H to O

water_bar

Going out on a double date when you have a girlfriend is awkward.

“But she said she would only come if she could bring her friend,” Q protests.

I sigh, “Come on man, it will just be weird.”

“I need you, as a friend.”

I shake my head, “I love my girlfriend.”

He frowns, “I’m not asking you not to–plus, friendship is more important than love.”

“Uh-huh, how so?” I sigh, starting to put my jacket on.

He smiles, standing up, “who are you going to talk to when the person you love drives you crazy?”

I don’t reply, but I follow him to the door mumbling something about “one hour, max.”

The bar is a ten minute walk from my place, which is a relief. It’s got bubble letters for a sign.

“H to O”

I look inside, it is well lit–too well lit, like a frozen yogurt factory.

“This is a bar?” I ask Q. I turn. He is waving at someone. Two girls come walking toward us. One is in a trench-coat jean jacket, half her hair is blue. The other is wearing glasses I could spit through and striped pants that make her legs look comically long. I groan.

“C’mon Q,” I say, “how old are these girls?”

He looks at me. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, no self-respecting adult would dress that way.”

“And I suppose you consider yourself a self-respecting adult?”

I glare at him, “I consider myself un-advertised.”

Q rolls his eyes and the girls get within earshot. There is hand shaking and introductions. Their names fall directly into the dead-leaves pile in my brain. I hold the door and follow them in. The menu is all in Russian.

“Just get me a beer,” I tell Q, heading for the bathroom. It isn’t a large place. I find the bathroom beside a surfboard and hammock display. There are bamboo plants and spa music playing as I stand in the bathroom.

When I get back to the table, Q is chatting away with the girl in the jean jacket trench coat. She’s removed it to reveal a sleeveless dress shirt covered in cat faces. I turn to the girl in the fake glasses, she smiles.

“Why did you come to Russia?” she asks.

I look at Q, look up, look back at her. “No idea, I just like it here.”

“I like it here, too!” the girl with the cat-faced-shirt jumps in. She goes on, “did you know they fly the water in from all over the world. I got the South African–Peruvian blend!”

I take in what she is saying, I look at Q, he looks down at his own hands.

“What the fu–” I start, but I am interrupted by the waitress placing four clear glasses down on the table. I look at my glass, then back up at Q.

“You said this was a bar,” I ask, tense.

“A water bar!” cat-faced-shirt chimes in.

I look down at my glass, close my eyes, trying not to listen.

“It’s new! They started in LA and then London. They fly water in from all over the world. You can even get water from America, if you want.”

When I open my eyes, I just look at Q. He won’t meet my gaze. I look back at the girl across from me, through her fake glasses.

“Do you think friendship is more important than love?” I ask her.

She looks at me, timid, then at Q, then back. “I–I think they’re the same thing, really.”

I take a breath, lean back, and can’t help but smile.

“Huh, alright,” I decide, taking a sip of my water.

 

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24 replies to “H to O”

  2. hmmm, that is surely a story, which I probably have think about for some time. I’m sure there is hidden a lot much deeper, That I can see at first sight is.
    The mentioned girlfriend is only important to know that he is not on the “search”, right?
    Then comes a disappointing evening in a water bar, with the highest co2 balance. Disappointing, since it is not necessarily to expect a special tastingexplosion.
    The question at the end was surely cleverly answered that you had to laugh. But I do not really understand. He expected her to count “love” as more important and then he would have gone? I’m curious what ideas are coming up.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. haha well it is kind of focusing on the main character’s view of friendship and what makes friendship real or important. While what the other characters argue might not be gospel, it seems to make him understand that however uncomfortable he may be, he should be there for his friend.

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    1. Thank you! I hope we are able to keep producing things for a long time. Hopefully books one day so there is even more material from both of us. Soon, soon our first book will be out and I hope it is as enjoyable and impressive.

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  5. A great question about the commitment of friendship compared to love. Are they the same thing – really. That is the conclusion I am left to ponder – I disagree.
    In friendship there is mutual understanding , loyalty and trust and a life long relationship regardless of misdemeanours. In love there is additional commitment and sacrifice that can be destroyed by the simplest of errors – and forgiveness can never fully restore the status quo.
    Sorry – just getting dragged into philosophical nonsense.

    Great story makes you think -Love is as hopeless as a Bar selling water.

    Liked by 1 person

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    1. Thanks. I love getting dragged into philosophical nonsense and friendship and love are both deep deep holes of philosophical nonsense that are very easy to fall into. hahaha I like the last line there, cheers.

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    2. Oh I do not agree. For me love is at the top. If you really love, this person stands above all. The engagement which you describe is a need, if I love, mistakes we always try to avoid and forgiveness, it depends on what was happening. But one thing is clear, if one can be TOGETHER with the person you love, you are happy and the friends are then secondary … as sad it is for the friends. But that’s love!

      Liked by 1 person

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    1. haha thank you. I’m glad you liked it. It is kind of a mash-up of two ideas I’d been thinking about for a while. And yeah so I am the writer and Nikita is the artist. We actually only have 7 days left in our challenge and then we plan to start making graphic novel/zines on patreon. We will still post stories from time to time but we want to get into bigger projects. We have a book coming out soon too and we will announce it when it happens. For now if you want to keep an eye on patreon, this is the link: https://www.patreon.com/flash365

      We really want to try and make this our profession but we want everyone to be able to enjoy it so 1$ is access to everything. I promise, we wont disappoint.

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      1. It soothes me that I am not the only one who forgets names. Well, but I´m quiet good, I forget names already while communicating them.

        Liked by 1 person

  11. Pingback: H to O (Russian) | Flash-365

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