WEBVTT - Episode 1: Snap, Crackle, and Cry 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:03.920 The Hookup is a production of iHeart Podcasts, Blumhouse Television 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:10.440 and Ember twenty. Listener discretion is totally advised. Do you 0:00:10.440 --> 0:00:11.240 want to hear a joke? 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:13.560 Okay? 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:17.119 So Sherlock and Watson have started spending a lot of 0:00:17.160 --> 0:00:20.720 time together, like off the clock. Watson is positive he's 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:24.160 getting you know, vibes from Sherlock. So one night, after 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:27.680 a round of pints at Eye Old Pint House, one 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:31.960 thing leads to another and suddenly they're back at Watson's place. Now, 0:00:32.080 --> 0:00:36.360 Sherlock's a little nervous because he's supposedly never done this before, 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:42.080 so Watson is taking it slow. After a minute, Watson 0:00:42.159 --> 0:00:47.919 pulls out. He glances down and then grins and triumphantly declares, 0:00:49.000 --> 0:00:50.120 no shit Sherlock. 0:00:52.880 --> 0:00:56.840 So is that a yes to gualk. 0:00:58.560 --> 0:00:58.760 Uh? 0:00:58.840 --> 0:00:59.480 Yes? Please? 0:01:00.240 --> 0:01:06.399 Oh and could shit hold please? There's nothing quite so 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:09.039 humbling as when you forget to silence your phone and 0:01:09.080 --> 0:01:11.440 then when you're in public you get a dating app notification, 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:14.959 and not one of the designed to be deleted ones. No, 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:19.000 I'm talking the unbridled bacchanalia apps with those really shrill 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:23.520 notification sounds like that, So you look around all shifty 0:01:23.600 --> 0:01:26.800 to see if anyone heard you. No, of course no 0:01:26.840 --> 0:01:28.600 one heard you, Damien. You're in the middle of the 0:01:28.640 --> 0:01:33.000 noisy on campus Chipotle asking for the medium spicy Saltza. 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:37.880 And also the world doesn't revolve around you, you raunchy egomaniac. 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.520 Still you hold your phone low and open up Metal, 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:44.840 the hookup app currently in vogue. 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:48.200 Welcome to Metal Make Travel. 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:53.600 Okay, let's see, she's twenty nine, two miles away. Looks 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:56.880 like the descendant of some funny business at the family barbecues. 0:01:56.920 --> 0:01:59.760 But I get it. Mustn't desecrate the royal blood line 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:00.400 and all that. 0:02:00.640 --> 0:02:04.200 Hey, man, what are you into? I have the hook up. 0:02:04.840 --> 0:02:07.480 I don't deign to imagine what Bell pepper Man has 0:02:07.520 --> 0:02:10.920 a hookup for, but I do recognize the guy from somewhere. 0:02:11.880 --> 0:02:17.920 Then again, hey, that'll be nine fifty hm oh right, sorry, shit, 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:19.760 did the Chipotle guy see me? U? 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:20.080 Metal? 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:23.240 Just now? I mean, I know, we just established the 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:27.800 world doesn't revolve around me, but well, my world. 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:29.639 Does have a good one, Bud. 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:36.080 But I scan his caso speckled face for a wink, 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:41.720 even a smile as the burrito passes hands. But alas, 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:42.600 no such luck. 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:43.680 In Ludlow Hills. 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:48.200 Like our dating app scene, our town itself is small 0:02:48.240 --> 0:02:51.960 and mostly insignificant. I mean, if it weren't for Crestwick University, 0:02:52.080 --> 0:02:55.440 the lifeblood of Ludlow's economy, the metal presence here would 0:02:55.440 --> 0:02:58.600 be dead. And don't get me wrong, it basically still is. 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:04.480 See Ludlow isn't Greenwich Village or West Hollywood or the Vatican. 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:05.400 You know. 0:03:05.520 --> 0:03:08.520 Think of us as a tiny, gated community where everyone 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:11.880 knows everyone, no matter how often you refresh the apps. 