“You look good!”, my housemate announced to the entire block. “What are you up to?”
“Stop grinning,” my cheeks burning red, from both flattery and embarrassment. I suppose it is deserved; I haven’t pulled this dress out of the wardrobe for months now. That being said, it's not like I can compare to her looks on Friday nights. “Just meeting old friends, Han.”
“A guy?”
“A guy,” I half-whispered. “Stop grinning!”
“I’m just glad you’re going out again, dear. After, you know..”
With that, I left Han to get her own dinner for the day. Today I’m going to a fancy restaurant near, meeting an old friend who I haven’t talked to in years. Given that he seemed to be in a good place in his career, and that he had been “visiting” a few female friends, I had a rough guess as to how the dinner is going to be.
Ah, I almost forgot the pink slip. I hastily went back to my room to put it on my ring finger.
I took a bus there, lacking the foresight of its crowded hour. After half an hour of pushing around, I can’t imagine my dress being as shiny as it was heading out. Still, the stop just before the restaurant flushed out most of these people, and left me with a kid - can’t be older than ten - staring at me. More accurately, my ring finger. I braced myself, and pulled off my friendliest face before approaching him.
“Hey there, big guy. Do you need something?”
“Is that a Pink Slip,” he asked, dropping all politeness and pointing at the ring straight.
“Yeah, this ring is a Pink Slip. First time seeing one?” my smile weakened.
“My uncle has one,” he muttered, now back to being somewhat shy for some reason. “Does that mean you can’t have a boyfriend?”
“It is the law. And good boys and girls adhere to the law, you understand?” he nodded, and the bus slowed to a halt. I waved at the kid, who then stared at me as I walked out; no fear, no curiosity, nothing. I wondered what happened to him; or perhaps, what happened to his uncle.
I had underestimated the restaurant - with blinding lights, foreign-sounding accents, and waitresses dressing better than me, my urge to dash out of the place was that of soda shaken too many times. If only that artificially friendly handwave didn’t signal the waitresses that I had a reservation in the place. I might as well have. I could’ve sworn that the waitress’s face twitched a little when she glanced at my hand.
“That’s impressive,” came out of my mouth in the most artificial way. The laughter and flirtings of the tables around us bled into our dinner, while neither of us attempt to fill the void in front of us. I took another sip of the wine, and the Pink Slip clinked on its mouth, he finally broke the silence.
“I heard that hurts, being bonded to your bones and all” he inquired as he took another slice of the steak, his disappointment clearly turned into pure curiosity. Taken by surprise, I recalled what I heard about the Pink slip and try to echo them.
“At first, but at this point it is more uncomfortable than anything,” I ended with another sip of wine. The conversation turned into Pink slips in general, and how it has changed a lot of people’s lives. At some point, the conversation turned into which of our school friends had been labelled by the slip.
“Weren’t you close to Mar back in school? I hear he got the label too,” he continued the conversation, while casually finishing his meal. At the mention of his name I froze, my mind trying to search which of the appropriate faces to wear. “What, you guys don’t talk anymore?”
“He,” I interrupted, my voice weak and coarse, “passed away last year..”
“Oh,” and then the mood went back to awkward. Nobody could endure such an air, so I quickly finished my meal - both of us wanted a quick exit in the first place. I thanked him for the dinner, and went home. Han was still eating by the time I dropped myself on the bed, nagging me about the date. I dismissed her fast.
“Mar,” I whispered as I took off the ring, a hint of tears filled my eyes. “Thank you for protecting me.”
I whispered ‘I love you’ to the ring and went to bed.
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