Michael Fitzgerald

 Michael Fitzgerald was a mature student in my French class. He was in his thirties and the majority of the second year students were in their twenties and I can honestly say all of us had a massive crush on him. He had film star looks. He looked very similar to Daniel Day-Lewis and we were all smitten. 

He lived at the same college residence as me but in a different tower, higher up the hill.

I remember one time being on a pay phone call near the admin office, I was probably on the phone to Liesl, and he swaggered by (yes he really did swagger as he was quite tall and long-limbed) and turned around and winked at me as he went past and said, "Que tu es belle!". I nearly died and that day I admit I probably did draw attention with my hair up in a ponytail, a clingy, scoop neck top on and tight pants.

Later that year we had a college function. I can't remember whether it was a ball or just a social occasion and my French friend Nathalie, one of the native speakers from French class and I were there and my God was I drunk. I've never had much tolerance for alcohol, the classic "one pot screamer". Michael waltzed in, I actually don't think he was there the whole time, just dropping in to see what was happening and he sauntered up to us to engage in a bit of French conversation. I hadn't been to France at that stage so I wasn't able to keep up with Nathalie and Michael that well. Michael knew I was drunk and he invited me to come up to his room in the tower for a chat.

I knew and probably hoped something would happen between us. He sat me down and offered me a cup of tea and I kid you not, we spent the entire next hour just talking about all kinds of topics. I recall commenting on a photo of him doing a yoga pose and he told me he used to be quite devoted to it. He also told me about his ex-wife and how she was studying at La Trobe also. And you'd never guess, but not a single attempt was made by him to engage in any kind of intimacy and I left his room later that night, completely untouched, maybe hugged goodbye, but I don't even remember that. I wonder what happened. Whether he felt it inappropriate or he just knew I was too young.