Page 85 of Dark Room Junkie

“I know.”

The rest of the afternoon was quiet, and I enjoyed the anticipation of the evening at Hyde during art therapy. I couldn’t wait to see Noé; just the thought of him made me happy. The fear of being rejected by him lingered subconsciously, but in the last few days, the fog in my head had cleared so much that I simply knew what I had to do.

As I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom in the evening, shaving, I went through possible situations in my head, how I wanted to deal with the architects’ questions. Not everyone needed to know what was going on with me. I would just say that I ended up in the hospital because of asthma and have been on sick leave since then.

I went to Hyde around nine o’clock—the Lighteners had already started at eight, and I knew they would soon take their first break. Claude was the first to greet me from the bar to my left. I took a peek into the lounge to my right, where the architects were sitting and talking, but then I walked over to Claude at the bar. For the first time, I was glad that the counter was about a hundred feet long and the stage was on the other side of the room. During the breaks, the guys always stayed at the far end of the bar.

“Hey, Alex!” Claude shouted to me over the music. “A beer?”

I greeted the bartender and waved it off. “Water, please.”

As Claude turned away from me, I got my first glimpse at the stage. The club wasn’t too crowded yet, and my view of Tom was clear. He was standing at the microphone, starting the last song before the break with his rough, dark voice. Patrick joined in with the guitar, and as Tom stepped aside, he opened up the view to ...

Who’s that?

On the bass, no, on a double bass, stood a nearly seven-feet-tall guy with short dark hair. Together with Pablo, he started the song and set a fast pace.

I was taken aback.

Where’s Noé?

“He’s good, isn’t he?” Claude said as he placed a glass of water in front of me and submerged a lemon slicer in it.

It was the same drink Noé always had, and it looked like a gin and tonic.

“The bassist, I mean.”

“Oh ... yeah,” I mumbled. “Where ... is Noé?”

Claude pursed his lips. “You’ll have to ask Tom. The newbie showed up here five minutes before the concert started.”

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and pivoted my head back at the stage.What the hell?

“Alex! Hey! You’re here again? How are you? Nice to see you.” Moritz greeted me as he passed by on his way to the bathroom.

“Hello,” I said somewhat stiffly. “Thanks, I’m good.”

“Are you going to join us?”

“I ... uh ... Maybe later.”

“Of course! See you later!”

I breathed a sigh of relief as Moritz headed inside the bathroom. But as the band finished the song, my heart rate picked up. Claude was now serving other customers, so I grabbed my glass and approached the stage.

“We’ll take a short break,” Tom said into the microphone.

I stopped by the last bar stool, and while waiting, I spotted Patrick walking toward me.

“Alex! What a surprise! How are you?”

I tried to put on a brave face and gave a small nod. “Better, thanks.”

“Ready for assignments again?”

“No, sorry. I’m not there yet.”

Patrick smiled, showing he understood. “That’s fine. Just let us know when you’re back in the game.”

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