Teal chose a deep purple, Peter Pan collared blouse and loose, black pants. The clothes were faded out, like all the clothes she owned, everything most of them wore- except Marc. She'd noticed the night they met, his clothes looked new.

Glancing in the mirror atop the fireplace, she combed the twisted strands of hair back with her thin fingers, to finish her look. She didn't look her best but why would her mind ever go there? There was no good reason to.

Teal turned to look at the large, antique grandfather clock. A hand pointed at the ten and the other at the twelve. She should have left by now because she needed ample time to talk to Marc without distractions. Taking in a nervous breath through her nose, deeper than any other she ever took before, she left.

Leaving the neighborhood behind, Teal walked through a few desolate, dirty streets admiring the shining stars upon their ebony canvas. They were beautiful and Teal wished she'd paid more attention to them, growing up. She bet anything humans did nothing but admire the nightly sky. Teal stopped walking and for a few seconds, she took them in breathing the cool night air. 

Soon the buzzing sound of a few generators polluted her surroundings indicating homes occupied by zombies capable of cooking; like her own, or in need of electricity for some reason or another. Houses filled with a mishmash of families, consisting of individuals who turned and likely knew each other before. In their human life. 

She had never given much thought to how lucky she was to have her parents and brother with her. Even if Aunt Rita couldn't live with them, she was part of a complete family. Recently she realized, many weren't as lucky. She'd been too centered in herself and regardless of the secrets, her family kept, that was on her.

Teal approached the chain-link fence, fifteen minutes later. Rocco wasn't at his usual post, so she pushed it open. When she reached the black, metal doors, she tried the knob and it turned in her hand with a creak when she pulled to peer inside.

Although there was music playing it wasn't as loud as when the club was open. She scanned her eyes around the room but Marc was nowhere to be found. She needed to locate him before the usual patrons arrived. That would barely give her thirty to forty minutes for Marc to listen and convince him to help. 

At the bar, stood a female with pink ponytails, cowboy boots, and jean short-shorts. The tops of her breasts spilled over a tight, gold, and black bustier. She stared at nothingness while twirling her fingers in her hair.

"Hi! Is-is Marc here?" Teal asked unsure of herself.

The girl turned a brown, hollow gaze at her and blankly stared.

"Nah. Out. Supplies."

"How soon until he's back?"

The girl shrugged. Teal rolled her eyes looking around. Her fingers strummed on the stainless steel countertop. She wasn't sure if she should wait, or leave. Then, she recalled she'd told her brother she would be there that evening, so leaving wasn't an option.

"O-kay, thanks." Teal said loud enough for pinky to hear, then muttered a "for nothing", under her breath unconcerned if she heard her or not.

Turning on her heel, Teal walked towards the back of the club where the DJ's cabin and the dance floor were. The area looked radically different when the room was empty and solely lit by emergency lights that came on when the generators were off, or the power was out. Which was always.

Thoughtfully, she veered her eyes around at the details of the place. Black and gray paint covered all walls except one. That one wall was painted red with psychedelic paint splattered around it, for effect. Beautiful, greenish-bronze candelabras hung from the ceiling, filled with red, wax, dripping candles.

"May I help you?"

She jumped, startled. 

Coming in through the back entrance was Marc. She'd been looking up at the speakers encrusted on the walls and hadn't noticed him standing a few feet away from her, watching carefully.

"Oh-ah ... H-hi," she stuttered.

Without responding, he started to walk away. He had a questioning look in his eyes, and in his hands, a few heavy cases of rum.

"Ahem, hmm hmm," she cleared her already clear throat a few times. "Sooo, I don't know if you remember me or not but-"

He stopped and rolled his eyes, "Of course I do."

"Oh- well," she cleared her throat again, out of nervousness. "Ahem, I'm here to see you."

"And, you have." He gave a few slow steps forward.

"Wait!"

Nervously, she ran a hand through her tangles. Her bright eyes shifted, unsure of what she should say next. She raised her gaze and studies the dim orbs that quizzically looked back at her. Teal couldn't help noticing, he wore a mustard yellow shirt, that made them look like raw, green quartz.

"Can we talk? Somewhere private?"

"No." His bluntness made her cringe.

"I'm sorry," she began.

"Is that it? You've come to apologize?"

"It's important that I do."

"Then we can talk here. I have tons of shit to do." He emphasized the word shit, challenging her and what she'd said about not liking zombies who swear. At that moment, she could tell he didn't care, nor felt much like talking to her. 

Teal ignored the inflection and averted her eyes. They kept shifting between the wide of his shoulders, and the bulging, green veins on his forearms from holding the weight of the boxes.

"I do want to apologize."

He stood motionless. His mouth closed. Eyes fixated on her. For a second, she said nothing else. She hoped he'd say something back, at least give her some kind of reaction. When he didn't, she tried again.

