It was a Friday night, early and nice out; just nice enough for a trip down South Street by' myself. I loved coming down here in general but it was almost' always so much better when I was alone. Sometimes, I would walk around for a bit, and then take a trip down to the river and sit there for a while.
Instead, tonight I was thinking of stopping in a bar to have a few drinks before getting on the Frankford-Market line to make my way home.
I stopped in a few places; most of them were' packed though. After three different bars all of which were so full of people I couldn't' find a seat, I made my way down towards 15th street and wandered into a place called Petes.
By this point, I just wanted a seat and a drink, so I ignored the crowd and made my way to the bar. I sat down and a female bartender approached me with a nice smile on her face. "How can I help you?"
"I'll take a Coors Light please,"
"No problem,"
She returned a few moments later and handed me the beer. I paid her for it, then took a swig and savored the taste sitting it down on the counter and looking back up at her.
"So; is this your first time in a place like this?"
I wasn't' so sure what she meant by "a place like this," and chuckled taking another swig of my beer.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"A gay bar," she replied in a very nonchalant manner. "You did realize this was a gay bar...didn't you?"
I thought she was joking at first. She had to be joking, right; why the' hell would I have knowingly walked into a gay club. But' when I looked around at my surrounding's I suddenly saw it as though I had been blind.
There were practically no women here; the ones that were women looked like your typical butch lesbian. All of the men were either flamboyant enough to tell they were gay, or still gave it away by the fact that they were dancing with other men.
Some were even making out; how could I have been so stupid?
"So it is a gay bar," I said laughing nervously.
"You're kidding right; you really didn't notice?"
"No," I replied laughing harder now.
"It's okay; I'm here. Might as well stick around a bit and finish my beer."
She smiled at me noticing I was almost done and grabbed me another one, setting it down in front of me. I reached into my pocket for my wallet but she shook her head and motioned for me to put it away. "It's on me," she said happily.
"Not many straight guys would be so calm in a situation like this. I have to respect that about you; so, put your wallet away. It's on me,"
"Thanks," I smiled.
We started up a nice conversation. I learned that her name was Michelle; she'd' been working here about five years and she was thirty years old now. She was also a lesbian and was dating an older woman who was actually' related to the owner of this club. That was apparently how she had gotten this job in the first place. I told her my name was Brian and that I was twenty' eight years old and currently single...and very lonely.
We talked about past relationships and offered each other listening ears and before I knew it, I had been here drinking and talking with her for well over an hour; it was almost 11:30 at night.
I'd' had at least five beers but I wasn't' quite feeling it yet, which was fine. I was not really looking to get' wasted anyway.
"I'll be right back," I said standing up and stretching.
"Have to go relieve the bladder,"
She laughed as I walked away and made my way towards the men's room. I returned just five minutes later and sat back down to notice a sort of nervous look on Michelle's face.
"You okay?" I asked concerned.
"Yeah," she laughed slightly. "You might want to head on home though."
"Nah, nights still young and I'm enjoying myself."
"Okay," she said leaning in close. "Then I should probably warn you before you find it out for yourself. See those two guys over there,"
She pointed past me and I turned slightly to follow the direction she was pointing in; across the room, I could see two men about my age. One of them wore a white t-shirt and a pair of fitted jeans. He had blonde hair that came down to his eyes and a big smile.
The other had short spiky brown hair and wore a black t-shirt that said "Kiss me, I'm horny," and a pair of gray denim jeans.
"What about them," I asked not seeing anything that stood out about them except they were obviously not shy about their sexualities.
"The blonde is James and the brown haired guy is Chris. Their locals here at this club, and they have a sort of...track record I guess you can say."
"Track record huh? What do you mean by that?"
"Well you see," she said popping open a fresh beer and handing it to me.
"James and Chris...they are a couple. Not exactly boyfriends though, their more like friends with benefits. Their very open sexually and they like to invite other people into the bedroom sometimes. Mainly straight men like yourself who wander in here from time to time."
I laughed, not really taking her seriously despite the look of sincerity on her face.
"C'mon," I said. "What straight guy...besides me...would wander in here willingly?"
"Curious folks sometimes here just to have fun with their friends, sometimes they come in big crowds...sometimes they get lost like you," she laughed. "The point is...James and Chris have' a habit of seducing most of these straight guys. Seems to work every time, believe it' or not. Now I'm not doubting' your sexuality or your confidence in it, but I'm telling you whatever trick these two have, their damn good at getting in a straight guys pants."
I still was not taking Michelle seriously and' laughed her off taking a swig of my beer. She got the point and sighed defeated, changing the subject but I could tell she kept looking over at James and Chris as though she were hoping they'd' keep to themselves.
Eventually, Michelle perked her head up, eyes slightly wide and sighed looking at me a few seconds later.
