Love Virus

Chapter One

Recommended song:  Dance To This by Troye Sivan and Adriana Grande

January 6, 2020

Alfie's POV

He held up the two ties to his shirt, studying them in the mirror and deciding which tie suited his mood best for the day. He smiled, choosing the purple tie and quickly put it on.

He fixed his hair, brushing it and adding just the slightest bit of gel to keep it in place. He moisturized his face, a habit he got while living in Asia. Tipping the bottle of cologne onto two fingers he rubbed it quickly around his neck and smiled in the mirror.

There were two versions of him. There was the professional, Mr. Alfred Bowen. This was who he saw smiling back in the mirror. ESL teacher at Point Grey highschool. White dress shirt, tie, black slacks and sensible shoes.

Mr. Bowen, who could always be counted on to volunteer for any and every fundraiser and school activity. Mr. Bowen who taught newly immigrated students English with kindness and patience, who loved his job and viewed the school as his second home. Dependable, kind, quiet and polite, that was the Mr. Bowen  the professional.

Alfie, however, was oh so slightly different. Days off meant freedom from the suit, freedom from the polished shoes and polished smile and could exhale and be himself.

Being Alfie meant wearing black skinny jeans, band tshirts, eyeliner, hands through his messy hair  and his trademark beanie.

Being Alfie meant carrying around either his fiddle or violin, depending on his mood and heading to Vancouver's harbour to play for the people that went for the Saturday morning stroll.

When Alfie was in the mood for a night out he could be found, more often than not with Noah and Liam, his stepbrothers and Brian his best friend.

They usually went to 'Indie Beats', a bar/music venue where anyone could go up on stage and perform. His friend and colleague Benjamin  played there with his boyfriend Tyler.

Brian and his band "Lions Gate" also performed there, although they were getting so popular that their engagements at Indie Beats was less often than a couple of years ago. Noah and Liam were in a band as well, "49th parallel", but it was a side gig from their regular jobs. It was just for fun and "to keep his skills fresh" as Noah frequently said garnering an eye roll from Alfie.

Alfie could be found surrounded by his group for the first half of the night, but after a few beers he would be an arm flailing dancing fool on the dance floor.

Whether people joined him in dancing didn't matter to him, he was going to dance whether he had someone there or not. Liquid courage because sober Alfie or Mr. Bowen did not have that kind of bravery.

His friends kept a watchful eye on him, always protecting their precious little bean. If anyone got too 'friendly' they would step in immediately.

With his shiny black hair, light blue eyes that one could get lost in, just the right amount of freckles and easy going smile, he was popular. He could have a choice of many of the gay young men that frequented Indie Beats but Alfie simply wasn't interested. Alfie had one  serious relationship under his belt. Colin was his high school boyfriend. They both came out together and were such a great source of support for each other. Colin moved to Montreal after high school and they weren't serious enough to have given moving on any second thoughts. They checked up on each other on Facebook, liked pics and had a beer when Colin came home to visit family.

He checked the clock and heard his coffee machine start. He propped his bag on the kitchen table and set about getting his breakfast ready. Two pieces of toast, peach yogurt and ample amount of cream in his empty coffee mug, waiting for the last trip of the machine to relinguish the coffee.

Turning on the TV he watched the news with mild interest until he heard "Wuhan" mentioned. He leaned forward to see what was going on in the city where he taught English two years before. He loved his experience there,  and it was only because of homesickness that he returned to Vancouver. He watched the news with interest as he turned the volume up slightly.

On December 31, China alerted the World Health Organization  to several cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan, a port city of 11 million people in the central Hubei province. The virus was unknown.

Several of those infected worked at the city's Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which was shut down on January 1.

As health experts worked to identify the virus amid growing alarm, the number of infections China alerted WHO to several cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan, a port city of 11 million people in the central Hubei province. The virus was unknown.

Several of those infected worked at the city's Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which was shut down on January 1.

As health experts worked to identify the virus amid growing alarm, the number of infections exceeded 40.

He made a mental note to email David in Wuhan and check on him. Finishing up his coffee and breakfast he slipped on his loafers and grabbed his coat and bag. He quickly packed two lunches and headed outside.

The school was only a 15 minute walk from home and that was if he was lallygagging, which he often did. It was colder today so he couldn't be dawdling too much he thought to himself.

Five minutes down the road he saw Ed on his usual bench.

"Goodmorning Ed" he said passing the older man the extra lunch bag. "Try to get to the soup kitchen today, even just to warm up. It's going to snow today" he said taking off his mitts and handing them to the quiet man. Ed didn't speak often but they had a easy rapport nonetheless.

"Have a good day Ed" he said waving.

"You too." He heard him call behind him causing a smile to form on Alfreds face. 

That was rare, he thought. Usually Ed was so lost in his own thoughts that he often didn't even realize a conversation was taking place.

It saddened him that so many elderly mentally ill people were living on the fringe of society. He couldn't fix it all, but he could do what he could in his own way and he would have to be content with it.

Within minutes,  Mr. Bowen, the professional ESL teacher, had made his appearance upon hearing the busy chatter of hundreds of students as he entered the halls of Point Grey.