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Is my eyeliner wonky? Is my blush flushing me out?
“You sure you’re fine to go up?”
Kade looked up, snapping out of his thoughts.
“Yep,” he said as he pulled his lower eyelid down, quickly running a white eyeliner pencil through his waterline, “I’ve done this hundreds of times, just scared to introduce Bonnie.”
The truth is that he feels scared every time. Every time he goes onstage, including before. But Dobi clears his thoughts. He helps. Always there with a stupid grin, happy to watch his ‘roommate’ perform. And that helps Kade. His shows aren’t pointless to go to. He would’ve given up earlier, like his parents did. Surely.
“Kade, you’ll do amazing.”
Dobromir usually avoids unnecessary touches while his roommate gets ready; however, he couldn’t avoid giving him a little pat on the back, just to placate his thoughts. He’s used to Kade’s overthinking, but it doesn’t make Dobromir feel less sorrow when he looks into his anxious eyes. He wishes he could take such thoughts away, but he knows it's impossible, so he offered a silly grin, hopefully helping slightly.
“Of course you’d say that! You’ve never seen me perform!”
“Yeah, but you’re always good at something when you’re passionate, and I can tell you are currently.”
Kade lightly elbowed Dobi. He’s embarrassed. He doesn’t want to meet eyes in the mirror. He adjusted his bow as he got ready for the show to start.
“Time to take my leave to the crowd. Have fun up there!” He winked as he disappeared out of the changing room.
Kade took a deep breath and walked in front of the stage entrance, being obscured from the crowd by a curtain. He calmly walked out, a smoke machine concealing his new appearance. He’s not in a rush. His song wasn’t in a rush. He would usually choose a faster-paced song; however, he thought ‘La Isla Bonita' would be fitting for Bonnie Tah.
¿Cómo puede ser verdad?
How could it be true he was calmly dancing after being a nervous wreck in the changing room? Dobi. His stupid grin in the crowd. He felt confident when he saw Dobi.
Ring through my ears and sting my eyes, your Spanish lullaby
He moved fluently, at peace with himself. Not internally fighting a losing war. He wasn’t Kade Pereira. She was Bonnie Tah. Bonnie Tah didn’t cling onto cluttered feelings or hatred in her soul. Bonnie lived in the moment, and she was destined to make her first moment her best. And, unlike the last time, people didn’t laugh. People didn’t ridicule. People cheered. People tipped. A lot. She was even confident enough that she walked off the stage and passed around tables which handed her money, even if it wasn’t a part of the choreography. Improvisation is a good skill, right?
As she snaked around the tables elegantly, still moving to the rhythm of the song, she received more money than she could hold in her hands. Even Dobi gave her a tip, which she thought was ridiculous, but she still chuckled slightly and shoved it in her bra.
Te dijo, “Te amo”
She smirked as the lyric played while she was next to Dobi; yet, she realised she should take it as a cue to start heading back onstage, realising it was the outro. As she heard the last of Madonna, she started to blow kisses to the crowd and announced.
“That’s it for Bonnie Tah tonight, but don’t worry, I’ll be back with another spectacular performance!” He let the fog machine cover his exit from the stage and retreated to backstage.
Dobromir separated from the crowd, making his way to the changing rooms.
“You did amazing!” He exclaimed and hugged Kade from behind.
Kade just smiled and replied, “Because of you.”
Dobromir’s hands trailed up slightly, and he started giggling at the realisation of Kade’s bra being completely filled with cash. “Is it comfortable in there?”
Kade was confused but slowly realised what he meant, completely forgetting he had cash stashed in there, unable to feel it with a fake chest plate. He rolled his eyes and dignified Dobi’s question with an answer. “Very, thanks for worrying."
“I got a present for you since you worked so hard.”
Kade looked back at him, stumped at what he could possibly have brought. Dobi holds out a pear.
"Well, that’s not fair. How am I supposed to give back to you? I don’t know how to give glory!” Kade winked, joking around.
“You can give me happiness, though.” Dobi grinned at him. Kade always wondered how Dobi always managed to grin.
"Okay, okay, time to get off me now, I wanna change.” Dobi happily obliged such a request.
“Can’t blame you… This place smells like cheap alcohol.”
Kade started to undress as Dobi turned around.
“So shy, you helped make the whole costume. Don't you want to see me take it off?” Kade probed at Dobi.
“Just get changed Kade. I’m tired.”
“If you insist!”
After Kade finished changing, he packed everything neatly into a duffel bag, careful not to damage anything. That would be an issue, seeing as it’s Bonnie’s first rodeo; he wouldn’t want to destroy her already.
“Ready to go?”
Kade raised a thumbs-up in his direction, and they walked out of the dingy club to Kade's – and Dobromir's, at this point – apartment.
“So, how did Bonnie go compared to last time?”
“Much better; you saw it yourself, how I didn’t even have any space for more cash.”
Dobi just chuckled.
“But thanks for all your help. I couldn’t have done it without you; you brought her to life.”
“Hey, I owe you for overstaying my welcome by about 5 years in your apartment.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Dobi! You’re always welcome in my bed!”
“You’re the ridiculous one here…”
“Hey!”
Kade pushed the key into the lock, fiddling around with it, but to no avail, it refused to open.
“Pass it over.”
“No, I got this!”
Dobi reached over, grabbed his hand and turned it for Kade.
“It’s okay to need help sometimes.”
Kade just walked in, pretending not to hear him. It’s 12am, far too late to be dealing with such a problem. He just wanted to get into his cosy bed, with his cosy covers and cosy Dobi. He beelined straight to the bedroom, wanting to get dressed.
“You want anything to eat, Bon-Bon?”
“Bon-Bon? How about I call you Dob-Dob? See how stupid that sounds?”
He just heard a laugh come from the kitchen.
“Seriously though, if not, I’m eating this chicken soup alone, and that’ll make me sad.”
"Yeah, yeah, give me a second. Unless you want me nude, which I don’t doubt.”
“Oh shut up!”
“Is that a no?”
“Take a guess!”
Kade walked out, dressed solely in boxers and a loose-fitting shirt.
“Are those yours or mine?”
“The shirt or the boxers?”
“Both.”
“Dunno, now hand over the soup.”
Dobromir handed it over without hesitation. Chicken soup was definitely one of his favourite things to make. Easy to make, easy to freeze for later and delicious! Who could hate it? His mum always made it for him during childhood if she needed something that could just sit on the stove while she did things around the house, or when she needed something quick, she’d defrost it. Even when he cooked it, it didn’t taste the same as she made. He always thought it was just bad measurements on his part, but looking back, it was love. Love was the basis for every dish his mum made, and it made a difference to the taste. By a mile.
“Shit Dobi, you always make this soup perfectly!”
“I’m glad you like it.”
"God, stop grinning at me like that!”
Kade always said that, yet never meant it. Dobi’s grin always reassured him. He knew he liked the reassurance. But he would rather die than rely on anyone to such extents. He learnt his lesson the last time.
“Thanks for the soup! I gotta go unpack, Bonnie. Can we wash the dishes tomorrow?”
“No worries.”
“Thanks!”
As he was unpacking Bonnie from her duffel bag, he realised that he forgot his white eyeliner pencil. Whatever. He won’t stress about it. He had a good day today.