A week and a half after the birthday party on Lake Minnetonka, I got a phone message from Josh’s roommate, Bob. He invited me to a baseball game (with the whole group… that had met at Margo’s party). I declined, because I had to work at my second job. But, I told them to give me a call afterwards if they went out for drinks. They called me back and told me to meet them in downtown St. Paul at one of the many Irish Pubs near the Excel Energy Center. Our group included, Josh, Josh’s roommate Bob, another single doctor (Aaron), Abby, Abby’s friend and me.

I didn’t talk to Josh the entire evening. (He was seated at the other end of the table.) Instead, I chatted with his friend Aaron, who happened to be from my hometown! We even knew some of the same people. What a riot! A couple of times throughout the night I glanced over at Josh and a couple of times he glanced back (but never the eye lock that we had at the party). It was getting late and we were all ready to go. I mentioned I wouldn’t be around next week, because I was heading home for a vacation back home (in 'my home state').

Josh turned around, “Where are you going to be? I’m going to be in 'my home state' next week to."

I looked at Josh and said, “I’m going to be staying out by the lakeshore.”

Josh replied, “That’s funny, I’m going to be at the lakeshore for the first half of the week, but then I’m going to Ohio for the second part of the week.”

I starred at him, looked him directly in the eye, and said, “That’s really weird. I’m going to Akron, Ohio the second part of the week. Where are you going to be in Ohio?”

He stared back at me with a strange look, “I’m going to be in Akron, Ohio! Are you going to the golf tournament?”

I broke the stare, “No, I’m going there for a wedding, but that’s weird isn’t it? What a coincidence!” We both looked at each other again with a strange look. (Hmmm.)

I told him to give me a buzz when he was out at the lake if he wanted to hang out. He never called (I found out later that he didn't call, because he was at the lake with his girlfriend's family), and I never actually ended up going to the wedding in Ohio, but that’s another long story.

We both went on our respective vacations back home and never talked. What did I care anyway, he has a girlfriend! And, I'm done with dating... FOR REAL THIS TIME! I put the entire "bug in my eye boating incident" out of my mind. It was all a waste of my time.

The day after I got back from vacation I noticed a missed call and a new voicemail on my phone. It was from Josh. I listened intently:

"Hi, Jane... this is Josh. I was just wondering how your vacation was and when you get back in town. Give me a call when you get a chance."

I bet you're all wondering whether I called Josh (the big waste of my time) back. Of course! But, you have to wait until my next post to find out what happened. Stay tuned...