Un-Beam My Heart!

37. He hates me....

                      It was getting heavy in there. The smell was awful and the entire place reeked of alcohol. Thankfully, it was a high class bar and it seemed to be well-maintained. Still, the pungent smell of alcohol invaded his nostrils, making him uncomfortable. The heavy clouds of smoke loomed over his head and left him breathless. At least the music was light and bearable.

                    Copter hated the bars. He had  never had a liking for crowded places, especially where it was too noisy and fetid. He chided himself for not listening to Tee and visiting the bar. He moved to the far end of the bar and mingled into the crowd. And as usual no one noticed him. It was like he was invisible or didn’t exist at all. Tee often called him as cute, but Copter had never felt himself to be cute or beautiful or handsome. He was just an ordinary boy with ordinary looks, and may be a little more than ordinary brain. Of course, he might be naïve but certainly not stupid. But many preferred looks over brain, and to his relief, no one approached him whenever he went out to such places with Tee.

                    Copter gave a bored pout and searched for Tee. Spotting him near the bar counter, Copter pulled out his phone to text him that he was going back to the cottage. But before he could start typing, Tee looked towards his direction and gestured him towards a tall guy who was chatting with the bartender. Copter looked at the side profile of the guy. Sure, he looked handsome and by his clothes he seemed to be loaded. But he didn’t look like a native of New Zealand and Copter wondered why Tee chose a foreigner or tourist.

                      Copter ran his eyes from the guy’s head to toe, who was having an extremely good time chatting with the handsome bartender. He clicked his tongue in disinterest and peeled his eyes away from the guy. Now that the target had been fixed, Tee would be going after him and Copter would be left alone. He heaved another sigh and looked towards Tee, when the guy turned towards Copter suddenly and their eyes met for a brief second. Copter gawked in surprise and looked away flustered.

                   “Shit!! Did I just lock eyes with P’Tee’s target?”, Copter mumbled to himself puzzled.

                     He gulped and looked at Tee, who stood up from his seat to approach the guy. But the guy was already on his feet and he walked towards Copter with a charming smile. Copter fidgeted nervously and tried to walk away from his place. But the guy reached him fast and blocked his path.

                      “Hey, bored?”, he asked with a teasing smirk, “I am Kimmon”, he extended his hand.

                    Copter blinked.

                    “Feeling out of place?”, Kimmon asked titling his head, “Or lonely?”, he whispered bending down near Copter's ear.

                     Copter flinched at the proximity and stepped back. Kimmon straightened himself and observed Copter’s face like he was looking at a piece of art.

                      “How come you are left alone here with such great looks?”, he asked amused, “People are sure blind at times. But I am not them, I have an eye for aesthetics and you are a rare to find kind of cute”

                      Kimmon tapped on Copter’s cheek with a dashing smile and Copter’s heart skipped a beat for the first time in his life.

*****

Tuesday, 10.30 PM

                      ‘Dare to reach out your hand into darkness, to pull another hand into the light’
                      [AN: Quoted by Norman B. Rice, African-American Mayor of Seattle, Washington, 1990 to 1997]