It had been 3 years since my best friend disappeared. The last time I saw him was in Alterna, a bar near my flat which served as meeting point for students from the local university and other entities such as me and my friends.
We went there every weekend, not only because it was cheap, but because their playlist sounded as it had been created by me, or as if they had cloned my iPod and were playing all what we loved night after night.
It had been 3 years since my best friend had vanished. The last time we were together we drank beer and whiskey sours. We smoked camel blues and puffed on weed on occasion. We had been planning a trip out of the big city as we needed to get away from the stress and the monotony of the every day life we had become slaves to.
I am Terrified by IAMX began playing on the sound system. Chris Corner sang:
I am terrified, I think too much
I get emotional when I drink too much
I buy every cry, 'cause I don't trust
I am terrified, I think too much
We continued to plan.
Our master plan began to take form. It made sense, we had to do it, the stress was killing us. I was a little bit stronger than he ever was, yet, that night, I felt as if we were in sync and we were meant to do this.
Two more shots of Jack arrived at our table and we swallowed them without mercy.
I have to pee, he said
Yeah, I replied
And Hermes went to the toilet. And I sat there, waiting and staring at my phone waiting for someone to ring, text or something.
I'm so empty
You're all I'm thinking about, about
Oh oh, about, about
Oh oh oh, about, about
Oh oh oh, about, about
I'm so empty sang Shirley Manson, She sang until her voice faded away and her next streaming single hit the sound system.
I sat there and sipped on my beer. I played candy crush and liked some shitty pictures on Instagram. I even endorsed some shitty abilities of people on LinkedIn.
I sat there for some time. A new beer soon appeared on my table. Shirley Manson has stopped singing long ago. And there I had drunk a lot of beer. So I decided to hit the toilets and release the pressure.
I stood up and tried my best to walk straight. I didn't want people to know that I was feeling tipsy and that I couldn't handle my alcohol. I made it to the entrance door. Then I continued to the toilets.
I pushed the door open and walked in. I looked around and the place was empty. Nobody was there. All the doors to the toilet were open. I was all alone in there.
I couldn't hold it any longer so I jumped to the urinals and unzipped my pants.
And as I was doing my business I saw it.
On the wall mosaic. A pink square. Amid the rest of them all. And I remembered Hermes saying that the one pink square had been calling him out.
I finished pissing. I shook my penis. My friend was gone.