Since there were a few people interested in reading the rest of this story, I decided to finish it. It’s fun to write even though it feels less fun than the stories for Confession of the Damagedand if it’s fun to write, I suppose it might be fun to read. At the very least it’ll give you a glimpse into my life.
Aside from the room which looked like a typical cafe, with windows glass walls on 3 sides so that it was entirely visible from outside, there was a hidden room around the corner by the steps. “I want to make this a movie room, it’s perfect for that.” My student knew what she was doing. It was perfect for that. We walked upstairs where there’s were seats for about 50 people. “The Dj can be in the front of the room, we’ll clear out half the tables once a week, either Friday or Saturday and have a rotation of djs so every week we’ll have a different style.” Sounded perfect.
We headed back downstairs and took a seat with the sporty woman and the elegant woman and they asked if we wanted to drink beer or wine. We both said beer. The elegant woman had just received a package and was excited to open it up. A yoga mat. She laid it out on the floor and did a simple yoga pose, nothing too fancy. It doesn’t sound very elegant of her but it was.
The waiter came back with one beer for my friend. No one said anything about my beer. “Ok” I thought. “Wasn’t meant to be?”. No hard feelings.
The elegant woman told me that she was the owner of this space and her friend was the owner of the place next door. No one contested her I believed her. Then as the conversation went on I became confused. She had played a joke on me and so I went on being confused for around ten minutes. The sporty one and my student got up to walk around and perhaps chat in private so I was left with the elegant one.
“Don’t look so confused. I was playing with you. The place next door is mine, a lounge. You’re pretty gullible.”
“Then keep playing, I’ll believe anything.” I teased.
We chatted for five or ten minutes. It was playful and fun although nothing of substance was shared. That was ok, I sometimes get so serious I forget to play and playing is what I love most. I guessed that this woman was 5 or 6 years older than me though she could have been 5 or 6 years younger. Sometimes the hands reveal years that the face can conceal. She had a confidence and a to-the-pointness about her that almost confirmed that she was at least in her early 30’s.
Three men arrived, one was her chef, another a mutual friend of theirs, and a third a customer who was American.
“Another American, you guys should meet.” The sporty girl said from behind me as she headed back to her seat. “Uh...ok.” I thought, not really eager to talk to him.
We shook hands. I’m not a fan of shaking hands. I can hug if we know each other well enough, and if we don’t, a nod and smile should do just fine, shouldn’t it? Do I sound snobby if I say he looked like a simpleton? I don’t care, he was a simpleton. No hard feelings, just calling it like it is.
I spent the next 30 minutes observing. I was not bored in the slightest. I felt entirely at peace and almost giddy like I was visiting the zoo, observing new species. I was so used to artists and stoners, these were yuppies and entrepreneurs. I went into anthropology mode and took mental notes on each person. The chef seemed like the easiest to get along with, not an ounce of pretentiousness, a bit insecure about being surrounded by people who (as far as he knew) were above him in social status and income. I’ll take someone shy and insecure over someone arrogant and insecure at a get-together any day. The other local friend was so indescript and boring, it was hard to focus on him. He had fancy cloths and a fancy watch and absolutely nothing else worth mentioning.
It turned out the American was there for business too. He wanted to ask my student to host a party for him. I somehow felt my student would reject him as it sounded like a boring event and he didn’t seem like he was willing to fork up a lot of money for it. He made me look so very un-American it freaked me out, but I pushed myself to remain objective in my observations. “He won’t be here for long” I thought, and he wasn’t. He took off after five minutes of trying and failing to peak my students interest.
The food started coming our way. The staff remained outside while our group of seven sat inside. Finally a bunch of beers arrived for the newcomers and I got my own along with them. I ate and drank shamelessly. I had little to talk about with others, I might as well enjoy the hospitality. If someone wanted to talk to me and slow down the rate at which i ingested their politeness, they were welcome.
The elegant woman went to plug her phone into the sound speakers and put on some R&B. She went into observation mode as well, observing mostly me as she bobbed her head to the music. It doesn’t sound elegant but it was. I tried not to stare back at her for a while but it became so hard to ignore after a while. I found her gaze more pleasing then the conversation, so for the rest of the evening we snuck subtle smiles in each ohers direction.
At some point the sporty woman mentioned the elegant woman’s husband. She quickly changed the topic. I couldn’t say for sure but she seemed like the kind of person who didn’t think much of fidelity. If she were a proper swinger it’d be fine by me, but I felt quite certain that she was not and had many secrets. I knew I would not be taking this any further than a game with our eyes, whether or not she would have liked to take it further. Still, I enjoyed every minute of her glances towards me. It gave me a game to play throughout the evening, after I was done analyzing and overanalyzing everyone in the room.
I knew that if she had any desire to take this game further, she was probably waiting for me to get her contact information or looking for a chance to do so herself without being to obvious about it. I knew many men who would have found an opportunity to exchange. At some point in the past I probably would have, too. Perhaps she was just playing a game to keep herself entertained for the evening as I was. I felt fine to never know for sure. I thanked her in my mind for the lovely evening.
The sporty woman mentioned to me that she had a job for me as well. I changed the subject twice to avoid answering her and we said goodbye before she could ask a third time.
I wouldn't want to make a habit out of nights like that one, but it was fun to see a glimpse into a life so different from mine, and to get to see my student in action. Once every month or two I like to do something a little outside my comfort zone, to stray into society for a little while and see how I do. I think I did ok.
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Confessions of the Damaged - a collection of short stories
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