Following week

Have gained weight from unhappiness binges so decide to sign up for a 10k run and start training. First long run I do of 8k I meet American girl at the pub afterwards and I order a grilled chicken burger and it accidently comes with fries and I accidently eat them all and three beers. Then the tiredness and lethargy hits and I slump and head home.

This week I run Monday Tuesday and then Wednesday lunchtime. I go back to smoothies and a fight with Jake for breakfast, and crumpets. Then for lunch I have the canteen ladies soup as long as she has not put cream in it. But often she does but not very much or so she says and I pretend to believe her. Tree man comes into our office every day and tries to get my attention. It is excruciating. He talks to other people and I keep my head down but he talks louder and louder so I notice him. Then he comes over and stands too close and I have to keep wheeling my chair back. Is gross. Routine of running, being harassed by tree man and making fish and salads in the evening is depressing me but then clouds part and Jake is forced to go away the upcoming weekend for a stag night. HURRAH have brilliant most exciting opportunity to have a dinner party with friends and everyone can come and stay and not have Jake yelling at me and being awkward. There is room for normal people from London to come and stay and ill cook beautiful food all day in the kitchen and then serve it. Calmly and in no way hysterically and full of rage.

Decide to have Seth and Bree and Vince and Hermione and Jennifer and Andre up. I tell them to bring booze and then I start planning the menu. Have decided to make crayfish on sweet potato rostis with my mothers red pepper cream sauce for a starter. Then will bake huge pork in tinfoil with onions for five hours till it all falls apart when mixed with a fork and mix with onions and bbq sauce and will serve with coleslaw and Cajun wedges and buns. Will be like a southern American feast and very meaty so the boys will be happy. Spend Wednesday night and Thursday night buying ingredients. I have taken over the entire fridge.

In the meantime CAG is beside herself because her derelict lover will not see her anymore and has told her to stay away from him because she is mental. I am on phone to her, buying meat from butcher with one hand and ticking of list of ingredients in other hand at the oxford market. CAG says that she has started to stalk her derelict lover and recently followed him to a dinner party then crashed the dinner party and screamed at him until she was forcibly removed. While she is talking the phone beeps and it is Scottish man ringing through. Have been so busy I nearly forgot to obsess over him. I hang up on CAG and answer. ‘I’m coming to Oxford tomorrow night for the weekend and watching the Rugby on Saturday’ he says. ‘I have a dinner to go to, come as my date’. ‘Can not come’ I tell Scottish man ‘I am cooking dinner party Saturday and will be chopping vegetables for all my life is worth on Friday’. ‘Fine’ he says ‘Ill come to your place and take you out for dinner locally’. ‘Ok’ I say, but very locally because I have lots of chopping to do. ‘I will help you peel and chop’ he says. ‘Am I invited to your dinner party?’ he asks. Is interesting question because I will be the only unpartnered person there, so it could be ideal.

However, he is planning to watch rugby all day Saturday with his friends elsewhere in Oxford and will be very very drunk by Saturday evening. Also need to punish him for lack of contact recently. Would not be good to introduce new very drunk guy to friends especially when his contact is unreliable and intermittent. I tell him no he is not invited but he can take me to dinner Friday and come round later Saturday and have a drink after dinner party is over. I thank the lord that Jake is out of town, and that Scottish man is only mildly annoyed that I live with my ex and he is not above violating the code and staying in the house while Jake is absent.