The Emancipation of a Fuckboy - Chapter 24: Chapter 24

Dominic
"So, after you and Valentine? How'd you exactly moved on from my brother?" Vincent, out of fucking nowhere, suddenly asked me this unwanted question. We were only talking about Yhannie and how I missed that woman but all of a sudden he decided to change the topic in an unanticipated turn of events. It's as if he's driving the car and suddenly took a sharp curve. Without a seatbelt on, I was blown away to the other side of the trench, and I didn't even have some time to compose myself and invoke a proper reaction.
"What?" I uttered, almost drawing back in fear. I didn't expect to get asked with this kind of question tonight. But I guess since this guy is Valentine's brother, then it should be expected. I am already scrambling deep inside.
"Have you moved on from my brother?" Vincent wondered, moving his eyebrows to a cinch. Wait; did he just catch me red-handed trying to hide my sudden surprise?
"Yeah, yeah. Of course, I have moved on from him" I spat a transparent lie just for compliance. I didn't even know if I said it almost believable and confident enough.
"So, how was it?" Vincent stared at me with such focus that I couldn't even look at him.
"At first, it was definitely hard. I did everything to distract myself from thinking about him, and over time, I slowly got over him." I lied again. In my head, I wanted to be an honest person and tell him the whole truth, but unfortunately, my tongue did the exact opposite.
"Thank you so much, Forever22! See you again next week, same day, same time!" We both heard Lance speak from the stage announcing that his gig had finally reeled to an end until next time. I'm not entirely sure if I'm ready to see him. I'm a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, Dominic. Excuse me for a moment. I had to go to the bathroom," Vincent said.
"Sure," As soon as I heard Dominic excuse himself, I nodded. It's not like I have the authority to forbid him to do what he wants.
I watched him as he waltzed towards what I thought to be the restroom. It wasn't the restroom, though. He went past the restroom entrance, my eyes continued to follow his back only to realize he's going straight to the backstage. I reckon he's going to meet or at least find Lance somewhere there.
I came here to do one particular thing, and that's to drown my sorrow with the immaculate power of alcohol. Maybe I wanted to look for some hook-ups as well, that's always a part of it. I don't know about Vincent, though. Vincent sure did come here to drown his loneliness just like me but not exactly how the way I'm doing it. Observing him stagger towards the backstage, I instantly thought he did have a past relationship with Lance. I remembered that. That ultimately raised the question; did he come here to confront something? Maybe Vincent's here to revisit that relationship with Lance. Perhaps he's here to finally take Lance back? Maybe that's the reason why he's asking me about moving on. I could be wrong, I could be right, but who knows?
How can I ever move on from Valentine much less forget about his existence in my life? I asked myself. I've already blocked him on social media just to stop stumbling into his face and having forced to remember what I did and being slapped by how terrible I am as a person in the face. I deleted a lot of our photos together, and that's probably the hardest part. We had a lot of great memories together, I don't understand why deleting those photos might help me get over him. What else should I do to stop thinking about that motherfucker? Maybe that's not the right question I should ask myself. Maybe I should ask myself, will I ever move on from Valentine? Will I ever see the light of happiness again? I shouldn't even come home in the first place. I should've just stayed in Singapore and be a walking misery there. At least in Singapore, meeting him kissing a girl in a cinema wouldn't have happened. At least there, there would be no place like this bar that reminds me of him.
I finished my beer in one gulp, and after pondering about whether I should stay and get drunk here or leave and find some other club to get wasted, I decided to just pay our drinks and get out of this place. I know Vincent said it's on him and that would spare me some cash, but I don't want to wait for him to get back from the backstage, which I know will take him almost forever. Why did I even come here in the first place when Valentine and I got some memory here?
"Hey," I asked for the bartender's attention, fishing my wallet from my back pocket.
"Yes, sir?"
"Here's my payment. Keep the change." I said. "Also, ugh. Can you tell the guy I was talking with that I left with another guy? Here's an extra tip for that." I told the bartender who gladly accepted the cash. That should be a good cover for me. I don't want Vincent to think for some other reasons as to why I left all of a sudden.
The cold breeze whipped through my face when I got out of forever22. Taken aback, I paused, shivered for a moment to adjust from the abrupt whiff of the night's breeze. I put my hands on my pocket and then walked away. I just kept on walking not having a clear idea of what to do or where else to go. I don't want to go home. I don't want to party either. I don't know what to do. I just want something crazy to happen tonight. Maybe I should call Yhannie and mend things with her, but she's like five hours drive away from here, and it's already late. And that woman takes forever to prepare, at least that's how I remembered her. I continued promenading down the streets, passing some stores that are about to close, some are still open for a bit longer, and some are just open 24 hours.
I stopped by at a grocery store, hoping to buy some cigarette when my eyes caught sight of an extremely familiar figure. It was Ivana, and she's clutching a baby in her arms as she struggled to grab a bottle of water. My heart went berserk, and I refuse to believe what I just saw. I swear to the gods, I don't want to even consider it.
Is that Valentine's baby? Hiding in a corner, I asked myself. I don't want to believe what I see right now. Ivana is really carrying a cute baby with her. I pinched myself just to check if I'm having a nightmare and yes, I am having a terrible nightmare. My head is screaming with words I don't even want to say, and my heart is bleeding like a flowing river. These things can't be true. It just can't be right. I've thought of going straight to Ivana and greeting her, maybe acting surprised about seeing her with a baby, and possibly asking her who's the father. I really wanted to do that, but the educated Dominic inside me immediately recognized it as sketchy and desperate as fuck. I didn't buy the cigarette that I came here for and just rushed out of the building unwilling to look back not even a second. I stormed down the streets, and fifteen minutes later, I found myself outside a night club—an extra special one.
"HERCULES; just buy your happiness."
