The Bear’s Mail Order Menage

It looked like something out of a cartoon, how perfectly and completely her expression changed. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open into a little “o” and all she could do was stare. She stared for so long that Alina began to squirm, clearly uncomfortable with the intense scrutiny. Joshua put a reassuring arm around her but it didn’t change anything. It was like Crystal was frozen in place and nothing was going to move her from her spot.

“Um, Crystal? Earth to Crystal? Are you the one serving us, sweetheart, or should I get the attention of someone else?”

“No! Sorry, I’m not sure what came over me. I guess I just don’t see new faces around here all that often. Who is this?”

“Crystal! That’s not very polite.”

“It’s ok, Josh, don’t worry about it. I’m sure she didn’t mean to be rude. Did you, Crystal?”

“No, no, of course not!” she said quickly.

Her face was flushed with embarrassment and her eyes were actually brimming with tears. That’s how badly she wanted to make a good impression in front of Andrew. It looked like she just wanted to run to the back of the kitchen and not come back out again until the three of them were done and gone, but that wasn’t actually an option. There weren’t enough servers to begin with and besides, everyone knew that Andrew and Joshua were just about the best tippers in the whole town.

With as few customers as there were available in the town to begin with, none of the servers could afford to be turning people away. She was going to have to suffer through it, and suffering was exactly what she appeared to be doing.

“Well good, now that we’ve gotten that mess sorted out, how about we order?”

“Sure, of course. What can I get for you?”

Things seemed to calm down a bit after that, at least for a while. They got one pitcher of beer and then another, and enough vodka to where it probably would have been more economical to just get a whole bottle, had that even been allowed. Although alcohol wasn’t the answer for everything, it seemed to work like a charm for the three of them on this particular evening.

Andrew noticed with a sort of haughty satisfaction that Alina had loosened up considerably, her thick braid looking messier with each drink, her eyes bright and one perfect long leg tucked beneath her as she laughed at each and every one of his jokes.

Joshua wasn’t saying much of anything at all, but he was smiling along, looking contentedly at his glass full of beer. This was exactly what Andrew had been hoping for when he first concocted the plan to find a girl and bring her to their small town of Charlotte. For things to change, to see a little bit more life breathed into his brother, into himself. Looking at Alina now, he realized that maybe it had actually been better for her to come to Charlotte as well. As much as he wanted to get out of this place, maybe it was the perfect town for her to recuperate from whatever sh*tty life she was running away from.

“Oh god,” she said breathlessly as she painfully shifted her leg out from under her, “my legs are both going to fall asleep if I sit here for much longer.”

“Is that your way of saying you’re ready to go?”

“I’m sorry,” she said with a laugh and red cheeks, “I didn’t mean to be rude.”

“Oh you aren’t! Sorry, my buddy Andrew here has an unfortunate habit of being maybe too blunt.”

“He’s right, I do. And I’m glad if you’re ready to leave. I am too. I’m not a fan of staying in the same place for too long. As far as I’m concerned, the sooner we go the better.”

With that, he threw a wad of bills down on the table and stood, shrugging into his beat-up old jacket and heading for the door. That was the way things were with Andrew. When he decided he was done with something, be it person, place or thing, he was just done. There was no way around it and the chances of changing his mind were slim to none. Fortunately for him, people seemed to follow him when he made these abrupt decisions and this time was no exception.

Both Alina and Joshua took his lead and followed him out of the dinner. At the back of the diner, over by the registers and whispering to her friends, he saw Crystal standing and staring.

Once again, she looked like she had witnessed some kind of great tragedy and she just couldn’t seem to shake it off. Who knew, maybe for her Alina’s presence was a tragedy. Maybe she honestly believed that without a woman like Alina in the way she would have a chance. He wouldn’t want to make her feel bad, but there just wasn’t a scenario in which the two of them would be together.

If Alina hadn’t been there he would have packed his bags and gone. It was so easy to blame another woman instead of thinking that there was something wrong with you. Andrew could understand that, but it still didn’t change anything.

“So where to now?”

“Anywhere!” Alina said with a giggle, swaying slightly as she walked. She wasn’t drunk enough to be compromised exactly, but she was drunk enough to feel open to exploration. Hell, they all were. They were feeling giddy and free in the way that only people under very specific circumstances had the chance to feel, like they were kings and queens for just one night and everything they did was permitted.

“Well then here’s what I suggest. Ready?”

“Ready!” they both shouted, laughing and spinning around in the pitch black street.

“I think, we go by the liquor store, grab some provisions, and head back to someone’s apartment. Let’s just kick back, ok? How does that sound to everyone?”

“It sounds perfect to me.”