...And I Am Going Home

Oliver 6

Fridays were the days that Oliver looked forward to the most every week. At the start of the year, after just being dumped by his ex Arden, Kara had asked if Oliver could fill in as sound tech for the band she had newly joined: Common Anomalies. Kara was on drums, Darren on bass, Rheanna on keyboard and sub-vocals, and Cody... and Cody was the frontman, guitarist and lead singer. That was how they met.

However, Fridays were different now. The band still performed, having almost every Friday booked up at different venues, and they still played despite Cody taking a leave of absence from the band for his mental health.

Rheanna could easily fill in for vocals and sing for the entire setlist, but replacing the guitar proved difficult. Darren and Rheanna did their best, turning some of the main melodies on guitar into either bass riffs or on keyboard; however, it wasn't the same, and in the first few weeks, the band rifled through every song in the repertoire to find one where it didn't sound do underwhelming without the guitar.

Zeke and Sasha still applauded and cheered with as much enthusiasm as ever, though the band wasn't pulling as many people as it used to. None of the band would admit why, but everyone was thinking about it. Unfortunately, the guitar was paramount in the genres they were covering.

During the fifteen-minute break, Oliver headed outside in the bar's pub garden, lighting up a cigarette, catching a few odd glances from other customers, all of whom were vaping, a cigarette smoker becoming an oddity, a rarity nowadays, dying out and replaced. Kara would usually join him for a smoke; however, she had some old work friends visiting and spending the break with them, soaking up all the compliments and drinks they gave her. So, Oliver sat alone, looking through his phone and completing a few puzzle games, not particularly cerebral as advertised, so he deleted the app.

"Hey there, hun," said Rheanna. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," replied Oliver, redirecting his cig away so as not to give her any secondhand smoke.

Rheanna adjusted her long black veiled skirt before sitting next to him on the bench, a glass of water in her hands.

Oliver looked at it questioningly. "Not drinking tonight?"

"I need to nurse my throat," she replied. "I've managed to get more gigs with my drag friend so my voice is overworking as of late." She cleared her throat and took a sip. "You should come to see one of their performances sometime."

"Don't think I've been to a drag show before," said Oliver. He had seen clips online, and the shows ranged from dance routines to standup; it seemed that a drag show could involve anything.

"Well then, you should definitely go." Rheanna smiled coyly. "I love taking people for their first time."

"What do you do? You sing?"

"I sing for background music as my friend does burlesque, sometimes by herself, other times in a group. Sometimes, I do drag myself."

"You're a drag king?"

Rheanna shook her head. "Occasional drag queen." Seeing Oliver's confusion, Rheanna explained, "I exaggerate my female side even more, think Jessica Rabbit kind of proportions."

"Ah, I see."

After Rheanna showed Oliver some photos of herself in drag and her friend doing burlesque, Oliver offered to help out if they needed any sound tech support filling in.

Oliver's phone buzzed. He reached into his pocket, and his eyes caught sight of the word 'Cody' and he instantly checked the message, a sense of disappointment following as he realised that Cody was responding to a video Zeke had sent in the group chat: an edited loop of Sasha dancing in her tipsy state which was apparently too funny to wait to send until after the performance.

Oliver put his phone back and glanced up, seeing Rheanna studying him.

"How are things with Cody?" Rheanna asked.

"He's fine, I think." Oliver shrugged. "Do you not talk to him much?"

A slight smirk was on Rheanna's lips. "That's not what I asked, sweetie. I do talk to him, and I know how he is."

Oliver shifted in his seat.

"What I meant," Rheanna continued, resting her hands on the bench table. "Is how is everything going between the two of you? Do you two talk much?"

"We..." Oliver shrugged, his throat closing up. "We message a bit."

"About what, if I may ask?"

"About our day."

Rheanna sat back, her smirk from before softening into something more of a sympathetic or pitying smile. "Zeke and I used to be in a long-distance relationship."

Oliver knew what Rheanna was trying to do, and he almost corrected her that Cody and himself were not in a relationship, but he stopped himself and listened.

"We had been going out for almost a year at that point, and I got an opportunity to work in the States for a year, singing for a touring drag artist," Rheanna continued. "Zeke and I almost broke it off since it was for a year, and I potentially could have stayed in the States. But we tried to make it work; it almost didn't, I won't lie." She looked at Oliver directly. "It was a challenge. You cannot cut corners; you will have to give even more to make the relationship work compared to something short-distanced. But it is up to you if you think that it is worth it. Being that far apart can be painful, and I've seen it tear up couples before."

Oliver glanced away, his hand still clutching onto his phone.

"But I have also seen it repair or even strengthen couples too," said Rheanna. "I suppose you could consider it a test. If you can make it work being that physically apart, then when you are finally back together, you can face any problem."

Oliver nodded. His hands fidgeting with his sleeve, tempted to have a mint even though he had only just finished his cigarette. "So, how did you do it?" he asked hesitantly. "How did you manage to maintain a relationship for a whole year?" Oliver thought back on his failed long-distance friendships, wondering if he was to blame; he probably was.

"Don't talk to each other every day."

Oliver frowned, staring at Rheanna. "Don't talk every day?"

"Yes, instead, assign one day a week where you'll have a video chat, try to be at least twenty minutes, though you'll probably find yourself talking for hours if you go on a tangent."

"I think I would be better at video chats than messaging."

"You haven't done it yet? What about calling on the phone?"

Oliver shook his head. Ever since Cody left, they had only communicated through texts. He then remembered back to Cody ringing Colene. He called Colene. He texted Oliver.

"Well, it may feel a bit awkward to begin with if you aren't used to it," said Rheanna. "But soon enough, you'll be having video sex in no time," she teased, then her smile disappeared into a pout as she saw Oliver's lack of reaction. "I will embarrass you one day, darling, you'll see."

"No one has yet to succeed." Oliver smiled slightly. He then paused. "What did you talk about? With Zeke? What if you didn't do anything particularly interesting that week?"

"Not everyone's life is interesting every week," said Rheanna. "Even when I was touring for that year, not every week I had something significant happen. I would suggest just asking questions. It could be anything little that the other person says, prompt them to expand on anything, and eventually, you will naturally end up in a conversation that has substance."

"Just... ask questions?"

"Yes, even if they sound like boring questions, you are still engaging with them. Asking them more about something they did will get them to speak more about something they're passionate about."

Oliver pondered a moment, still unsure.

"Another thing you can try is to write down anything in your week before the chat, anything of note or you would want to discuss in case you forget. You'll find your week perhaps more interesting than you thought."

"Ah, I can do that." Oliver nodded.

"And if none of that works, just take your top off."