"At that place we discussed by the beach?"
"Yes, by the beach. Wear a white carnation in your lapel, and I'll wear hot pants with knee length boots."
"So, the dress is casual."
"Oh yes, very casual."
"We can drink until we fall down..."
"You read my mind."
“And then we can drink some more.”
They both laugh.
The roof deck is deserted ostensibly. A flat concrete deck with a red brick waist height wall. The air is fresh, the sky clear with stars, the sound of waves can be heard in the distance.
Right near the front of the deck are two folding chairs, and a table. One of the folding chairs is occupied.
He takes tentative steps towards the man in the folding chairs. "Fish lips?"
"Goose? Sit down."
"Oh Carl, you were right about this place."
"Champagne?"
"Oh yes."
"My secret place. I'm glad you like it, Eric."
"I love it."
"Nobody knows you are here. Hidden in plain sight."
"On top of the world."
"Did you have trouble finding it?"
"Not at all." Eric takes the chilled flute of bubbles. He holds it out in mid air. Carl chinks his glass against it.
"To us."
"Yes, to us."
"My goodness, you wore a white carnation."
"I thought it was de rigueur."
"Indeed. Lovely."
"No hotpants, though."
Carl laughs. "Shorts and boots though," he says. He holds his legs out straight. "I'm just lucky it is a warm night."
"Camel coloured work boots." Eric raises his eye brows.
"It is the best I could do."
They both exhale at the same time, as they relax into their chairs and gaze at the expansive sky.
"It has been a hell of a year," says Carl.
"A hell of a year."
"End of the decade."
"And good riddance to it too. So pleased."
"So pleased."
"If it had gone on for much longer, I was going to throw a rope over a beam..."
"You and me both, mate. We could kick each other's stools, simultaneously." Laugh. “If you’ll excuse the expression.”
"Do you think that is even possible?"
Shrug. "You never know until you try."
They both laugh.
“Oh, could you imagine.” Carl points his toe of his right foot and makes the perfect punt kick. He holds his hand above his head immediately afterwards, letting his tongue hang out, jerking his hand upwards, letting his knees give way. “At precisely the same time…”
“With precision.”
“It would leave people wondering…”
“Gasping.”
“Oh, what fun,” says Carl. “It almost makes me want to do it.”
“Oh, you and me both. Such mystery.”
“As we both fall to the floor like two bags of shit. Kerthunk.”
“Kerthunk. Kerthunk.”
They both laugh hysterically.
"Two bodies, two stools, do you think they would ever work it out?"
"Not a chance. Not a hope in hell."
"They say that's where you go, you know, when..." Carl makes a slashing motion across his throat.
"Oh, they say a lot of things, now don't they."
“So many fucken things.”
They laugh again.
Carl holds out the bottle. "Champagne?"
Eric holds out his glass. "Does a bear shit in the woods?"
Carl laughs as he pours the champagne. The champagne froths up over the rim of the glass. "It’s a boy!"
Eric sips at the rim of the glass to stop it flowing over. "So this place?"
"This place?" repeats Carl.
"How come we get to sit up here and enjoy this wonderful view?"
"Oh," says Carl. "It's mine."
"The roof deck?"
"The building."
"The building?" repeats Eric incredulously.
"I had an old lesbian aunt who had no kids and she left it to me in her will," says Carl. "I was her favourite, for obvious reasons."
"Wow!" says Eric.
"And I had the good sense not to sell it," says Carl. "It is my superannuation."
"Lucky you."
"More champagne?" asks Carl.
"Jesus, I'm getting giddy already."
"I'll take that as a yes."
They both laugh as Carl fills their glasses.
"So, new year's resolutions?" asks Carl.
"Not to throw a rope over a beam," says Eric. How about you?"
"Oh, you know, the usual, be happy."
"How could you not be with this?"
"I know. You'd think. But it is just things. And things don't make you happy."
"They must give you a certain kind of happiness?"
Shrug. "Maybe. I don't know. You get used to them, and then they don't mean so much," says Carl. "I could be sitting up here alone, what kind of happiness do you think that would give me?"
Eric glances sideways at Carl, their eyes meet momentarily. "Still, it doesn't give you misery, I am sure."
"No, not misery, no, no."
"It's been one hell of a year, a shitty government re-elected, criminals running the world, climate change bush fires, floods, volcanos, who knows what is coming next?"
"Oh… probably a pandemic."
They both laugh.
"I think it has been hard for everyone."
"Hard for everyone."
"It is, of course, the 24 hour new cycle, because without that we'd have ignorant bliss, and we'd all be happier."
"Imagine switching the world off just for a time."
"We invite it in, we are hypocrites really deep, deep down…"
"Yeah, maybe not so deep down."
There is the sound of car horns.
"Hey, what's the time?" Carl looks at his apple watch, as Eric looks at his.
"A minute to go," says Eric.
"30 seconds," says Carl. "The end of the year."
"The end of the decade," says Eric.
"Drink up says Carl."
"To us." They chug their champagne down and slam their champagne glasses down on the table.
Car horns toot in the distance.
They step to the edge of the deck. "Happy new year," says Carl.
"Happy new year.
"Shall we dance?"
"Yes, let's dance.
Carl wraps his arms around Eric and they hold each other tight, as fireworks lights up the sky above them.
Carl wraps his arms around Eric and they hold each other tight, as fireworks lights up the sky above them.
No comments:
Post a Comment