there’s a hum in the base of her skull that might be god whispering to her - might be the bass turned up to ten, might be the beer in her hand that’s finally getting to her. our lady has been here before. at least, she thinks she has - but not with him, no; with some different, faceless man - when she was a girl much more like herself - the beer had been watered down then, too; but at least the company she kept was better this time. johnny always had a way with her, didn’t he. our lady supposes he has a way with everyone he meets - how easily they seem to fall into him; she can see it now, the way the crowd him at the bar; the way they listen to him despite the noise; how deafening it all was, hanging on to every word. he could have been a politician. she thinks; standing motionless - an image of a bygone, still era in a scene that never stopped moving. could have been a great one, even. not necessarily a good one. politicians didn’t have to be good, the nusa is proof of that enough. so is she. so is everyone in this bar. i shouldn’t drink beer. another sip. it makes me morose. ever the optimist, our lady downs the bottle, savours the burn. it doesn’t take the edge off like it used to; nothing does.
no, our lady is all together unlike herself this evening. it can’t all be johnny, can it? touch any idol enough and their gilding will come off upon your finger tips. if she checks now, will johnny’s hands be covered in chrome? will they be as golden as her neck? our lady shifts in her shoes, in her skin; slips soundlessly between dancers and adoring listeners to oh so daintily pluck the tequila from johnny’s hand. no point in getting jealous over the attention he gives others, is there? how unlike herself. or rather, how very much like herself? she knows how to get his attention other ways - leaving her lipstick on the rim of the glass is one of them; her smile, wide and warm and sparkling, is another. ‘ you take all the girls you’re with to this bar? or am i just the lucky one who’s about to lose her hearing for the night? ’