Today’s Co–Star said:
Your mind needs a break.
And underneath that:
Stop interrogating every thought that crosses your mind. You’ve been overthinking yourself into paralysis. The answers you need won’t come from more analysis — they’ll surface when you finally give your brain permission to rest.
Honestly?
Fair.
I think I’ve spent the last few days analysing everything.
Every conversation.
Every reaction.
Every friendship.
Every work decision.
Every possible consequence.
Maybe today didn’t need another answer.
Maybe today just needed space.
I was supposed to start work at 3 PM, but I really wanted to go to Vagabond first and watch the Pokémon tournament.
I asked Dylan again last night if he wanted to enter.
But he didn’t bring his deck with him, and he was closing.
Which meant he wouldn’t finish work until around 5 in the morning.
Understandable.
The man needed sleep more than he needed Pokémon.
I invited him to stay at mine, but he already had a ride home and preferred to go home instead.
Fair enough.
I woke up around 10:30 with no message from him.
So I assumed he was still asleep.
He had already told me he wasn’t really keen to come anyway.
So I did the sensible thing.
I went back to sleep too.
Around 12:30 I finally woke up again.
I had already planned to go to Vagabond, so I lazily dragged myself out of bed, got ready, and around 1:30 caught the train into the city.
The tournament had started at 1.
Obviously I was already late.
But I thought maybe I could still watch.
Learn something.
Meet some people.
Maybe make a new friend.
Who knows?
This is only the third day of my Pokémon journey.
Might as well try.
I arrived in the city around 1:40, grabbed my coffee, and made my way to Vagabond.
I also planned to buy two new packs.
Which, obviously, I did.
Apparently buying Pokémon cards is just part of my personality now.
While I was paying, I asked the shopkeeper about the tournament.
I asked if I was allowed to watch.
His answer was basically:
“If they allow you to watch, yeah, feel free.”
Okay.
Very helpful.
Not terrifying at all.
I don’t know anyone there yet.
I don’t know the etiquette.
I don’t know how strict tournaments are.
I don’t know if people like random strangers standing around watching them play.
And mind you:
this is literally day three.
So I chickened out.
I grabbed my packs and told him:
maybe another time.
And honestly?
That’s okay.
I don’t need to become a professional Pokémon player within seventy-two hours.
Instead, I went back to my lucky chair in Chancery Square and opened the two packs.
You can see what I pulled here:
Cards Pull: Sunday, 20/09/2026
After opening them, I made my way toward Rosie’s.
I arrived around 2:30.
Still half an hour before my shift.
So naturally, instead of mentally preparing myself for work, I sat down and started writing the entry about the cards I had just pulled.
Priorities.
Mariele came over and told me lunch had been insane.
Apparently there was a rugby game happening, plus some kind of conference or showcase around the city.
They served 205 people for lunch.
Two hundred and five.
I was devastated hearing this.
Because obviously my first thought was:
great.
Dinner is going to destroy us too.
Except it didn’t.
At all.
The contrast was ridiculous.
Lunch:
205
Dinner:
around 80.
Absolutely bizarre.
So most of my shift ended up being pretty uneventful.
I stood around hosting.
Finished off my training slides.
Nothing particularly dramatic happened.
Which, honestly, was probably exactly what I needed.
Our bartender couldn’t make it into work though, and we couldn’t find anybody to cover.
So Lucas had to stay back and close the bar.
Lucas and Mariele were already tired from surviving that ridiculous lunch, and we knew the rugby crowd might start coming through later.
Potentially already quite drunk.
No proper bartender.
Tired staff.
So we decided to do last call at 8:30.
Honestly?
Reasonable.
We didn’t need to prove anything.
We just needed to get through the night properly.
Before we could completely close, some of the Lula’s staff came through.
And I was very happy to see Karl.
Karl is funny.
Flirty.
And yes.
I kind of like Karl a little bit.
Maybe if I actually flirt back one day something might happen?
HAHAHAHA.
They eventually headed over to GC.
So naturally, I started planning to go there after work.
Why not?
Maybe spend a little more time with Karl.
Except by the time we finished closing and I started making my way toward GC, I ran into him halfway.
He was already going home.
He had clearly had enough to drink.
And at one point, he started kissing me.
Now.
Do I like him?
Yes.
Would part of me have probably entertained the situation under different circumstances?
Also yes.
But he was drunk.
And that is where my line is.
I’m not going to take advantage of someone whose judgement is clouded.
Because even if something feels fun in the moment, we might both wake up later and regret something that neither of us properly decided on.
So I didn’t push it.
He was going home.
I let him go home.
Maybe another day.
When everyone actually knows what they want.
After that, I made my way to AA just to have a drink.
Lucas and the others didn’t really want to keep drinking though.
They wanted to go home.
So I finished my drink.
And that was basically the end of my night.
And looking back now, I think today’s Co–Star message actually did get into my head a little bit.
But maybe in a good way.
I didn’t overthink anything.
I didn’t pressure Dylan to come to the tournament.
He wanted to sleep.
So he slept.
I didn’t force myself into watching the Pokémon match when I felt uncomfortable.
Maybe next time.
I didn’t turn a quiet dinner shift into a problem just because lunch had been busy.
I didn’t push things with Karl just because part of me wanted to.
I didn’t force the night to continue when everyone else was ready to go home.
I just…
went with it.
If something happens, it happens.
If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.
Maybe not everything needs analysing.
Maybe not every moment needs a meaning attached to it.
Maybe not every person needs to become a question.
My mind needs a break.
So I think I’m going to stop writing here.
I’m still not particularly tired.
But I also don’t think I need to fill the rest of the night with anything.
I’m just going to read my book.
And maybe somewhere between the pages,
fall asleep.