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Frank is tired. His head resting in his hands, he sits at the bar, with closed eyes. It is early in the morning, but he'd woken up an hour ago and couldn't fall asleep again. 'I hope the monsoon won't hit us. Hopefully it'll just pass.'He decides to take a walk in the fresh air, the only thing that could make him feel alive again. As he is walking down the street, he gets a call. His heart drops as he sees who calls him. "Yeah?" "How are you, Darling?" "Oh, I'm good, work's relaxed, nobody wants to fly in this kind of weather." That isn't the whole truth. Work might have been relaxed, but the pilot doesn't feel good. He feels very bad, because he is lying to his wife, and possibly himself, he surpresses his feelings in order to protect them. "When are you coming home?" "Oh, it might take a while, it's safer to just stay here until the monsoon is over. " Frank doesn't know if he should be happy. He likes being around Alex, and wants to spend time with him, but he also feels stressed around him and maybe it would be easier for him to just leave. To focus on his marriage. "Oh, okay. It was nice speaking to you, love you! " "Love you too." Frank needs to sit down. He doesn't know how to handle the situation, his feelings, this strange new feeling that feels so right and so wrong at the same time. "Come on, Frank. Get your mind sorted. This is obviously just some kind of confusion. Yeah. Platonic love it is, nothing more. You love your wife, obviously, your beautiful wife, nobody is as beautiful as your wife, and you only love her. Yeah." He makes a decision, this can't keep going on, he needs to forget all feelings he has, he has to ignore the tension that lingers in room whenever Alex is there. He takes a deep breath and walks into the bar again. There he is. Doesn't matter. No, it doesn't, he's just a coworker, right. But his stomach tells a different story, fluttering and tingling like a bunch of butterflies threw a party in there. "Hi, Frank, haven't seen you coming down, you're up early! " "Yeah, I just... couldn't sleep." Frank doesn't even dare to think about what kept him up all night. "Oh, sorry. Come on, take a seat, man!" Frank obeys, his mind blank, and plops on a stool. "Can I get a drink? " "Already? This early in the morning?" "Yeah, just a little good morning drink." "Okay, I'm not your wife, not gonna tell you off." Alex snickers. No, he's not his wife. 'Even though-No.' So Frank gets a drink. And then another one. And another one. Every drink makes his mind lighter, he doesn't even feel that bad anymore; his mind is numb, not feeling the pain that's there every time he looks at Alex. Time flies and it's noon already. Frank can't deny it, he's totally drunk. This probably was a mistake. He leans next to the bar, standing close to Alex, zoned out. Suddenly, a man walks in. "Is this the pilot bar?" he asks. 'Pilot bar... I'm a pilot... ' Frank's eyes follow the stranger, but he doesn't fully register him yet. "I need to get home." Home. Frank needs to get home too, to his wife. He makes an agreeing sound. "Oh my god, I didn't see you two." "Youwananything, youlookinforme?" Could this be a customer? He can't hold his head up for that long and lets it rest on his chest, almost falling asleep. The man's speaking jolts him awake again. "There's no one flying because of monsoon." "Yeah, I know that." Who doesn't know? Alex walks towards them. Frank looks at him, and he can't take his eyes off his face, even if is vision is blurred already, he has to look at him. Frank tries to partake in their discussion about a pilot. "No one can fly. Just stop askin' about it." His thoughts drift off again. His hand looks a lot like a plane today. It takes off, woosh- Frank only gets parts of the conversation. He stares at the floor, trying to focus,his throat gets dry and he grabs his drink, only to stare at Alex again seconds later. "Onlyamadmanwouldflyinthiswather. " A nice sentence. Easy to repeat. He stumbles over to the customer and then back to the bar. 'Focus again, keep your balance.' Frank reaches for Alex. "Guys, didyoutellhimthattheresonlyonepilot-"
Alex puts a hand on his shoulder. "Frank?" Frank turns around. This feels good. Very good. Is Alex flirting with him? "I have a beautiful wife." "Yes, you and I, both have a beautiful wife." Alex puts a hand on his cheek. Frank feels a tingling all over his body, a strong attraction, he has to think he loves this man. But love-only is for his wife, right? "Are you my wife?" "No, I'm not your wife, Frank." Oh. Yeah, right. But he loves him, wants to be close to him. He strokes Alex' belly. "Maybe next Christmas." That'd be nice. That feels right. But he said too much. Time to step back. 'What am I doing here?' The customer holds up some cash. Yeah, Frank could fly, far away from here and the situation he's gotten himself into. He reaches for the money, but immediately loses his balance and drops to the floor. He gets up again stumbling. Nothing happened. Everything fine. Two thumbs up, he's okay, but leaves now. Even for his drunk mind, this is too embarrassing.