[Continued from "Alex & Brendan (Part 2)."]

At the time I sent the RSVP for the celebration of Alex and Brendan’s relationship, I thought the Viking and I would already live in Chicago.  I was excited to come back to a city I love very much, but as a tourist.  And I was looking forward to the hotel sex.

It’s a good thing the Viking never booked the flights or the hotel rooms, though, because by the time the party came around we were still living in San Francisco.  No matter, it worked out rather well, since the party location was walking distance from our place in the Mission.

In addition to the celebration, there were some other events planned around it, just like any wedding.  There was a brunch with Alex, and there were cocktails the night before the party – a rehearsal dinner without a rehearsal or a dinner.

I hadn’t seen Alex or our mutual friends from law school for a few years.  I had gone through a period of being rather unfun to be around.  I decided to not subject my friends to me when I didn’t even want to be around me; I would have talked about my misery and I learned first-hand that my misery was boring as shit.

So when I received the emails about Alex’s “bachelor” brunch and the day-before cocktail event, I was quite happy.  I was eager to get together with Alex, of course, but also our mutual law school buddies.  Because I was no longer a pain in the ass to be around.

I confirmed meeting for Alex’s “bachelor” brunch.  It was conveniently close to my house so it wasn’t difficult for me to make it to the restaurant at 10am.  Mornings aren’t my strong suit.

Alex was there, of course, as was another close friend from law school and his partner, and a woman I’d not met before who endeared herself to me when she told me how she quit a law firm I used to work for several years ago.  She quit without notice via an email to the boss on a Saturday.  That may not seem like a big deal, but I’m sure it was the case that there was a lot of scrambling to notify clients and to figure out exactly what work she had been doing.  The boss was an ass, and had been an ass to me when I worked for the firm.

Turned out there were a few people who couldn’t show for the brunch due to illness.  That meant there was an extra seat.  Everyone agreed that I should call the Viking and have him join us.

The Viking is so nice and pleasant to be around that of course everyone liked him right away.  We had a really tasty brunch and then the Viking took his leave; he said I should catch up with my friends.

So the three guys and I went back to the couple’s house to figure out what we were going to do next.  The original plan had been to go to the Academy of Sciences to do some nerding out.  Then there was the possibility of the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.  They had cars so our possibilities were open.  Not having a car means it takes a shit-ton of time to get around even tiny little San Francisco.

We couldn’t make a decision on something major to do so we opted to drive to a bar.  There, we did some talking (ok, I did a lot of talking) and some drinking.  Actually, three of us did some drinking, with Alex just doing a bit of sipping; just before we left I finished the remaining two-thirds of Alex’s drink.

Then Alex had to go home.  I said goodbye and told him I’d see him the following week.

The remaining three of us went back to the couple’s house where my law school friend packed for a work trip and his partner and I drank some more.  Then, when we ran out of booze, we drove to Trader Joe’s to get some more.

The partner had been to culinary school so when it came time to eat, the meal was, of course, fabulous.

Finally, my drunk ass caught a bus.  Unfortunately, my drunk ass was out of it when it came time for me to change buses.  My drunk ass realized I’d missed my stop so I hopped off the bus.  Well, hopped off the bus and fell on the ground.  In the Tenderloin.  The streets in the ‘Loin are not clean and there I was on my hands and knees.

I’m not altogether sure how I got home, but I obviously did.  It involved a lot of walking and possibly another bus.  The next day I had a scrape on my right elbow, a bruise on my left knee, and overall body aches.

I again saw the folks the following Friday.  [To be continued.]

I swear.  True story.

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