unexpected happenings

I had an interesting day at work yesterday and decided that I could really go for a margarita. I can't have alcohol right now thanks to Lent and I was going to cook vegetarian tacos for Dude and myself, so I figured I would run across the street and pick up the things that I needed to make virgin strawberry margaritas. I turned the corner off of an aisle and who should I almost run right smack into but the ex and his new gf (I'm calling her new, but I don't know how long they've been together). He didn't see me (oh the blessings of being short!) so I quickly hurried down the next aisle. After thinking "whew! I avoided that awkwardness" for a few seconds I decided that I would go back and say "hi." I didn't feel that there was any need to avoid him. I've moved on. He's moved on. I haven't seen him in over a year and a half, and it would only be polite. I walked over and went "Hi!" Girlie had a quizzical look on her face and he looked totally shocked to see me. (I don't know if she knows what I look like; I'm assuming that she knows I exist.) The following exchange went something like:
Ex: Oh. Hi. How's it going?
Me: Great! How are you?
Ex: Fine..... (insert totally awkward pause on his part)
Me: Well, good. It was good seeing you. Gotta run. [big smile at both him and gf] Bye!

I thought about offering my hand to gf and being like "Hi, I'm Courtney," but I decided against it. I figure he can deal with the awkwardness of explaining that to her. It's not my place. And I didn't really feel like getting into a conversation about how life is treating us because last time I heard from him was in an apology email about five or six months ago where he said that he's sorry about how he treated me and his new gf treats him the same way as he did to me. I didn't want to be rude and like "I have a new bf who can't get enough of me and adores me and loves showing me off and spending time with me and supports me in my life decisions and is trying to help me reach my goals" because it would have come with a mental "unlike you" tacked on at the end. And that would be mean of me.

However, I feel that I totally won this round of "battle of the exes." I was mature and polite (at least during the interaction - this post probably isn't very mature). And it doesn't hurt that after seeing his gf I know that I'm cuter than she is. Total self esteem boost (even if it is totally vain). I mentally skipped down the rest of the aisles and finished my shopping.

My mom asked me if I was going to start shopping elsewhere to avoid him, but I was like "no way! I'm not going to spend extra money in gas to go buy a loaf of bread when there is a perfectly good grocery store across the street from where I live." If it bothers him - he can find a new place to shop.

I'm glad this "first" run in went well. I don't know if there will ever be any more run ins, but I'm glad this one is over. I kind of wondered how I would react if I ran into him again, and now I know that I can handle it with a smile on my face and in my heart.