The next chapter is posted! Enjoy :)
Natalie brushed out her wet hair and checked the time.
It was around twenty minutes to eight. And the bar was a good ten to twelve minutes from where she lived. So, she had plenty of time to get there.
She grabbed her keys, wallet, and phone. Before locking up the apartment and leaving.
The young woman ended up getting there a few minutes early. And she headed in to wait for her friends. Though when she arrived, she found Cassie and Alex already there waiting at the bar.
Natalie smiled and approached them.
"Hey, looks like I'm not the only one who was a little early." She said, gaining their attention.
They turned on their stools to face her and smiled.
"Hey! Glad you could make it." Cassie said.
She jumped down from the stool and pulled the shorter woman in for a hug.
When they pulled back, Natalie spoke.
"Yeah, I figured it's been a while since I was able to go out and just have fun and relax. So, here I am." She replied.
"That's great, we made sure to save these three seats for the rest of you. Nicole and Rob should be here ay minute." Alex chimed in.
"Nicole on time? I don't know, that girl tends to always be what's the phrase, 'fashionably five minutes late'. Though in her case, it's more like twenty minutes." Cassie joked.
Natalie chuckled, yeah but then Nicole always liked to look her very best when going out. She once joked and asked Nicole if she had to use a Brillo pad to scrub off all the thick make up, she wore.
"True, but at least you know she always shows. I'm surprised Rob isn't here yet." Natalie stated.
"He just texted me about five minutes ago. Said he hit some traffic. No surprise there, it is the summer season. Traffic is everywhere and inevitable." Alex replied.
The three of them chatted for a little bit, waiting for the other two to show. Nicole walked in about ten minutes later. And Rob finally showed up about five minutes after that.
"Damn, there was quick a wreck out there I passed. I could tell someone blew through a stop light and t-boned the other car. It was fucked up beyond belief. Hope the drivers were alright. By the time I got there as they rerouted the traffic, there were already a few police cars and a couple ambulances there." Rob said, clearly concerned.
"Woah, that does sound really bad. Where did it happen?" Natalie asked.
"At the intersection where the highway turns into Walker Street. Not surprised, the roads there are a little tricky and sketchy with how the roads there are made up. A lot of sharp turns down that way." He explained.
They all nodded in agreement. That intersection in some ways was a death trap. And that wasn't the first time there was an accident there and probably won't be the last.
Natalie thought Nicole was going to take the seat next to her. Instead, she passed her, and winked and told Rob he can take that seat.
Figures, she was going to play that game with her. Little miss matchmaker.
And Rob parked himself right next to her on the bar chair. He met her gaze and smiled. Natalie returned the smile, before taking a sip from her drink.
Yeyinde felt like he was doing well for himself. He had only been here for a day so far. And had managed to nab at least one more skull to add with the first one he obtained.
He had came into contact with a handful of oomans by now. Unfortunately, most were not much of a challenge. The two skulls he obtained so far from two men that provided him with some fight.
The second man's skull he took had even managed to draw blood from him.
He was a sneaky one. The man shot a few rounds at him. And then shot at one of the pipes that spewed very hot compressed air at Yeyinde as he descended upon the man.
The scalding air caught him off guard momentarily, and it gave the man the opportunity to pump a couple bullets into his side. Well, one bullet grazed his side. The other became embedded in the muscle in his side.
Yeyinde let out one small grunt from the stinging pain. But he didn't let it faze him as he went in for the finally blow that ended the ooman male's life.
He pulled out his taun'dcha and took aim and shot the man through the torso.
It made a huge hole in the man's sternum, blowing a ton of gore out the back and painting the area behind him in blood and entrails. He was dead before he faceplanted into the ground.
Yeyinde then collected his head, and left the area, leaving behind five more dead bodies.
The process of polishing and cleaning the skulls didn't take too long. And afterwards, he had two clean and shiny new ooman skulls. He turned them in his hand and admired them.
Before he placed them in his pod, so other animals don't get to them while he was gone during another hunt.
The young hunter then made his way back to town afterwards to resume hunting. He wanted to see if he could obtain any more before the night was through.
Natalie thought she was going to piss herself from laughing as hard as she was.
Rob had just finished telling her this super hilarious story that involved him, his brother, and a few of their friends. Apparently, as teens, they pulled off all sorts of shenanigans with each other and other people.
"No! Stop! That's just horrible!" Natalie said between laughs.
The man next to her was laughing a little too.
"It's true! And our sister refused to talk to my brother and I for the next couple weeks because of it. We swore we didn't know she liked this guy that much and it embarrassed her that bad." He confessed.
Natalie grinned, "I don't blame her, if my brother did something like that to me in front of my friends or a guy I liked, I'd be pissed at him too."
Rob looked at her, he'd known her now for over two years and not once has she ever mentioned family. Unless this was a case she was speaking hypothetically and didn't actually have a brother.
But it got him curious as to why she never mentioned her family. And he kind of would like to know more about her in that sense and her folks.
