[CONTENTID1] Pink Venom [/CONTENTID1]

 

[CONTENTID2] It was a dark night, filled with uncertainties, when the star named Rosie, stumbled into a night club I worked for as a bar tender. All night, she was downing a cocktail that we named Pink Venom, the bar's own spin of Giggle Juice, it's made out of Moscato, Vodka, Peach Blossoms, Orange Blossoms and Strawberries. The Strawberries is what gives it its pink color and a splash of creme de noyaux, the twist is we blend it so that it looks like a strawberry slushie. She's on her 20th glass, she just quietly drinks it and orders another one. Lots of men have been offering her drinks but she declines each of those drinks, she just quietly sat at the bar and orders Pink Venom. It's now 1 a.m. and she's not done ordering another glass. I kept my eyes on her ever since she walked in slightly tipsy, after all, I might need to call her a cab later. She looks flushed from her 20th drink, she smiles and calls out to me.

"Lily, one more of deessshhh, pleashhhe and thankshhhh you." She tells me over the booming club music.

She had a cute Aussie accent, making me think she wasn't from Korea. She spoke English mostly, but I see, she understands Korean too, because when men approached her, I heard her decline their friendly offers for company, drinks or food. She politely tells them in Korean: Sayanghagetsseumnida naneun nae jasineul gamdanghal ssu optta. Which meant, No Thanks, I can handle myself. She's an independent woman, who can drink a lot.

She was on her 20th glass, usually girls who drinks their 10th glass of Giggle Juice with a twist is all giggly and rowdy. But she was just silent, staring at the glasses behind me. Her eyes looked glazed and hammered, it doesn't take a genius to understand that she is hammered and that she had one too many drinks already. I smiled at her and leaned in closer to her.

"You sure you can still drink?" I asked her amidst the club's bassy music.

"Ahuh, yeeeaaaahhh, I caaaannnn." She replied smiling charmingly.

Her words slurring and dragging from . Cradling in between her lips and her smile. She sure is skinny, but could take a lot of alcohol. I shook my head at her and made her a version of the cocktail she's been downing all through out the night. It was almost closing time in about two hours and I am worried she can't go home if I didn't do something about it. Before giving her the mocktail, I first asked her to drink water, because she looked parched from all the alcohol she's having.

"Alright, Sweetheart, I'll get you another one, but you need to drink water first alright? Water rehydrates you and it prevents you from looking like a shriveled fruit." I replied smiling at her as I pushed a tall glass of water to her.

She smiles yet again and nods eagerly. She took the tall glass of water and started drinking the water. I turned back and made her the mocktail. I served it to her and whispered to her ear.

"This one's on the house and so as your last order, we'll be closing in a wee bit, would you like another one?" I told her.

"Naurrrrr! Whyyyy??? It's stilllll eaaaarrrlyyy to close." She replied slurring her words all the more.

"We need to sleep too, yeah too early for tomorrow Princess." I replied giggling at her tantrum.

She's cute when she's having a temper tantrum. I wondered if she was always this way. She pouts at me and her eyes changed to a teary set of eyes.

"I want more." She said.

"Can't, Sweetie. Look, everyone in this bar gets a maximum of ten drinks, you're lucky you were just quiet and wasn't being all giggly and rowdy, that's the only reason why I still served you up until now." I smiled at her.

"Gimme more." She replied to me.

Despite her not yet finishing the mocktail I made her.

"You want me to get fired?" I asked her.

She still held my eyes with a matching pout. I wanted to keep her in my pocket and kiss her pout away. She looks familiar, but I couldn't quite remember where I've seen her, it was dark in the club and lots of flashing lights that pulses along with the house music. I never would have worked here, but I love listening to all sorts of music, but rapping and dancing was my thing. Plus of course, I whip up some mean cocktails. I became Chief Alchemist as the bar called its bar staff and bartenders. Tiffany Young, the bar owner wanted a medieval inspired bar. Where Princesses and Castles and anything related to the European medieval times. I got back to work end continued mixing the drinks and serving them to our patrons.