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:16.160 And so I take my medium spicy burrito and walk 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:20.639 back to the dorms and I stand corrected. An unfamiliar 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:25.240 face shoots me a message he's cute, but not so 0:03:25.400 --> 0:03:29.720 cute that he's probably a catfish the sweet spot, and 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:33.440 then his username is now fuck me, it's the circus 0:03:33.480 --> 0:03:38.560 tent emoji. Oh oh, I get it. It's a big 0:03:38.600 --> 0:03:44.600 top tent, big top, nauseating, yes, but I respect the pun. 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:47.840 Oh big top, says. 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:50.600 Cute pick, but your profile is blank. 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:55.760 Hm, observant. Truth is I only recently downloaded the app, 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.600 and no, I'm not in the closet. I've just been 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:02.760 dealing with some stuff lately, and Metal has seemed like 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:03.160 a lot. 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:10.000 But it's time. Let's fill out my profile displaying Damien 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:16.560 basil Hurst. Hmm, that's a little personal great. 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:22.599 Dame, relationship status, single bio. 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:26.640 Now do I want to come off approachable and boyfriendly 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:32.000 or sexy and man friendly? Maybe a bit of both. 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:39.039 Sophomore journalism major at Crestwick U. Let's get coffee or 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:42.280 a drink. I'm the type of guy you can bring 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:45.760 home to your parents. But your dad might recognize me. 0:04:46.880 --> 0:04:49.080 But but I respect the sanctity of marriage, and I 0:04:49.160 --> 0:04:52.479 so did not mean to insinuate anything about your father's sexuality. 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:59.359 That's not my place, right your That's a relief sele prompts. 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:03.120 Huh, I have to answer prompts? What is it with 0:05:03.279 --> 0:05:07.039 dating apps these days? Trying to foster real connections? I 0:05:07.080 --> 0:05:09.320 don't need anyone poking around my brain. You know what 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:12.200 you find when you go beneath the surface, gooey seaweed 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.279 that brushes against your ankle and makes you scream. Select 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:19.279 prompt Jesus fine. 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:21.840 Prompt number one. I'm overly competitive. 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:25.600 About literally everything. Stay out of my way. 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:29.560 Urchins Prompt number two. My dream dinner. 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:33.600 Guest is the postmate's delivery guide, and he leaves after 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:34.920 handing me my food. 0:05:35.160 --> 0:05:40.400 Okay, last one prompt number three. My unusual skill is. 0:05:40.720 --> 0:05:47.760 Oh I know this self sabotage. At least Big Top 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:48.600 thought it was funny. 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:54.000 Nice stats twenty nine mask UNSA. 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:57.000 And that seems paranoid NSA. 0:05:58.200 --> 0:05:59.400 No strings attached? 0:06:00.120 --> 0:06:09.119 Oh hah, yeah, no strings is cool? So you looking shit? 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:14.160 Am I looking? I mean, on one hand, hormones, But 0:06:14.400 --> 0:06:17.320 on the other hand, a cozy night in with mister 0:06:17.400 --> 0:06:24.680 postmates Dick pick in coming, make that a double. He's 0:06:24.720 --> 0:06:27.160 kind of got this like leaning Tower of Pisa thing 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:30.839 going on. I wonder if anyone's ever told him that 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:37.600 you there? Yeah, Hi, sorry, I'm super hot. A masterpiece 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:43.680 in phallic photograph A fee you travel sometimes with family? 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:45.960 Lol? 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:46.520 You're green? 0:06:47.480 --> 0:06:49.960 Travel or host? It means do you want to come 0:06:50.000 --> 0:06:51.760 to my place or do I come to yours? 0:06:53.520 --> 0:06:53.919 Travel? 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:57.320 I guess I have a roommate, which I admit is 0:06:57.600 --> 0:07:00.440 a lie. I do live in a single but it's 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:02.560 because I don't want other people in my room. 