This Story is Not About a Girl

The two men sat at a bar, the midnight sky well past arrived outside into the rain-slick streets. The first man had a scraggly beard that he often said he would shave, but never got around to it. He wore a leather jacket and a grey snow hat to cover his balding hair. The other man was far less gruff but he was just a bit past his prime, some of hair greying and dulling from it’s original orange color.

“Well, that was a disappointment.” the first man said as he sipped from the glass cup. Beer spilled down but was caught up in the bristle strokes of the man’s chin.

“I know right? The whole build up… everything… just wasted. It should be illegal to do that, considering I spent 16 bucks for a movie that doesn’t exist.” the second man said.

“I was really looking forward to seeing Chris Pratt as a electrical socket, you know?” the first man said. “Speaking of illegal, I heard there’s a lot of lawsuits about the whole ‘event’.”

“Maybe we’ll look back on this and laugh. What the heck could they need the money for?” asked the second man, brushing his chin as he put his hand to his mouth in thought.

“Say, have you seen Ray?” asked the first man, looking around the bar.

“Ray? Why the hell do you want to know where he is?” asked the second man, putting away his hand for a moment. “Ray’s been always kind of a hold out since he got back with Kathy.”

“Isn’t Kathy a…” the first man asked, not completing his sentence.

“Yeah, I don’t know why Ray thinks he’s special. He’s never been really smart, you know?” the second man responded, knowing exactly what the first man was getting at.

“Yeah, but he’s been dumped by this chick twice already. All I want to know is why? What’s his deal with Kathy?” asked the first man.

The second man laughed. “I dunno man. Like I said, Ray ain’t smart. It wouldn’t surprise me that he’s fallen for her and not realize he’s just getting dumped again in like a week.”

“Have you read that dumb article where this guy praises that fake movie?” asked the first man.

“No, tell me about it.” replied the second man.

“He thinks it’s some kind of expose on the inner laziness of the human race to spend their money on dumb shit. I guess it is in kind of a way, but I don’t exactly want to spend my money on funding something I don’t even know. And sure, I could spend it funding something I do know, but that’s what I spend money on Kickstarter for.” the first man replied, his hand waving about as he explained. “Well yeah, it’s pretty much outright illegal right?” asked the second man. “It’s gotta be, I can’t see it being legal to do that, y’know?”

“Legal? I doubt it matters to any hack fraud on that thing,” began the first man. “It’s Hollywood, they’re all famous over there and it’s not like they’ve gotten away with some outright terrible crimes. Remember that time last year where celebrities were being exposed left and right for terrible shit?”

“Nah, I don’t. There’s only so many times you can do something before it becomes boring and stale, you know? I dunno, not a lot shocks me now because of how attuned we are to the media. We know when these people break up, marry, divorce, affair, send nudes, get nude, show a nipple for a brief second… at some point you just loose shock about Jennifer Aniston’s 33rd relationship going awry.” the second man said.

“Oh, I see what you’re saying.” the first man said.

“I’m just so tired. I wanna retire from work. I don’t even really care what’s happening now or in the future. The past is so filled with mistakes, the present is a mistake happening at the moment, and the future is just riddled with obvious mistakes waiting to happen. Who even wants a sequel to Terminator Gensys?” the second man put his head down as he spoke. “Like, do you know what I mean? The future always seems so promising yet it’s always disappointing.”

“I guess this is what they meant by this having negative effects on the entertainment industry.” the first man said.

“You get what I mean, right? I’m not just some old man yelling at the clouds right?” the second man muttered mostly at the table, getting up just a bit. “I don’t want another Pompeii.”

“You mean the movie?” asked the man, amused anyone could be excited for Pompeii.

“Nah, I just mean… you know how Pompeii was destroyed by a volcano right? But I expect everyone was just really fucking excited about having a village right next to a lava mountain, not realizing that ‘oh, this might be a bad idea’, you know?” said the second man.

“Seriously, where the hell is Ray?” asked the first man looking around as he glanced around the bar. He watched as a group of men played poker, shouting frantically and a man and a woman darted into the men’s room.

“Why the hell do you care about Ray?” questioned the second man. “He’s stupid as hell. Remember when he tried to put the fork in the electrical socket? He was gonna do it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I dunno, I find him fun to talk to.” replied the first man.

The door of the bar swung open and a man in a drenched hoodie stepped in. “Oh there he is,” pointed the second man. “Wonder why he even showed up?”

“Hey Pete and Robert.” Ray said depressively. He sat down next to first man. “What have you been talking about?”

“I actually got to go, Ray. It’s really late and I should get going.“ said the second man. “See you later Pete!”

“See ya, Robert,” Pete dismissed. He looked at Ray who was slumped over on the table. He knew exactly what happened. “Ray…”

“Sigh… yeah, she did it again.” replied Ray.

“She broke your heart again? Jesus christ dude, I’m thinking she might be just fucking with you at this point. And I ain’t talking about sex.” Pete tried to make light of it but it wasn’t working.

“I just… ugh.” Ray garbled out halfheartedly.

“Well, you’re back at the start again. I’ve been here time and time again… when are you gonna set me free from this?” asked Pete.

“What do you mean?” asked Ray.

“You keep falling for this stupid shit with Kathy and I always get dragged into it,” Pete sighed. “Normally I don’t tell people to give up but dude… it’s time.”

“I guess you’re right.” Ray said, staring out on the streets, pounded hard by the rain.

“The girl’s no good for me or you… she hurts me too.” groaned Pete.

“What do you mean?” Ray asked, facing Pete now.

“I hate seeing you like this man. That girl’s a heartbreaker and she’s just done it so many times to you that people think you’re just dumb. You’re not though. In my eyes, she’s done us wrong enough times…” Pete stated.

“Enough times for what?” asked Ray.

Pete looked at him straight in the eyes. “...For you to start with me.”