Page 62 of Begin Again Again

“Nothing.”

There was an awkward pause. Beth was the first to break. “Hey, where did you get the idea to do the housewife thing?” she asked Sal.

Sal glanced at her as though they’d forgotten Beth was there. “I… thought it would be funny.”

“It was amazing! I’ve never seen a burlesque show like that. Like, with such a specific storyline.”

Sal brightened. “Thank you! I feel like people don’t get into the storytelling side of burlesque enough. Like, it’s such a great medium to talk about things that matter to you and…”

Byron glanced at the stage. A young drag queen covered in what looked like pillows was doing that dance where you moved your hands around your face. Sal used to do that all the time. TikTok was going to make gen Z the best dancers in the world. Or was that his generation? What was the cut off between millennials and Z? A warm glow rolled through him, the double scotches were doing their job. He needed another one. He turned to Beth and saw her face was open and warm, her hair neon pink under the light. She was beautiful. He was so glad she’d come.

“… and the dances don’t even have to be, like, sex focused,” Sal said. “I saw the most amazing show where this girl was dancing about having nightmares as a kid, and she had her older self rappel down from the ceiling and comfort her. I fuckingcried.”

“That’s such a great idea!”

If Beth was faking enthusiasm, she was doing a damn good job. She and Sal seemed pretty comfortable around each other already. The crowd cheered so loudly, all three of them turned to the stage and saw the drag queen falling into a split.

“That’s so impressive,” Beth shouted. “I wish I could do the splits.”

“Me too! I tried at a party once and tore my pants.” Sal grabbed Beth’s hand. “Do you smoke?”

“No, but I’ll breathe in yours.” Beth smiled up at him. “Should we go outside?”

Byron pulled out his phone. “You go, I’ll get another drink and meet you.”

“Scotch and dry?” Sal said hopefully.

“Fine. Stop smoking.”

“It’s only on special occasions.”

Before Byron could ask if every night of the week qualified as a special occasion, Sal dragged Beth away. They headed to the other side of the building and presumably the smoker’s area. Byron watched them go, his insides heavy. He knew he should be glad Sal and Beth were hitting it off, but he felt oddly alone. He and Audrey used to hang around the fringes of Sal’s parties together, but Beth had dived in with such little splash, he felt like an invader. A hetero germ in a queer sanctuary.

He wandered to the bar and ordered his and Sal’s mixers and an extra Coke for Beth. Drinks in hand, he headed outside. It was so smoky in the smoker’s area that punching actual darts seemed unnecessary. He searched for Beth and Sal in the crowd, but he didn’t have his usual height advantage—too many platform heels around.

“… I think it’s hard for people to break out of mental patterns like seeing everyone as a man or a woman. It sucks they won’t try though.”

“It does but, like, being non-binary makes sense tome. Why doesn’t that matter?”

Byron turned and saw his date and his sister half-hidden behind the metal mushroom of an outdoor heater.

“I just wish my mum wouldtry,” Sal said, puffing their cigarette. “Like, come on, dude. I triedquinoafor you.”

Beth laughed. “I feel your pain—not being able to bond with your mum always stings. But Byron takes you seriously.”

“True.” Sal offered their smoke to Beth. She looked around and took a quick drag. Byron grinned. He was going to give her so much shit about this later.

“It’s cool you’re here with my cuck brother,” Sal said. “He never has fun girlfriends.”

Beth coughed and waved her hand in front of her face. “Oh, we’re not proper dating. It’s way too early for labels.”

Byron gritted his teeth. It was true and it was cool of her to say it, so why did it sting?

“Trust me, you’re a big deal,” Sal said. “He hasn’t brought anyone to my shows since The Cuntess.”

“Jesus,” Byron muttered.

Beth paused in the act of giving Sal the dart. “Uh, what?”

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