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:04.839 Cool, I can host. 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:08.560 So are you a top or a bottom? 0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:11.800 I have a whole thing about this, but honestly, I'm 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:15.760 trying to slow place some of my neurosis so stand 0:07:15.760 --> 0:07:17.720 by open. 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:18.280 To either. 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:22.000 Nice come over. 0:07:22.720 --> 0:07:25.400 On the very slight chance it wasn't obvious. I do 0:07:25.440 --> 0:07:29.480 find it worth mentioning that big top spells it cum over. 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.960 I'm at the Ludlow Lodge Apartments six six. 0:07:36.880 --> 0:07:40.240 All right, it's settled, I guess i'm looking. 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.000 Is this it Ludlow Lodge Apartments? 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:55.120 Yes? 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:56.960 This is perfect? Thank you. 0:07:57.200 --> 0:08:04.680 Stay safe, Stay safe drivers always know what you're up to, 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:10.200 and he can smell it on you. The Ludlow Lodge 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:12.880 apartments are motel style, with each room exiting to the 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.760 outdoor hallway. It's a long way up to the sixth floor, 0:08:15.800 --> 0:08:18.360 but I've been skipping leg day lately, as in I've 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:21.880 never done it, so I could use the climb sides. 0:08:22.040 --> 0:08:30.800 It's not like I'm nervous per se. But what's the rush? 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:35.360 I'm here? Okay, I really hope this guy isn't a murderer. 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:39.440 Hey there, Hey you? 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:43.360 And then it happens the hookup, handshaked tango? 0:08:44.040 --> 0:08:46.959 Are we? Oh? Oh, fist bump, we're doing that? Okay? 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:50.280 Yeah, bro oh he is a murderer. I hope he 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:50.960 kills me soon. 0:08:51.120 --> 0:08:51.960 Earth's a great dame. 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:57.480 Sorry, I think too much. I think you look like 0:08:57.520 --> 0:08:58.120 your pictures. 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:01.800 You look older than yours. Come in. 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:05.320 I want to remind him that is technically the nature 0:09:05.320 --> 0:09:08.440 of photos. You're always older than the day you took them. 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.719 But I hold my tongue. I suspect it's about to 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:12.400 get a workout. 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:20.559 Do you want to drink? 0:09:21.120 --> 0:09:24.480 Or we could just get ready to be great? Okay? 0:09:25.360 --> 0:09:25.680 Sure. 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:32.319 I always find it weird looking around a hookups place 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:36.000 when you're only in someone's dwelling to play hide the sausage. 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:38.560 It's difficult to imagine them on that keyboard in the 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:40.760 corner or using that juicer. 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:45.920 So you go to Crestwick I do. Yeah, that's cool. 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:50.920 So what do you do? I'm a chiropractor? 0:09:51.840 --> 0:09:56.560 Oh snap, Okay, that was like objectively funny. If he 0:09:56.600 --> 0:09:58.720 doesn't laugh, that is squarely on him. 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:00.680 Nice. 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:06.439 Come here, Can I look at your bookshelf? 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:12.680 Medical books? John Grisham? Of course the truth? Jet fuel 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:14.079 can't melt steel beams. 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:23.240 WHOA what? Sorry you've seen nervous? Oh I gave it away, 0:10:23.600 --> 0:10:24.840 the nervous laughter. 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:26.440 No, the sweaty palms. 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:31.880 Excuse me, I just rolled my eyes so hard they 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.200 fell out of my face. Sorry, this is just sort 0:10:35.240 --> 0:10:40.080 of like my first time. What that's not what I meant. 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.000 This is just my first time with someone from an app. 0:10:44.760 --> 0:10:46.360 What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the 0:10:46.360 --> 0:10:48.720 wall When he describes tonight from his point of view? 0:10:49.360 --> 0:10:50.240 Is that okay to say? 