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Stripe Heeler was unlucky when it came to love.
The woman he was in love with in his teenage years ended up rejecting him and got together with her childhood friend. And while she was polite about it and said they can still remain close friends, it still hurt the heeler. And his hobbies only served to scare away any potential love interests that followed.
Stripe Heeler liked cross-dressing. When he played “Truth or Dare” as a teenager at a party, he was dared to wear one of his friend’s mom’s dresses. And when he wore it, something inside of himself had woken. He felt a sort of comfort and happiness he never felt before. At first he tried to deny it. But even Bandit could notice how eager to accept his little brother would be whenever Muffin and Bingo, who just so happened to be the children of the girl he fell in love with and her childhood-friend-turned-wife, wanted to play beauty salon with him. And whoever knew Bandit could tell that said heeler wasn’t the best at catching up on those kinds of things.
Fortunately, while slow to catch on, Bandit was extremely supportive and encouraging. When he found out about his brother’s pastime, he along with his wife Wendy showed Stripe a list of LGBTQ-friendly spaces where he could hang out and potentially find love. Unsure about this, Stripe hesitated at first. But Bandit reassured him that he should check out the bar because he “deserves to find someone to love”. Eventually Stripe accepted.
Though I have to admit, the names have to be some of the corniest things I have heard. Stripe chuckled to himself. I mean, “Hot Spot”? Who comes up with these?.
The heeler walked down the street at night in a pink shirt and blue denim shorts with some light makeup to make himself more presentable. Though, I wonder. Will I ever be enough? Or will I forever remain a…
“THIEF! SOMEONE HELP!”
Stripe’s train of thought is interrupted by a voice screaming for help and sees a hooded man holding a purse and running at a high speed. As the man tried to run past Stripe, Stripe immediately grabbed the thief and tackled him. After wrestling for a few seconds, the thief unfortunately managed to break free and run away. However, the criminal left the purse he stole behind.
Stripe grabbed the purse and walked towards the victim to return the purse and what he saw shocked him.
It was a male Jack Russell Terrier wearing a beautiful black dress and heels, with a well-applied coat of lipstick and the perfect amount of makeup. The heeler stood there completely speechless and a massive blush came across his face. It wasn’t until the terrier spoke did his hypnotic trance draw to a close.
“I can’t thank you enough for helping me, but can you stop staring at me like that. It’s kind of scaring me a bit.” the terrier said.
“Oh my mistake. I didn’t mean to stare at you like that.” Stripe voiced out. “I just wish I could pull off that look as well as you do.” Stripe lied. While he did believe he could pull off the look since he has often experimented with outfits in private, he knew he was much too insecure to wear it in public. “Anyways, I gotta go. It's my first time going to a gay bar.” What the heeler did not expect was the terrier’s response.
“Wait. That bar wouldn’t happen to be “Hot Spot”, would it?” The terrier said, a smile on his face.
“Yes. Why?”
“I go there everyday. The food is AMAZING. Especially the Chicken Parmi. Such succulence.”
Stripe thought about something he wanted to say. Wait, what am I thinking? He hesitated. It’d be way too weird to ask him something like that outright. However, the terrier, as if he read the heeler’s thoughts, spoke up.
“Would you like to accompany me to the bar? I would love to have some company. Especially from the handsome man who saved me.” the terrier said, a slight hint of mischievousness at the last sentence.
Stripe was shocked at himself due to the fact he accepted without hesitation, perhaps due to the fact that he was kind of lonely and wanted some company. After a bus ride, and a few minutes of walking, they arrived at “Hot Spot”. After entering, the waiter greeted the terrier in a casual manner.
“Hey, Coffee! I see you caught yourself a cutie. The usual?” The samoyed spoke. “You know it, Blaire. What would you like…Uh…I never got your name, didn’t I?” Stripe realized that after all that time together, he never bothered to ask for the terrier’s name. “Oh sorry. My name’s Stripe Heeler.” He then turned to Blaire. “I’ll have the Chicken Parmi and a beer. Coffee recommended it to me. Your name’s Coffee, right?” Coffee nodded his head as if to confirm. “Two Chicken Parmis, a cola, and a beer coming right up.” With that, Blaire left to make the order.
“I have to admit, the environment is nice. I was scared I would be judged for wearing makeup.” Stripe said, pointing to his face with a worried expression.
“Don’t be. This is a safe space for a lot of us. Blaire’s the owner of this bar. She was born male, and was forced out of the previous bar she worked at because of that.” Stripe was slightly surprised at the revelation, but overall didn’t mind. Coffee continued his sentence. “Besides, you look quite stunning with that makeup on.” Stripe immediately blushed.
“Anyway, what made you want to visit a gay bar for the first time? If you don’t mind me asking.” Coffee spoke out, curious as to know what caused him to meet this charming fellow.
Stripe wasn’t sure whether he wanted to tell him about his disastrous love life. For some unknown reason, he was afraid Coffee would end up not liking him and think he was a loser. But he also felt a sense of comfort around the terrier that he could not deny. Stripe looked down at the table and answered Coffee’s question
“I have scared away all the women I have liked with the fact I wear makeup. When they know, they always act disgusted by my hobbies. It has happened multiple times to the point that I locked myself up in my room for some time.” Stripe wiped a few tears from his face. “I wonder if I’ll ever find love. Hell, I wonder if I even DESERVE it.”
“You do.”
Stripe looked up in shock at the terrier, who had a smile on his face.
“Stripe, not anyone would potentially risk their life to help a stranger. I don’t know much about you. But I can already tell you are an amazing person.” Stripe tried to speak, but the terrier put his well-manicured index finger on his mouth and kept going. “I’ve met many people throughout my life and cut ties with many of them. And I can say that you're one of the better ones.”
Stripe’s face formed a small smile at the terrier’s statement. Then, Blaire came out with their food and told them to enjoy before she went back to making more orders. As soon as Stripe took the first bite, his eyes lit up.
“HOLY SHIT, THIS IS GOOD!” Stripe exclaimed. “I’m usually confident in my cooking. But I don’t hold a candle compared to this.” Coffee grinned widely. “Hey glad you loved it. Makes me happy to hear that the recommendation I gave you was to your liking.” The two dogs would continue to talk about themselves, their likes and dislikes, their dreams, and other, less important things while enjoying some good food.
After the two dogs finished their food, they got up and left the bar and parted ways, but not before trading phone numbers. When Stripe got home and got ready for bed, he suddenly heard a ringtone from his phone. He looked at the screen and noticed a message.
Coffee: I had a great time. Would you like to hang out somewhere else next time?
Stripe was quick to respond.
Stripe: There’s a bookstore that I tend to visit. It’s next to a cafe, so we can get something to eat as well.
Coffee: It’s a date then. C U There <3
Stripe blushed slightly before turning off his phone and went to bed with a wide smile on his face.
Perhaps his luck was taking a turn for the better.