"Speaking of, how come in all this time we've known each other, you never really mentioned your family. Are you guys not close or something?" He inquires, as he takes a swig from his bottler of Corona.
The smile slowly shrunk and became a little tight lipped. And she averted her eyes and took a sip from her appletini.
Rob could tell he said something he probably shouldn't have.
"I'm sorry, Natalie. I didn't mean to bring it up. Especially, if it was something that really bothers you. It's just, we've known each other this long and I feel like I just wanted to get to know you more.
Because most of the talking we ever done was at work. And it usually involved just me informing you and any other waitresses or waiters that the food is ready.
Or if it's not that, little comments every now and then when we had a few minutes during a slow period. It really isn't much when you think about it. And I felt I barely got a chance to know you better within that time because of it." He admitted.
"I know, the downside about working in a fast-paced restaurant is that coworkers barely feel like they have time to just freely talk with each other. It doesn't help when most of our breaks are scattered and at different times from each other either." She replied.
No one has mentioned her family in a long time. Natalie much preferred they didn't. Most of her closest friends still didn't even know about her past. And she just rather it stays that way.
"Tell me about it. Ross has us all running around like headless chickens most of the time. God forbid if you're in the bathroom longer than five minutes just trying to take a piss." Nicole chimed in with a roll of her eyes.
Yeah, their boss was a bit of a tight ass who wanted everything to be perfect. But when it came to sick days and vacation days, he wasn't all that bad.
"You guys know why he fired Bridget, right. Apparently, he caught her on the phone during a food run from the kitchen to the tables. It's what made her drop the plates of food." Alex mentioned.
The women just stared at him. At least Natalie was grateful for the topic change.
"I thought she tripped and dropped them on accident?" Nicole implied.
Alex shook his head, "Nope, Danny swore he saw her trying to text someone on her phone while trying to juggle the three plates she was carrying. And then he went and told old Ross about it. And that is why she was fired."
The group continued to chat into the late hours of the night.
Until A few of them finally called it quits and told them they were leaving. The rest of them decided it was time to go too. On the way out, Rob called out to Natalie, grabbing her attention.
"Hey, you mind if I walk you to your car?" He asks.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"Sure." She said.
Once they were all outside of the restaurant. The group of friends departed and headed off their separate ways to their vehicles in the large parking lot.
Rob walked with Natalie to the third row and down several cars to where she was parked.
"Well, that was a lot of fun. Hope we can do it again sometime soon." He said.
"Same here, it was a nice change of pace. And for once, we we're the ones being waited on and not the other way around." Natalie joked.
He let out a small chuckle and agreed it was nice for a change.
"If you like, I can take you out again next weekend. We can hit up another bar or even go to a beach or do a movie. It's totally up to you." Rob said.
He really was very sweet. And she could finally see that he was into her. And she'd be lying if she wasn't interested in him as well. But still, she wanted to take things very slow.
"How about we start off with coffee and work our way from there?" She inquired.
Rob gave her a small lopsided smirk.
"You got it." He replied.
The young man shifted on his feet for a moment, and slowly reached out to gently grasp her hand.
"I didn't want to say anything before. But I know about your bad break up. Nicole mentioned it. And I just want to let you know that I don't want it to seem like I'm rushing this into anything serious.
We can take this as slow as you want. I really do like you, Nat. But I don't want to scare you away by moving so fast after a recent break up. And if it makes you feel more comfortable, we can start out as friends and work our way up from there over time.
But don't feel like you're being pressured into another relationship so soon. I'm very patient and I think your well worth the wait." He confessed.
Natalie blushed, she was quite flattered and moved by his words. Was she annoyed that Nicole opened her fat mouth and spilled the beans to him about her breakup with John, hell yes. But what he said afterwards, made that annoyance disappear.
And she couldn't help the smile that decorated her face.
"Thanks, Rob. I really appreciate you telling me this. Because believe me when I say, I didn't want to rush into anything and didn't want you to feel like some kind of rebound guy.
Because you're not. You're an awesome friend and I would very much like for this to work. And I think the way to do so, is to take it one step at a time." Natalie said.
His own smile widened.
"You got it. So, coffee huh? That's fine. But no espresso for me. Otherwise, I turn into a hyped up chihuahua and start bouncing of the walls." Rob joked.
Natalie laughed a little at the remark.
"Ok, I'll make a mental note to make sure you stay away from the espresso. And after that remark, I definitely see mostly decaf in your future." She teased.
"Fair enough." He replied.
"Thanks again, Rob. And thanks for walking me to my car too." Natalie said.
That cute lopsided smirk returned to his face. Then he lifted her hand to his face and pressed a small kiss to her knuckles.
"You got it, beautiful. And let me know when you want to grab that coffee." He told her.
"Deal." She replied.
"Good night, Nat." Rob said.
"Good night. See you at work." Natalie said.
Then they parted ways, and she went to unlock her car.
Until Next Time ;)