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:52.720 Did I just make this weird? No? 0:10:53.040 --> 0:10:55.559 He didn't make it weird. I actually think it's kind 0:10:55.559 --> 0:10:55.960 of cute. 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:00.280 I'm afraid that if I unpack why naive as I 0:11:00.360 --> 0:11:05.199 virginal boys get him off, it'll yield unsavory results, so I. 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:05.560 Let it go. 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:08.199 So what made you take the leap? 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:10.200 I don't know. 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:11.400 You're really cute? 0:11:12.320 --> 0:11:16.880 Hot hot hot, I mean really hot, and you know 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:19.400 it helped that you had a face photo. These apps 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:23.000 start to feel like a gallery of headless Torso picks the. 0:11:23.040 --> 0:11:24.200 Anne Bolens of metal. 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:28.960 I like to say, honestly, that one's on me. Know 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:30.560 your audience, dame right? 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:32.439 Are you on prep? 0:11:33.200 --> 0:11:39.200 Uh? No? No, I'm not yet. I keep meaning too, but. 0:11:38.040 --> 0:11:44.560 I brought condoms. I'll grow up, but I promise I'll 0:11:44.559 --> 0:11:45.360 make it worth it. 0:11:45.800 --> 0:11:52.240 Oh that's so in reality, I probably won't. Sexual fulfillment 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:56.600 isn't really why I'm here. See I remember learning in 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:58.920 a lit class a while back about the concept of 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:03.320 an unreliable and well, as far as narrators go, I 0:12:03.559 --> 0:12:07.679 may not have been one hundred percent honest. The truth 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.200 is I didn't agree to come hook up with Big 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:12.520 Top just because of my neglected libido. 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:13.480 No. 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:16.360 I got on board when he dropped the pin to 0:12:16.480 --> 0:12:21.760 the Ludlow Lodge apartments, Room six one six. Now, remember 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.920 when I said the complex is motel style. Well, that's 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.720 because up until this past summer it was a motel. 0:12:28.600 --> 0:12:31.400 After being bought out by real estate developers from Seattle, 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:34.720 it underwent a shoddy renovation, complete with a small and 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.760 likely diseased pool, and voila home, sweet home to the 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:42.440 lower middle class of Ludlow, which tells you very little 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:45.600 since we're already a town comprised exclusively of the lower 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:49.680 middle class. Now, how is all of this relevant? That's 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.120 a good question, to which I'll respond by talking more 0:12:52.120 --> 0:12:57.000 about myself. Lately, the only question I hate more than 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:00.880 top or bottom is being asked about my first time see. 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:05.600 I really only purged the verge last year, and it 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:14.720 was with this guy I was seeing, Santy. I met 0:13:14.760 --> 0:13:17.719 Santy at a Luau party in October. I know it's 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:20.000 a culture and not a party theme. That's why I 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:22.520 had to drink so many jello shots. I could hardly 0:13:22.559 --> 0:13:24.800 stand being there. I think, what was the first thing 0:13:24.840 --> 0:13:27.840 I noticed about Santy? Well, if I ever remember, i'll 0:13:27.880 --> 0:13:30.439 let you know. What I do recall from that night 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:37.320 is brazenly approaching him sometime around one, I am. 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:36.920 Hey, what's up? 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:37.199 Hey? 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:39.199 There mostly your BAC. 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:44.880 I'm guessing excuse me, BAC blood alcohol content. No, I 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:47.320 know what it stands for. I just didn't realize I 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:53.960 was in the presence of a excuse me of a professor. Hey, 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:55.920 are there any more of those little jello shot things? 