnaces show on Saturday night. I'd had three beers at this point and was working on my fourth. After the first band played (they were called Office and great; I bought their CD but later lost it because I got drunk and I'm MR), I walked up to the stage because the crowd was still pretty empty.

To my right there was this short, petite, pretty cute girl who I assumed was only about twenty-one (since she had a wristband on; she looked younger). She was also standing alone. So we stood there together, standing alone. And I was like, "She's cute. Talk to her." And then I was like, "Don't talk to her, you stupid jackass." So I didn't talk to her.

Then this guy walked up, carrying two mixed drinks, and gave one to her, and so I was like, "See? She has a boyfriend anyway so it's a good thing you didn't talk to her." But then, as I kind of watched them out of the corner of my eye, I got the impression that they were not dating. She wasn't really facing them as they talked, and I could just tell that there wasn't anything between them. So, yeah.

Then the second band started playing. They weren't that great. I was kinda dancing in place anyway because I'd had a few beers and, you know, I just couldn't keep my sexy rhythm all bottled up. You know how it is. My dancing, however, was definitely overshadowed by the dancing of the man in front of me and Cute Girl. He was dancing like he was at Bonnaroo: breaking it down, Woodstock '69 style. To a mediocre indie-rock band. Cute Girl and I kept making eye contact and laughing. Score!

After the second band I was sort of looking around the hall. I thought I spotted the Fiery Furnaces' grandmother up in the VIP wing, so I turned to CG and was like, "I think that's their grandmother!" It turned out to not be their grandmother, but that was my line and I was totally in. We talked a little bit about the band, the new album, and how "Waiting To Know You" was a great song. When the Fiery Furnaces came on stage (after blowing smoke from a fog machine in our faces), she turned to me and told me her name and then introduced her friend.

The band was great. They turned all of their weird-ass songs into short little rock songs, as if they were doing covers of their own stuff. I was right below Eleanor, who sounded just as great live as she does on the albums. Hippie guy kept jammin' out, and even his friend looked embarrassed as CG and I giggled. I was dancing, too, and at one point sort of did an impression of the Hippie guy. CG jumped up and yelled into my ear, but all I made out was, "___ _ hell __ a lot cuter ____ you do it!" I kind of smiled and nodded since I didn't really understand what she said at first, then immediately realized she was saying my dancing was a hell of a lot cuter then Hippie Guy's. I started thinking, "WHAT IS GOING ON?! THIS NEVER HAPPENS TO ME!"

The last song that the band played was "Waiting to Know You", and I turned and smiled and continued to dance. We were close at this point and I kept hitting her hand when I was tapping my leg.

It was still loud when the show ended and disorienting. I followed CG and friend out and, confused about what I should do, just kinda pulled out my phone (Janna had called and left a message). They kept walking to the right of the club, so I just stood in front and started listening to my voicemail. She turned around and waved goodbye and I waved back, thinking, "Ohmygod this is totally a missed connection."

I was supposed to meet up with a friend from work at SmartBar after the show but she hadn't called yet, so I was just sort of hanging there for a minute before I decided to just go home and come back later when my friend called since I only live three blocks away. Just as I started to walk back to Southport, CG walked back up to me.

"Hey! My friend and I were going to get some drinks and we thought we'd invite you!" Yessss.

So we walk to the Gingerman and started talking. She asked me if I lived in Chicago and I tell her I live just a few blocks from the Metro. Then I asked here where she lived.

"Oh, near Muncie, Indiana."

Shit. But whatever!

So we go to the Gingerman next door and drink beer and talk. I tell her I had a roommate from Indiana and that I was from Virginia and she told me that she had an online friend in Farmville. It also turned out that she was twenty-four and her friend was twenty-seven, but I sure don't look almost twenty-three, so whatever. While we're talking about our home-states, Fiery Furnaces, and the crazy Hippie dancing, I ask CG what she does.

She replied, "I'm a parent."

Now, my immediate internal response was, "WHAT?" But, you know, I got over it quickly. I mean, at this point she was already from Indiana, so it's not like something was going to happen. And being twenty-four and having a two-year-old is not that big of a deal; it was just surprising. So we just talked about her daughter. And then we talked about her friend's job, and my job, and just went on. It was really cool.

Later, Janna came, and then my friend, and we continued drinking. When they decided to leave (since they were going back to Indiana on Sunday), we went over to SmartBar to dance. I gave her my email address because she wanted to send me some songs by a band that she liked. She did end up emailing me some songs, which I haven't gotten a chance to listen to yet. She also said that it was "an absolute delight" meeting me. She also wrote, "Semi-embarrassing admission: I had to really restrain myself from grabbing your hand during 'Waiting to Know You'. Fun times, fun times. Isn't it just wonderful to get excited over a complete stranger?" She elaborated, saying that she didn't want to come across as hitting on me, just that anonymous infatuation was a terrific thing. I understand exactly what she meant. It's great to be able to go to a show and see an attractive stranger or two and, instead of imagining being friends with them, actually have an exciting, albeit brief, connection with them.