Company Ink [PUBLISHED]

t h r e e

No amount of RuPaul's Drag Race could have prepared me for what I experienced tonight. The entire bar was buzzing with positive and vibrant energy. During each performance my mouth was hung open in awe of the skills these queens possess. From the extravagant outfits, to the impeccable make-up, acrobatic finesse, and lip syncing talent, for a full hour, I thought I died and went to entertainment heaven.

"Holy shit, Kai!" I yell over the thumping loud house music. "That was phenomenal! I didn't know you were so limber!"

Kai lets out a boisterous laugh. "Years of yoga, honey!"

Funny, I've been doing yoga for years myself and yet I can't do the splits standing up. I look over at Axel, my eyes still wide in amazement. "Your boyfriend blew my fucking mind!"

Monique and I met Axel and Kai a year ago at a social the University of Washington held for alumni. They were two of the best dressed attendees there, so I just had to go up and introduce myself. It's not every day that you meet people with the same love of runway fashion as you. We automatically hit it off and now they're two of my closest friends.

When Kai announced he was going to enter an amateur drag queen competition, Mon and I were completely floored. Not because we didn't think he could do it, but because we were shocked he wasn't already a star. Kai's got the energy of a thousand burning suns and the stage presence of a sassy Goddess. His drag queen name is Roxie Dart, inspired by Renee Zellwegger's character in the movie Chicago. I think Kai's been wanting to explore this side of himself for a while but he works at a high-end brokerage firm, so I think he was nervous about his co-workers finding out. But seeing as three of his colleagues are sitting at our table, I'm thinking they're not as close-minded as Kai thought they were.

"I was pretty fucking great, wasn't I?" Kai laughs, handing everyone at the table a shot of vodka. "Cheers to me, I guess!"

We all down the vodka in unison. I've only spent twenty-five dollars tonight, which is an all-time record at Jux. I mean, I'm not as drunk as I'd like to be, but at least Monique isn't shooting me death glares.

"So, are you going to keep performing here? Or was this just a one-time thing?" Monique asks. Kai told us he has a bucket list with things he wants to do before he's thirty and I guess performing in drag was one of them.

"I had so much fun but holy crap, the amount of hours I spent rehearsing was insane! I don't think I have enough time to do this every week, not when I work like sixty hours a week," Kai explains.

A server stops by the table and hands me a cosmopolitan. I narrow my eyes in confusion. "I didn't order this," I inform her.

She nods towards the other side of the bar. "It's from the guy in the blue shirt."

"Oh," I hum, fluttering my eyelashes. Guy in the blue shirt looks like the poster boy for a surf brand; messy blonde hair, tanned skin, and pearly whites that are blinding even from here. I pull out a scrap piece of paper from my purse, jot down my number and name, and hand it to our waitress. "You can give him this."