Charmed Lives: Gay Spirit in Storytelling

The second lap around the inside perimeter of the nightclub proved as fruitless as the first. Daniel leaned against the railing, two steps above the sunken dance-floor, feeling the club's pulsing bass. He raised his vodka-cranberry draining the glass, tipping it until the barely melted ice-chunks knocked against his teeth.

He debated re-entering the growing line at the serving bar, but he had
just left it. Glancing around the club, he decided on trying his luck at the bar in the adjoining room. He hoped that different luck would be found from a different view.

As his frustration grew, so did his desire just to go home and call
it a night. If he could make it through the stagnant crowd filling the
walkway and hugging the walls of the club, he could continue out the
door. He sighed into submission, readjusted his glasses and tried to take a few more steps further through the crowd, hoping the club's music would rage so loud, it would drown out his inner voice.

His bad mood was partly from the earlier sighting of Andrew, his ex of a nearly twenty-month relationship. Against the backdrop of the club's soundstage, he replayed in his mind the break-up scene
from three months earlier. Andrew had dropped the bomb on Daniel
without warning.

"You've been such an incredible help," Daniel heard again Andrew's
assuring—and infuriating—parting words. "I love you for that."

"Shut up," Daniel said aloud. The voices in his mind silenced.

"I'm sorry?"

Daniel looked to his right. A handsome man seemed to have
materialized from the wall and reached out, touching his arm. The
stranger stood a hand-span shorter than himself, an average five foot ten inches, and his eyes sparkled out from a round face, capped with
jet-black hair. He smiled widely allowing his teeth to shine brightly
from behind thin, impishly curled lips.

"Usually people say 'Hello' when hitting on someone," the stranger
said.

Daniel heard him despite the music. He took a deep breath, defensively raising his shoulders, ready to retaliate with some snide
remark but decided against it. The day's pattern had to be broken
somehow and this was as good as any other remaining chance.

Daniel scoffed at the audacity. "I wasn't hitting on you. Sorry. Bad
night." He felt a slight shove from one of the people lined up behind
him. He concluded their meeting with a nod to the handsome man and
allowed himself to be carried away in the stream of people. As the surge pushed him towards the front door, Daniel took his exit.

Seattle's early spring night quickly chilled Daniel's skin. It felt good from the heat that burned inside the club. He walked, ignoring the odd glances from the small groups of approaching men. He made it to the end of the alley and stopped, trying to decide what to do next. There was always another club but one was so much like any other. There was little point with his mood the way it currently was and he didn't want to subject anyone else to it. Daniel turned towards his apartment deciding that the devil he knew was better than the devil he didn't.

"Hey!" Came the voice. "Hey! Wait up!"

Daniel ignored the words, convinced they were not meant for him. He put his hands in his pockets and lowered his eyes to watch the pavement. Curiosity slowed his pace at the third calling and he
stopped, raising his head. He was about to turn around when someone
stomped passed him.

"I've never seen anyone walk away so fast!" The stranger from the club turned and slowed down to keep pace with him. "What are you
running from?"

Daniel stopped, keeping his hands safely in his pockets. He lowered
his shoulders and looked the man directly in the eye. He forgot what
he was prepared to say, distracted by the reflective lights in the man's dark and shining eyes.

"Look, no offense but I really wasn't trying to pick you up. I was
just having a bad day and you caught me at a wrong moment."

"That's ok. It wasn't my intention to get picked up."

Daniel didn't understand the man's comfortable audacity.

"Well, no harm, no foul. Good night." Daniel took a step away when
he felt someone grab hold of his arm pulling it free from his pocket. "Is there a problem?"

"That depends," the stranger flashed a smile. "What's your name?"