The stone vixen

Some people handle crises well. Others are sent into a tailspin, and rather than mourn and figure things out in a healthy way, they freak out. Turns out Monkeyboy is in the latter category, as I discovered after a friend of his passed away suddenly last week.

I don't mean to minimize Monkeyboy's loss. It's incredibly sad. I can understand him wanting some time to himself to mourn. But it's hard for me to understand why this would lead to him doing a complete about-face with regards to me. One Sunday, he was introducing me to his oldest friends and making plans for things we could do together over the summer. By Friday, he was unsure about things but didn't want me to worry, and told me he "didn't want to make any decisions while in crisis mode." However, 48 hours later, crisis mode was apparently over, and he told me that while he was more excited about me than anyone he'd met in years, it "just didn't feel right."

One thing I pride myself on is my comportment during a breakup. Sure, it's not always that easy, and I broke about a million of my own rules when Moustache broke up with me (rules like don't bite the other person, maintain self possession...). But this breakup was a snap. I quickly adapted what I call my "stone vixen" stance, maintaining a polite, amused smile on my face throughout the conversation and refusing any physical contact. Smiling all the while, I told him that he hadn't behaved very nicely to me. When he went on to explain his crisis in more depth, I very politely interrupted to tell him that I thought the best word to describe him is "fickle." Then I escorted him to the door, allaying his apologies by repeating, "It's all right. Believe me, it is QUITE all right."

I had high hopes for Monkeyboy. It's unfortunate he turned out to be so lame. Probably not worth crying any tears over, though.