Have some yaoi and be happy. It's New Years Day for fuck's sake.....
Most days, Alex liked
his apartment. It was tucked into a corner, he had windows in three directions
and all rooms. Comfortable and fashionable rooms, fit for a young man of his
fame. Only… empty. Empty and lonely. And he hated it for its emptiness. Why, oh
why, had he decided to stay home this winter holiday instead of going with his
cousin to his aunt and uncle’s home? What stupidity had come over him?
Alex had no real desire to do anything.
Even going online felt utterly pointless. No. Real, live IRL people. That’s
what he needed. Only, the places people go were so far away. It would take him
at least 5 minutes to walk down to the bar. Sighing as if the world was about
to end, he changed, put on his boots and jacket, grabbed his phone and keys and
walked the 250 meter to the local bar.
Once there, he was greeted with cheers
and smiles. Smiling back, he made his way to the bar, sat down in a tucked-away
corner and asked for a glass of whiskey. The bartender smiled a little. Alex
was well known here, and the bartender knew that whiskey was the drink of
choice when Alex was feeling bad, wanted people around, but didn’t want
interaction. Maybe that wasn’t so strange, Alex must have lots of people pestering
him for some Q&A every day.
The cheerful talking and laughter only
underscored Alex’ loneliness. Four hours, three glasses of whiskey and a few
scraps of musical ideas later, Alex gave up and left. He felt worse than when
he had come, but at least he had jotted down some things for work. It was just
past midnight, rather dark and empty, so to gain some time, he cut across the
skating rink. He shouldn’t have. He slipped, fell and hit his head and twisted
his ankle. Head blazing with pain he gave in.
“Fuck it”, he said out
loud. “I’ll just lie here ‘til the others come back in two weeks.”
Having said that, though, he felt a
little less miserable, so he tried to sit up. His foot throbbed painfully, and
his head said no! don’t do that! Every movement made him nauseous and he was
seeing double. He closed his eyes to clear his head.
“HEY!”
Alex eyes snapped open. A man stood over
him.
“You’re awake”, the man
said with half a smile. “It’s kinda stupid to sleep on the ice, you know.”
Still seeing double, Alex blinked and
thought.
“I didn’t mean to”, he
muttered.
“No kidding”, said the
man. “I know that you lot can be an eccentric bunch, but this… Are you all
right?”
The man stretched out a hand, expecting
Alex to take it.
“One”, Alex said trying
to sit up by himself, but his head was still protesting. “What do you mean ‘you
lot’ and two, why do I recognize you? All three of you?”
“Double vision, is it”,
the man asked, crouching down beside Alex and helping him sit. “Maybe O should
call an ambulance after all.”
Alex grimaced. He was mortally afraid of
anything having to do with hospitals.
“I’m fine. You didn’t
answer my questions.”
“You’re not fine. You
probably have a concussion. Can you stand?”
He helped Alex up. Getting to his feet, Alex
felt the pain in his foot again, and faltered. His helper held on to him.
“Your foot”, he asked.
Alex nodded.
“Must have twisted it”,
he muttered. “Could you answer my questions?”
“If you at least let me
help you home and call someone who can sit with you. You shouldn’t sleep if you
have a concussion.”
“No one to call,
they’re out of town.”
“Then I’ll stay with
you. Someone has to.”
“Yeah, thanks, but you
have a life of your own. Do yourself a favor and don’t get dragged into mine.”
“Too late. Whereto?”
Resigning to the kindness this man
obviously harbored, or maybe it was just Alex wanting it to be kindness, he
pointed.
“Over there.”
They started to walk toward the
apartment complex. For Alex, every step was sheer pain, in his foot or in his
head. He tried not to use the foot too much. It was slow walk, but soon he felt
like he had run a marathon.
“I meant musicians”,
the stranger said suddenly.
“What?”
“When I said that you
lot could be eccentric. I meant musicians. Alex Gabriels.”
“You know my name. But
then, everybody do.”
“Most people know my
name, as well. You said you recognize me. I peg your inability to place me down
to you being drunk and having a concussion. I’m Kevin Reesi.”
Alex grimaced. Of course, he though, Stupid
me.
“How drunk were you
anyway”, Kevin asked.
“Not nearly as drunk as
I wanted to be”, Alex replied bitterly.
“Maybe you’d been more
careful if you’d been that drunk”, mused Kevin.
Alex fished his keys out from a pocked.
He was trembling and sweating from pain now, and could barely unlock the door.
The fingerprint and iris scan felt like it took forever. Once inside, he
collapsed on the nearest chair in the kitchen.
Kevin hung his coat at the rack, took of
his winter shoes and looked around. So this is how the richest man in the world
under 25 lived. Fashionable, but rather impersonal. Almost like a page in a
catalogue. Rather strange, actually. In all interviews Alex seemed like a very
personable guy, who made everything his own. Apparently not so with the place
he lived. And the rumors seemed like they could be true. Alex didn’t have a girlfriend,
there was no such thing as a woman’s touch in this apartment.
He went into the kitchen and helped Alex
take of his boots and jacket. About time, too, Alex foot was swelling.
“Do you have any kind
of medical supplies”, he asked.
“Maybe. In the
bathroom.”
Kevin walked across the entrance hall to
the bathroom.
“I thought you were a
teacher”, Alex shot after him.
“And I was under the
impression that you were a rather clever guy. Apparently, we don’t know much
about each other.”
“You’re not a teacher?”
“No, I’m a professor.”
“Semantics”, muttered
Alex as Kevin came back with gauze, tape and scissors.
“Perhaps”, he said
pleasantly. “Do you need help taking of your pants?”
Alex’ head wasn’t clear enough for him
to blush. He just undid the buttons, stood on his other foot and took them of,
then he sat down again. Kevin crouched down and took his foot. Alex grimaced.
“I know it hurts”,
Kevin said. “And it will keep hurting all night.”
“Too bad”, said Alex
lazily. “So, professor. Why are you doing this, exactly?”
Kevin concentrated on the job at hand
for a moment. Why was he doing this, exactly? Because Alex was famous and he
wanted a brush with such fame? Because of the goodness of his heart? No,
neither was true. The first absolutely not, and the latter only partly true.
The true truth, however, eluded him. For now.
“I’m not sure. Because
you needed help and refused hospital care.”
Alex smirked.
“A sane person had just
called an ambulance. Probably from the path, and then moved on without caring.”
“That last part doesn’t
sound very sane.”
“Maybe not. But that’s
what human beings do. They don’t care. Especially not about me.”
It sounded less bitter and more
resigned. Famous he might be, but Alex was not without his scars, Kevin
realized. After a long moment’s silence, he asked:
“How’s your head?”
Alex shrugged.
“I’ll live”, he
muttered. “You don’t have to stay, you know.”
“Don’t start. You’ll
just lose the argument.”
“Whatever. Can I put my
pants back on?”
“You should put on some
pajama pants or something. More comfortable.”
“Yeah, maybe. Can we
watch TV?”
“Sure. As long as you
don’t fall asleep.”
Alex got up on one unsteady foot. Kevin
grabbed his arm as he was about to fall.
“That’s why you’re
here, right”, said Alex with a genuinely warm smile. That smile brightened his
whole being. If I’m not careful, Kevin thought, I’ll fall in love with his guy.
“Exactly”, he said.
“So you’re really going
to stay here, with me, all night?”
“Yes. All night. And
you will hate me for it in the morning”
Kevin didn’t know it then, but that was
just the first of very many nights.
Happy 2014....
No comments:
Post a Comment