When men make it hard...

Having decided to focus on "me" in the midst of the relationship graveyard I have found myself in, I have decided that in order to heal myself and my heart, I must remain resolutely single for the next six months. In theory this should be simple enough - correct? 

But then I go out for a drink with a former colleague, a senior investment banker - I hadn't seen him for a couple of years so we were just catching up over a couple of drinks - all very innocent. It was nice to see him and catch up informally and hear how everything was going for him but after a couple of martinis I decided it was time to leave. He lives close by, with his wife and kids incidentally, so we decided to share a cab.

This was apparently my first big mistake.

He seemed to assume that sharing a cab meant I wanted him to kiss me which he proceeded to try to do. I was pretty shocked; I know I was absolutely not giving off any signals of availability or desire for anything to happen. Having set the record straight, we pulled up outside my apartment, where he asked if I was sure I didn't want him to come inside with me!! I told him "no" one more time and fled into the building.

Speechless is the only word that would adequately describe my feelings at that moment. Was it possible that he had genuinely misread the signals so badly? Or is it simply the case that many men believe they are God's gift to women and everyone wants to sleep with them? Do they have no thought for the consequences of their actions? What would have happened if I had been open to his amorous intentions? Thankfully, despite my very vulnerable emotional state, I seem to have extricated myself from this particular accident waiting to happen.

A darling male friend of mine, to whom I relayed the incident, suggested that maybe the behaviour of said man was a version of apology from the male species for the way I had been treated by my ex-boyfriend....an interesting theory but it definitely did not make me feel any better about myself. In fact, I think it just reinforced the fact that men often do still objectify women as another possession to be acquired. Or perhaps I really am now in danger of becoming rather bitter and twisted.....