Innermost Thought

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November 19, 2002

Heh, Heh. "I don't think I can drink this all in one shot"

Okay, I have put this one off long enough. I promise I don't need to be in a twelve step program...all evidence to the contrary. Last Saturday night (the 16th), Mr. Butler took me and Same Day B-day friend Fred to a Spanish Restaurant in Newark called Iberia. Rhett and I were feeling pretty groovy as we had shared a really good bottle of wine before we left...we were tipsy but not overblown. The restaurant served a rather tasty Sangria too, and the company was amiable and interesting. I read somewhere that Iberia is the oldest Portuguese restaurant in the Newark area. I am not sure if that means alot (How many Portuguese restaurants in Newark can there be?) but there it is. So Fred, Rhett and I were having a good time. A word about Fred...he's a great guy with idiosyncrasies that, while charming on him, would be out of place on another. I feel strangely compelled to find him a nice girl with which he can settle down although he would probably prefer I find him a few naughty girls with which he could.. well you get the picture. So our trio was a perfect party at Iberia. Fred suggested that we get this seafood monstrosity for two. He would get the "all you can eat barbecue thing" that Portuguese restaurants do and surreptitiously share the juicy meaty concoctions that were occasionally displayed before us. It was all damn good food I must say and the two pitchers of Sangria put us all in a convivial mood as we made our way through the rainy streets of Newark toward Hoboken. Our next officical stop was at "The Red Room" of Solas where my friend, Liz, was throwing her birthday party. We decided to stop in at a local pub in Hoboken for a warm up shot on the way to the PATH train into the city. It was cold and rainy and a shot of whisky would surely warm our chilled bodies. Now I usually stay away from whisky and bourbon and the like. I am a tequila girl through and through. If it's not tequila I usually settle for the fru-fru girly shots like kamikazes or lemon drops; fruity, juicy drinks that taste like lemonade and are easy going down. My sister is known to enjoy her bourbon in a Jack and Coke cocktail but these days I think marriage has calmed her a bit. My mom also likes bourbon but truth to tell she's big on Margaritas too. I think it's because she is named Rita. This is also probably why she has such an affinity for shopping. She is, after all the Gallerita. Tonight on this windy, rainy night in Hoboken, I decided to run with the pack and have a shot of Jameson's Whiskey. I didn't think I would like it at all. Whiskey burns. To make matters worse, the barmaid poured the shots in highball glasses instead of shooters so we ended up with a double. I was a little daunted but bound and determined to give it a go. Try something a little different I say. Go out on a limb...I wasn't driving. Be agressive! So Rhett, Fred and I got our shots, toasted and Fred and I downed our shots in one go. Gulp Gulp. I have to say the Jameson was smooth and warm and delectable. Hmm. I could get used to this. Tequila can be a little harsh and dangerous. This was good solid stuff. At the same moment I was savoring the taste of this foreign liquor to my lips, big, strong, macho, 6'2", Polish-Dutch Mr. Butler who had been giving me grief all week about not being able to hang with the "big boys" at a party says with a sheepish grin on his face, "I don't think I can drink this all in one shot." LOL. I have to tell you Fred and I laughed at that for along time. We were putting our empty glasses on the bar and there was Rhett with his full drink in his hand. When he realized he'd been bested by a girl he drank his shot with abandon. With an empty glass and a gleam in his eye- this man was now on a mission- he dropped his glass on the bar and we made our way to the big city.

Paybacks are Hell or Lisa, I Had an "In The gutter" Evening.

