Season 4 v: Green Light Means Go; Red Light Means Chat?

Setting: my car, intersection in La Crosse

With the aftermath of Saturday night, I had been feeling a lot of fallout. I slept close to 0 hours on Sunday night (thanks to some incessant visits from the “Analyze this!” fairy), and I was in a mood Monday. I felt uncomfortable and needy. I wanted him to approach me with a grin and an attitude that said he had enjoyed the evening’s chat as much as I had. Instead, we barely talked. Maybe it was the sub in the desk across from his. Maybe it was that Ann suddenly became omnipresent. Whatever the case, I felt off. I went home a total crank, went to bed melancholy and woke up dreading my midday location switch. Suddenly I didn’t want to see him. Nothing had changed. Not really. I was simply afraid that he had confirmed a lack of connection Saturday night, while I had been swayed toward the opposite. 

And then there was 8th hour. Things were back on. He glanced over at the obnoxious laugh, at the inappropriate come-on. The looks were subtle, on the edge of my periphery, but they were there—our little inside jokes. But then he was packing up, walking Beth out. And he should have been gone. Except I pulled out in front of him and led the way home. But that really shouldn’t have dragged things out. 3 lights and he turns. 15 minutes later and I’m home. Instead, 3 lights and he is still in the lane beside me. In fact, with the red light stopping us, we are side by side. We make eye contact. His window creeps down. And we’re chatting. It only lasted minutes, so why did it make my night?