A brush with the "rival" (not mine) ... (1)

A couple of nights ago, I attended an informal get-together dinner. My boss was there and so were his party comrades and lots and lots of people from the press. Dinner was served buffet-style and there was no fixed seating arrangements, to allow guests to mingle more freely.

I arrived early and was seated with two friends. And there I was, sinking my teeth into the satay when a party leader came from behind and sat down in the same table. He was, in the public's eyes, a rival to my boss in the party.

I wasn't sure if he knew I was seated in the table before he took his seat, but I nevertheless greeted him with a "hi" and even smiled. He responded the same.

Although I knew him even before joining my present boss, I felt a bit awkward striking a conversation with the man. I continued the discussion with my friend seated next to me. If there was any uneasiness in the table, I didn't think anyone felt it.

At one point, the leader asked a mutual friend seated with us why he was eating so little. The friend said he would get more helpings later and I took the opportunity to chip in: "He needs time to warm-up." That must be the closest to me and him having a conversation that night.

All in, I guess it must have been 10- 15 minutes since the politician sat down before I excused myself and mingled with those from other tables. Given the nature of the dinner, I guess the duration was fairly acceptable. After all, we were supposed to move from table-to-table and hobnob.

I did not stand up and walked away immediately after he took his seat. It never crossed my mind to do so and it was absolutely unnecessary. In fact, I must say we both conducted ourselves fairly well.