INGUS:

We sit on the curb in front of Euphorika. The wind blows with a slight chill and the smell of gas flows through the air like the smell of a freshly cooked pie. She sits next to me, crossing her arms with a slightly hunched back. I'm so embarrassed, I've never acted this way before. It makes me want to scream. Everytime I try to say something, something different comes out. I could want to say “I like blue,” and it'll come out “I hate prickly elephants.” She clears her throat. “Look, Ingus, I don't blame you and I forgive you. I'm from Numena too. Believe me, I understand the cultural dissonance from women, that's pretty much why I came out here.” She looks at the yellow moon and sighs. I can't stop staring at her. How could someone like her exist in the world we live in? “I just didn't know it was that bad. I haven't looked back since I left. What are women even looking like these days?” My heart pounds out of my chest and my pulse swells in my ears. To think, just a while ago I was at my job, muscles aching, my mind a prisoner of immense pain. But now, as I sit here, it's like I'm immortal, like this moment is eternal. I need to say my words correctly. I can't lose her, I need her.

“Well, I don't hang much around them but they mostly look like everyone else.” “And how does everyone else look?” “Well, plain. Most men have shaved heads, most women do too. We all wear pretty plain clothes. None of us really pay attention to each other much.” Ms.2000 puts her chin on her knees and stares at the street. She stares wistfully. “What about the money situation? After they introduced Ralomi, things got so crazy, I can't even imagine what's going on now,” she says. “Well, we all kind of just exist. Money is hard to come by because the easy jobs are done by robots.” She looks at me and when her eyes connect with mine it's as if I was being filled with the glorious light that comes from them. “And what does ole Ingus do?” “I used to work in construction and now I'm a Trash Man.” “Trash Man?” “Yeah, for a few years now. I basically burn trash all day. In the fire, the raging fire. All for money that goes straight to rent.” There has to be more to my life, there has to be. The lights coming from the sign above us decorate the empty street in their metronomic fashion. Silence tickles us for a moment. She looks behind her shoulder a few times, almost as if she were expecting someone to come out. Ms.2000 begins to tap her foot up and down repeatedly. Her nails slightly dig into her palms. 

“Listen, I'd love to stay and chat but I have someplace to be.” She's leaving? She quickly stands up. Once up she puts out her tiny hand for me to shake. I shake it slowly. My hand tingles as if our connecting palms were as electric as a kiss. “This kind of place just isn't for you. Please go home and stay away from these kinds of places ok? Someone like you has no business being anywhere remotely around this kind of stuff. You need to yell at your friend for sending you down here without telling you what goes on,” she says. My heart sinks. Will I see her again? I have to come up with a way to get to know her before it's too late. She continues, “This kind of work doesn't make me any more beautiful. We sell ourselves, Ingus.” She stops, swallows hard and says, “And as for the women stuff, we come in all shapes and sizes. The women in Numena are women too, ok? Just because they don't dress like me doesn't mean they aren't pretty, or are any less deserving of your love. It was nice meeting you.”

MS.2000:

I say my goodbye and he stares at me longingly. Poor guy should give his friend a sock in the mouth for telling him he could find feminine women down here. Ain't nothing feminine about us. We'd like to think so as we all flock here to escape Numena but, is being treated as an object any better than being completely ignored? I begin to walk away and he yells. “Wait!” I stop and turn my head behind me. He stutters out, “When can I see you again?” I have to admire his naiveness. “You won't, please go home.” He sits frozen and then puts his head in his hands. I walk into Euphorika and through the snakeskin covered halls. Things are beginning to wind down. We close up at 6AM and we have an hour or so to go. It's weird when it's quiet here. It gets so silent you can hear the wind blowing outside. It almost feels haunted in a way, when it's quiet like this I hate looking at the Lion's statues. I swear at night their faces contort and their eyes follow you, crying. I reach The Lion's den and avoid looking at the marble women. Huh, his doors are closed. That's weird, he usually never leaves until closing. I approach the door cautiously. I raise my hand to knock. I gently tap a knock.

I don't get an answer. I wait a few seconds and knock again. No answer. He'd have let me know if he was leaving, right? I look at the doorknobs and bite my lip once. I hesitate for a moment and I try opening the doors. Locked. Did he leave without saying anything? I head over to the back of Euphorika and pass all of the still, hanging leather outfits. They're the ghosts of this place. Francine's door is slightly cracked open and I peek my head in. She sits on her stool, staring at a box of things in her arms. As I push the door open it startles her to attention. She looks at me, with a twinging look and then back down at the box. “Hey, do you know where The Lion went? We were supposed to go out and I can't find him,” I say. She just makes a pouting face, raising her shoulders while shaking her head. “Nope.” She stares despondently at the box. In all of my time here I've never seen her this way. I come completely in the room and close the door behind me. “Is everything ok? You seem off.” “Yeah, I'm good.” She doesn't seem good. “Are you sure? Did I do something? Are you mad at me?” She clenches her jaw and swallows hard. “No you're good. I'm good.” “I'm here to talk, you know,” I say. I try to put my hand on her shoulder and she moves away. She stands up, throwing the box on the floor. 

“Actually, I think from now on we should focus on work more. I was thinking and I kind of don't feel like talking to anyone for a while.” My heart sinks down into my stomach. It's like Francine has been replaced. “Hey, why are you saying that?! We're supposed to be in this together, remember? Seriously, if something is wrong please tell me. There's nothing we can't work through together.” She stands in front of the door with her back to me. “Like I said, I'm good.” She begins to leave but I interrupt her. “I don't get what you mean, do you mean you don't want to talk to me either?” She stands there, not looking at me. Her voice shakes. “You either. I think it's best if we just go about our own lives. I have things I need to figure out and until I do I don't want to drag you into them.” My hands begin to profusely sweat and I begin to feel a panic enter my chest and knees. I've never seen her remotely act like this. I can't lose her.

“Francine, you're my only friend. Please. I need you.” My eyes begin to water and I talk through the lump in my throat. “I can't do this job or fight my battles without you. I can't live life without you, Francine. Please, I'll fix whatever I did! I'll help you fix whatever it is that's wrong you just have to tell me. I love you, we're supposed to anchor ourselves when we get lost, remember? Like you told me that day? That if I was ever on the seas of life and they got too much to bear, you'd come out and take me back to shore. The same went for you, it still does. I'm here to take you to shore.” She slightly shakes and lets out a squeaking, almost gulping sound. She leaves. I collapse. Sobbing. 

INGUS:

I pace back and forth along the sidewalk in front of Euphorika. All I have to do is go in there and say what I'm feeling. All I have to say is that I want to get to know her more because I'm in love with her and I can't see me living life without her. No, I shouldn't say that. I didn't even catch her real name. I should go in there, ask for her name, and then ask her for her number! That way I can use the one at home and call her again! That's it. That'll work! I begin to open the door to the inside of Euphorika and I hit Ms.2000. She stumbles backwards. She looks like she's in a hurry. I stare at her face for the proceeding moment. Her nose is red and puffy. Under her eyes are wet from tears. Her lip is quivering but she bites it to keep it still. The compassionate thing to think right now is to wonder why she's crying, but all I can think is how much prettier she is now. She looks so innocent, she looks more alive than she did before. She looks up at me. “I told you to go home, Ingus.” 

She walks past me and into the street. Now's my time to say it, I can do it! She freezes for a moment and turns around. “Actually, can you walk me home?”