An Encounter in Dasmariñas

Alejandro is standing under a street lamp post in the middle of a dusty street of Dasmariñas. His hands feel cold, probably because it was nearing midnight already. It was quite a spot overlooking the tall buildings of this emerging city with a bit of sound coming from the nearby pubs full of broken souls mostly are young ones, his kind. He was thinking of what to do later with the man he will meet tonight when all of a sudden a red car stopped in front of him. Color red appearing in the dark in the middle of the night creates a vibe of excitement, like the carriage of the Greek god of love, lust, and sex: Eros himself, coming out of the dim avenue under the pale moonlight, he thought.

It stopped in front of him and slowly, the windows rolled down revealing a beautiful man that probably embodies the level of attractiveness Lucifer has, only that he has eyeglasses on. The man opened the door for him and Alejandro immediately felt goosebumps all over his body, especially with the fact that a few minutes from now, he will have this encounter that he already expected to revolve around the immorality of human beings.

Let's call this newly arrived guy: Carl, his name on his dating profile.

They went into this place with a beige-colored facade and parked in a garage directly connected to their temporary haven. Alejandro insisted to wash before any skin-to-skin intimacy but Carl refused. He did not utter a word of refusal, to be honest, but his sudden firm grip on Alejandro's slim shoulder is clear enough already. And slowly he kissed him, a drowning kiss of full admiration, sending Alejandro weak to his knees. He then carefully undressed him and himself, revealing an opposite body type of perfection: a slim one and a muscular one, both are blessed with fairness and smoothness.

The kiss became touch and touch became penetration while minutes have turned into hours. It was a beautiful interaction: wonderful kiss, intimate touch, and definitely merciful lovemaking to Alejandro's body that proved how Carl is being careful handling him. What's heartbreaking though is that Alejandro is not only making love to Carl's body but also his soul. 

No words are being said, only the sound of their breathing that is becoming louder and louder. No tools are being used, only their bare bodies on top of each other. They don't have previous interaction with each other but the way they look at each other's eyes is enough to feel the intensity of their longingness for one another that none of them can explain.

After hours of intimacy, Alejandro found himself lying his head on Carl's broad chest. He badly wants to take a smoke but he's afraid it might turn Carl off.

With everything they've done for the past hours, nobody has utter a single word possibly because they made sure before meeting up that no personal questions are allowed. Their silence is evidence of them wanting to be personal through questions but cannot say it. After all, they agreed to this rule before all this. 

They both realized their time together is running out. Carl brushed his long pale fingers to Alejandro's naturally rust-colored hair while staring at his light-brown eyes, eyes that are so hypnotic it's making anyone looking at him at close distance, ask themselves if he is real or not.

But Alejandro, like how he has been with everybody else: cold and distant, stood up and dressed up. 

A few moments and they are in the car driving towards Alejandro's spot where he was picked up by Carl a few hours earlier. And before Alejandro depart,  for the last time, Carl kissed him, a kiss so careful and warm it felt like he was begging Alejandro to stay with him, not in the car, not tonight, but for the rest of his life. He did it while being aware of the fact that Alejandro will not stay because the young man has too many issues. He is like a shining, glittering Japanese vase that contains dirt inside.

After the kiss, Alejandro looked into Carl's eyes and gave him a big genuine smile that revealed a different side of him: charming and young, a beautiful mortal trapped in sadness, anxieties, and insecurities. 

That was their first and last encounter with each other. An encounter so intimate, that it haunts them to this day. It was like those heartbreaking movies about love, only that it is real, especially to Alejandro's side who acted so cold and distant the entire duration of their interaction which is all an act because the truth is that he was attracted to Carl, so much so, that when he walked away to the sweet man's vision and car, he was struck with an idea that he robbed himself another chance, one of the countless ones, to fix his soul, adding more cracks into his fragile young heart.

Destroying him from the inside even more.

The beautiful young man was again done with his encounter, an encounter not only with a suitable lover but also an encounter to turn his life around and bring back the vibrant colors into it. 

A heartbreaking story of a wasted possible opportunity to be happy hidden in a one-night stand.