It was a long day at work, but it was finally over, and thank God for that. In addition to being challenging and stressful, it was just plain weird. I would be a girlfriend – but only a pretend girlfriend – to someone who was almost a complete stranger. I knew nothing about him, and he knew nothing about me.

I needed to go home and just relax and contemplate. That didn’t happen, because I wanted to keep my word and show up for James’ show. That meant that I had yet another distraction – a trip to the Jinx’s.

I took a sip of a margarita that I had ordered. I’m not usually much of a drinker, but I needed it this time around. The thick salt on the rim of glass was tasty as I took in some tequila and fruity mixture. The glass was fairly tall and wide. It looked a bit like an oversized lightbulb. That was a good thing, because I needed the booze.

I pulled out my phone and took a look at it. It was 5:50 p.m. so I knew the show was coming soon. My iPhone was in ‘Low Power Mode’ because it only had about ten percent of battery life remaining. Whatever. Basically, my screen was dim and it would die soon.

The place was filling up with people, so I guessed that the show must not be so bad after all. The crowd was fairly diverse too. There were men, women, young, old, and middle-aged.

I was a little bit surprised that the place had attracted that many people. The place wasn’t a total shithole, but it was a semi-shithole. I didn’t see rats running around, but I didn’t see much attraction to the place, either.

First of all, it was a bit dingy. The lighting was an off-white, and dirty beige color. I could see cigarette stains on the ceiling tiles and the walls just needed to be scrubbed. They looked like they hadn’t been wiped in a while – because I saw some dust caked onto a window sill.

The place was littered with half-eaten pizza crusts and bones from chicken wings. I’m not a super-clean person, but I do have some manners and etiquette. I think that a person who eats something, should throw away the remains. This place apparently had a lot of customers who didn’t follow that rule of thumb.

I was okay with watching the show, but I hoped that it wouldn’t last too long. I really just wanted to go home and hit the hay. I had a long day and I was tired. I knew that I would eventually get there, but I wanted it to happen as quickly as possible.

I took a big sip from my margarita straw and then the lights dimmed out. Ah! It was time for the show. I would soon see my roommate perform as Shakira. I crossed my fingers together and waited to see what would come. I was intrigued and curious.

The first act came on, and I didn’t see any sign of James. It was a funny act, though. It showed a young man – maybe mid-twenties – acting as a child and working with someone to teach him math skills. The interaction between them was a crackup.

There was the math instructor – Karen – who was trying to mentor the child – Steve. It was her opinion that he just wasn’t getting it. My opinion is that he was getting it, but he was being a difficult smartass about the whole thing.

Karen: “Now Steve, if you had five dollars and then added two more dollars to that, how much money would you have?”

Steve: “I would have a total of seven dollars.”

Karen: “Very good. You’re correct. Now, I’m going to ask you a different question about counting money and using math, okay?”

Steve: “Okay. I’m ready.”

Karen: “If you had five dollars, and then asked your dad for another five dollars, how much money would you have?”

Steve: “I would have a total of five dollars.”

Karen: “I’m very sorry, Steven. I’m a little concerned that you don’t understand how mathematics work.”

Steve: “I’m sorry, Karen. I’m a little concerned that you don’t understand how my father works.”

The whole conversation between them continued like that. She would ask a question. He would give a smartass response, and she obviously couldn’t figure out that he was being a smartass.

The skit was cute and funny, but I didn’t see James anywhere. Another skit came and went.

When that act concluded I looked at my watch and a half hour had already passed. Since I couldn’t just go home and get to sleep, my backup plan was to attend his show, and leave immediately after I saw his act.

Well, that was obviously falling apart. I had already been through two acts and I hadn’t seen nor heard from James. I guess it would have been smarter to ask him when his act would be performed. Then I could have showed up late, and possibly even left early at the same time. Hindsight is always better. Ugh!

Just when I started to get impatient, a new show debuted and I saw James on stage. By this time, my margarita was almost all gone. I wasn’t drunk, but I was buzzing just a little bit. Maybe I should have ordered two large drinks. Although, I wouldn’t be able to bring myself home if I did that.

James looked good. Actually, he looked damn good. He was dressed as Shakira and had some really awesome moves.

James was dancing and moving around like crazy. I watched him pop and thrust his hips around like mad. It looked like he was wielding a hula hoop – but it was invisible. He spun around rapidly and made it look so easy.

Then there was his makeup. It was caked on. I bet it took them a full hour to get all the makeup on like that. That would explain why he told me that he didn’t need his car before I left work. He got a ride from someone else.

He didn’t have a dress, but he had a long skirt. It looked like it was velvet, but I’m not for certain. It was soft and flung around in wide movements. It glistened well against the room lighting. His shirt was a black blazer, and he had on a lot of jewelry.

He looked great. I guess if I was a lesbian, I would want to fuck him. I’m not certain about that, because I’m one hundred percent hetero. He looked pretty though. He really did.

My favorite part of his act was all the stretching and stuff that he did. He bent over his back into a half-circle, and then kicked his entire body around and landed on his feet. In other words, he flipped around. I didn’t know he had that much strength in him.

The audience began to stand and clap. That was the first time all night that had happened. They really loved his show. I was so happy for him.

To be honest, I really loved it too. Damn, I was surprised, but I loved it. He really knew how to move and work his body. Bravo! I wish I was a teacher who could give him an A+.

The entertainment ended in a little over an hour. That gave me a chance to sneak my way into the back room. I wasn’t supposed to be there, but I figured the worst punishment that might come is that I would be kicked out. That didn’t really matter to me, because I planned on leaving soon anyway, and I would see James at home shortly thereafter.

I walked into their dressing room. I finally saw James as he was removing his fake boobs and already had taken off his wig. I smiled and walked right over to him. “James, I wanted to congratulate you on putting together such a great show. I really enjoyed it and think that you did a good job.”

He grinned back over at me and gave me a small hug. “Thanks. It really means a lot to me that you came to my show. How was work?”

My heart sank just a bit as I thought about my day. I didn’t want to talk about it, but I decided I would be friendly and courteous. “Well, I had a really rough day. Hopefully it will get better, though. It was just challenging.”

“Yeah? What happened?”

I stuck out my fingers and started counting through all the tough events. “First, Alessandra didn’t show up because she got hospitalized. Then, I had to fill in for her and do the speech with Franca. I didn’t have time to come home and change. The real icing on the cake is that a guy conned me into going on a date with him.”

James slightly parted open his mouth and I could see a little bit of his tongue. It was obvious that he didn’t know what I was talking about. “He conned you into a date? I don’t get it.”

I held my head against my palm because I felt silly for telling him, but I opened my mouth. I had to finish. “He said that he would approve the decorating contract with my workplace only on the condition that I travel out of town and pretend to be his girlfriend.”

He stopped and starting laughing loudly because he couldn’t believe his ears. “I’ve heard some whoppers in my day, but that tops them all. And you actually agreed? Why the hell did you do that?”

I didn’t quite know why I did it. I guess that I was just put on the spot and pressured into it. I had to keep my employer happy, and not sacrifice too much self-respect. If I didn’t have to instantly make a decision about it, I probably could have come up with something better.