Chrome Cologne And An Oxford Street Haul (Part 3)

Bags On The Desk

Having no time to eat on my lunch break when being so inundated with shopping, I made my half-hungry venture back to my desk, placing all my bags into my little corner for Fitzroy to then take the liberty of coming over to peruse over what I had bought. He looked through the Grace Bros. bag and I helped him try on some ‘Chrome’ Cologne which he like a lot. I put some on also which seemed to agree to the sense of smell in Thalia and Najla.

Taking out my Hound Dog chain I also showed it to Najla but I’m not sure what sort of a mood it placed her in. On one scale she probably didn’t care but to me it felt a tiny little bit like she no longer thought she was up to my standard. Let me just say that Najla looked great in what she was wearing today, the third new stretch of clothing as yet.

Tight Pants And Thoughts

I lean over and around her, she does the same with me and we get ourselves into little predicaments that barely bother us, making me feel deep down inside that Najla is probably thinking the same thoughts as I on occasion, those being, “I wonder what it would be like to go out with Najla or get onto her”. There are times of different perspective when looking at her, like when she shows a little bit of tummy skin when outstretching her hand to grasp something above her.

I’m sure I give away those same thoughts to some women at work when I wear my tight pants. Basically, I hate it how I can look at the skin tight pants that make a woman’s ass look superb at work but I think “Men don’t have those things on the buying market, it’s not for us to wear at work.” Well, with this fashion that I’m buying, I’m turning those tables around, buying those tighter and more fashionable clothes for that extra dollar.

I want to look good at work as well as professional and more artistically good looking all in one. These clothes will do that for me. They will give me my characteristic edge…

A New Caricature

Being so busy shopping blocked out those old famished thoughts until they loomed back towards the end of the day, where for my second half I ran a couple of errands around the office. I love it when I’m allowed the ability to roam around without even a hint of getting in trouble. I can make trips to the photocopier, downstairs, outside, the mail room, the toilet, wherever, I’m free. Anyway, as per yesterday, I asked Fitzroy to draw some more caricatures before he leaves our offices and agreeing, he fashioned a new picture of ‘Legal Tony’.

This time around I read into the dramatic change in the character of who he drew and laughed out loud at the silly little characteristics he changed. For instance, the first picture was of me being all timid, showing no real confidence, sticking my thumb up and having one hand behind my back. The new picture was of me with a big smile on my face, showing all the confidence in the world and my ponytail showing on one side of the back of my head.

This was so true of me as I never tie the ponytail in the middle and through the day it airs out and slops to one side making me look a little lopsided. I laughed loud at the changes and also took it as a compliment when he uttered, “This is the Legal Tony who has now found his confidence and knows what he’s doing.” Couldn’t be truer.

Photocopier Friends

The photocopier in the kitchen was another day of congregation for me. Whilst there I talked to a couple of people including the Lebanese kind of guy that I made think I was incompetent on my first or second day when asking if he was using the photocopier. This time around he seemed the minor to my confidence but we chatted a little about the office and all that. I also chatted with that Asian guy who I treat more as a friend, always raising my hand in recognition as he walks past.

Today he was looking to send a file to a claims section and as I walked up to him, I offered to help by sending it to claims instead. Seeming grateful, he gave me the papers and it made me feel in control of myself, like I was finally one of the better apt workers, helping him out in confidence as well as friendship. That’s what it’s all about, helping out when in need and making one feel like a friend.

Heading Back Down The Stairs

Najla and I finished off the rest of the day starting to complete the last brief that has to go out this month. We didn’t get to finish it as 5:00 p.m. arrived and so as everyone left and said goodbye we both left together again. It’s settled. Najla and I are friends as well as a team and I don’t mind walking with her back to the station because we get along. Packing our bags together and putting on our warm jackets we headed out of the building, down the stairs and towards the station.

This time we went my way to the entrance and as we chatted all the way there we parted when we reached the ticket gates. Before making my way in I headed straight for the photo lab and collected my photos in processing for the whole day. Having no troubles there, I headed to my train and caught it to Museum Station where jumping off, my plan was to buy the last important item on my list, the Polo Neck Sweater from ‘Guys and Dolls’.

Window Shopping On Oxford Street

If it wasn’t for my visit to Byblos I never would have known about these popular shops on Oxford Street. I was happy carrying along in a hurried pace with me, the couple of bags up Oxford Street. However, my first wanderings were to a shop called ‘Pile Up’ and judging from the clothes on display through the window, I knew I had to walk in and check it out.

What struck my vision immediately was the leather jackets and pants that they had including the immensely hot range of pants and shirts for clubbing. The pure leather jacket cost $200 and I know now after seeing others wear one that I also want one. Somewhere in my budget there must be a way and it will be found.

Perusing through this shop I took one of their cards and headed up to ‘Guys and Dolls,’ my main reason for shopping up here. Walking into the shop I started a conversation with the worker in there showing him the sweater I wanted to try on. Handing me the sweater, I walked in to try it on as he pepped me up in between. I also tried an open style jumper which would have been better for work.

However, to be short on description, I chose the polo-neck sweater because it would look better to wear out at nightclubs as well a multifunctional option for work. I tried to persuade him to part with some money in the shape of a discount so I could buy both jumpers but he didn’t want to budge. Didn’t really bother me. However, that won’t be the last time I walk into that shop as they have great work pants for me to buy and I will be heading in there and to ‘Blue’ to buy them.

Sushi Train Treatment

Buying some socks from ‘Guys and Dolls’ my shopping was done for the day and it was time to head home. The strain on my hands was now getting to the point where I would have to swap hands every few minutes because it was starting to hurt my shoulder. There were three bags in the one hand and one of them with a shoe box in it so gather from what I had bought how large it would have looked to my side.

Feeling the upper-class bug, I decided to walk into a sushi shop that I noticed on the way up to the shops, heading in hungrily for a feed. The restaurant-shop atmosphere was called ‘The Sushi Train’ and basically it had sushi spinning around the counter slowly on display around the conveyor belt. The food there was slightly more costly than usual sushi because it was a bit more upper-class but that didn’t stop me from eating there. Approaching one of the staff who was standing on the side, I noticed they didn’t have any sushi rolls.

The only thing they had was in plastic containers running around on conveyor belts, not enough for a decent meal. Therefore, with some slight interpretation and five minutes later of trying to explain politely that I wanted a quarter long role without the cuts, he finally went on to make one. The atmosphere at this shop was superb as people were sitting around eating by themselves but not looking lonely. I was even served some herbal tea for my troubles feeling like they were given me the red carpet treatment.

I also felt like I had ordered something picky that wasn’t on the menu and as the people sitting down were looking at me and then the richness in my hands, I felt a little more liberated. I felt so good that after two minutes when he handed me a huge roll to take away charging a meager $6, I tipped him for some more, the least I could do. Taking this sushi in one hand and all the bags in another, I felt all the more privileged and now I felt classy with sushi in one hand.

A Budget Left Unfinished

This is now where I must conclude the almost finished description of my night as it is almost 11:00 p.m. and the remainder of my budget still hasn’t been worked out. Therefore, adios and see you when next I speak but before I go, let me just note that my nose is seeing a bit more tissue in these last few hours after work so it seems the slow train to a flu is definitely on its way.

Let us hope it just blows over but there are no promises. One more thing, tomorrow night is the supposed celebration for Fitzroy at the Pavilion where my night will most probably be spent speaking with Najla and maybe Thalia. Maybe I can also invite Aleka to attend. That might be a good ice-breaker to the road of events and meeting some of her Macedonian friends.