It was 2023. I was spending one week of my vacation from the office on a pretty nice beach in the southeast of Brazil, kissed by the spring sun and blessed by coconuts daily, while my eyes enjoyed a beautiful natural scene. Completely alone, since I needed time to think about my last misadventures and heartbreak with my ex-girlfriend, and going to the beach and staying away from the chaos of São Paulo sounded nice and very much needed.

One of those late afternoons, I was taking a walk by the beach, watching people at their Sunday leisure, surrounded by the maritime atmosphere and the warm air that emanated from the ground after a somewhat cloudy day, when I passed by a white, modern building with curves that seemed to revere the Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. From an open-air party area on the first floor of this building came music that stood out from the others I had heard in the surroundings that week: it was a sound with several layers, which seemed to immerse listeners in a dream or perhaps a trance. I looked intrigued, stopping for a second in front of the mysterious building, and realized that a tall, very thin person with dark skin was watching me from behind his cat-eye sunglasses, with a bit of a 60s look. I felt like I should keep on walking, ashamed to be caught in my subtle voyeurism, but something stopped me. Spontaneously, I gestured with my finger for them to come to me, partly in the hope that I wouldn't be interpreted or taken seriously. A small smile appeared on their face in the distance, followed by the response that imitated my gesture. I froze - I was being invited in.

I slowly crossed the street without allowing the question of self-preservation to enter my mind, wondering if that was a good idea, and waited in front of the gate. The magical being who invited me in soon came to meet me, instructing the doorman to let me enter. I went up the stairs, surprised by the colorful garden that welcomed the pedestrians, completely invisible from the outside. The building inside was much greener than it appeared, with plants hanging on the walls, hydrangeas, flowering Chinese balloons and a variety of tones and colors that made me think of the building as Niemeyer in Wonderland.

A smile and a hug welcomed me, calming my ecstasy:

“I'm glad you came! Come in, you'll like it,” they said.

The music was now louder and was an auditory dance of synthesizers that flirted with techno but without such strong rhythms, giving the landscape a casual and light atmosphere, far from ordinary. People didn't look like they were local. In fact, they didn't even look like they were from planet Earth. It was a mix of skin colors, haircuts, and fabrics - a woman with strange combinations of skirt and blouse worthy of a catwalk contrasted with a couple in gym clothes, and in the end everyone seemed comfortable with the absence of a dress code.

I was taken to the bar, and, with a solemn air, I heard the following words that would change my life forever:

"You are entitled to a single drink for the next six hours. Choose carefully."

I surveyed the bar with raised eyebrows, watching the bartender mix strawberries in a glass with the skills of a magician, surrounded by drinks and twinkling lights. Gym tonic? Caipirinha? The day called for something refreshing.

“I have all day,” I heard and laughed.

“Great!” I replied, smiling, without taking my eyes off the menu. “I want sex on the beach,” I concluded, satisfied.

“Welcome! My name is Lu, and any pronoun pleases me as long as it comes from your heart. You are having the honor of participating in a One Drink Club meeting.”

“Wow. Thanks!” I couldn’t stop smiling. “And what is that?”

“It is a select club whose only rule is to adopt the One Drink style for life in any situation. In this case, drink just one drink, regardless of alcohol content, for six hours. Whole bottles of heavy alcohol are not included.” He laughed, “A long neck, or an apéritif, a shot, anything. And since everyone agrees with this, drinking is no longer a pressure, at least in our meetings. What is your name?”

“I'm so surprised that I even forgot to introduce myself. It's Lila.”

“A pleasure, Lila. The first one is on me.” They winked at me while paying the attendant, who had just handed me the drink that looked like a circus with umbrellas, skewered fruits and colorful bubbles.

“Thank you very much! Cheers!” We toasted, and I took a sip. It was perfectly balanced in alcohol content, flavor and sweetness. I smiled. “There's something about the idea of ​​the whole thing that is very original and conservative at the same time.”

“Conservative? What do you mean?” Lu was surprised.

“Yes, this thing about imposing limits and rules. Don't you think it's a little conservative?”

“I understand what you mean, but I believe it has nothing to do with that. Firstly, it is a common agreement, and no one here is obligated to do anything. As in a good BDSM relationship.” (He winked at me as we walked towards the sea.) “Secondly, conservatism is accepting social impositions that oppress you and harm your body just because others have decided that certain conditioning is tolerable.” Now we had a beautiful broad open view to the sea, and some golden lights escaped through the clouds to illuminate a couple of boys playing soccer near where I was before I was called to enter that unique party.

“Have you never agreed to drink more just because someone else induced or even forced you to do so?” They asked me, and I shook my head positively. “The Drink Club is a kind of support network against these situations. We don't want to stop drinking completely, but we want to make sure that our bodies are being heard, cared for and loved. We also have several criticisms of the alcohol industry, and we see the social problems related to drinking. Likewise, we just want pleasure not to become a burden, and, as you can see, we have many heads in this same purpose."

“I loved it. How do I join?”

“If you want, you're already in. Just start with this drink. Or better yet: stop with it.”