Drunk in Love

It was almost 11 p.m. and Tin and I were standing in front of the convenience store. This was the brightest spot amidst the absence of street lights.

I was told to buy a pack of Smirnoff, a bottle of vodka, a pack of ice cubes, and some snacks as we were going to have another party because the music in the pub unbearably sucked.

Actually, there had been a campaign of banning this store, though, as the owner of this company had a strong political-economic connection with many people in the government. I felt awkward as if it was such an abominated crime, but we eventually decided to get inside as it was the only place we could get boozes at this moment.

We headed straight to the left corner at the back of the store, knowing there was a shelf of liquors. Our fingers touched at the moment we picked the Smirnoff. Not sure whether it was a result of boozes we drank or because of the most-aesthetic-craft-God-ever-made face of him—or should I say his mum and dad instead?, I could feel my face blushed, so did he. We smiled at each other, then laughed out of no context. I wished the time had stopped just at least for a second.

It was like that game all children used to play: staring at each other’s faces and trying not to laugh, but this time, we both lost.

Of course, I liked him—a lot. Oh my God! I was so tipsy. Wait… I didn’t say something out loud, right?

We walked to the counter and put down the stuff. Suddenly, a cashier told us that we could not buy alcohol stuff. “Due to the alcohol licensing...Buddhist Lent Day…Sorry,” that I could not fully grasp. Again, we looked at each other, baffled this time.

“Are you Buddhist?” I instantly asked Tin and he said no. I did not ask him further. For me, I was an agnostic. “Sorry, but we aren’t Buddhists.”

Although we were dizzy, I still thought it was absurd to talk about religious stuff in front of the cashier. My eyes were gazing at a giant bottle of Absolut Raspberri and hundreds of cigarettes packs on the shelf behind this cashier.

She mumbled something I did not want to pay attention to. I heard ‘inconvenience’, ‘apologise’, ‘law’, blah blah blah...WHATSOEVER. I tried to stand still but found it very hard as if there was an earthquake under my feet.

Still, I asked her whether we could buy our stuff, just to hear that ridiculous response for one more time. I felt like an idiot begging for something I would never have. I could only catch the word ‘no’ from her. There was no point standing in this place for one more second. Plus, the light here was so profligately white that it had better be a streetlight.

“All right, then.” Tin said and got out of the store. Thank God. I followed him—like the first lady following her president (but absolutely not Melania and Donald Trump).

We were standing still in front of the store. Turning my head backwards, I saw a poster saying ‘No alcohol for Lent’. I chuckled.

“Hey. Look at this poster. So absurd.”

“Indeed. Like everything in this country,” said Tin while scrolling his phone.

Tin was my friend’s friend. We occasionally had chances to talk to each other, mostly in the pub. We studied in different faculties; he was an architecture student while I was an interior design student. We could be a perfect match for sure. I had dreamt about our house when we got married already. What a thought! I knew I was sozzled. Believe me, I was not this kind of person. Alcohol made me do this.

“I know a place we can buy our stuff. Follow me.” He seemed assertive—which I admired.

We stopped at a sushi bar, just around 300 metres from the convenience store. He talked to a guy I did not know who turned back and came up with lots of stuff.

“Thanks, bro,” he said before we left the bar.

The night was still young, just around midnight. We sauntered along the street. I picked up my phone and listened to music. I could say this was the very first moment we were so close.

Nothing really mattered now, just both of us on this empty, lightless street.

“What are you listening to?”

“Wanna join?” I did not know if he liked it. He grabbed a left AirPod and wore it. Oh my God! I was so nervous about his reaction to the song.

“It’s Gene Kasidit’s.” I blushed again, this time not because of the alcohol.

“Hmm...interesting.” I could see him smiling, basking in the afterglow of felicity.

We wandered to the flat, synchronising our paces to the rhythm even if it was a dance song. I imagined we were a couple in La La Land.

“I just wanna—”

“Yup.”

Did he know what I was going to ask?

“Let’s just give it a try.”

Surprisingly, he held my hand and swung freely. His hand was firm and warm. I could feel our pulses dancing in the same beat. This reminded me of Jess Glynne’s Hold My Hand.

Before us was Tin’s flat that my friends had been waiting inside the room for so long.

Can we stop the time just for one night? I prayed for physicists to discover a machine to stop time soon.

“Whose song is this?” He asked as the new song began to play. I spontaneously laughed. “It’s Beyoncé’s,” I told him. “Called Drunk in Love.”

At this moment, I did realise that I was really drunk...in love. And I really wished he would be as well.