'The Rebound'

We've all had one ... or been one.

After my break-up with Mr. So-Not-Perfect, I figured the best wayto expedite getting over that was to move on with my life. So I did something completely out of character, I called a guy and asked him to have dinner with me. I remember sitting on my couch that Sunday afternoon watching a Laguna Beach marathon (we all know my obsession with reality TV) in a foul mood because of Mr. So-Not-Perfect. I knew I had to do something and decided going out with my girlfriends would not do the trick. So I called someone, whom we shall now refer to as 'The Rebound', knowing full well what I was doing.

I had met The Rebound at a work function two years prior. He worked at the hotel where the function was held. He was funny and made me laugh the entire night. When I bumped into him again a few days later, we decided to go for coffee and exchanged numbers at that point. I had, however, also just met Mr. So-Not-Perfect and chose to stick to him instead. Fast forward to post break-up... The Rebound was really sweet and didn't even ask me where I had been the last year and a half or why I had stopped returning his calls. We just picked up where we left off.

The Rebound was definitely what's considered a 'bad boy'. Although we didn't really talk much, we had so much fun together. But his daily smoking habit (and I'm not talking cigarettes) soon started to get annoying. I had no idea that this was something he could not function without. He was also incredibly sensitive and would often end up getting furious about the most ridiculous things. I soon realized I had to sensor my sense of humor to ensure he wasn't offended. He also started to get extremely defensive about his job. He kept on accusing me of thinking he was beneath me when I would simply ask him about his job. He never wanted to talk about it. He was also going to College in the evenings and when I would ask him how his classes were going, some which I had taken years ago, he would accuse me of being condescending.

Needless to say, he became more of a stress by the third month. Other, more serious, areas of my life was also slowly starting to crumble and instead of being supportive, he was completely immersed in his own sensitivities. Finally I had to let him go as I could no longer baby him and deal with what was happening in my life at the same time. To be honest, this was not a relationship I envisioned going far. Not because he was a rebound, but because we had a serious personality clash. I wasn't blessed with the patience to be with someone who's hyper-sensitive.

He took the end of the relationship (if you could call it that) BADLY! I personally don't think it was because he was particularly upset about it ending, but because his ego was bruised big time. According to him, this just confirmed his suspicions that I thought I was too good for him. I got tired of repeating that this is not something I thought about whatsoever. He was too wrapped up in himself to see how unsupportive he was. I didn't see the point of explaining this for the 10,000th time. I just didn't want to end that conversation on such a negative note, which didn't work out. I never thought he would get so angry.

The Rebound never called me again. His ego was so bruised that he couldn't even be bothered to ask how things had turned out in my world. Like I said, I had other issues going on that were far more serious (I'll get into that in later posts).

I forgot about him completely and was suprised that I never bumped into him considering we live minutes away from each other. No sooner had I had that conversation with my best friend when I bump into him the very next day. Why can't my conversations of winning the lotto work that way? Anyhoo, I was about to say hello when I noticed he made eye contact and then proceeded to walk away briskly. We were the only two walking on that street and were so close to each other that he could have touched my hand accidentally. I found his reaction surpsing since we hadn't spoken in over a year. It was so pathetic that it was funny and I couldn't help but to giggle (I really hope he didn't hear me).

Lightening doesn't strike twice, so I figured I would be spared a second episode until next year, at the very least. Not so!! I had the misfortune of bumping into him AGAIN two week later just a few feet away from my apartment. Again, he acted the same way. Ok, I thought, twice is more than enough. Surly, I won't have to see him again for a while. Obviously, the universe or what/whoever loves playing these jokes on me because yesterday I literally walked right beside him at the mall. Again, the brief eye contact and brisk walk off. At this point, it's become quite entertaining.

The way things are going, I'll probably bump into him again tomorrow.