A Hole In the Wall – Night ClubAkshay sighed. It was not just any sigh though. It was not of boredom or sadness or disappointment; it was a sigh of unknown definition and that was what made it the scariest of all. Standing at the bar, the neon lights flashing at all sides, the smell of perfume, cologne, and alcohol stung the air, the music pounded in his ears, but none of it seemed to stir the normally happy individual. Instead, they all seemed to pass by his attention, unnoticed, as he leaned against the counter and stared down opening of his bottle of Heineken.
The scent of the alcohol wafted up, tickled his nose, but still he was not in too much of a hurry to down it. Surprising considering that the whole purpose of this evening was to have fun.
“Yo Akshay, why aren’t you on the dance floor?” Jean asked off to his side. Already his slightly younger friend looked exhausted from all his dancing.
Lexi, another co-worker, (
and dressed in so provocative a manner that she displayed every bit of her bountiful bosom) nudged Akshay with her hip from the opposite side. “Come on! We brought you out to party. Seems like it has been forever.”
“Ten months,” Akshay responded as he finally picked up that green bottle in front of him and took a sip.
Both Jean and Lexi glanced at one another, a little at a loss for what to say next. Akshay knew that they were trying, but dealing with the break-up of a ten-month relationship was definitely not something that could easily be gotten over. They had hoped, he assumed, by taking him back out to his old haunts that he would get snap out of his mood. Unfortunately, Akshay was onto their tricks and schemes (
not really schemes. They were sweethearts to try.). On top of that, though, he just didn’t feel the old spark anymore.
Tends to happen after so drastic a change to one’s life.
Jean sighed as he looked back over to dance floor. The redheaded newbie worker, the one with the cute accent was out there, dancing with a brunette that had glittery bug wings. Rebecca had decided that she would join them too since she felt bad about the end of Akshay's relationship. She wanted to be there with moral support and brought her girlfriend along with her. They were a cute couple. But Jean wasn't exactly sure how seeing a successful relationship was going to help Akshay. But, they were having fun on the dance floor and he let them be. He turned back to his old friend with a sigh.
“You know, buddy, I know it’s hard,” he said with a nod. “After Lexi broke my heart 3 years ago—“
“Gawd, are you STILL bitching about that?” Lexi said with a massive roll of her eyes. She downed another shot as she smoothed out her dress a little.
“Whatever,” Jean said before turning his attentions back to Akshay. “The POINT is, I know it hurts. But…it’ll get better. It just takes time. And nothing helps that better than having a good night with your old friends.”
Lexi grumbled about Jean but nodded as she patted Akshay’s back. “Exactly. What you need a few good drinks, some dancing, and then chase around some skirt around! It’ll make you forget your troubles!”
Akshay, still looking at the light reflected through the green glass of his bottle sighed a bit. He didn’t want to talk about the break up, but he didn’t really want to be out tonight either. But he had a nagging suspicion that if he didn’t do one or the other that nothing good was going to come from this evening. Both Lexi and Jean could be persuasive when they wanted to and, right now, he didn’t want to risk it.
“Akshay,” Jean said after the pause began to grow uncomfortably quiet.
But, before he could talk, Akshay suddenly sat upright, downed the last of his bottle of beer in one gulp (
which is impressive since most of it was still left) and stood away from the stool. Reaching out, he took Lexi’s hand and dragged her towards the dance floor.
Lexi, protesting, grumbled a bit but still followed.
“Akshay, you’re not getting in my pants,” she said with an arched brow.
Akshay rolled his eyes.
“Lexi, get over yourself,” Akshay said with slight irritation.
“I wouldn’t dream of that. But, you guys want me to dance, right? Well we doing this or not?”The dance floor grew quiet for a second as the DJ switched tracks. As soon as the next beat began to start, Akshay was already moving into position. Before long, as the beat took over,
he began to dance as if he hadn’t danced in months.
Immediately the dance floor began to maneuver away from him, opening up to allow both him, Lexi, and Jean room to dance along with the beats. Lexi did her best to keep up with the precise and functional movements that Akshay danced with, while Jean quickly gave up, grabbed a nearby dance partner and began to dance with her. As the music poured into his ears and was matched in the repetition of his arms, legs, and entire body, Akshay looked for a second almost as if he became one with the music. Before long, as the track began to die down, Akshay slowed into a finish and sighed.
Glancing up, Lexi laughed and applauded him while several other sexy young things in even shorter dresses giggled and crept up closer to get to know more about this mysterious dancer. Akshay, though, did not offer much in return. He gave them all a respectful nod and return to the bar.
After flagging down the bartender, he ordered one more Heineken and resumed staring into the green glass, leaving Lexi and Jean to dance alone, while they eye him from afar. They saw the spark there, on the dance floor, even if it was only for a second. Eventually Akshay would return to himself…they just had to wait and be patient.
THE END