All the while still holding her eye contact. An hour and 30 minutes had gone by and I announced the last call for orders and by the time I got back to her, she was still pouting and sulking at the announcement. She wasn't done with her drink yet so I continued serving other customers. She then raises her hand to call my attention. I served the other alcoholic drink to a guy seated two seats away from her before I got back with her.

"Yes, dear?" I asked her.

"Soju pleaseeeee." She replied to me well more of like whining at me.

"Oneeeee boooottleeee." She follows up.

I smiled at her and told her.

"That's your last order? Sweetie, you shouldn't mix two drinks. You'll have a terrible headache tomorrow." I replied to her.

"Ionn careeeee just giveeeee meeee." She replied.

"Thish ish not doing itttt fo meeee." She replied holding up her mocktail.

I smiled at her gently and made her a deal.

"Listen, if you could wait until I get out of here, I can get you home and you can drink as much as you want, do we have a deal sweetie?" I asked her.

She nods her head and still pouted at me cutely. She drank her mocktail and finished it off in one swig. She pushes the glass towards me and drank her tall glass of water right after. She puts her head down as her pointer finger swirled the ice on her glass of water. This wasn't the first time I offered my services to a woman or man. I always offered company whenever I feel like they're having a hard time. It was only Thursday, technically a weekday, but for her to be drinking at a night club in Seoul says so much about her, her life must be filled with troubles, because why else would you drink 20 glasses of cocktails on a weekday, it's not even the weekend yet.

There is a ninety-nine percent chance that she's either a suicide risk or just needed someone to talk to as the night wore on. She might need someone to spend the night with, someone who can tolerate her and her stupid ideas. I have saved nine people in my tenure as Chief Alchemist in this bar. Everyone of those nine have continued to live and led fruitful lives, I still see them every Friday or Saturday, either out with their friends or family. Each became thriving in their lives, one was even a Boy group member, his group popular these days and sells billions of records their small label now belongs to the fourth spot in Korean Entertainment. K-XPLOTION Creatives now Kaboom Entertainment.

Now, I liked acts from SM Entertainment and BLACKLABEL, but since Bambam the boy group member who was thinking of ending his life a year after debuting, returned and gifted me his new album, I listened to his group's songs and now I dabble as choreographer for his group, after he discovered I could dance. He asked help for Choreography, together we created several memorable choreographies. Bambam and his group often came by during Sundays as there was no one around the bar.

Soon, everyone was already out save for this woman who had her head down at the bar table. I first cleaned up the adjacent seats to her side, before trying to remove the glass of water she had been dipping her pointer finger in, I don't know if she was awake or absolutely in dreamland now. She looks up to me and asked me.

"You have a guitar? Can I playyyy? Lily, answer meeee." She says hiccuping her drunkeness away.

I pointed to the front of the dance floor.

"There's a guitar on there. You may play the guitar but be sure not to play any 'shredding' guitar sounds, Tiff doesn't like those sounds." I warned her.

She smiles goofily at me and nods her head.

"Thanks mate." She replied and got down from the stool.

She was tall, her hair purple with a hint of titanium. She walks over to the make-shift stage and the sound engineers looked my way, I nodded at them as a signal to let her play. They set her up by cutting off the club music playing softly in the background. She picks up the electric guitar and softly strums the guitar. She turns some knobs and strums the guitar again. When she's satisfied, she hiked her leg up and strummed the intro of Gone a song by a singer named Rosie.

Her low voice started to sing, when Rosie sang the said song, it was high pitched.

I thought that you'd remember, but it seems that you forgot.
It's hard for me to blame you when you were already lost.
Oh, yeah.
I'm tired of always waiting
Oh, yeah, yeah.

I see you changed your number that's why you don't get my calls.
I gave you all of