0:13:57.040 --> 0:14:01.680 Maybe you should take a breather, Maybe you should sawed off? Professor? 0:14:02.400 --> 0:14:06.320 Who put you in charge? Me? This is my party 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.720 in my house. Okay? 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:12.640 Would it make things better if I like, physically put 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:14.120 my foot in my mouth right now? 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:16.360 I would do it. No need. 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:19.360 I'm not much of a feat guy. 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:22.160 I'm Santi Damien. 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:26.720 So Damien. How'd you end up at my little luau tonight? 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.920 I tagged along with my roommate, but now he's back 0:14:30.960 --> 0:14:33.160 at our dorm with his latest paramore. 0:14:33.400 --> 0:14:37.480 So I'm sexiled. I can't keep my eyes open. I 0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:46.680 see that. Well, you're welcome the crash here. Party's dying anyway, It's. 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:47.280 A slow death. 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:51.360 I bet you invite all the sexiled freshmen over to 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:54.280 your room. 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:55.000 Just the ones with really nice eyes. 0:14:56.880 --> 0:15:02.320 That's I don't I can't really handle compounds right now. 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:04.200 Does not compute? 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:06.480 Uh huh? 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:10.200 So what do you think about staying over? 0:15:10.600 --> 0:15:12.680 But I'm not trying to take advantage of you. It 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:14.840 just seems like you need a. 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:17.560 Place to be right now. How do you know I 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:19.480 wouldn't take advantage of you. 0:15:20.280 --> 0:15:22.480 I could ransack your house in the night, steal all 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:23.479 your valuables. 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:27.760 Good point. This whole blind drunk bit could be an 0:15:27.800 --> 0:15:28.840 elaborate hustle. 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:38.880 Yeah, maybe I'm just pretending to be. I will now 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:40.680 open the floor to a brief Q and. 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:49.720 A David Romain NBC News. Did you vomit on Santi. 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:54.400 Yes I did, Bailey Drags TMZ. Did you spend the 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:56.680 night in his room? Yes I did. 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:03.640 Jenny Brock Breitbart, Did you have sex gross? 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:11.560 No, I wasn't even conscious, also Breitbart. We did, however, 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:15.320 get breakfast the next morning, where I apologized profusely over 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:20.600 runny eggs. After that we started hanging out. It was 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:24.160 pretty casual at first, you know, lunch, hitting up parties together. 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:28.360 I usually initiated it and he usually made time, and 0:16:28.400 --> 0:16:29.160 that was fine with me. 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:30.080 For a while. 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:33.840 We had our own little bubble separate from the real world. 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:37.640 But I started to want more. 0:16:39.080 --> 0:16:41.680 I mean, I didn't know anything about about his friends, 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:46.280 or his family, or the research project he'd spend hours 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:50.320 in the lab working on every day. I wouldn't go 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:54.120 so far as to say my feelings for Santy were unrequited. 0:16:54.800 --> 0:16:58.400 But if for quittal was economic stability, our relationship was 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:02.720 two thousand and eight. I mean, Santy changed everything for me. 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:09.200 He was my favorite thing, and he just had other 0:17:09.280 --> 0:17:13.520 things than me. And no, we hadn't gone all the 0:17:13.560 --> 0:17:17.080 way yet. Santy knew I'd never had like sex at 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:20.800 that point, so we kind of danced around that milestone, 0:17:20.800 --> 0:17:24.119 if you will, until I finally told him I was ready. 