A Circus Tale & A Love Song

Ma, ma!

Okay.

Hm?

Hey!

Hi!

Hey.

I'm Odalys.

And you are?

Refugio Hernandez.

Oscar Martinez invited me. - Refugio!

You made it.

Ahh.

Tequila!

And a whiskey for me.

Is Kay here?

I don't know.

I haven't seen her.

- Boss wants to know when she gets here so let me know.

You got it.

- Trish is back there but I'll go check it out.

Kay, are you here?

- Yes, I'm here. - When are you coming out?

In a minute.

- And there you go, gentlemen.

That was beautiful Gina.

Come on, guys.

Give her a big applause.

Show her some love.

And now guys, get ready for our next beauty.

She is an angel, gentleman.

And she's gonna rock your world.

Give it up for the gorgeous, Kay!

Whoa!

Oh!

He's great.

Nice to meet you.

Oh, you're a clown.

I'd like to see Kay.

Private stage.

Sure.

She'll see you when she's done on the main stage.

Oh!

Hi.

Hey.

What? - I'm sorry.

No worries at all.

- It's over. - Uh, excuse me?

The song.

It's over.

Um, can you dance another one?

Don't go.

Yeah.

You want me to? - Yes, please.

Um, can I ask you something?

Excuse me?

I have a question for you.

Yeah?

- What does it take to make love to you?

Oh.

No, we don't do that.

Sorry, uh, I apologize.

I didn't mean to offend you.

Why not?

This is only entertainment.

Dinner?

No, thank you.

- Lunch? - No, thank you.

Breakfast?

You gotta eat sometimes, right?

You are persistent.

Yeah.

You're a fantastic dancer.

Thank you.

- It's just like, uh, like you don't belong here.

- Let me rescue you from this place and that sort of thing.

Right? - No.

No, no, no, no.

Seriously.

It's, it's, uh, you stand out from the rest

of the girls because of your talent,

not just because of your beauty.

Thank you.

It's, whoa.

It's, it's like, uh, everything you do

on the pole that's, that's great.

And the acrobatics.

But, uh, it seems like you've got, uh, ballet training.

How can you tell?

I grew up in the circus.

You know, with lots of, uh, dancers, ballerinas, acrobats.

I know.

What's your name?

Refugio.

Fugio?

Re-fu-gio.

Re-fu-gio.

And what do you do, Refugio?

I'm a writer.

- Writer? - Yep.

What do you write?

- Now I'm just writing at this agency.

Advertising.

Commercials, you know.

And I've just finished my first novel.

Good for you.

It, it's over.

Please.

I'll pay for another one.

- Really? - Yes.

- Thank you. - No, no, no.

Thank you.

So, um, how did you end up here?

It's a very long story.

Do you have a short version?

- Yeah, uh, I moved to, uh, New York when I was 19.

Wanted to be a ballet dancer.

I knew it.

What happened?

Got there a little late.

Hmm.

Where are you from?

- I'm from a small town in Canada.

- Do you have any idea what the universe

had to go through to put you and I, no, no, no.

Seriously.

Put you and I in this place.

This very moment.

- That's good. - Come on.

Seriously.

I mean, what are the odds?

You know, from small little town in Canada.

Small town from Mexico.

We, we shouldn't even be here, you know, in the first place.

Like what are the odds?

It's over.

Ah, man.

What a rip-off.

What is this?

30-second long songs?

Really?

I know.

Um, let's, let's get out of this booth.

I mean, if I stay in here I have to charge you.

They charge me so I have to charge you.

Yeah.

- Let's, let's get out of here and we can talk.

Oh, fantastic.

Yeah.

That's great.

- All right. - Thank you.

Ahh!

Masters degree in what?

- Depth psychology. - Ho-ho.

- The Jungian archetypal studies, specifically.

- So, you're loving your Joseph Campbel,

James Hillman, all that?

Loving.

You ever read any James Hollis?

Interesting.

You know, that "Eden Project" was pure brilliance.

- You have not read that.

- It should be required reading.

Yeah, would be classic

if people read it.

Wow.

Impressive.

So, whatever happened to the circus life?

The circus still there.

It will always be there.

And in here.

- Is that what your novel's about?

Impressive.

- You know, this isn't a brothel.

It's just dancing.

There's, you know, no one takes pictures of us.

There's no record of us dancing naked in front

of bunch of perverts.

Present company excluded of course.

Lunch would be fine.

Great.

Sweet.

Cool, uh, what's your phone number?

- Uh, I can't write notes to the customers.

Of course not.

Uh, I have a great memory.

- Hey, you've reached Susan.

Um, please leave a message

and I will probably get back to you.

Uh, hi Susan.

Or Kay.

This is uh, Refugio.

Just called to see if this is a real number.

Uh, if this is not Kay's number,

please accept my apologies, Susan.

Hm.

Come in.

Oh, Refugio.

Bye.

Hey!

What are you doing up?