It was another one of those boring, flat days. There was nothing but garbage on TV and I didn't really feel like reading. So I decided to go out for a while. I didn't have a specific destination, nor a place to meet up with friends. I went where my feet wanted to take me, until, late in the evening, I found myself in front of a nightclub. 

<<What the hell am I supposed to do here?>> I thought, it was one of those places that I would never frequent according to my principles.

But that night something was different, there was no one there to keep me company, I didn't have a partner waiting for me at home, let alone children. So, why not? I put aside hesitation and hesitancy and decided to go in.

What appeared in front of me was definitely what I expected to see. As in the most tamaronic 90's movies, there was a consistent air of perversion and promiscuity.

Young girls completely naked with only heels and long stockings, were making their show on cold poles. Although I was far away from them, I could hear the excited voices of the men who were downstairs eating them with their eyes.

As I walked, I saw mixed couples talking with their mischievous smiles and lascivious hands. It was quite clear what their most talked about topics were. Among the deafening music and the smells of alcohol, I went to a bar, where there was a bartender with an apparently lived-in age.

<<What can I offer you? >> he asked me smiling. It was the kind of smile he was used to making during his long career, simple and inspiring a sense of welcome.

<<A soft drink, if possible>> I answered.

He looked at me with surprise, but nodded shortly afterwards, smiling. He seemed to be thinking about something, but avoided speaking further. After a handful of seconds, he served me a reddish liquid in a finished cylindrical glass. I said thank you, as was my custom, and observed the drink. Unknowingly I saw a couple exchanging effusions without paying attention to those around them. At that point, looking at the couple through the glass of my glass, along with the red non-alcoholic in the background, I thought of something. What about love in a place like this? What do the people who habitually frequent this place think about love? I turned without thinking further towards the couple: <<Excuse me? - I asked them - can I ask you a question?

The couple turned towards me and answered affirmatively <<Ask away>> said the man.

<<What is love to you? The first thing that comes to your mind>> I said.

The couple pondered for a few seconds, then looked into each other's eyes. With a small smile on their lips they replied in unison: <<Complicity!>>I

Iidn't think much about the meaning of the answer, thanked them before walking away from them.

I continued asking, this time to an elegant man with a cold and mature air. He was alone, there was no one to keep him company.

<<Sorry, can I ask you a question?>>

<<Mh? Ask away>>> he answered in a tone.

<<What is love to you? The first thing that comes to your mind>> I said again.

He didn't hesitate for long before answering: <<The basis of everything.

The answer displaced me, I asked the man unconsciously to express himself better, but he ignored my existence, as if to make me understand that he had spoken too much. 

I go further then. I meet a girl in a corner, she too alone, her sweaty hands clasped in front of her gave signs of discomfort. I approach her and ask: <<Excuse me? Can I ask you a question? >>

Watching me approach she stiffens a little, but not too much, in a shy voice she replies, <<Yes...>>

<<What is love to you? The first thing that comes to your mind>> I ask her.

<<I don't know...>> she answered hesitantly, tightening her fingers even more.

<<To be with someone you love, maybe>>.

Her answer also gave me pause. I smiled sweetly and wished her a good evening, she watched me walk away but said nothing to stop me. The evening continued, I wandered from one corner of the room to another to ask the same thing: <<What is love for you?

And each of those present, gave the most varied and unthinkable answers.

One of the girls who made the show of lapdance answered me that love was a kiss. The tenderness of that answer left me stunned for several minutes.

A man who appeared to be married, but in the company of what did not appear to be his wife, replied that, love was is the merging of mind and soul, it is the respect and sincerity between two individuals. Coming from a married man in the company of a lover, I had a hard time believing him though. However, he said it as if it was the most obvious thing in this world, even though he was doing the opposite. Some people at the question turned me away abruptly, as if I was talking about a taboo. It was almost like swearing inside a church for them. It was a very strange feeling to feel. The evening finally came to an end and in my mind there was chaos. Not of alcohol or drugs, or the excitement of a fiery evening, no. My mind couldn't connect a pure feeling like love, in a place that stood as a counterpart to love. It was curious to think, that the people in that club were apparently dissatisfied. A bit like those housewives in TV series who would go on escapades to shake up their lives. Same similar situation, except for one point. Instead of seeking fulfillment of the body, they were seeking fulfillment of the soul. What strange creatures human beings are, when they have something they paradoxically want another. The days went by, but I never went back to those places, I remained closed within the walls of my room brooding thoughts on thoughts. One day, however, going to throw away the garbage I met a familiar face, the man nodded to me with his hand when he saw me, he was the barman of that place.

What a strange coincidence, I thought at that moment. We stayed talking for some time about the more and less, finally I told him about the small experiment that I had held.

The man looked at me and laughed genuinely.

<<Why are you laughing? Do you find it strange? >> I asked perplexed.

<<Ahah, no not at all>> he answered.

<<I think that everybody thinks about it the first time they enter in these kind of places, I must admit that I thought about it too>>.

<<And what has changed since then?>> I asked.

<<Only the conception of what others might feel>> he answered.

At that point I didn't understand, <<Explain yourself>> I said.

<<I think all the people who go to these types of clubs, or groups, are people who have ideals of love. The love they described to you is the love they wish they had, but haven't had. Not love as it is>> he explained.
<<If so, many of them have very innocent thoughts for being perverts>> I said jokingly.
The man laughed again.
<<Despite the distorted life a person may lead, certain things will remain unchanging. Like the desire to be loved>> he said smiling.
<<And for you? What is love? >> I asked immediately afterwards.
<<To want the good of others and independently be happy about it>>> he answered. After that we said goodbye.
I had received a different answer from the others.
I went home and sat down thoughtfully. The topic was certainly vast and I had received many answers. But putting all those pieces together, I thought for a moment about those people who turned me away when I asked my question. I arrived at only one possible answer. Those people didn't want to hear about love in that place, because they didn't feel worthy of it, because it was something too beautiful and too pure to discuss in that environment, where love was almost a taboo. Finally, I asked myself the question: <<What is love? >>.
At the moment I don't feel I can give a precise answer, like everyone else. I think, however, that love is an initial state of every individual, the starting point rooted from the foundation. To the point of being coveted by the most unlikely and unsuspected people. The bartender was right, we all want to be loved, no matter who we are or what we do. Good or bad, tall or short, beautiful or ugly, Asian or European, everyone, no one excluded. Love itself, doesn't disappear, it's always there, sometimes in a corner. It's us who forget, or worse, pretend not to remember.