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:28.320 Santy wanted to make my first time special, so he 0:17:28.359 --> 0:17:31.240 booked us a room. I got Champagne the whole nine 0:17:31.240 --> 0:17:35.439 inches now and he guesses as to what hotel Santy 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:40.320 booked for us that night. Yep, the Ludlow Lodge Motel, 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:45.960 Room six won six and it was perfect. I mean, 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:48.880 I remember in the shower afterwards. I couldn't stop grinning 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:55.040 until I got out of the bathroom and Santy was gone. 0:17:56.080 --> 0:18:00.159 And not just I busted a nut and I'm going home. Gone. 0:18:02.320 --> 0:18:03.960 Santy has been missing ever since. 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:08.240 Hey, this is Santy. Text me to leave a message 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:09.240 and I'll get you back. 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:13.520 Hi, where are you? Boyo? Didn't you just run out 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:14.000 to get ice? 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:17.320 Hey this is Santy. Text me to leave a message 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:18.280 and I'll get you back. 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:24.080 Santi, Hi, where are you? I called the front desk, 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:28.680 they didn't see you leave. Can you call me back? 0:18:29.000 --> 0:18:29.919 I'm a little worried. 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:32.960 Hey, this is Santy. Text me to leave a message 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:33.960 and I'll get you back. 0:18:34.280 --> 0:18:39.760 Santy, what's going on? The police are looking for you. 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:41.520 Can you just let me know if you're okay? 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:46.000 Was just? Was it me? 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:48.040 So? 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:48.760 Yeah? 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:52.959 I got ghosted in a big way. The police questioned 0:18:53.000 --> 0:18:53.760 everyone that night. 0:18:54.200 --> 0:18:57.879 The concierge, no, now you listen here, the Ludlow lodgeing, 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:01.000 they had none solved disappearance at almost eight We sure 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:03.440 as hell don't need you cock, sure out of towners 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:07.840 coming in and shaking things up, housekeeping nice or nothing. 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.800 I was in the lundryroom washing the blood from sheets. 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:14.520 Even the bellboy on duty with the deeply asymmetrical face. 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.800 I was downstairs getting ice because the machine on the 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:21.040 sixth floor was out of order. Pretty sure the CCTV 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:22.720 can confirm. 0:19:22.200 --> 0:19:25.440 But sans any evidence of struggle or foul play, the 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:29.080 investigation reached a stand still pretty fast. It wasn't long 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:32.439 before the LCPD declared Santy I run away and closed 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:35.400 the case. And while I'd like to think he's off 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.720 sipping White Claw and the Maldives with his secret sugar Daddy, 0:19:39.359 --> 0:19:42.120 that just never seemed likely to me. I mean, who 0:19:42.160 --> 0:19:46.080 just runs away post coitus, never to be seen again. Well, 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:52.400 well other than my dad. No, my psychiatrist didn't laugh 0:19:52.400 --> 0:19:56.880 at that one either. Anyway, the renovations began a few 0:19:56.880 --> 0:19:59.120 weeks later, so I was never able to get back 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:03.040 into this room. But when I saw that Big Top 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:07.879 was living here, Oh shit, he's coming. Okay, Damien ahead 0:20:07.880 --> 0:20:10.320 in the game, Oh. 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:23.840 How was that? 0:20:24.720 --> 0:20:25.000 Well? 0:20:25.119 --> 0:20:28.240 I dissociated and thought about my missing X the whole time. 0:20:28.320 --> 0:20:31.160 So you tell me it was so hot? 0:20:32.800 --> 0:20:35.960 Thanks? And dude, you are definitely. 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:38.840 A bottom pillow talk the most unwelcome window into the 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:39.600 human psyche. 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:44.520 Mmm noted? Hey, can I ask you a question. 