Page 23 of Play Room Actor

“We met at my last exhibition,” Alex said, turning his beer glass between his hands. “I photographed his roommate.”

“My cousin,” Jonah added. “He was on duty at the hospital.”

“Yeah,” Alex replied briefly, clearing his throat and taking a sip. I noticed him exchanging a quick look with Dominic before looking away. “The two of them came to the exhibition, and then it turned out that Noé and Lu already knew each other.”

“Oh, yeah!” Lucien said. “From the warm-up concert in the rehearsal space.”

There was a brief silence. I was surprised that Jonah said out loud what everyone else was probably thinking.

“You two had something, right?”

“No,” Lucien said bluntly.

Everyone turned their attention to Noé, who crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Not really.”

“What does that mean?” Alex asked, clearly puzzled, while the rest of us laughed.

“Well, not really,” Noé repeated.

“So, you did have something?” Jonah asked, peering at Lucien for an answer.

“It was …” Lucien tugged on the strands of his blond hair. “It’s kind of hard to explain.”

“I’m sure there’s a way,” Jonah insisted.

“Well, he had my dick in his mouth, but I’m sure he thought it was yours,” Lucien said to Alex.

“Holy shit!” I exclaimed, laughing.

Dominic and Lucien couldn’t hold it in either, while Noé pursed his lips, trying to suppress his grin. Jonah and Alex just sat there with their mouths hanging open.

“And should I assume you imagined it was my mouth you were …” Jonah trailed off, throwing his hands up in the air. “Shit! How did I end up here?”

Our laughter filled the Piadina Bar, and people were starting to turn around to gawk at us. Lucien leaned in closer to Jonah and caressed his neck as he whispered something in his ear. Then he kissed him on the cheek and sat up straight again. Jonah appeared noticeably more at ease.

“And you?” Noé asked, turning to Dominic. “What do you do?”

“I’m an actor.”

I stared at Dominic, waiting for him to say more—we all did—but he just absentmindedly rubbed his arm.

“He’s our new Hamlet,” I said.

“Hamlet?” Noé raised an interested eyebrow.

“He’s good,” I said, lifting my beer glass. “Really good. He’s just playing humble.”

“Are you going to show us something?” Jonah asked, his eyes lighting up. “I don’t know anything about Hamlet.”

“Oh yes!” Lucien called out. “Show us something!”

Dominic looked visibly taken aback, but then he did something I never would’ve expected.

“Fine.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin and stood up from his chair. To give himself enough room, he pushed it back a bit. Then he cleared his throat, and for a moment, he seemed to gather himself.

I sat there with wide eyes, watching his transformation. His posture changed, neck stretching, shoulders straightening. He ran his hand through his hair and theatrically gazed up at the ceiling. He then spoke in a strong voice.

“O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!