I'm collapsing and tomorrow I have to go to the office. Better to go home.
Chapter 3
The Dream
"Spider's Web..."
Found it, finally! This is supposed to be the club, not really my cup of tea, hopefully at least the beer is decent.
I usually don't like to judge by appearances, but these guys out here look like they've been out of jail for no more than a couple of hours. What the hell was I thinking coming to this place? At least they were in a group, but I'm venturing out on my own. The good thing is that there is a queue and... why is this human mountain staring at me? Indifference, Davide, don't look at him, show indifference...
I lower my gaze and rummage through the pockets of my leather jacket pretending to look for something, then with a distracted air I cast a fleeting glance at the man. Damn, he must be at least 6'2" and 130 kilos and he keeps staring at me. A deafening roar gives me the excuse to turn my eyes on the road... the black Harley! Could it be her? I capture all the details of the scene. She parks the bike on the sidewalk near the others. She takes off her helmet and whips the air with her long hair. It's really her! I quickly try to take cover so as not to be noticed and use the giant in front as a shield. I watch her while she gets off the bike like an elegant panther and with a confident step she heads towards the club. The hiding place works very well, she passes me without seeing me. She goes straight to the entrance and greets the security man, who lets her in immediately after a nod.
"Nice bike, isn't it?"
Aroused by the scene, I catch the words coming from above. It's Cyclops, who with a grimace that should summon a smile, tries to interact with me.
"Wh... what?" I stutter, taken aback.
"The Harley. It's a stunner! Sure, in a woman's hand it's wasted, but at least she's holding it together."
"Yeah, she's a real gem," I reply shyly.
"I'm sorry I was staring at you before, but you look incredibly like a friend of mine and I thought you were him. Your name wouldn't happen to be Caesar?" He rubs his hand over his thick beard and I breathe a sigh of relief.
"No, I'm sorry, I'm not him."
I keep looking at the front of the line, trying to catch a glimpse of something at the entrance.
"This is your first time at the Canvas, isn't it?"
I humour him with a nod.
"Fridays are always like this. In fact, the line is sometimes twice as long, but it's worth it, believe me!"
"Yes, I have no doubt about that."
"Of course, it would be nice to be like Angela, to arrive and get in right away, but..."
Stop, what was her name?
"Angela? Are you referring to the biker girl?"
If he knows her I'll play the lottery tomorrow.
"Of course! She's the dancer. I come here mostly to see her dancing. She's stunner!"
Okay, I jump off the diving board and jump in. Hopefully there's enough water.
"Do you think I could meet her? I mean, talk to her even for a second?"
I'm starting to think I haven't really thrown the night away.
"You're a connoisseur, huh? Ha! Ha!" He laughs guff wily and pats me on the back that crushes me. Tomorrow I'm going for an x-ray.
"I could, but I warn you: that one's a special kind, it's hard to interest her, she's on another level!"
Yes, for someone like you I have no doubt.
"I'll take my chances. What's your name?"
Better to make friends with him than like anything else.
"Franco, glad to meet you. But to my friends Buba."
At the risk of dying, I swear if his name had been Goliath, I would have burst out laughing in his face. He wipes his sweaty hand on his jeans and hands it to me.
"I'm Davide, nice to meet you...Buba."
I repress all my disgust at shaking that calloused big hand.
In the meantime the line has moved on and we are in front of the door.
The bouncer looks at us, or rather looks at Buba, since the two are about the same height.
"Nice, Buba, right on time as hell again tonight."
"Like every shitty Friday, bro'!"
Just conventions.
"Is this with you?" He points at me like he would a Chihuahua and while he waits for the answer he whispers into his earpiece, giving himself the airs of a CIA agent.
"Sure! Can we come in?" Buba smiles at me, giving me a satisfied nudge with her elbow.
"Please, come in, Friday night is 10 euros: show and first drink included."
At least the price is reasonable.
We pay at the cashier and they issue us a free pass for the exit.
As soon as we enter, a shockwave of music and stench overwhelms me. It takes several minutes to get my ear used to other sounds. While I'm wading around definitely lost, Buba draws my attention pointing upwards. I follow his finger-wurst with my eyes. There are some sort of cages hanging from the ceiling, with some very flashy cubists in them, moving in a sexy way, but I don't see Angela.
"Where's Angela?" I yell to my new friend.
"She'll be here soon, don't worry! In the meantime, let's go to the bar and get a plug!"
I follow him into the crowd, as he high-fives and greets practically half the club.
By some strange miracle, when we arrive there are two free stools and the music seems less loud, or at least it's already so much that I can hear my own thoughts!
We're served two mugs of beer and toast.
"You don't seem like the type who frequents these clubs often. How come you're here?"
I look down at his mug, which, after the first sip, is already less than halfway full.
"A friend recommended it to me who couldn't make it and asked me to say hi to Angela."
I throw it at her. He stares at me silently in that weird way of his. He takes another sip of his beer and taps the empty mug on the bar. I try to imitate him and almost choke on it.
"Come on, I'll take you to her before she gets in the cages!"
I think he's doing it more for him than for me, so he has a good excuse to talk to her. I set down the tankard and follow him again into that torrent of people.
We arrive on a platform, under the cages. They look like freight elevators. We wait a few moments. A curtain on the wall opens and there she appears! She looks at me surprised to see me and stops; this confirms my hypothesis that she recognized me. Buba makes herself known.
"Hi, Angela!"
Like a teenager he went all red in the face, proving that even Yeti's have feelings.
"Hi, Buba." She walks up to him and greets him with two little kisses on his cheeks. That's enough to send Buba into a parallel dimension. Instead he turns his back on me, trying to ignore me.
"I came to introduce you to a friend who wanted to meet you."
She points at me. Now, my beautiful Angela, you can't pretend you didn't.
She unwillingly turns around and extends her hand to me.
"Hi Angel, I'm Davide."
First shot fired: I called her Angel. She remains silent, then detachedly looks at me mockingly.
"Nice to meet you..."
She turns back