Living in a dump didn’t phase Antares in the slightest. He may not have made it to the big time yet, but he was pretty happy with his life.
His modeling job gave him opportunities to travel to beautiful, exotic locations around the globe. It also connected him with an endless stream of gorgeous women – models, like him, budding actresses, pop stars, producers, and admiring fans.
These women didn’t seem to mind the state of his house at all. As a result, his bed was rarely empty.
To Antares, the women he dated were a temporary pleasure. To the women he dated, Antares was only a temporary pleasure. It was a mutual arrangement. Casual dating, casual sex…
(“Gramma, you said sex!”
“Whoopsie! I’ll try not to use that word anymore, dear.”)
…No expectations, no strings attached. That was how Antares liked to live his life as a young man.
That is, until the day he fell in love.
He first saw her at a keg party in his own backyard. The way the sunshine reflected off her golden hair and dress, she looked like spring and summer, all rolled into one. She stood across the yard among a cluster of gorgeous actresses, talking and smiling and acting as though the world hadn’t just come to an abrupt halt.
“Who is that girl?” Antares asked Maulik. “What’s her name?”
Maulik gave him a look. “What, you think just because I’m from India, I know everybody’s name?” He laughed at Antares’ stricken expression. “Naw, bro. I’m just messing with you.”
Antares glared at his friend. Maulik was always pulling stuff like that to make people think they’d offended him. He wasn’t even from India. Maulik’s grandparents had immigrated here from India decades ago. But Maulik liked to dress like guys in India, because he figured it made him look more ethnic, and looking ethnic might help him sell his art.
“Besides, Indian people know how to dress right,” Maulik always said. “American guys ain’t got no skin in the fashion game. Like, all you’re allowed to wear is jeans and t-shirts.”
Antares knew he should just go over to the woman and ask her name. But for some reason he couldn’t explain, he felt tongue-tied. Instead of trying to talk to her, he decided to get her attention another way.
“Come on,” he said, dragging Maulik over toward the keg. “Hold me up. I’m going to try a keg stand.”
“For real?” Maulik shook his head, but he held onto Antares anyway as Antares grabbed the sides of the keg and hoisted himself off the ground.
“Brah…you’re too heavy,” Maulik grunted, trying to hold Antares up as Antares closed his mouth around the keg tap. “I can’t…hold you…” He lost his grip, watching in horror as Antares tumbled to the ground, beer spraying everywhere.
Antares climbed to his feet, rubbing his sore backside.
“Sorry, man. Are you hurt?” asked Maulik.
Antares glanced over at the girl, who along with everyone else, was laughing at him. His face burned with embarrassment. “Just my pride,” he told Maulik. “Just my pride.”
Lair of the SSStoryteller 