The signboard displayed in cursive letters lit with glowing pink and green neon lights that blink tantalizingly. There were no heavy gold chains of hesitation, holding me back from entering this building at all. I shrugged my shoulder and then went inside. The boulder-looking bouncer scanned my ID flashing a mini flashlight, I wondered if he's really checking if it's a legitimate ID or not. After a few seconds, he nodded, letting me inside the club. I was met by an old wretched drag queen towering near the entrance curtained with plastic gems. Her wig was a total mess, and her eyes seemed were bloodshot as if he'd been puffing marijuana for the whole freaking day and hasn't been getting enough sleep.
"Welcome to Hercules, the heavenly paradise where you can buy your own happiness" The old drag queen gave me a fraudulent smile and greeted in a deeply registered masculine voice while flicking his fingers glued with long fake nails as if she's holding some cash.
She stood tall enough for me to gaze above her as if I was a mere toddler. I just smiled at her awkwardly, not having an idea of how to react. I didn't know what to say.
"I see you're all alone, baby boy. Do you want to have one of our VIP areas?" She asked, quickly grabbing a firm hold of my arm, firm enough that if by any chance I regret my stupid decision, I can't run away. "Oh, wait. I think we only have one VIP area left. You should just take it. It has the best view!" She led me further inside the club where explicitness showed itself barely naked.
"Uhm, sure. Why not!" I agreed without having a second thought, and he quickly screamed for a name.
"Gazelle!" His voice exploded like a nuclear bomb that I almost jumped in surprise.
"Yes, Mother Boar?" Another drag queen showed up a few seconds later. She's wearing a neon swimsuit that glowed and a thick feather boa that snaked around his body almost covering some of the delicate parts of her body. Her hair was tied up into a bun to emphasize the big earrings that she's rocking.
"Show this twink the VIP area," The old drag queen ordered. Gazelle nodded and then pulled me over and led me towards the VIP area.
"Here we are," Gazelle gestured showing me a vast empty area all for me. "What do you want to drink?" Gazelle asked almost monotone.
"Just give me some vodka" I replied, mimicking her tone.
"Super gay!" She spat and then left to get my drink.
I had a scenic spot which is pretty convenient. I'm all alone in this wide ass couch, and the view of the stage seems like I'm watching at the first row of a cinema. The scene was currently filled with three muscle toned guys in glowing white thongs and white boots dancing almost uncoordinatedly marking off a triangle. The beat of the music coherently guided them as they performed, and the crowd was sure pleased with their performance. They all looked hot with those packed abs and rocky arms, but they aren't my type at all. A group of ladies were screaming at the guy who was dancing facing their area. They showered him with a lot of cash as they squealed and screamed at the top of their lungs as if this is their first time seeing some naked guys. The guy jumped out of the stage, pushed one of the ladies against the couch and started dancing in front of her.
This is my first time inside a strip club, and it's perfectly what I thought it would be. Hot and Steamy. Lots of blinking lights. Loud and thirsty. Nasty as fuck.
"Here's your vodka" Gazelle finally came back and handed me my drink, but she didn't leave. She stayed near the couch just like a maid except she's essentially naked.
"If you need something, I'll be right here," She said as she positioned herself near a naked statue that seemed to resemble a herculean man.
I took a sip of the vodka and damn that was the right burn I was looking for. After two minutes, the three guys were finally finished dancing, and they all left the stage with a lot of cash slipped inside their boots and thongs.
"Ooh, that was one steamy threesome! Phew! I think I just got my basement flooded with that thermal performance" Followed by the spotlight, the host spoke as he inched his way from the edge of the stage towards the centre. "I bet you all got yourselves wet just like me! But wait until you watch this next performer. You'll get yourself dripping like a storm just hit you!" The host continued speaking.
I took another sip of my vodka as I waited for the host to finally introduce the next performer. He's hyping it up as if the next performer will live up to that. He started looking around for something before eventually speaking once again.
"But before I introduce him, I need one person to come up here at the stage."
The group of ladies all screamed in unison, easily taking the hosts attention.
"Oh, you ladies are thirsty!" The host commented towards their direction.
"Kyaaaaaaaaa!"
"But I guess we need a man just for this performance. I'll get back to you ladies later" They all seemed disappointed. The host then started to scan the audience until he eventually caught eye contact with me. I didn't mean to look at him in the eye.
"You!" The host pointed towards my direction, followed by another spotlight that caged me on my spot. Oh, fuck!
"Me?" I gestured.
"Yes, you, babe! Come up here at the stage" I was about to protest, but Gazelle unexpectedly pulled me from sitting and pushed me towards the stage.
The host grabbed my arm and pulled me up towards the stage.
"What's your name?" He asked and directed the microphone towards my mouth.
"Uhm, my name's Nick" I nervously answered as my eyes scanned the crowd.
"Okay, Nick. That's a very basic name."
"Aheh."
"How old are you, Nick?"
"I'm 23."
"Oh shit! You're too young" The host said.
"You make me look ancient. Anyway, you should prepare yourself for this performance. It'll make you drip!"
I noticed a guy wearing a tank top and underwear carried a chair and placed it in the centre of the stage, and I immediately knew what was about to go down. I never expected this shit.
"Now, Nick. I want you to sit on that chair and make yourself comfortable."
I had no other choice but to sit on the chair, and the guy instantly tied my arms and legs up with ropes to make it as if I'm a kidnap victim. My heart began to pump in accordance with the crowd's wild and raging reaction.
"Are you all ready for this next performance?!" The host shouted, hyping up the crowd once again. "Now let's bring in one of the best performers to ever grace this stage. The one and only, Lyndon!" The host announced, and the music started to commence starting with a slow and languid tempo. A few seconds later, a guy wearing a police uniform emerged.