Misunderstanding

Tonight I called a neighbor to see if he wanted to go for a walk. I was building up my courage to tell him that I didn't want to be friends. Friendly, sure. But friends, ah no. This neighbor happens to be an old boyfriend who moved about six blocks from my house. After we broke up.

Now I can't tell anyone where to live and I won't. In fact, I'm the chair for the neighborhood association and it is my job to be welcoming. But I'm not welcoming an old boyfriend into my world to the extent that he asks me to do shopping for him when I'm in New York.

Oh, about tonight. I call him and he says that he's busy and can't go out for a walk. Okay, I say. But as I'm walking along I have a feeling that he may be thinking that I'm seeking out his company for friendly reasons. So now I'll have to wait until I run into him to lay out what I'm thinking. It makes me think of the 'elevator' speech: I need to be on my toes and make my point in 30 seconds. What a weird topic.