Today I did something very stupid and broke the first and most important rule a guy like me must follow: Avoid becoming involved with anyone.
The first thing you learn when you are on the run is to keep yourself to yourself. This is something I have done ever since I went into hiding and is the most important rule to follow. This comes at the expense of developing friendships and relationships, but it’s a sacrifice which must be made. Your guard must remain up and your secrets must remain secret.
Familiarity is a bad thing, but that is what comes of greater interaction. With familiarity comes the requests for your company to socialize and you potentially open yourself up to a whole lot of awkward questions or situations.
Well, I’ve just broken this golden rule. Tonight I ran into a woman who lives in an apartment down the hall from mine who I’m on speaking terms with. Really nothing more than ‘hello, good morning, how are you?’ that kind of thing. Well, I’ve just found myself accepting an invitation to her birthday party she’s having in a couple of days in her apartment with others from the building. This is exactly the kind of situation I’ve been trying to avoid but I was caught completely off guard. You know, one of them conversations where you basically tell the other person your available without realizing and before you know it - it’s too late and you have no excuse to say no… Jeez.
She’s a nice person and I would have felt like a nasty sonovabitch saying no but now I can’t back out because the last thing I need is to become known as the resident jerk-off and have negative attention on me. Maybe I’m worrying too much, but I have to be real careful. I had also better make sure I have some pre-conceived answers to the usual questions: Where I’m from, what do I do, that kind of thing.
I should’ve been sharper, but it’s too late this time. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Add to del.icio.us