Chapter Forty
KALLEN
Dan hasn’t opened my message yet, and although I’m starting to get worried that he’ll ghost me, at least I have an interview at Coast to Coast magazine next week.
Once Connor and I arrive at Euphoria just after nine, our IDs are once-overed and we saunter inside.
Euphoria is a bar during the day, afternoon and evening, then turns into a nightclub after nine.
Without shame, I’m glad the drag show is on early because I can’t party like I used to.
Sleep is far too important and I prefer to be home by midnight these days.
The last time I’d been here, though, contradicts all of that. Hopefully, tonight won’t be the case.
An upbeat remix of Running Up That Hill is playing when we enter the bar, with a DJ and maybe ten people dancing in front of the stage.
I bob my head to the music, following Connor to grab a drink.
On reflex, my eyes scan the bar to see if I spot anyone I know.
Blake. Lenny. But mostly, Dan. He does have a habit of popping up out of nowhere, like he had at the Pride pool party.
‘What do you want?’ Connor asks me, already being served by the bartender.
I reques t an apple juice, and Connor asks if I’m okay. I tell him I need a non-alcoholic drink for now, as an intermission beverage. Even I’m surprised. Kallen ordering juice at a bar. Ground-breaking.
Lenny, Connor, and I are sitting at one of the booth tables closest to the stage, waiting for the show to start.
Before long, the music lowers and one of the drag queens enters the stage with a round of applause from everyone in the bar, including us. ‘Thank you, thank you, if you could all shut the fuck up now, that would be fabulous,’ the queen, named Devine Tension, announces sassily over the microphone.
The crowd does as told. One rule at a drag show: do not, I repeat, do not upset any of the queens. In the LGBTQIA+ community, they are an essential service. Not even an essential service, per se, but essential humans.
‘Tonight is like a night of Drag Race All Stars, as you may know,’ Devine calls out. ‘Except there’s no battling it out. We’re just here for fun and to cheer on the queens, although wouldn’t it be fun if there was a prize?’
‘There is!’ Lenny shouts from our table, as though rehearsed.
‘Oh, that’s right, there is,’ Devine giggles.
‘Silly me.’ The crowd erupts in a sea of laughs.
‘Tonight, there will be a prize,’ Devine reiterates.
‘There is a special number tonight, and you won’t get to know this number, but when this number is reached for food and drink orders sold at the bar, the person to hit this number will get a hamper of products from local LGBTQIA+ here in Brisbane.
To give you a little sneak peek: there is perfume, there are candles, a book from a loca l queer author named…
Jude Kelly. There’s also this plant that looks strikingly like a penis. ’
The crowd claps and cheers. I throw my hands together at Lenny. ‘That’s one way to get your revenue up, sir.’
‘Gotta get creative, Kallen.’
The crowd chatter amongst themselves again.
‘Alright, alright, time to shut the fuck up again, people,’ Devine says playfully.
‘Now, tonight is a bit of a reunion. We have queens who haven’t been here for over five years.
Which means a lot of you might not even know who they are.
But you will soon.’ She winks. ‘We also have a queen known for her zodiac sign-inspired costumes.’ The crowd howls, knowing quite well that Blake only stopped doing drag at Euphoria last year, so a lot of them would be well acquainted with her shows.
‘Then we also have a queen who specialises in celebrity impersonations. A lot of variety here tonight, people. Some fabulous performances to look forward to. Now, up first, if you’ll give it up for our first queen, Sagi Mood! ’
We all crow, clap, and cheer as Blake emerges from backstage to front. I haven’t seen her in drag make-up in what seems like forever, and she looks gorgeous as usual. A silvery silk dress with a half-moon cut into it. Glittery high heels. Moon hoop earrings. All on point.
‘That’s my wife,’ Connor feels the need to remind us.
Blake’s talent when it comes to drag is untold.
It’s like whenever she’s on stage, she becomes ethereal.
Like she’s been born for this her entire life.
‘Hey everyone, you didn’t think you’d seen the last of me, did you?
’ Sagi Mood breathes into the microphone.
A round of belly laughs chorus around the crowd.
‘This one is dedicated to all my lovers: friends, family, maybe my husband too…’
More laughs, including me. Connor’s blush burns to his ears. Hold My Hand by Lady Gaga begins to play over the speakers and Sagi Mood starts to lip sync…for her life.
The first part of her performance is quite emotional, especially when her facial features become scrunched and passionate as she points to Connor in a serenade.
Even I feel myself on the brink of tears.
And by the time she reaches the final chorus, looking at me and smiling, I let one trickle down my cheek.
After the song finishes, Blake is welcomed with mighty applause. ‘Thank you, thank you,’ her voice trembles into the microphone, as though it were just as emotional for her as it had been for us. ‘I—’
Her face falters slightly, embarrassed to hush the crowd. The crowd continues to cheer and chatter. She smiles again.
Devine stomps back onto the stage with her high heels. ‘Okay, okay. Put a cork in it again, people,’ Devine calls into the microphone.
A small group of people laugh once more before everyone goes silent.
‘This next one is a bit of a throwback. Not gonna lie,’ Blake laughs.
‘A bit of a gay awakening for myself, if I’m honest. I wanted to be one of the girls in Coyote Ugly so badly and we had this bar growing up and I’d jump on it and fill my mum’s old vodka bottle with water and pretend I’m nip-pouring it into my imaginary friends’ mouths.
Cringe, I know.’ She lets o ut a laugh. ‘So I thought this one would be fitting for tonight.’
And with that, Can’t Fight the Moonlight by Leanne Rhymes erupts from the speakers.
Blake rips off her dress, revealing her silver bikini top underneath, with leather shorts of the same colour. She does it with such confidence, too. And soon, she has the whole crowd up and dancing in front of her. It is her bar, her stage, and she deserves it all.
Blake soon finishes her performance and goes backstage, which is followed by an intermission before the next performer. She’s in another dress within minutes and walks to our table.
‘You were amazing, babe,’ Connor says, pulling Blake in for a kiss.
‘Honestly, you outdid yourself,’ I add.
‘That’s an understatement,’ Lenny says. ‘We need you back. That was a show.’
Blake goes red in the face. ‘Aww thanks, guys.’
She then shoots me a look, as if she’s just remembered something. ‘Kallen, I need to talk to you.’
‘What about?’ I ask with a shrug.
‘We’re gonna go get another drink,’ Connor says before walking to the bar with Lenny.
Whipping out her phone, Blake taps the screen a few times. ‘I saw it just before the show, but I was about to jump on stage.’
Curiosity makes itself known, but it turns into much more when I receive from her a link to an Untold Media article.
‘I didn’t know. But I feel like it’s from him ,’ Blake tells me.
The article is titled: I Fell for My Coworker & Now Things Are Messed Up
Written by: Anonymous.