The girl asks the gentleman in a bright, sparkling blue suit. He has a pretty neat eyeliner and subtle pink blush on his cheeks. He drinks a gimlet while the girl eats cookies.
“Well, darling, you see if you sail out into the lake, you probably smell an ill-fishy sense. On one hand, you can smell a rush of salty senses from miles away when it comes to the ocean.”
He replies as he sips a drink from a straw.
Growing up in a family of fishermen taught him a few valuable lessons about life, fishing, and the sea. Aside from that, there is merely boredom in the fishermen's villages. An escapement from has always been something he craves as the only boy the hidden queer in his well-known family.
“I love dressing up since I moved to Chicago. It was all bright and colorful. I used to be in an open relationship multiple times, and it was the most scandalous thing I ever did besides the gig as show runner for a reality program.”
He jokes about his life to the girl as if she were the only audience he ever had.
“You had so much energy for a person in entertainment. Has it always been easy to work in entertainment?”
The girl questions his profession as a program runner and entertainer.
“Easy? Only those born in a mansion would find themselves with everything at the snap of a finger. I was having a hard time getting into the inner circle of the creative department during the first 2 years in town. I had to work 2 extra jobs just to support the rent alone. This does not include the costume, makeup, groceries, etc., and it was worse as ****”. He pauses for a moment to do a touch-up on his lip. A dash of brunette color from Color Lip Bam is being layered around the shape of his mouth.
“My first gig is the opening act for this musical performance at a theatre. Stand-up comedy has never been one of my strengths in entertainment, but it sure did get me to where I’m now. You know, a good joke cannot be made without gossip and a bit of sarcasm. Ha ha”
He let out a loud laugh after answering the question.
“May I ask why you are still awake at this hour? I presume there are not particularly big events going on during this time of year.”
The bartender asks the glamorous queer while he refills her glass.
“Oh, you innocent little boy, have you ever gone out after work with your friends or even a lady before? By the looks of your clean face, it seems like you have never spent a night with anyone before. What a pathetic virgin boy are you, hehe.”
The queer stared into the bartender's eyes. Her intense gaze with sneaky hand motion on the desk doesn’t seem to affect the bartender's posture after all.
“I was divorced once, then I never saw another woman again.”
He politely answered with a monotone voice before returning to the back of the bar.
“A man with a shattered heart. Sorry, kid, I spoiled the night, but just so you know, if you never take a shot, you will never know if he's available or not. Hehe”
The girl nods her head as a gesture of understanding.
“You haven’t answered why you are here today. So, can you tell me your presence for tonight?”
The queer face starts to get dull. Her smile becomes smaller as her eyes roll around on one side. She crosses her arms and slightly leans back on the chair.
The reason for visiting today, apart from the gig I just did an hour ago on stage, is me. I had been dealing with cancer for so long, and it started to get worse. The doctor told me I have at least 5 years left if this condition continues. Besides, I felt a sense of homage in the back of my heart since my mother visited me earlier this year.”
She sighs before drinking another glass.
“Let me guess, your parents don’t know that your condition is in its last state, right?”
“Yep. You do make a good point, girl. It's just that I can’t support such an expensive procedure and miss out on multiple paychecks at the same time.”
Her facial expression becomes more visible to the girl's eyes as the performer turns her head toward her. A subtle smile shines over the dark clouds in her mind, covering the pain and stuff she must endure for the past couple of months.
“May I ask, did you miss the smell of the ocean?”
The little girl asks politely as she bites the cookie.
The queer pauses herself a bit before answering in a deep voice.
“Not really… the last time I had been on the beach was last summer. Why?”
“Sometimes, when you accidentally come across a place or experience an event in moments of silence, you are more likely to recall valuable memories to remind you of the good old days. Even if it has never been the same again, you still long for it as if it were yesterday.”
The little girl stops to clean her mouth for a brief moment. In the meantime, the bartender comes out from the back with 2 cups of English tea.
“Here you go, lady, it helps with your health. At least, it allows you to stay awake at this time.”
Both ladies thank the bartender as they take a sip of this warm tea.
“Anyway, being homesick tells you something. It means even at the lowest point possible in your life, you still have a safe place to go back and recover after years of suffocation in polluted environments. And when I say safe space, I didn’t mean your house on the beach or the coconut fields, but the people who were once an important part of your lives, too.”
The girl looks back at queer lady. She gives a big smile with her teeth showing. Her eyes grow wider as she drinks a tea. The heat from her drink makes her mouth feel a bit swollen. The smoke makes the girl flinch and almost spill the tea over her skirt.
The queer giggles as she glances at the girl's movement.
There is something about her words that made her think of her mother’s words before she left.
Something that reminds her of the gentle breeze of oceanic cold air.
Somewhere in her heart, there is an encouraging message from the girl squad from her secondary school days.
The aftertaste of homemade food from her favourite local shop.
The tension of fishing nets on his family boat pulled him back and forth during his first fishing trip with his dad.
The color light from an old television in the community center was back on for Game Night.
It all floods through her mind like a movie. This strong sense of homage had always been the answer she was seeking for a long time.
As the lady is about to pay the bill, the girl snatches her banknote and puts it back in her suit pocket. She hands her a dime coin and a small pouch full of tea.
“Next time, you should drink this when you need to get alerts, so no need to rely on the drinks all the time.”
The bartender mentions the tea pouch from the little girl.
“Thank you so much, darling—such a nice gift from a generous gentleman. Oh, by the way, I'm sorry to hear about your unfortunate relationship. If you're interested in picking cherries, please don't hesitate to call me anytime. I know a place or two.”
The queer face becomes bright with a wrinkle on the forehead from widening eyes as she gets a wink from the bartender, to which he politely bows down, accepting.
The girl gives a massive hug to queer lady and a big kiss on her cheek.
“I am so glad to meet you tonight. Now remember, if you don’t take a risk, you will never be in love by the time you nearly die.”
“I will. I am looking forward to seeing you on television again sometime.”
The little girl told queer lady.
The queer lady gets up and leaves through the back of the bar.
“That person is a real hunter. In hundreds of years, I would never dare have a problem for sure.”
The bartender says as he starts cleaning up.
“Well. She is a brilliant person, both in mind and heart. At least she is under the impression of reuniting with her childhood. I wonder what her first joke would be after the recovery."