The one that got away

While at a wedding recently, I spotted a guy I’d party-pashed a year ago when I was rather down over the end of an affair. He was funny, kind, sexy, a great kisser, and, as luck would have it, quite keen to see me again. Unfortunately, it was to be chalked up as one of those things due to timing and heartbreak messing with my head.
So seeing him again at the wedding of our mutual friend, it wasn’t entirely unexpected to get a full-blown, bittersweet pang of the-one-that-got-awayness. Naturally, he was with his new girlfriend. Happy days.
He came over to say hi and the conversation went something like this:
Him: “Hi RC. Great to see you. You’re looking lovely tonight.”
Me: “Thanks T, you too. Love your tux.”
Him: [nostalgically] “Do you remember J’s crazy party? That was a great night.”
Me: “Hard to forget really, those cocktails were lethal!” [Translation: The pash on the couch wasn't bad either.]
Him: [teasingly]: “I hope you’ve thought of me fondly since then.”
Me: [high-pitched]: “Oh every day. Hahahahahahaha.”
Him: [seriously] “I’ve thought of you often and wondered how you were.”
Me: [panicked] “Oh good, great, terrific, yeah, ummm, your new girlfriend has fantastic hair.”
Him: [bemusedly] “Err, yes she does.”
Me: [hurriedly] “Well anyway lovely to see you again, ooh look dinner’s here fancy that, ummm have a great night, hope to see you on the dance floor later hahaha.”
Yep, I’m nothing if not classy when it comes to finishing awkwardly flirty and inappropriate conversations.
For the record, I did see him on the dance floor later. He spent every song dancing with his girlfriend, which I thought was lovely, if teeth-gnashingly frustrating. Sod it, I’ll just add him to the list of great men I missed out on, and hope to God I’m mentally sorted when the next awesome maybe-The-One dude comes along.
Look, I know I’m not alone in this whole one-that-got-away thang... whether yours was a high school crush, the uni mate you lusted after or the backpacker you kissed in the hostel in Rome and never saw again. Are they always going to be unfinished business? Or do we see them with rose-coloured glasses because they never got to leave the toilet seat up or forget our birthdays?