"Listen. I'll be brutally honest with you if that's what it takes. I can admit to you now, that I did get drunk. I did," she shrugged. "I flirted with you at the bar but I was not looking to hook up with you. I wasn't trying to lead you into kissing me, or having sex."

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other still only staring at her.

"I-I," she pushed out a breath and closed her eyes tight. This was very humiliating for her. "I never go out. Ever. My brother and Samantha asked me to come, because of my birthday."

He looked bored. Marc already knew this part of the story. 

"That zombie, Daniel, he started to dance with me. Then asked if I wanted to go someplace quiet. I was curious and well- anyway-"

"No. Not anyway. Then what?"

He was relentless. She did not appreciate Marc forcing her to tell the entire story.

"That's not really the important part of this story, I-"

He headed forward.

"Wait! Please!"

Marc stopped. His back to her.

"I'm sorry I argued with you after we kissed. It was childish and I really, really, truly appreciated your help when Daniel disrespected me. He didn't stop when I asked him to, and that's not OK. It was nice of you to intervene ... even though I could have handled him if it got out of hand."

He turned his head to look at her. "Debatable." Marc's right eye twinged when she said the latter but he didn't move a muscle. "Nice of me?"

"Yes, I didn't thank you. In my defense, I was going through a whole new set of emotions and experiences."

He placed the boxes on the floor, his mouth slightly agape. "Are you serious right now?"

"Let me finish. Daniel, that zombie you saw me with, he was my first kiss, ever. I don't regret kissing him, Marc. Nor you. I was trying to- have fun. Experience life a little, since I never-" Her words sounded awful and not at all how she meant them.

He came within inches of her face and skimmed his eyes over her pale features. 

"And, did you?"

Teal became aware of his stare. Her breath went shallow, her insides churned, and her saliva became a tight plug at her throat. 

"Did I what?" 

Her warm breath fanned his face. Marc placed the palm of his hand on her cheek, their lips almost touched and she gasped in, taking a cool breath.

"Have fun. Experience life." 

He made her nervous, and he knew it.

"That's not how I meant it. I've never really, experienced, zombie, stuff."

"Zombie stuff?" His brow frowned and he couldn't hold back a laugh.

"I'm baring my soul to you! This is pretty embarrassing, Marc," she whispered.

He rolled his eyes and removed his hand stepping away.

"It is," she insisted.

"I'll forget the fact that you couldn't face me for weeks and avoided this conversation..." He studied her face, "You must want something pretty valuable," he concluded dryly.

"I couldn't. I'm really sorry. I wanted to but I couldn't forget I'd been such a jackass."

He nodded slightly agreeing with her choice words.

She came closer. "Marc, I need your help. I need to ask for a couple of favors," she paused. Talking to him was exactly as difficult as she knew it would be. "They're a big deal."

"Go on." His eyes grew softer and his brow furrowed with concern.

"I need to contact my aunt," Teal took a deep breath."On the other side. She's human." She was but a foot away from him, her voice low. "I need a phone."

Understanding it to be a serious matter, he huffed, running a hand over the green, tipped spikes of hair.

"Damn," he sighed. "Human? Come with me. I need to drop this off at the bar." He pointed at the boxes with his head.

Teal nodded and followed.

"Kaya, here's the rum."

"Finally!" She said tearing the tape on the boxes with one long nail.

"Do you need anything else from me, Kaya?"

"Nope."

"Okay, don't disturb me unless you absolutely have to." He motioned Teal with his hand, "Come." 

Teal followed him to a stairway leading to a medium-sized office, with darkened glass that looked over the dancefloor below.

She looked around in awe. There was a big, flat-screen TV on the wall, a large white sofa, a desk with an office chair and two separate armchairs facing it. The hardwood desk was covered with very organized stacks of papers. To one side, a metal cup that held a few pens and pencils, and to the other, a desktop computer. 

Teal sat in one of the plush chairs and placed her hands on her lap. He took the seat facing her resting his elbows on his thigh; his thumb and forefinger held his chin, his gaze on her face.

"I have so many questions for you right now, but I feel the most important one is, why do you need to contact your aunt?"

Teal was relieved he chose to focus on her issue and not their heated spat. She paused for a brief moment choosing her words.

"It's a long story and I need you to promise you'll keep my secrets."

He nodded. "You have nothing to worry about, Teal. You have my word."

Author's Notes:

*Video Clip: Tango is a traditional dance that originated in the Argentina and Uruguay border initiated by African slaves along the Plata River. It is a fusion of African and European culture. Today there are many styles of Tango and music.

Although not a traditional Tango piece above (mixed with rock) Tango (also called the dance of sorrow) is a very passionate expression of love usually representing human fatality, a struggle or a difficult courtship.

**A look inside Their Brain: The games we play. Teal and Marc are dealing with that struggle. The fact they represent death and yet wish to live. They're attracted to each other and yet neither wishes to admit, their relationship could be something more than a collaboration, business partnership or friendship.