Technicolor Daze [Currently Being Edited]

fifteen.

Thursday, April 24th, 2014

THU AT 6:37 PM

Just left work

Had to work overtime so I may run a bit late

Theo and Noah had been texting each other all day. Noah had gotten up around 9 am to work out for an hour before heading to work. He'd worked until late and didn't have to work at the bookshop until 11 am, but from the moment he finished his workout until Theo left work, the pair spent most of the time exchanging messages, with the occasional break to do some actual work.  Theo had been sporting a wide grin on his face throughout the day and one of his colleagues even prodded him, asking him why he was smiling more than usual, but Theo didn't want to share the reasons for his cheery state, so he answered with a simple, "Nothing." Unfortunately for Theo, his colleague was rather nosy and persisted, to which Theo added, "I'm meeting a friend tonight.". He hadn't lied, as he wasn't sure where he stood with Noah, but he didn't want to tell her any more details, so he feigned being extremely busy, so that his colleague would not ask her any further questions. He suspected that she had a crush on him, but she didn't know that Theo didn't swing that way. He wasn't in the closet per se, but he didn't really like bringing his personal life into the office.

The two men had agreed to meet at 8 pm at Talay Thai, a Thai restaurant located at the Fisherman's Wharf, but some problems arose at work last minute and Theo couldn't leave until they were sorted. After texting Noah as he left the Venetian hotel, he rushed home so that he had enough time to take a shower, get dressed, and get to the restaurant Noah had suggested, which wasn't very far from the future location of D2. Noah had told Theo that D2 was changing location, which Theo hadn't been aware of, and wanted to show him where the nightclub would move to in June.

Theo managed to arrive home around 7 pm and took a quick shower, before getting dressed, styling his hair, spraying on some cologne, and brushing his teeth. After a glance at the mirror to see if he was pleased with how he looked, he left the apartment with half an hour left until he was supposed to meet Noah. To his luck, he spotted a vacant taxi heading his way and raised his arm to hail it. He told the driver his destination in Cantonese and texted Noah, letting him know that he was already on the way and that he would get there on time.

Fuschia and blue lights of the casinos swayed together in an electric dance at the other side of the bridge, painting the misty sky, already tinged with a golden glow, in a surreal violet haze, tinting the surface of the Pearl River delta with a somewhat impressionistic recreation of the technicolor daze, a product of the high rise buildings that dotted the city's skyline, skyscrapers attempting to touch the sky, but far from succeeding - a true reflection of some of the hapless souls who step into these same buildings with the highest of hopes only to have their dreams crushed and end up sleeping in a public space. The Grand Lisboa hotel dominates the skyline with its unique lotus inspired design, making its much smaller and older sibling, Hotel Lisboa, as well as the Bank of China, once the highest structure in the city, pale in comparison to the grandiose neighbor. Macau - a mere tiny dot in the map of the world, a small metropolis merging elements of both East and West in an almost dizzying combination of the glitzy and hypnotizing Vegas glow and remnants of the old traditional Chinese fishing village as well as the Portuguese colonial heritage.

Even though he had lived in that small gambling hub most of his life, Theo would still on occasion gaze in wonder at the skyline of his city, just like he was doing at that moment as the taxi crossed the Sai Van Bridge, taking them to the quieter part of the densely populated peninsula. Once they approached the Nam Van Lake, he looked to his left and admired the bright city skyline once again from a closer distance. He couldn't help but feel so small when surrounded by the imposing structures trying to reach the sky.