0:20:45.000 --> 0:20:48.040 Do guys ever like ask you to crack him when 0:20:48.080 --> 0:20:49.360 you say you're a chiropractor? 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:54.719 Yeah, all the time. Would you like it tune up? 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:58.439 I mean, if he won't stop asking, Big Top starts 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:00.800 to stretch my arms, acquainting himself off with my spine. 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:07.879 It feels nice to be taken care of. Ow do 0:21:07.960 --> 0:21:09.400 you get tired of doing this? 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:14.240 Turn your neck this way. Sometimes chiropractics have the potential 0:21:14.280 --> 0:21:16.760 to get emotional, and tears kind of gild the vibe 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:19.080 or maybe not, depending on what you're into. 0:21:19.359 --> 0:21:22.000 Tears Shaw, some. 0:21:21.880 --> 0:21:23.080 People are really into that shit. 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:29.680 No, I mean like chiropractics make people emotional, Oh for sure. 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.840 It's it's common for chiropractic treatments to trigger past trauma. 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:37.760 Our bodies hold so much inside, more than we even realize, 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:44.639 and sometimes when we let it crack, we release everything 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:45.560 we've been suppressing. 0:21:46.480 --> 0:21:55.679 Snap, crackle and cry. Well, m no trauma yet, all 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:58.720 right here face me. Big Top is staring ahead now, 0:21:59.000 --> 0:22:03.520 eyes kind of glaze over miles away you Okay. 0:22:04.359 --> 0:22:07.800 Yeah, I was just I was just thinking about this guy, 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:10.480 a patient that came through for a tune up when 0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:14.480 I was in training. I'll sit up straight out. He 0:22:14.600 --> 0:22:17.199 was wearing a mask, but it wasn't about his face. 0:22:17.800 --> 0:22:20.800 It was about his joints. I'm not even sure how 0:22:20.800 --> 0:22:21.359 to describe it. 0:22:21.560 --> 0:22:23.040 Mmmm, that's okay. 0:22:23.160 --> 0:22:23.920 Rotate your head. 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.080 It's like it's like we were continents. 0:22:27.240 --> 0:22:30.359 Yes, yeah, we were continents at the dawn of time, 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:36.640 two fractured land masses, just drifting for eons until pandigga out. 0:22:36.800 --> 0:22:40.399 Okay, maybe a little less time spent paying attention to 0:22:40.480 --> 0:22:41.639 cute boys during training. 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:50.119 So did you get his number? I guess not. 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:54.680 It's funny the moment you register that this stranger you're 0:22:54.720 --> 0:22:58.520 with has their own life, their own past, own insecurities 0:22:58.520 --> 0:23:02.640 and baggage, maybe even their own suppressed spinal suffering too. 0:23:03.600 --> 0:23:05.440 Have you tried to find him? 0:23:05.800 --> 0:23:08.440 I don't know what he looks like. So when I 0:23:08.480 --> 0:23:10.600 hooke up with a guy that maybe could be him, 0:23:10.680 --> 0:23:15.200 I have to test for that same you know, cosmic snap, 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:17.520 and then I'll know I found him. 0:23:17.880 --> 0:23:20.280 I feel for Big Top, I do. I mean, that's 0:23:20.320 --> 0:23:23.640 the type of bizarre trauma I'd get myself into. Besides, 0:23:23.680 --> 0:23:27.879 it's not like I don't have my own agenda tonight anyway. 0:23:27.560 --> 0:23:29.719 Look alive, soldier, I'm going to go take a shower, 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:31.880 but we'll go again when I get back. 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:38.240 And the moment's gone, so joint relief aside, Why did 0:23:38.240 --> 0:23:39.200 I really come back here? 0:23:40.560 --> 0:23:41.000 Closure? 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:44.600 I guess, like like when a ghost can't stop violently 0:23:44.640 --> 0:23:47.360 tormenting a family until they find its bones and give 0:23:47.400 --> 0:23:50.720 it a proper burial. I guess Santi is my ghost 0:23:52.080 --> 0:23:57.680 and that's my cue. But where does one typically find 0:23:57.720 --> 0:24:02.120 this elusive closure? Under the bed, behind the chipped little 0:24:02.119 --> 0:24:07.480 credenza where Santy poured our final champagne toast. No, no 0:24:07.600 --> 0:24:10.960 closure here. I was ready to move on to let 0:24:11.000 --> 0:24:13.960 Santy go, and Big Top had to come along and 0:24:14.000 --> 0:24:18.000 invite me to this exact room. No, I can't let go, 0:24:18.920 --> 0:24:21.879 not until I find out what happened to Santy. This 0:24:22.000 --> 0:24:25.520 ghost doesn't need a proper burial, It needs a goddamn 0:24:25.600 --> 0:24:29.600