It’s a cardinal rules of a gay bar that if you leave your table, that table’s no longer yours.
Nathan watched in slow motion as Karam disappeared into the restroom and a trio of younger men began moving in a bee-line directly for his table.
Drinks in hand Nathan, who was fit for his age, bobbed and weaved through the crowded patio area, arriving at the table just moments before the group could claim it.
“Sorry fellas.” Nathan said with a disingenuous smile. “The table’s spoken for.”
He placed his drinks down, but it wasn’t until they were walking away giving him side eye that he realized they were all really hot. He nearly opened his mouth to say something lame to try and draw them back, but thought better of it.
Grimacing, he took a swig of his next beer. “Smooth.” He chastised himself, and glanced up towards the bathroom hoping for Karam’s quick return.
When he didn’t immediately emerge Nathan grumbled under his breath and pulled out his phone.
Nathan failed to channel the self-awareness to realize how he might look from the perspective of anyone else at the bar. He looked annoyed and unapproachable to most of the bar's patrons.
Nor did he know what he might look like from the position of a beer-soaked bug trapped under a glass.
Scrolling through one of the dating apps on his phone, Nathan was oblivious to the rest of the world and was surprised when suddenly the hot bartender appeared next to him.
“Done with those?” Jeffrey, the hot bartender, asked, eliciting a jolt of surprise in Nathan who nearly fumbled his phone in surprise at being so close to a man he found extremely attractive.
“What?” Nathan asked, having forgotten about the glasses on the table, it was then he noticed the extra beer glass. Not that he had any particular concern about it; he’d ditched many an empty glass on a random table at this and other establishments. “Oh yeah, sorry. Go for it.”
Jeffrey smirked, “Apology accepted.”
Nathan cocked an eyebrow at Jeffrey as he inadvertently freed a fly by picking up an overturned pint glass.
A fly that couldn’t lift off yet, once again, due to excess liquid on its wings.
“You’re cute when you're confused.” Jeffrey winked at Nathan before turning away to collect more discarded glasses.
Nathan blinked and watched as Jeffrey disappeared back into the bar.
Movement on the table caught his attention — the crawling, shivering fly finally gained a chance at some attention.
“Ugh.” Nathan frowned, “Stay away unless you want to get squished.”
He brandished his glass, not really wanting to get it dirty, but not wanting to deal with an insect.
The bug immediately veered off and moved away.
“Huh.” Nathan intoned with a sliver of interest in the unexpected reaction. “Seems like you know what’s good for you,” he muttered, peering at the bug while taking another drink of his beer.
Nathan returned his attention to his phone, and his eyes remained affixed to the screen for another five minutes during which he grew more and more impatient.
That same blur of movement caught his attention again. The man noticed that the fly had crawled closer to where Karam had been sitting.
Nathan sighed, “Go to a bar to hang out with crush, Crush disappears, and has probably gone…”
He watched the bug spinning in a circle.
“What…?” It almost looked like it was moving in some kind of pattern.
“Sorry Nathan!” Karam said, suddenly back, and stepping towards the table and drawing Jeffery’s attention back to the real world and away from the fleeting distraction of the puny bug. Nathan had started to light up, until he saw the hunk following after Karam.
“This is Bernard. We were having a … conversation.”
Karam winked before sliding back into a chair at the table, but not the location where he’d been sitting previously. Instead, Bernard chose that spot.
“Good to meet you mate.” The brute of a man said with an appraising look.
“You too.” Nathan said through a mask of calm.
Silence filled the space between them for a drawn out moment, interrupted only by a sapphire erratic blundering buzz.
The fly had seized another chance at that moment as its wings were finally dried.
Karam, Nathan, and Bernard’s eyes all fell on the little insect as it flew straight towards Karam, wings humming with a spirited display of energy.
Two men watched as the third acted.
Bernard’s hands snaked out, more out of reflex than anything else, with a whip-like clap of hands.