FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

~ Chapter 4 ~

Four-Thirty could not have come quickly enough.

"I know, ma'am," I repeat myself. My foot eagerly tapped against a wheel of my chair at ten times per second. I shifted in my seat just about as often, too. "I... Yes, ma'am... Yes... Okay ma'am but unfortunately I am not qualified to answer - Ma'am? As I was saying, I'm not qualified to answer your question specifically, but I can transfer you to someone who will be better able to solve your problem? It's no trouble at all... Thank you for waiting." I put the phone on hold and leaned across the alley to the cubicle parallel from mine.

"Hey! James!"

"Yeah?" an ocelot leaned back in his chair and looked at me questioningly.

"I got a question about our Acceptable Use Policy, could you take it for me?"

"Just quote the thing, it's not that hard to understand."

"Yeah, I know," I grimaced, "But... pleeease?"

"Alright. Fine," James conceded defeat.

I waited until I saw him pick up the line before hastily throwing all of my things together in my briefcase and ran-walked out of the building and straight for Infinitá.

The bright sunny sky, the shimmering pavement, crowded sidewalks, fume-filled air, and raucous traffic quickly gave way to dimly light, chaotic colors, crowded dance-floor, smoke-filled air, and raucous atmosphere. I snaked my way through the mass of churning bodies and found myself sitting down at the same booth where Bruiser had talked with me only a day before. I looked around the room, but with the crowd it was impossible to search for him, even at his height.

"You keep coming here and soon we'll call you a regular, Sug," a playful voice tickled my ear. Tiffany dropped a large glass of ice water in front of me and smiled. She took in my façade, "You look like hell. What shitty-excuse for a cat dragged you in here?"

"Gee, thanks, Tiff," I glared and stuck my tongue out at her. She giggled. "Where's Bruiser today?" I asked.

"He took a personal day. Won't be back until Monday. I think he mentioned he was going to a lake. Did you need to ask him something?"

"No, no need," I replied casually, "I was just wondering where he was. That's all."

"Oh, Aaron!" Tiffany feigned exaggerated surprise, holding her chest. Her eyes looked at me laughingly. "Bruiser's taken!"

"Oh shut up and make me a sandwich!"

Tiffany left, sticking her tongue at me as she went. I laughed.

For a Thursday late afternoon, Infinitá was unusually packed. The crowds never had gotten this bad until late evening when parents usually put their kids to sleep. Of course most of the crowd at Infinitá didn't need to worry about kids.

Pumping through the speakers at the DJ's station was a trance-mix that never seemed to end but never stayed the same, either. I took in the atmosphere, breathing in the scents of food, alcohol, cigarettes, and sweat. Tiffany came back shortly with a cracked-pepper chicken sandwich and a side of house-fries and barbeque sauce. I paced myself with the food and just stared at the bodies of other patrons as they walked, wiggled, and danced themselves across the room.

"Oh, shit!"

My ears perked up and my head turned to the empty seat in front of me, staring through the wood to the other booth. A blur of blue fell from the sky as my eyes tried to follow it. With a 'plop' a dark blue candy fell into my glass of water that started to fizz a little. I stared at it in dumb fascination.

From about the side a small head appeared and looked sheepishly at me. He had a thin, reddish-brown muzzle that was white underneath. As the fur approached his eyes, it slowly turned gray and then red as it reached his flattened ears. Wet, golden eyes stared into mine and I stared back.

"Um, sorry about that," he apologized, "I tried to get the wrapper off, but it kind of... exploded." He smiled and half-laughed only to stop when he realized I hadn't moved. I took a sharp inhale and shook my head.

"Oh, no problem!" I searched my head for the next words, any words. "You want it back?" Quickly I grabbed my glass and held it out. The candy had navigated its way through the ice and was resting on the bottom. My water was slowly turning blue.

His face flushed and he looked away, "No, sorry. I mean! Yeah, it's mine. I'm sorry about your drink."

"Do you wanna, uh..." I braced myself, "Join me? I mean it's your candy but my glass, so wouldn't it make sense if my glass stayed here and you came over?"

It made sense in my mind. Honestly.

"I guess it does," the red wolf thought for a second. Then he slid into the empty seat across from me.

We sat that way for eternity. We smiled at each other and then averted our eyes, wandering onto other more mundane activities such as the cerulean swirl that was my water, the grain of the wood table, or the rotating fan above us. A couple of times he looked out into the crowd, turned crimson, and then quickly looked back into the booth. If he happened to look at me, his face would turn even darker and then he would look at his hands until his face turned back to normal.

"Oh!" I start, startling the stranger, "My name's Aaron."

"Huh? Oh! My name's Cade." Cade held out his hand formally. Bemused, I shook it and we returned to our mute contest.

After an hour - I'm sure - of agony, I piped up again, "Do you want a drink?"

"Sure!" Cade beamed, "Blue Tahoe?"

"No problem," I said, smiling.

Whisking my way through the crowd once more, I bullied myself to the bar and called out to Marc. The otter came forward.

"Whaddya need, Aaron?" he said briskly.

"Gimme a Smirnoff Ice and a Blue Tahoe."

"Oh really?" Marc smiled coyly. Within a few seconds I had both and a shit-eating grin from Marc following me back to the booth. Cade smiled nervously as I sat down with the drinks.

"You know the bartender?" he asked quizzically.

"You were watching me?" Cade's face blushed and quickly averted his eyes. "I have a monthly tab here. I don't come here too often so it doesn't get expensive. Marc's a great guy and has a photographic memory. He can mix any drink you want no matter what you ask him. Believe me, I tried."

Cade grinned and took a gulp of his blue drink. Some of it clung to his muzzle like an ice-blue mustache. "So you come here regularly?"

"More or less. Here," I handed him a napkin and motioned for him to wipe his drink off. The mustache was getting bigger. "I used to order White Russians a long time ago and I had the same problem."

"You don't anymore?"

"Naw... I don't like wasting napkins," I lied through my teeth followed by a chuckle that made the red wolf grin sheepishly.

We finished our drinks and walked out of the bar. I could feel Tiffany's, Marc's, and eventually Bruiser's eyes following me out the door. I tried to act casual but my knees seemed to stiffen and the hair on the back of my neck rose. As we got outside, Cade looked at his watch. "It's quarter to seven. I should probably get going."

"Oh," I uttered, disappointed.

Cade fished around in his pockets and eventually reeled in a scrap of paper and a pen that looked like it had seen better days. He started writing, "Umm, here's my cell phone number, email, and IM name. If you can't reach me with one, you can get me with another." He visibly recoiled from that line and I grinned, coyly myself.

"Well, see ya," he called out, waving slightly, as he took off. He seemed to be walking awkwardly and I wasn't even disappointed that I didn't get at least a hug.

The air seemed cooler as I walked back to my apartment.