5-8-1

Some more thought on those messages. I posted them on a forum to see the feedback, and one person said it didn't sound like she was my girlfriend. Then it clicked - of course she wasn't my girlfriend! I was supposed to have known this all along! But somewhere along the lines, my mind, I came to think that she was my girlfriend, and I, being disillusioned, incorrectly expected her to be.

So stepping away from that perspective, those messages aren't too bad. She didn't find out about Amy. She isn't going to dump you. There's no trap involved. Seriously, if it was anything bad, would she even reply? Would she even agree to see you?

Ugh...

Anyway, on Wednesday morning I got up really early to go to Newcastle. I felt like I had a lot of wax in my left eye and kep trying to get it out. Even in the shower, I felt like I couldn't get rid of it. Then when I looked in the mirror, I saw that my left eye had swollen up. It was pretty ugly to have one eye bigger than the other. Now I knew how Lewis feels. Or at least a micro-fraction of how he must feel.

I drove off a little after 6am, listening to the Dr Dre CD Malay gave me. It's ok, some skits are funny, but I still prefer Eminem.

When I got there, I walked around looking for a public bathroom. I asked a girl if there was a shopping centre, and she asked what I was looking for. For some dumb reason I was too embarassed to say toilet, so I was like "uhh...shops, mall..." and she pointed me in the direction of a mall. I found two bathrooms - one was out of service and one was locked. Great. So I just had to wait till court opened.

I went back to the car to get a ticket and then went to court. I quickly used the bathroom and then waited near the courtroom. I thought my cop would be there already so kept an eye out for him. When the courtroom opened, I saw Maria and she introduced me to her husband, who was on the other side.

We went out for a chat, and he was surprisingly friendly. I always imagined she married some old fart for money, but I could see this guy was a good match for her. As we spoke, the cop walked up to us and the three of us had a chat. The matter was later mentioned and stood down to noon, so I just sat in the courtroom waiting. I got so tired, not sure if it was because I woke up early or because of my eye.

When it was finally our turn, we did it, but the mag wanted some more material from both of us, and so we have to go back in a fortnight. Great.

I went to have Subway for lunch. I noticed that the cashier girl was really friend towards the customers before me, but was kinda cold when it was my turn. Hmmm.

I ate my sandwich outside, went to the candy store to get something back for the office, and then drove off again. Midway through the drive, I felt so sleepy I turned off the freeway and stopped in a residential area to rest my eyes. I thought about Naby and dozed off. I'm not sure how long I was out for, maybe 20 minutes, maybe 40 minutes, but I resumed my drive wide awake.

When I got back to the office, it was about 4pm. I didn't do much - got caught in a long four way conversation with Mary, Moira and Clare, which somehow turned into gossip talk about how sleazy guys are in the legal profession. I just stood there awkwardly, wishing I could find an excuse to get out. I wonder how Steve deals with it.

I also spoke with Genie at the end of the day. She actually noticed my disproportionate eye, even though it had recovered fairly well throughout the day. She asked me what happened and I just said I woke up like that, adding that maybe I touched my cats before rubbing my eyes.

Afterwards, I went looking for a gift for Naby. I had come up with a solution - I didn't (couldn't) want to get something too expensive like jewellery, but then I thought a soft cuddly toy could do the trick. It's cheap, and all girls like it. I still remember the last time when I got her that Domo, seeing that sparkle in her eyes.

I went to Morning Glory and looked for something. There was a real monkey, one of those that sell for hundreds of dollars. I'm sure she'd like that, but I wasn't going to sneak that into the brothel. Imagine.

I ended up buying a monkey puppet, the type where you can slip your hand inside and control its mouth. I thought it'd be cute to play a character with her. I could picture it - I'd wrap my arm around her shoulder, having the monkey on the other side, and me saying in a cartoonised voice her name, asking her how she was, and telling her I missed her.

I went home, somewhat glad I didn't have to go to basketball. For one, it wasn't fun anymore with Angelo around. Two, I got to rest my finger (the doctor had called on Tuesday saying no fracture, but I should rest it 4-6 weeks). Three, I wasn't in the mood anyway, since I hadn't been to the gym all week.

I had my computer ready and poured myself a cup of grape juice, when my phone rang. It was Bo. He said they might not have five, saying that Any said he was sick. I called Abi and he messaged back saying he was at work so he couldn't make it.

I told Bo I'd go, but I'd just watch if they had five. I met up with him at Town Hall and we caught the train together. Turns out Phil was there, so they'd have five. But then white Mike said he could only play the first half, so I guess I was needed for at least the second half.

When the game before ours ended, Nick and Bo made a concerted effort to take the bench on the left. I don't know why, but put my stuff there anyway. Angelo had gone to the other side to shoot, while the team we were playing were already shooting on the side Nick and Bo had gone to. I don't know why, but Nick and Bo insisted on shooting there, so I just stayed in the middle doing push ups.

When the game started, I was on the bench. It was soooooo cold! I didn't make any effort to come on until the last few minutes of the first half when white Mike wanted to come off so he could play for his other team.

I basically played with the "eh, whatever" attitude. If Angelo wanted the ball, I'd give it to him, stand there and watch. I liked it everytime he missed or lost the ball.

It was a close game until Nick fouled out, leaving the four of us. I sort of thought we could win it and actually tried to give the ball to Angelo to score, but alas we couldn't do it. I still finished the game with the "eh, whatever" attitude. What annoyed me was I heard a guy from the other team say to Angelo towards the end "thanks, good game, you're the only one who..." and I didn't hear the rest as I was walking away. It made me so angry, because now everyone thinks he's the only one who can play. I was just showing that he couldn't win without the team. I can score if I wanted to. Fuckers.

Nick, Bo, Phil and I went to a pub afterwards to talk about it. We didn't labour on it too much, but the general consensus seems to be that Angelo (nor Any) will be playing after this season.

I caught the train with Phil, as Nick drove but could only have one passenger. I got home at around 11:30pm. I wondered how many people were thankful I came out, despite being injured. Certainly not Angelo I bet.

Today at work I spent the first half of the day preparing for next week, and the second half preparing for the sentence tomorrow. Probably should've started earlier as I didn't get to finish, despite leaving at 7pm.

At lunchtime I went to another Morning Glory. My thoughts on the puppet had changed. The main thing was, I wanted to give her a cuddly toy, but a puppet was slightly different. You can't really hug it.

So I went and bought a medium sized Totoro. I thought I could hide it under my jacket, but when I got back to the office, I had a go and there was no way it was gonna fit. Guess I'll just have to walk in with it in a plastic bag.

Ah, she's gonna love the Totoro.