Waking up with ChI was really nice this morning. I work at night quite a bit and she's always off taking a class or working at the gallery so it's hard for us to schedule time together. I was hoping that she would have forgotten about last night and klepto-girl's attempt at seduction. She hadn't. As we were having coffee with our meager breakfast she mentioned how she really hoped she didn't see 'that bitch' around anytime soon.

To be honest ChI's reaction to klepto-girl has been a little surprising. In the past ChI has always dealt with such seduction attempts by shrugging it off and dismissing me as an overzealous flirt(which I have been accused of). For ChI to be so protective of me is a little unnerving. I was thinking about it all morning over my cereal. The idea of being with ChI exclusively doesn't bother me too much per-se, but her nature is much more protective than I'd like. I am a very independent person and I don't like having these things hanging over my head. Knowing that ChI and klepto-girl are involved in some sort of feud over me (although ego boosting) is really petty and annoying.

My friendship and relationship with ChI is important to me - though I do need my space from her on occasions like this. This motherly and overbearing nature is so out of context from her usual display of violent digression from norm in terms of behavior. In many ways she acts like a child that needs to be taken care of but so do I. So in this way we are perfect together, but when she starts getting all protective of me I just feel the need to break out.

I think she noticed I was thinking about something because of my silence at the table. She knows how to get my attention - she poured a glass of wine for both of us, sat on my lap, and smacked me lightly in the face - staring at me intently. I pushed her off me, not really feeling like getting involved again - my hangover had me aching to get back in bed for a few hours.

After I pushed her off my lap she didn't talk to me for the rest of the morning and refused to give me a ride home. So, I walked through the midday sun home to my semi-comfortable bed. The goth-girl upstairs was playing Boys Don't Cry by the Cure really loud and it helped me go to sleep.

I awoke around 4pm and walked over to Jen and Steve's where they seemed to be entertaining some friends of theirs I didn't know. I sat and sketched for a little while and talked with a girl named Gena who Steve knew from working at the art store. She was really cute and nice with those big brown eyes that I am such a sucker for. It was nice to spend time with a female other than klepto-girl or ChI. I have rather fucked up relationships with my close female friends and this was so refreshing. I invited her to come get a beer when I was at work later.

I went to work at subrocket at 6pm as usual, hung out with Dave at the bar while the evening crowd slowly trickled in. The regulars aligned the back side of the bar and bummed smokes from me in between pouring them beer after beer after beer. I have good conversation with several of those guys - old truckers mostly who are just in town for a few months with their 'old ladys'. They all tell me if they were my age they'd be 'out chasing skirts' and wondered why I didn't use my bartender wiles to pick up women at the bar.

I told them that I didn't believe in picking up women in bars. Now if they come up to me when I'm not working that's a different story. I just wouldn't be attracted to most of the women that come in the subrocket. It's not a dingy place but it's certainly not as nice as many of the other places on the strip. My friends like it, I like it, truckers and writers like it, but good women don't come in that often.

Gena came by just before last call and stayed at the bar until I closed around 3am. We talked at the bar for a while because it wasn't busy and I said that I was pretty surprised she showed up. After I got off work she gave me a ride home and came in for a beer. We stayed up until about 4 talking (I swear!) until I was so tired that I just went to bed right on the couch.

I never heard anything from ChI - she's probably still upset with me.

Dean