Add Wine and Stir

After this concerning start, the remainder of dinner passed by without incident. There was good food, good conversation, good friends. We were relaxed. At least I was. This was due to good wine.

I may not drink it often but I do like wine. I know precious little about it. I know people that know vintages and how long to let it breathe and all that sort of thing. I am not that guy. I have an idea of what I like and I drink that. I am not fancy about it at all.

Part of the reason I don't drink wine often is that it tends to relax me more than I'm comfortable with when I'm out and about. With most other alcoholic beverages, I'm familiar with how I react to them and have known limits. The impact of wine is harder for me to accurately judge. It seems to be more variable than other alcoholic beverages. I blame the grapes. Wine has the highest possibility of sending me from zero to drunk.

Under normal operating situations, this was something to be concerned about. Given that I would be driving later this evening, it was something to be extra concerned about. Given that Ms. Romero is difficult to resist when sober, well, you can see my problem. I reasoned that, if for reason I were to take Ms. Romero up on her offer, I wouldn't want to do it when drunk. If that was going to happen, I felt it would be something I would want to remember, not be told about after returning from a blackout. I was talked into a second glass during dinner and I resolved within myself that was going to be my limit.

This was all well and good, a fine decision to make. However, I had not considered all the factors at play. Mostly, I'd not considered Sarah Jean.

Honestly, this should come as no surprise. It has been what feels like forever since I was last seriously accompanied anywhere by a young lady. I know she's smart and I trust her. What I had not considered was that I didn't really know her tolerance levels, especially for something like wine, and know that would affect me.

I had paced out my intake of the wine and its effects on me, while pleasurable, had been minimal. I was still in control of myself. The combination of factors had hit Sarah Jean enough to dent her sense. When Ms. Romero offered her an after dinner drink in the living room, she readily agreed.

This is when the evening got complicated.