Mayonnaise

October 5, 1988

There isn't much to look at when you look out the window and at the inhabitants of Chicago. In fact, it's almost like watching a bunch of ants crawling over an anthill. Mindless drones all crawling to their predetermined destination.
I took a deep sip of my coffee as I stared at them through the glass window of the cafe. The taste of the bitter coffee mixed with a crapload of sugar and cream washed over my tongue. I sighed in apathy.
In an hour I'd be at my dead end job, awaiting the hour that I could leave. It wasn't too bad I supposed, I put groceries in a bag at a local supermarket. Could have been worse right?
At least after that I had the pleasure of attending a two hour class on painting. I had no idea why I all of sudden felt bored with my life, but it was starting to become a real problem.
I had wandered into the 'Windy City' two years ago to attend the Columbia College of Chicago. All was going well, I was two years away from getting my Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts. Not bad for an up and coming artist. So why did I feel so down in the dumps?
I shook my head and took another gulp of coffee. All would go well in the end.
Slapping a few bills down on my table, I stood up and left. The rusty piece of shit that was my car refused to start up until I slammed my fist down on the dashboard. It just needed to be shown a little tough love. Led Zeppelin's 'Fool in the Rain' started playing from the speakers. I forgot I put that tape in.
"Well, there's a light in your eye that keeps shining", I sang along as I went through traffic. "Like a star that can't wait for the night. I hate to think I've been blinded, baby, why can't I see you tonight?"
A half an hour later, I pulled up into the parking lot with it's cracked asphalt and gum ridden surface. The place I worked at was a dump. No question about it, the Health Department should have closed it down a long time ago. I had no idea how they still got customers.
Making sure the name tag on my shirt was straight, I went in through the back and punched my card in. I was on the clock.
My coworkers were just as enthused as I was, possibly less. Only one of them looked somewhat alive and she smiled excitedly when she saw me. It was Charlotte Jensen, one of my few friends.
"Kate! You won't believe what I got us tonight!" She was jumping up and down as I took the cash register next to her. Her purple and maroon colored hair bounced along with her. She was in a white tank top with a plaid shirt over it. Neon blue pants made their way from out of the over-sized shirt and a nose stud and multiple earrings flashed at me as she continued to vibrate on the spot.
"And what would that be?", I humored her, scanning an old woman's groceries as I grinned. She fished in her back pocket for a minute and pulled out two pieces of paper.
"Tickets to Cabaret Metro!", she crowed, waving them over her head. My eyebrow rose. A club, she got us tickets to a club.
"You're fucking kidding me. You actually want to go to a club?", I asked her with a note of disbelief. Clubs nowadays revolved around acid house music and drugs. Not really my kind of scene. I preferred a rock concert to a drugged out haze.
She shook her head and explained, "No, you don't understand, there's a rock act going on and people are saying that they're really good."
I stared at her and bit my lip. "I don't know Charlie, I've got school and shit."
She pouted, "Oh come on, just go and have fun. I promise you'll be back before midnight Cinderella.", she said condescendingly and stuck her tongue out at me.
I rolled my eyes and sighed, "Fine."
She fist pumped the air and grinned. "This is going to be so awesome!"