Susi
The Wolf
The clock was ticking slowly as Damian wiped the empty tables clean. Half an hour more till 2 am and they'd close and he could head home. Just a couple of people were still sitting on the barstools by the counter and drinking as it was only Tuesday and the week had barely begun. The Rogue Escape Lounge, REL, was a medium-size pub with a large variety of beers and some street food. The interior screamed of electronic music with black leather in the small sitting areas divided by walls, polished surfaces at the counter, and neon green details on the walls and fabrics. Rel had been in business for ten years now, out of which Damian had worked there seven. He quite enjoyed it, despite his co-workers poking and prodding his private life – or the lack of it.
During those seven years, none of the five people working at Rel with Damian had seen him with a girl. They hadn't seen him with a guy either and since Damian never managed to give them a satisfactory explanation for this, Roy, Brent, Alice, Noah, and Kate had sworn an oath to get Damian into someone's bed. You'd think a bar would be a perfect place for spotting potential partners, but no.
While Damian was always polite and sometimes even actually tried to keep up a conversation, all his attempts were eventually for nothing. He had never seen his inexperience as a problem, but maybe it was his 30th birthday closing in on him, that made him think about it more. On the other hand, he still had three years until having lived yet another decade.
“Dami, go home, I'll close Rel!” a blonde girl yelled from behind the counter.
She was Alice, 24 years old with a nerd-like interest in crossword puzzles. The joke among them was to tell her how her mental age was probably somewhere between sixty and seventy.
Usually, there was at least one magazine on each surface in the backroom.
Damian raised his gaze, nodding to the girl. He wiped the last table and returned the wet rag to Alice with exaggerated gestures and a grin in the corner of his mouth.
He stopped by in the backroom to grab his jacket before heading out. Alice was probably his favorite person to work with, as she would fill her puzzles when it was quiet and not bother Damian that much.
Noah and Roy however... they caused him some gray hair. Brent was quite okay. Normally he got carried away only when being influenced by Noah, other times he was just fine.
Damian lived about twenty minutes away from Rel, in a two-room apartment with the beloved cactus he had got years ago as a parting gift from a girl who could have been his girlfriend.
The cactus was supposed to be like him; spiky and difficult to approach on the outside but squishy and mushy from the inside.
A smile rose on Damian's face, reaching all the way up to his eyes every time he thought about it. It was probably the most accurate thing that anyone had ever said to him.
He switched the light on and closed the door behind him, kicking his shoes off. The jacket was hung on the coat rack he had found from a flea market a few weeks back.
It wasn't practical at all because it was off-balance and wobbled around, but Damian liked it. He should probably duct tape it to the wall, just in case.
Damian slumped on the couch and flicked open the tv. Watching the late-night murder mysteries before going to bed was his way to spend time after work.
He couldn't sleep right after coming home anyway. His home was pretty simple. A couch, a small desk and a tv in the living room and a bed in the bedroom.
The kitchen was so small he hadn't bothered to look for a fitting table there.
In his youth, Damian had been an avid reader, carrying home a book after another. After graduating, going to the army, and finally working full time, he had suddenly realized he couldn't even remember the last time he had held a book. So today before work Damian had driven to the library again, amazed how much the building had changed from the inside, got himself a new library card, and eventually found his way to the fantasy and science fiction area. A book after another found its way to his bag; demons, angels, mystical creatures, Damian was getting carried away!
One last book, he decided, heading to psychology and religions shelves. A section of nature religions and witchcraft caught his attention and randomly he chose a couple of books.
The tv went on and on about mass murders, psychopaths, and cultists, Damian snorted; how could anyone be so stupid to believe that garbage. The provocative topic made him reach out his arm towards the desk, and he grabbed the book on the top, it was about the human mind and Damian put it away. The second book was about behavioral concepts, too heavy for a sleepy brain.
The third book had a large, detailed demon on the cover, an image that had caught Damian's interest in the library – and he opened it, browsing through the first few pages. Demonology, worshipping, rituals, summonings... Damian laughed but did not put the book away. He began to read instead, it was a somewhat light kind of topic that would probably lull him to sleep in no time.
A couple of hours later Damian was done reading, he had placed five candles on the floor. He looked at the page again for more instructions, next, he should draw a star to connect the candles.
He was doing this just for fun, playing a part of a mad cultist as he searched for the duct tape, he had nothing else to create the shape on the floor with and, it wasn't really that big enough of a deal that Damian would've cared. Using one single strip for each side, he was soon looking at his creation with great pride and joy. He even got his cell phone and took a picture of it.
He would show it at work tomorrow and they would all laugh at the cultists.
Damian stood beside his very own summoning circle, silly that it was called a circle while he had created a star.
