Vile, Contemptible Shrew

Not a normal term of endearment, but Mark said I make him “go all Shakespearean.” He usually calls me that right before he moves in for a kiss, so it’s all right with me. The way he says it, it’s actually a charming nickname — especially because it’s delivered in a passable British accent.

We had a nice weekend. Bless his heart, he was a good sport about attending the local minor-league hockey game. We went out for chocolate fondue afterwards (part of my Xmas present to him) then came back to my place. He gave me a bottle of wine plus two candles (one of which is “mulled wine” scented). I was somewhat embarassed, given that he doesn’t drink at all, but the most I’ve had to drink in front of him is one glass of wine. I added the bottle to my wine rack, stocked with two other dusty bottles lol. The other part of my gift to him was a photo of me, the photo that prompted him to e-mail me in the first place. I wasn’t sure about giving him the photo, but he seemed very pleased.

He received an offer from the company that he interviewed with locally and is waiting to hear back from the company in Chicago. I don’t know for what to hope. I won’t see him until New Year’s Eve anyway, so everything should be figured out on his end by then. He had mentioned doing something on the 31st a few times, so I asked him today if we were. He said he had “another offer,” from a friend of his from grad school and her two friends. I told him if he was going to go out with them to let me know, so I could make other plans, i.e. with an “inappropriate” 26-year-old (he only knows about Ryan in generalities, in that I said I dated younger men before him). He was making jokes and I said, “You think I’m kidding?” He replied, “No, I don’t. That’s why I want to go out with you and not them!”

This morning we went back to bed after we went out for breakfast. We took a quick nap afterwards, and he said, “You went to all of that trouble to look nice this morning …” and I expected yet another zinger, but he surprised by finishing his sentence thusly: “But you look even better now.”

Sigh.

He referred to me a few more times as his girlfriend. I stil haven’t said, “This is my boyfriend, Mark,” but I’m feeling better about it. I think I’ve identified the issue. I’m afraid I’m going to call him my boyfriend and he will say, “No, I’m not your boyfriend!” More old baggage to let go …