It was Friday already, and Raven once again stared at the computer, running the code again and again.
“God, I need a break.” As she said that, she looked at the calendar on her computer, realizing that today is the day that theater show was, the one she planned to go with Bella to.
“Hey, Birdy. You still up for the theater or has your work consumed you already?” Bella phoned her, as if she was reading her mind. Raven of course confirmed, since she needed this. She needed something fun, something she could distract herself with.
They arrived at the theater at 6:40pm. Just enough before to find their seats, get comfortable and wait for the start of the show.
“Wait, what is the show about again?” Bella whispered to Raven before the show started. And that's when it dawned on Raven, that she never actually checked what the show was about, she knew only that it was popular with young couples. Whatever that meant.
The show was a romance story, and a cliché at that, and while the actors were obviously very good, it didn't help if the writing was bad, and so Raven and Bella watched that boring show for two hours. At the end Bella with the others loudly clapped, and when Raven saw it really was just her who didn't like it, she joined in the applause. It's not as if the show was bad per se, but it wasn't something she liked.
After Bella and Raven waved their goodbyes, Raven decided that now was the best time to hit that LGBT club, which Bella suggested she should go to. The show was boring, and her job exhausted her, so she needed something to wind down.
She stepped inside and immediately got overwhelmed by all the colors and the flashing lights. So she decided to sit at the bar table and order a cocktail to calm her nerves down, but before she could pay an older woman swiped her card for her.
“You look like you've seen a ghost,” the woman said.
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“Ah, yeah. It's my first time at this type of club,” Raven explained as she slurped her cocktail, which was surprisingly better than she thought it would be, “A friend said I should go.”
“So, it’s your first time,” the woman said and Raven couldn’t help but wonder if that was meant as a sexual innuendo, or if it was just her anxious mind making stuff up.
“Well then, dancing can help calm the nerves. Come, dance with me,” the woman offered, as she moved back to the dancing floor, gesturing to Raven to join her.
Raven drank the rest of the cocktail, then she followed the woman to the dance floor and awkwardly mimicked her up until she started to feel the music, or maybe alcohol, and went with the rhythm.
The music was loud, the lights were bright, space started to feel a bit overwhelming again, so Raven went and bought another cocktail, which she downed in a few seconds. Then she went back to the dancing floor as she could feel that she's becoming drunk. Guess that's gonna be her last drink for today. She danced to the beat but then everything became too much, and she wobbled out of the bar to get some fresh air.
She sat on some rocks and took deep breaths. Then she took out her phone and called a taxi, who said they'll be there in 20 minutes. Raven decided she might as well use this time to use the club's bathroom, and thankfully so, since as soon as she entered it, she turned to one of the sinks and puked. If she wasn’t drunk already she might have cared how pathetic she looks, and how this was such a bad idea, but instead, she just opened the tap and let the water rinse away that horrid combination of food and alcohol. Then she placed herself in a line waiting to use the toilet.
As she walked out she noticed a familiar figure, she took another look, to double check, if it really was who she thought it was. Her vision was still blurry, and it was really hard to tell if she wasn’t just making stuff up. Could that person be her? Could Daphne really be here?
Then her phone rang, it was the taxi.
As soon as she arrived home she poured herself a glass of cold water, as since her head was still spinning, she decided to sit down on one of the chairs in the kitchen. That club was a bad idea. And there’s no way she actually saw her boss there, right? It was probably just her mind making it up, since she was so overwhelmed by work. And even if she were there, she could have been there with a friend.
The more Raven thought about it, the more it felt as if she was trying to convince herself that it was all in her mind, that she’s overthinking things. But, she guessed it wasn’t impossible she really was there, in that club, and maybe not even just as an ally to one of her friends, which Raven was sure she had many of.