“Alrighty! Oh please, send me someone to take my virginity, so that my co-workers will never mention it again, gosh... !” he let out dramatically and with theatrical hand movements.
Then he sat down on the couch again, laughed at the duct tape star for a moment until finally grabbed the book of behavior to read and possibly find a reason for what he had just done.
During those seven years, none of the five people working at Rel with Damian had seen him with a girl. They hadn't seen him with a guy either and since Damian never managed to give them a satisfactory explanation for this, Roy, Brent, Alice, Noah, and Kate had sworn an oath to get Damian into someone's bed. You'd think a bar would be a perfect place for spotting potential partners, but no.
While Damian was always polite and sometimes even actually tried to keep up a conversation, all his attempts were eventually for nothing. He had never seen his inexperience as a problem, but maybe it was his 30th birthday closing in on him, that made him think about it more. On the other hand, he still had three years until having lived yet another decade.
“Dami, go home, I'll close Rel!” a blonde girl yelled from behind the counter.
She was Alice, 24 years old with a nerd-like interest in crossword puzzles. The joke among them was to tell her how her mental age was probably somewhere between sixty and seventy.
Usually, there was at least one magazine on each surface in the backroom.
Damian raised his gaze, nodding to the girl. He wiped the last table and returned the wet rag to Alice with exaggerated gestures and a grin in the corner of his mouth.
He stopped by in the backroom to grab his jacket before heading out. Alice was probably his favorite person to work with, as she would fill her puzzles when it was quiet and not bother Damian that much.
Noah and Roy however... they caused him some gray hair. Brent was quite okay. Normally he got carried away only when being influenced by Noah, other times he was just fine.
Damian lived about twenty minutes away from Rel, in a two-room apartment with the beloved cactus he had got years ago as a parting gift from a girl who could have been his girlfriend.
The cactus was supposed to be like him; spiky and difficult to approach on the outside but squishy and mushy from the inside.
A smile rose on Damian's face, reaching all the way up to his eyes every time he thought about it. It was probably the most accurate thing that anyone had ever said to him.
He switched the light on and closed the door behind him, kicking his shoes off. The jacket was hung on the coat rack he had found from a flea market a few weeks back.
It wasn't practical at all because it was off-balance and wobbled around, but Damian liked it. He should probably duct tape it to the wall, just in case.
Damian slumped on the couch and flicked open the tv. Watching the late-night murder mysteries before going to bed was his way to spend time after work.
He couldn't sleep right after coming home anyway. His home was pretty simple. A couch, a small desk and a tv in the living room and a bed in the bedroom.
The kitchen was so small he hadn't bothered to look for a fitting table there.
In his youth, Damian had been an avid reader, carrying home a book after another. After graduating, going to the army, and finally working full time, he had suddenly realized he couldn't even remember the last time he had held a book. So today before work Damian had driven to the library again, amazed how much the building had changed from the inside, got himself a new library card, and eventually found his way to the fantasy and science fiction area. A book after another found its way to his bag; demons, angels, mystical creatures, Damian was getting carried away!
One last book, he decided, heading to psychology and religions shelves. A section of nature religions and witchcraft caught his attention and randomly he chose a couple of books.
The tv went on and on about mass murders, psychopaths, and cultists, Damian snorted; how could anyone be so stupid to believe that garbage. The provocative topic made him reach out his arm towards the desk, and he grabbed the book on the top, it was about the human mind and Damian put it away. The second book was about behavioral concepts, too heavy for a sleepy brain.
The third book had a large, detailed demon on the cover, an image that had caught Damian's interest in the library – and he opened it, browsing through the first few pages. Demonology, worshipping, rituals, summonings... Damian laughed but did not put the book away. He began to read instead, it was a somewhat light kind of topic that would probably lull him to sleep in no time.
A couple of hours later Damian was done reading, he had placed five candles on the floor. He looked at the page again for more instructions, next, he should draw a star to connect the candles.
He was doing this just for fun, playing a part of a mad cultist as he searched for the duct tape, he had nothing else to create the shape on the floor with and, it wasn't really that big enough of a deal that Damian would've cared. Using one single strip for each side, he was soon looking at his creation with great pride and joy. He even got his cell phone and took a picture of it.
He would show it at work tomorrow and they would all laugh at the cultists.
Damian stood beside his very own summoning circle, silly that it was called a circle while he had created a star.
“Alrighty! Oh please, send me someone to take my virginity, so that my co-workers will never mention it again, gosh... !” he let out dramatically and with theatrical hand movements.
Then he sat down on the couch again, laughed at the duct tape star for a moment until finally grabbed the book of behavior to read and possibly find a reason for what he had just done.
