Reborn

Chapter 24

It was a cold evening in June, a few weeks before I moved in with my parents. As usual, I was at the local watering hole.

This particular night was no different from the rest. I sat outside sipping on my water when one of the bouncers that I was really close to came and sat opposite me. We started chatting and got caught up in our conversation. Giant (that was his name) was a big imposing guy with a mushy heart. He was really intelligent and I enjoyed talking to him. Our topics of conversation were always varied and it was a refreshing change to my feelings at this point.

We sat there deep in conversation when we were interrupted by someone. He greeted Giant and as usual, I turned away. I really don't speak to anyone except the bouncers when I go there. I was shaken out of my reverie by a voice. I turned around and here was this guy introducing himself to me. I shook his hand and introduced myself to him. I remember looking at him and thinking he looked like a painting. A painting by Pablo Picasso. He was dark, really dark and his face looked as though Pablo Picasso just threw some mismatched parts together. If I had thought Giant was big, this guy was huge. Not as tall as Giant but wide. His eyes were too small for his face and his nose was too big. He smiled at me and disappeared.

I continued with my night and this dude came out a few times and spoke to me. Apparently he also worked at the club but I had never seen him before and I'm sure that I would never have missed someone that size. Over the weeks that followed, Gaz, that was his name which was kind of weird cause who calls their son Gaz, and I became friends. He was a wonderful person with a fucked up sense of humour. I loved it. I was constantly dying of laughter everytime he was around.

Now, let me tell you about my protectors at the club, the bouncers. They made themselves my protectors and they watched out for me all the time. I hardly spoke to any guys and never danced with a guy. Sometimes though, while I was on the dancefloor, a guy would come up and dance with me. I never had a problem with it until they decided to become a bit touchy. But they never got very far. Before their hands even made contact, they were pushed away by one of my protectors and told not to touch me. After Gaz and I became friends, he decided I needed one more protector. And he would always sit on the speaker at the dancefloor watching me. All I had to do was signal and he would be on the dancefloor escorting me away.

There were a few regulars at the club that I used to speak to. And one night one of those guys asked me to dance. I didn't think anything of it. I danced with him for a bit and then he told me that he liked me and proceeded to hold me around the waist. I just touched my wrist knowing that one of the guys would know that I need rescuing. Next minute, Gaz walks onto the dancefloor, grabs me by the hand and tells me that he needs to speak to me. We walk outside and I thank him. That night we stood talking for about an hour.

We both shared stories. I was surprised to learn that he was divorced as well and he had a 3year old son. I shared my story with him and we both just reminisced about the past. We didn't even realise where the time went. He had to go and work so I walked in with him and sat at the bar for the rest of the night. I met one of his friends Gerald and he kept me company for the rest of the night. After that I really looked forward to going to the club. I met new friends and they kept me sane. A week later, Gaz offered to take me home. I didn't think anything of it, he seemed harmless enough. He took me home and was the perfect gentleman and I really appreciated that.

There after every Friday night and Saturday night he would fetch me to take me to the club and drop me off afterwards. We exchanged numbers and chatted everyday, every minute of the day. One Sunday afternoon, he asked me if he could take me for coffee. I agreed. By this time I was living with my parents so I got ready and he fetched me. For the first time in a very long time, I felt excited. I thought I liked him. I looked forward to chatting to him and talking to him. He made me feel alive. We went out for coffee and had a blast. I learnt that he had taken time off from his day job just so that he could spend some time with me.