"I think I've found the one, Alyssa." Her brother gushed almost too dramatically as he came down from the stairs that went up to their apartments.
"You said that the last time, Bobby. What makes this one any different?" She asked as she was wiping down the counter.
"I don't know. It's just a feeling that I have about him. He's a little quiet but wow, when he's in a club he's a wild animal. And speaking of, I'm performing tonight at Embers. Don't worry, I'll bring my key this time. Wouldn't want a repeat of last week."
"Just don't wake me up. I have to get the morning batches going for the morning rush."
Alyssa Spencer and her brother Robert, or Bobby as he preferred to be called, co-owned Dark Water Internet Café in Tampa, Florida. It was a strange building, a bright pink historical French Quarter building that was once a well known brothel in the area. It sat along the edge of the Everglades, hence why it was called Dark Water. It was three stories tall, and an eye sore in the area but it fit the needs of both brother and sister. It was an internet café and a bakery put together. It was also a place where monthly drag race gatherings were held. Just not on this night.
"I have to get my stuff together. . Fred will be here soon to pick me up." Bobby told his sister.
"Okay, okay. Go and have some fun. I've got things to do around here anyway." Alyssa said before heading over to one of the twelve computer terminals Dark Water owned.
Alyssa wanted a bakery of her own but Bobby wanted an internet café, since he was also an IT for Dark Water. So they mixed their two passions, baking and computers together to get a hip place for people to hang out. Dark Water became a melting pot of culture once it had been opened two years prior in 2008. Of course thanks to her brother for bringing in large crowds with his drag shows, Dark Water was a popular place. Fair prices, internet access and an ideal place for the nearby college students to come and hang out. At least she could still bake.
As Alyssa was cleaning up the computer terminal space, her phone alarm went off. Checking the message on the screen, she headed upstairs to where she and Bobby lived. Basically the ground floor was where Dark Water was located and the upper two floors were hers and Bobby's space. What would be considered the attic was turned into Alyssa's apartment where she had roof access whenever she wanted. This was her idea place to live, in a place where she could live out her dreams.
Once her medical needs were taken care of, Alyssa headed back down to Dark water. That is where she met Fred. Or at least she thought he was Fred considering Dark Water closed at eight during the week, ten on Saturdays and was closed on Sundays. Then she remembered that Bobby hadn't locked the front door, probably to let Fred come in.
"Hi, are you Fred, Bobby's um date tonight?" She asked approaching the man.
"Yeah. I'm Fred Rosser. You're Alyssa, right? Bobby loves to go on and on about you all the time." He gave her a charming handshake along with a secure handshake.
Fred was actually an appealing black man with the largest afro Alyssa had ever seen. She could see that he kept himself well fit, considering his thighs bulged in those acid wash jean he was wearing. Of course you can't tell if a man is gay just by looking at him.
"Bobby will be right down. He's getting his stuff and act together." She told the man. "If you don't mind me asking, how did you and my brother meet?"
"We met at an FCW show. I came by to see some of my friend and I ended up sitting next to Bobby. We talked and decided to go out for some drinks afterwards. We've been taking it slow for the last two weeks. I agreed to go out and watch him perform tonight since I'll be back out on the road for a while."
"That's good. So that makes you a wrestler, right?"
"Yeah, I'm Darren Young in the WWE."
"Wow, impressive. I'm just not a fan of sports in general. Bobby was always interested in it though." She gave a bashful smile as she returned to the terminal she had been working at previously.
Fred laughed as he followed her. "Hey, have you ever met any of your brother's boyfriend's before?"
"The last one stole from us, and he even worked here. So I'm surprised Bobby invited you over here. But my brother is family and at least one of us has the ability to fall in love. Can't say I've had a lot of dates in my life."
"Everyone is free to love whoever they want. But in my line of work, and how popular it is, I can't tell anyone."
"They have to keep an image, right?" Alyssa questioned.
"Exactly. And I only just got called up so I don't want to risk loosing my dream, you know."
"I get it. Bobby's had issues with employment in the past. And speaking of my brother, he loves to drink, a lot. Can you bring him back in one piece, please?"
"Sure." Fred glanced around at café. "This is a cool place you have here. But what's with the big screens hanging around?"
Alyssa looked up towards the ceiling. On two opposite walls were large flat screen screens she managed to score at an auction over in Broward County.
"Sometimes we play TV shows. Like on Drag Nights we watch reruns of RuPaul's Drag Race. Bobby is the local drag master, named Phoebe Dupree. Cheerleader-esque as he likes to do his acts and he's really good with them, too."
"What was it like growing up with Bobby?"
"It was like living in Hell, I tell you." Bobby answered approaching them.
The copper haired man was already in his cheerleader outfit, and his wig was in place. He preferred to be a blonde rather than his natural red haired color. Bobby, though all male, had a feminine look to him that Alyssa sort of envied because he had a better body to fit into a dress than she did. She was just short, round and lacked any real breasts. Though she had more than what her brother had, since he had to get some expensive looking bras that made it look like he actually had a bust going on.
"She had no fashion sense, I had to make sure she had the best outfit thrown together in the morning." Bobby continued. "Not that our mom was any better. I'm glad I got Alyssa out of there before Mom decided to go into that cult."
"Bobby, don't speak ill of the dead. Besides, that was the past. Let's live in the here and now. And right now you two need to go out and have some fun. But not too much fun." She shoved her brother towards Fred. "Out you two go."
"All right, all right, we're going. See, this is who I have to live with." Bobby motioned to Alyssa. "Come on, Fred, let's get out of here before she gets all PMS on us."
And they left shortly after Bobby hugged his sister good bye. This left Alyssa alone and content.
Dark Water was where she belonged. It was her home after all.
Yes I know, I'm starting a new story while I still have others that I'm working on. What can I say, when a story hits, it hits hard for me. This one is a little different than some of my others, being that there is talk about LGBT topics in here, and drag races. I wanted to try something different, something more unique than my other stories. So as I go along I hope you all like what I have to write.