Mr Thursday Night

Thursday 6th September

Andy arrived at the bar feeling a little more optimistic than he had the last time he showed up for this particular gathering, and carefully selected the same seat he had been in before to ensure Gemma found him again. In fact, this time she came over to him almost as soon as she entered the room, buying Andy a few precious extra minutes in his attempts to charm her.

"Hey Andy" she smiled as she took a seat and shuffled it closer towards him, something she hadn't done before.

"Hey Gemma. Did everything get sorted with that text you got last time we spoke?"

"I think so, but it's been a hectic few days. I could really use a drink"

"Then let me get you one" Andy offered.

"Oh, I wasn't meaning to hint there"

"I know, it's fine though, I'd like to"

"What a gentleman" Gemma smiled "Okay then, I'll have a Cosmopolitan please"

Andy quickly placed the order and turned back to face Gemma, who nodded subtly over at Elaine and the throng of male irers surrounding her.

"Not interested in being part of her fan club then?"

"Honestly, she isn't my type" Andy lied.

"Wow, that's pretty surprising" Gemma raised her eyebrows "Although I'm making assumptions here. You might not be into women at all for all I know"

"I am, I just prefer a more natural look" Andy answered, a far better reply than he had managed the first time Gemma had questioned his sexual preferences.

"Good for you" she smiled and nodded approvingly.

The drinks arrived, just as her phone buzzed.

"Shit! Something has just come up that I really do need to deal with now" she fretted as she read the message "I'm so sorry to keep doing this to you, especially after you paid for my drink"

"it's okay, honestly"

Andy really didn't mind. He got a full refund of everything he spent when the week reset anyway, so could afford to act like a relative financial big-shot for as long as he was stuck in this loop.

"It's not okay. I need to buy you one back" Gemma insisted "How about we go for a drink together tomorrow evening?"

"Sure!"

Andy managed not to sound as excited about that suggestion as he felt - an actual girl had asked him out for an actual drink. Gemma took a pen from her purse and scribbled something on a napkin.

"My number" she told Andy as she handed it to him "Call me tomorrow, I'm likely to be tied up for the rest of the evening. Sorry, I really do have to run now"

As pleased as he was feeling with himself, Andy was now drinking alone with two separate alcoholic beverages - not a good look. His brief but fruitful business with Gemma concluded, it was time for him to leave as well.

Despite what he had told his nearly drinking partner, Andy was actually very keen to find an opening to speak with Elaine - he figured he may as well shoot for the stars, since he really didn't have anything to lose by trying. She just seemed to be surrounded by guys all the time, so he couldn't see an opportunity presenting itself. There was next to no chance of getting her attention right now, at least not in any kind of positive way, so he left for Kara's book club via the wine store.

---

"Oh Hey Andy, glad you could make it!"

Seeing his philosophy Professor standing in the doorway of the plush apartment she probably owned, dressed elegantly and looking beautiful, Andy realised how unlikely it was that he could get anywhere with her, no matter how many attempts he was given. Still he had nowhere better to be.

"Wow, someone clearly knows their wine" Kara looked impressed as she ired the bottle Andy handed to her. He actually knew nothing about it, beyond his theory that the more expensive the bottle was the better it would be received, which seemed to have held true here "You really shouldn't have pushed the boat out this much for our humble little gathering, but thank you"

Andy was ushered through to a spacious room where a handful of tragic looking dorks, plus Sara, were sat. Despite having rejected him as a study partner, Sara seemed happy enough to see Andy and for him to come and sit next to her on the couch.

It was clear from very early on that Andy was way out of his depths in the book discussion, and not just because he hadn't read the book. Still, he felt ChatGPT had equipped him with all the information he needed to get through this, and one skill hid did possess was being able to recite things pretty much verbatim after a few read-throughs. When it came to his turn, Andy delivered his review almost word-perfectly, and it seemed everyone present was suitably impressed. Until Sara decided she had to fucking pipe up like usual.

"That was really insightful and thought provoking Andy, thank you"

"Don't mention it"

"I just wondered if you could expand on some of the plot conveniences you alluded to in your review?"

"Huh?"

"I think I probably agree with you. I was just curious to see if my thoughts chimed with yours. Could you give some examples?"

"Nah, I'm good"

"Come on Andy, don't leave us all in suspense" Kara encouraged him, clearly a little surprised by that reaction "Just an example or two, it's obviously something you've considered quite deeply"

"I don't want to give away any spoilers"

"We've all read the book at least once, that's the whole point of this" Sara reminded him.

"There aren't any specific examples really, it was more of a general point. It just bugged me a bit while I was reading, so I thought I should mention it"

Now the whole room was looking at Andy like he had just confused a 16th century Florentine diplomat with a 20th century Californian rapper. Kara artfully moved the conversation away from him and, for the remainder of the evening, Andy said nothing, silently waiting for it all to be over. If he was going to do this again, he would have to resign himself to reading the book first.

---

Around the time Andy returned to his room, the same obnoxious sound of people enjoying themselves that had disturbed his sleep before started up again from below. He had felt so utterly defeated and hopeless that night that he had simply suffered it. Emboldened by his relative success with Gemma earlier that evening, and with no long term consequences for pissing anyone off anyway, he decided this time he wasn't going to take it.

Andy marched downstairs and knocked emphatically on the door of the room directly below his own. He was then completely caught off guard when he saw the person who opened it.

"Can I help you?" Elaine asked.

Shit! Although Andy knew the number of her room, he hadn't put two and two together as to exactly where the stunning social media star was located - until now. He had never interacted with someone this far out of his league before, and found himself completely unprepared for the experience. His options were to either stand there in silence like an idiot or go with what he had originally planned to say, albeit more apologetically.

"I'm sorry to be a pain, I just wondered if you could keep the noise down a bit? I can't sleep otherwise"

Andy scanned the room behind the half open door quickly. There were maybe half a dozen women in their - including Leah. His old classmate briefly made eye with him before looking very deliberately away.

"I'm sorry" Elaine replied, quite cordially "I wouldn't normally be this inconsiderate, but since it's Freshers' week I assumed everyone would be out partying. I'll turn the music off and we'll try to keep the conversation as quiet as possible though"

"Okay, thanks, I appreciate that"

Elaine smiled politely and shut the door.

So, Andy had just introduced himself to the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and immediately proceeded to spoil her night, whilst also letting her know he had no social life. Thank fuck this week was on repeat.