ariel was mentioned to me once by a uh
by a gentleman in a hotel bar while i was waiting with my friend for my flight out of manchester in england back in august
he and his friend and her father were sitting at the next table over, all very kind, very inviting people, they invited us to sit with them
what they did not know was that we had been awake for about two days at that point and had been drinking only beer and coffee for the past three weeks, and hadn't showered in a few days. we were a sight to behold. having been drunk for three weeks straight (with a few nights of absolute excess) we were in no condition to deal with strangers
but we went over anyway.
the man and his daughter were very nice and had a lot of stories to tell about their travels, and the daughter's friend, Matthew, was both very kind and working on his fifth glass of wine
all the while the only thing matthew wanted to do was talk about ariel. this guy is about 25 mind you. he drew pictured of her for us on napkins, some of which are probably still stuff in a half-unpacked backpack somewhere or in a jacket pocket.
matthew had a bad habit of ordering another drink before he had finished even half of the one he had. he also had a habit of being a homosexual man, which is really not a habit but more of a thing he was born with. on about his 7th wine, with two full glasses waiting for him on the table, the father and daughter went to their rooms for the night and we all exchanged a pleasant goodbye to match the early morning
matthew stayed behind to finish his drinks. well, he couldn't, and quit halfway through his last glass
he decided he wanted a smoke, so my friend and i walked outside with him. unable to light his cigarette, we tried to convince him to go to his room and sleep. after trying to guide him back in he laid his head on my shoulder and told me i looked like a model and that he wanted to cuddle, and then whispered something about ariel before i had to catch him.
as we waved goodbye to him outside the elevator i felt the scribbled on napkins in my pocket and knew that from that day on, any mention of ariel would be tied to the memory of a wonderful gay english gentleman trying to seduce me.
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