Finally in the city, all warmed from our whiskey shot and giddy from Mr. Butler's demure drinking we were on our way to our final destination. We were walking from the PATH and it was drizzling and cold. Fortunately Freddy, my same day birthday good luck charm, managed to score an umbrella that was just waiting for us on the street. A gift from the gods I am sure. Rhett was walking ahead of us and still a little surly about our merciless ribbing. Come to think of it I should have known then that I was done for. You can only kid a man about being girly so long before honor becomes a mission. Unfortunately, I have never learned to stop digging my own grave particularly when the coffin looks so inviting. So Fred and I were caught between trying to catch up with Rhett and staying under the umbrella out of the wet. I must say I was looking pretty New York this evening too. I was wearing a grey short skirt and my black knee boots with black tights, a red rayon twin set and my leather jacket. I was ready to party in a New York way and despite the cold and rain I was still warm from the whiskey and the joke on Mr. Butler. I did notice that my boots were a bit slippery on the pavement. I would have to be careful this evening. New York streets can be treacherous even under the best conditions. Days before this event, Rhett and I had numerous discussions about what is appropriate while going out with someone. He seemed concerned that I would get jealous if he talked to another girl. I thought this was weird and immediately wanted to know what he was intending on doing that would cause me to get jealous. I think in the end it was all a big miscommunication. I have never seen Rhett behave inappropriately with another girl while out with me. If I did we'd be done. I imagine if I started getting weird about him chatting with chicks we'd be just as over. What Rhett may not have realized is that I am also a very social girl. It doesn't mean anything inappropriate; I am just being social. So before going into this wild party I was bound and determined to give Rhett some space and have a good time no matter what.

Finally, a still surly Rhett, a gallant Fred, and I made it to the Red Room where Liz was already celebrating. I introduced Mr. Butler and Fred to Liz, her beau John, a girl from Texas named Monica and another girl named Marta and then Rhett promptly went into the other room to get cocktails. Liz was already having a good time. While I was waiting for cocktails, her beau treated us to an impromptu, er..."lap dance". He dropped trou for his gal. How sweet is that? He was just pulling on his pants when Mr. Butler arrived with not three but 6 shots for our trio. Oh my! I knew this would never do. I was going to have to be a little sneaky. But that's alright. My dad taught me how to nurse a drink. So I downed the first Jagermeister shot under Rhett's watchful eye, picked up the second one and generously offered it to my good friend Liz who was celebrating her birthday. How sweet of me! And how sneaky! Not sneaky enough I'm afraid. Mr. Butler saw my generosity and immediately put another jagermeister shot in my hand. Strangely, I thought I could handle it. How wrong I was! So we were drinking and jovial and Mr. Butler was spending alot of time at the bar in the other room. I was not going to follow. Apparently a waitress had befriended him. I can't remember her name but I was determined not to consider it that big of a deal. And I am not sure if this was before or after I started dancing with Marta, the girl from Boston. Now, I didn't think this was a big deal either. After all it was a girl so anything sexy is just being silly. I think Mr. Butler was a little nonplussed. Perhaps he is more conservative then I thought. Then he suggested a kiss for the birthday girl...from me. So I did. After all, I am in theatre. I've kissed a girl before. Again, no big deal. It's just good clean fun. Liz and I giggled a little and "kissed". Huzzah!...I'll bet Mr. Butler didn't think I would do it. "heh heh. I don't think I can drink this all in one shot." Not me baby! So Mr. Butler was taking care of getting me good and sauced and I was feeling more and more like the belle of the ball. I remember at one point, sitting on John's leg (with Liz on the other) and noticing Mr. Butler sitting on the bench across from me. I remember looking at him and smiling and wondering if he would think this inappropriate. His face was noncommital. But really, I was on a guy who was practically engaged and I was sitting on him with his longtime girlfriend. It was all friendly really and completely innocent and appropriate. I was hoping that Mr. Butler would a) know that and b) come over and sit next to me (on John's lap). Alas he went back to the bar and perhaps the waitress. Maybe he's pissed? Ah well. I'll fix it later and besides he was flirting with the waitress!!! which was much more inappropriate in my opinion (or so I thought at the time). I did get up (from John's lap) and mingle some more with other friends. Jen, Liz's former business partner was sitting in a booth with her beau so I went and chatted with her. I think I may have kissed her too. I vaguely remember this. I remember Liz was chatting with us at one point too. And we had talked about how Jen's boyfriend was a little more conservative then the rest of us. He was a little weirded out that we had kissed (Jen and I). Come on!!! It was a girl! It doesn't really count, right.

