Romance Part 4

Time to tell about one of 'those' women - the ones I have hinted at in previous posts. They began to emerge pretty fast after we made our ' togetherness' known. Their shenanigans were almost Hollywood. Honestly, for a quiet and seemingly unassuming guy, Clay seemed to bring out real tigerish emotions in women. I was to find that out over the next while. In spades. Suddenly, surprisingly, one of those ' lurker Clay-fans' suddenly seemed to become really friendly towards me. You may wonder at times during this story how it could possibly be, that a grown women with 3 children could be so naive, so gullible, so just plain dumb. But I bought her act: so when she invited me for drinks at the Hostel for the Swans (girl sailor people - she was one of those) I was pleased and agreed. Unbeknown to me, she also invited Clay. When he found out she'd invited us both, he asked me if I would go with him. He arrived to fetch me looking very hunky in a light grey suit and red shirt (ok, not a fashion statement today, but very cool then. And yes, I do remember the exact clothes he was wearing) We arrived at the venue and sat at the bar together, sipping our drinks. The next thing, this swan-girl asks him to go with her and he disappears for a while. I was left at the bar alone and feeling distinctly uncomfortable and very out of place. I could feel eyes boring into my back, if you know what I mean. There was a real tense atmosphere there. I was grateful that it didn't take him long to return. He slid into his seat next to me without comment. Swan-girl wasn't seen again that night. And did not interfere with our relationship after that. I still don't know what he said. But whatever it was, it worked. I found out later that the whole thing was a set-up: a plan to humiliate me in front of all her friends by ridiculing me in the bar (them) and 'getting into' Clay (her) in front of me, and in front of all her cronies. I still find it hard to believe the sheer malice involved. Mercifully it backfired badly on her We ended up having the time of our lives there But even today when I think about what was planned for me that night, I shudder. But there were more of ' those women' lurking. Just waiting to try their luck at sinking us . . . As you will soon see. (I hope you noticed that you got two in one day today?)