To be fair, Beca's impressed it took almost two hours for Stacie to come up to where Beca was leaning by the bar, a twin on either arm, and try to set Beca up. True to her word, though, Beca politely declined and wished Stacie luck. Then she downed the last of her drink, slipped into her jacket, and left the thumping bass behind.
She walks most of the way home before turning down an alleyway and knocking loudly on a steel grey door. It slides open a moment later.
"Didn't expect to see you tonight," Oscar says, stepping aside to let Beca in. He looks as tough and menacing as he did the first time Beca stumbled upon the speakeasy-style bar.
Beca shrugs and pulls out the embossed card.
"Oh shit," Oscar says, and lets out a little whistle. "Sorry man."
Beca shrugs again. Oscar nudges her over to the bar. "Go and mope for a bit. When Felix switches with me, I'll come make you feel better."
"Thanks, Oz," Beca claps him lightly on the arm and wanders over to her preferred seat at the end of the bar. She drapes her jacket across the back of the empty stool beside her for whenever Oscar is done.
It's a little embarrassing, but she has to do a little hop to get up onto her seat. She somewhat stealthily manages to get up without drawing attention to herself and hooks her feet around the legs of the stool. Again, she pulls the wedding invitation out and lays it down on the bar in front of her.
"Not for yours, I'm assuming?" The blonde woman who appears in front of Beca must be new.
"Nope," Beca agrees, fiddling her fingers on the paper.
"Sucks," the bartender says, grabbing a glass from her left and setting it up on the bar.
Without Beca saying a word, the woman turns for the bottle of Speyburn 15 on the display behind her. Beca watches half in surprise, half in anticipation as a large clear cube of ice is placed in the glass and then a healthy measure of scotch is poured over top.
The glass slides over to Beca off the bartender's fingers.
"I'm Maura," the woman says. "Oscar told me a broody-looking brunette may come in and take the chair you're in now and want nothing but a Speyburn and quiet."
Beca raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I did it about half-right. What can you say, I'm new," Maura shrugs and heads off.
"Thanks," Beca calls after her, just loudly enough for Maura to wave it off as she approaches another patron at the other end of the bar.
The invitation stares at her while she wraps her left hand around the glass, while she glances around the bar to see what the mood is like, while she lifts the glass to her lips, while she takes a sip. Honestly, it's fucking rude. Doesn't it know it's so goddamn rude to stare?
Beca's overcome with the urge to rip it in half, to shut it up, but the millisecond her fingers grasp the cardstock and make the tiniest fraction of a rip, she drops it back down to the bar like it's fire. She pushes it aside, and grabs again for her drink. What she meant to sip is swallowed quickly, the tumbler slipping back onto the coaster in a muted thud.
Like there's a silent alarm, Maura walks back over almost instantaneously, pulls the bottle off the shelf again, and pours another measure into Beca's glass.
"Oz likes you," Maura says, as if that explains her behaviour. It does, in a way. Beca's not as surprised as she should be to learn that Oscar has given Maura instructions about how to handle her. Or maybe there are just special instructions because of the invite. Either way, Beca knows Oz has a soft spot for her. She has one for him, too. It's why she doesn't come in when she knows he's not going to be there. Something about the big guy reassures her, gives her some stability to her thoughts. He's a good guy to have in a crisis, and honestly, one of the only friends she's made since moving here.
"He's a good guy," Beca understates, inclining her head to thank Maura for the drink. Maura shrugs off the thanks.
"He'll be done in ten minutes, and I've been told not to top you off more than twice before he gets here, short and mysterious," Maura says. Only when Beca glances up does she note the playful smirk at the corner of Maura's mouth.
"Got it," Beca says and downs the glass. Again, Maura pours her another, and then she sets the bottle back on the shelf.
"Nine minutes," she reminds Beca as she glides back over to the other side of the bar.
"Nine minutes," Beca repeats, morosely looking into her scotch instead of throwing it back. She shouldn't drink too much. She's been lucky before, when she's gotten too sauced. Oz knows to take her phone away. The first time was a close call. She had Chloe's contact page up, thumb hovering over the call button, when he swooped in and saved her from making yet another mistake.
The tumbler's still in her hands, mostly full, when a hand grazes her shoulder and Oscar drops into the seat beside her.
"From your girl, eh?" he asks, nodding to the card in the corner. Beca doesn't bother responding. It's not a real question anyway. He knows. Beca told him months ago the whole sad sob story, and three weeks ago Beca had been surprised to find engagement photos on her Instagram.
That night she'd gone to the bar and it hadn't been an early or cheap night. She'd finished the open bottle of Speyburn and gotten almost halfway through the next before Oz cut her off. She'd woken up alone in her bed, Oz on the couch clutching her phone to his chest.
"When is it?" Oscar asks, drawing Beca back from her memories.
"A month."
Oscar whistles. "Do you want me to go with you?"
Beca almost smiles. "That's nice of you, Oz, but I'll be okay. I already sent my RSVP anyway." She takes a large gulp of scotch. "Besides, gotta get used to it. Might be easier by myself at least for the first little bit."
Oscar nods sagely beside her. "Okay, Lil Bit," he says and waves Maura over again. Beca downs her drink.
"We got an extra bottle of Spey?" Oscar asks once Maura's in earshot.
"Yeah," Maura nods. "Two under the counter." She jabs her thumb in Beca's direction. "Girl can drink."
Oscar laughs, and after a few seconds of Oscar tapping her on the arm, Beca reluctantly joins him.
"She sure can. And only that stuff. Did I tell you-"
"That we only stock it for her?" Maura rolls her eyes. "You might've mentioned it, Oz."
"Okay," Oz chuckles. "But tonight, I'm drinking it with her, so do us up please and thank you."
Maura obliges, pulling out a glass for Oscar before going off to help someone else.
Oscar turns to Beca, glass in hand. "Okay, Lil Bit, this is your night. Your girl's getting married to someone else, and you're in a bar with me. So we're gonna get you fucking lit and then you're going to sleep it off and get over her, you hear me?"
Beca scoffs. "Like I haven't been trying?"
Oscar waves her off. "That was before. Now that she's getting married, I'm gonna help you get that red-haired beauty off your mind."
Beca shakes her head. "Don't bother, Oz, it's not possible. Just drink with me tonight. I'll deal with Chloe when I need to deal with Chloe."
It's not often that Beca's quiet and accepting of bad news, so instead of fighting her on it, Oscar just acquiesces. "Okay, Lil Bit, let's get lit."