Let's face it. No point in beating around the bush. I was completely and thoroughly sauced and it was all Mr. Butler's fault. No really. It's my body, my fault and by the end of the evening I was really, really drunk. I can think of maybe two other times in my life I was this inebriated and I was not even lucid enough to be scared. Not that I wouldn't have kissed a girl or sit on a friend's lap if I weren't drunk, but towards the waning hours of our celebration realization was beginning to dawn. I remember being in the bathroom and thinking I should get home quickly else people were would figure out I was really drunk. Our little trio made our way out of Solas. The party was over. As we emerged into the damp, New York air Mr. Butler seemed to be in the mood to start something with the bouncers. Actually it was Freddy talking trash and Mr. Butler was just trying to provide a buffer but I didn't know that until later. Worried for my guy's safety, I started after him in an attempt to defray the situation and promptly slipped on the pavement. When Lisa P and I were in college together at Tech I remember one distinct night in her dorm room when we were jonesing to get into a little trouble. We tried everything but to no avail. In the end, we settled for calling two of our friends, Topher and Kirk, kidnapping them and initiating ourselves into the dark and dangerous world of porn at the local "dirty theatre". Once there we sampled some of the red light fare and tried to scout out the key guideposts in acting that we were learning in school. We coined that night an "in the gutter" night as we had to scrape the bottom of the lubbock barrell to make our party. Well, on this late, wet night in New York City after Solas I found myself actually IN the gutter. I had fallen and I wasn't so sure I wanted to get up. I remember the doormen who were just moments later talking trash laughing their asses off. How embarrassing! I remember Freddy no longer interested in kicking Bouncer ass telling Rhett that I had fallen. I remember being curled up briefly in the fetal position on the cool, wet pavement and thinking, "hmm, this isn't so bad". Then I realized how pathetic I was and jumped up, out of my wet bed of concrete, and tried to stitch back together my bruised, battered and drunk ego. It was at this moment I was scared of my drunkenness and realized if I were with less honorable people I could be in real trouble. To make matters worse, Mr. Butler thought this was hysterical and he had won. I had lost my cool and in a much worse way than "heh heh I can't drink this all in one shot". (Although that was still pretty good.) I think he had joked that he was going to leave me there in NYC. I knew he was joking but it was important to me (in my drunken state) to prove that I could get to wherever it was that I was going...which turned out to be the PATH train. So after my drunken fall, I started trekking towards the PATH way ahead of Fred and Rhett. At some point towards the end of the evening Fred had given me a rose. I still had it in my hand. Miraculous. I think that rose kept me upright on my vigilant path to the PATH. I remember Fred and Mr. Butler laughing and then yelling "where are you going?" and then laughing somemore. But I made it to the PATH and there was a train waiting for me. Thank God! Mr. Butler, who had caught up at this point, got me through the turnstyle and on the train. He had to jump the turnstyle himself as I and the train were not waiting. It was on the PATH that Mr. Butler realized how drunk I was. He did a very good job of holding his gloat for the rest of the night. I was barely lucid and really pissed off at myself for getting that way and really thankful that I could trust him to keep me out of trouble for the rest of the night. The ride home from Hoboken was challenging at best. I lost it....literally but was at least not lost enough to lose it inside the car. Our trio got to Mr. Butler's house all safe and sound (thanks to Mr. Butler). The boys made a beeline for the leftovers in the kitchen and I made a beeline for the bathroom and a soothing much needed shower that lasted for quite awhile I am told. After the cleansing, I demurely cracked the door open, said a sweet goodnight to the boys feasting in the kitchen and went straight to bed, sorry that I had got myself in such a state that I needed to be taken care of and thankful that I had done so with people who actually do it.

I will say that Mr. Butler was really sweet from the moment he realized I was in a bad way. He did a lovely job of taking good care of a girl who was too drunk for her own good and he didn't make me feel like a huge ass until late into the next day when I was much more sober.

Posted by mermu at November 19, 2002 03:30 AM

Comments

Posted by: Kambri at December 9, 2002 11:31 AM

Posted by: Elizabeth (cousin) at December 8, 2002 01:37 AM

Posted by: Jfer at December 7, 2002 06:49 PM

Posted by: Mermu at December 7, 2002 04:26 AM

Posted by: Jfer at December 6, 2002 01:07 PM

Posted by: Rhett at December 5, 2002 09:51 PM

Posted by: Rhett at December 5, 2002 09:34 PM

Posted by: Kambri at December 4, 2002 10:27 AM

Posted by: Elizabeth (cousin) at December 2, 2002 08:45 PM

Posted by: mom at November 30, 2002 10:04 PM

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