FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Workplace Chatter

~The Guy From The Bar~

Flagship City is the place I was born, raised, and have lived most of my life. It's a nice little city with plenty to see and do, but honestly, I kind of hate it. Everything is so crammed together it's borderline claustrophobic, people are so alike like its almost as if God just gave up halfway and just started copy and pasting personalities, and once you've seen everything at least once, the whole city becomes... lame.

Growing up was odd for me because I was homeschooled, and if you were born in Flagship, you were expected to attend one of two schools; McDowell, or Fort Leboeuf, and if you weren't from one of these schools, you were immediately considered an outcast. Of course, there was hidden option number three, which was Pen Cyber, but you were still an outcast through them too, only a little less so.

To make matters even worse, I was sheltered as a child. My mother raised myself and my two siblings by herself and we never really got to do much growing up. Making friends was hard because we lived in the shadier parts of town where drug dealers and thugs lived two doors down, so all we really had was each other, which was even harder. I mean, you try being best friends when your kid siblings at the ripe old age of seven.

But my mother tried her best and even got us into little homeschooled groups to try and get us friends, which worked for a few years... but then you realize that even in the secluded life of homeschooling, everyone is the same. You're either a shy and quiet kid with little to no interest in socializing -like myself- or you're the boisterous overachiever who overcompensates their awkward nature by trying to hard to be "relatable" -most of my friends.-

All that being said, I didn't have a bad life. It wasn't great, but I had a loving mother, a roof over my head, food on my plate, and, though not many, a few friends that I still have around to this day. My life could have been far worse. Any tourist that comes through this city only knows about the amusement parks and the shopping centers and the docks and beaches, but take a peek past that and you'll start to see that the 'Gem City' is little more than fools gold.

Did you know that 26.8% of Flaship's residents live in poverty? That most of those people are women and single mothers and children? Thats around 5,000 people all living in shitholes and dumps because they can't get jobs or because their foreign or whatever.

I bet you're wondering why I'm telling you this. I just want you to understand where I'm coming from when I say that I hate this place and have been trying to get out of it for a long time now. There's nowhere I can go that doesn't have these same issues, but under the illusion of newness, perhaps I can forget about those problems, if only for a moment.

What a cowardly way of thinking, right? Why not do some good with your life and do something about these problems? Well, I've tried. I've joined homeless shelters, fed the hungry, tossed a buck to beggars for years, but the sad truth in all this is that it never solves anything. Yes, the hungry won't starve that day, the homeless won't freeze or get mugged that night and the beggar can go buy booze to forget about his problems, and while they are small victories, there is no end goal. There's no light at the end of the tunnel, no saving grace, no ultimate solution, just a temporary fix. And once you see that, everything you do become meaningless.

Ever the optimist, aren't I?

Jobs are hard to come by in this city. Everyone wants one but no one is hiring. There was one point where I was out of a job for three months because no one would hire me, and I've applied everywhere all up and down Acai Street, even all the fast food joints. One place, however, gave me a call back, a Sam's Club, of all places. The only one for miles around, and they hired me to be... a cart pusher...

Now, I don't know if you know this, but here in Flagship City, the weather is a fickle thing. If nothing else, we're known for our awful weather all year round. The summers are hot and humid, easily reaching a gross 80 to 90 degrees fahrenheit. And I hear all you southern kids scoffing and saying that it's nothing compared to your 90 to 100+ temperatures, but you forget that up north, we have more than one season. In the winter it lasts up to six months and can get as low as 15 degrees. Just this past winter, we got almost seven feet of snow. Autumn is the only real breath of fresh air we get, and spring doesn't even exist here, it just skips straight to summer.

And being a cart pusher means that you're in all of it. The hot and muggy days down to the frigid and snow piled one's, and let me tell you; it sucks. But honestly, it's one of the best jobs I've had. I get along with the other cart pushers really well, I'm friends with my supervisors and even a few of the cashiers. And what's even better, it's the best paying job I've ever had too. Honestly, working here has broken me out of my shell a bit and got me to be more social and friendly. That's how I met Alyssa.

Alyssa is an odd one alright, but then again, all ermines are; so hyper and running their mouths a million miles an hour. I get exhausted just listening to her sometimes, but she really is a great person and I'm happy to have her as a friend.

I knew she liked me from the moment I met her, and I honestly thought about going out with her, but deep down, I knew that it'd just be a waste of time and it'd probably wined up ruining our friendship, so I chickened out and never took that step forward. After a while, I was glad I never went after her too. Don't get me wrong, she's great, but she's a little too... 'extra' for me. All she does whenever we are together is drop to many sexual innuendos to count, give me weird looks whenever I say anything remotely related to sex or a relationship, and ask to see my dick because I made one vague comment on it while I was slightly intoxicated. It gets annoying after a while, but at the end of the day, she's still Alyssa and I still love her as a friend.

However, that night at Big Bar was a strong reminder of just how much she likes me, and how much I don't feel the same way. When she lurched forward trying to kiss me, it was like it was happening in slow motion; I could see everything in that moment and for a split second considered the possibility of what it would be like. But then my feet moved on their own, sending me back a few steps and tripping onto the barstool, successfully dodging the kiss... what would have been my first kiss.

I don't regret it, dodging the kiss, but I can't help but wonder sometimes. Alyssa wouldn't remember it because of how trashed she was and I would finally know what I'm missing, and yet, my body made my decision for me and dodged. To fuck myself even more, a really hot guy started hitting on me shortly after and I brushed him off.

He had been watching me since I set foot in the bar, something I find a little flattering and a little creepy. He was wearing a nice button up purple shirt and black slacks; simple, yet elegant at the same time. The bar was a little dark and strobe lights were going off all around, but even in the poorly lit club, I could tell that his fur was as black as night and his eyes were a bright amber colour, seeming to glow on their own. His muscles were well defined even through his shirt, showing that he must work out. And when he leaned in to ask to buy me a drink -the second time,- I caught a whiff of his scent, a musky pine scent with a slight cinnamony undertone. He looked great, was charming, and smelled great too, and yet I still said no.

I said no because I knew where this was going. This was going to the bathroom for a quick one, or back to his hotel room. He would take me, fuck me, then forget about me the next day. Not really the ideal way to lose one's virginity, but in the moment, I considered it. A brief, moment's hesitation, caught up in the desperation of wanting to experience what literally everyone else has around me has, just for a moment so I wouldn't have to be the outcast anymore. And I still said no.

Then, something happens. He drops the charm and the facade to try and get me in bed and I see him, just for a split second. I get a glimpse of the real person underneath the lust and boredom and I'm genuinely attracted to him. So when he asks for my number, I'm at crossroad number three. Honestly this night had been so full of opportunities, I can't help but think that the universe is trying to tell me something.

So I do something I've never done before; I gave someone a chance.

~*~

Waking up the next day was surreal. Had I really just given my number off to some random stranger who wanted nothing more than a piece of ass to use and toss away? Maybe I had drank more last night than I thought and wasn't thinking clearly. No, I know I wasn't thinking clearly. With the trauma of almost kissing my friend, getting hit on by a hot guy, and drinking on top of that, I must have been a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

But it was already done. I couldn't travel back in time and take my number back, or told Alyssa no when she asked me to go to the bar with her and her work friends. I was stuck with this reality where I'm still a loser and a virgin.

Thinking about it makes me anxious and I have work to get ready for, so I try my damndest to push it out of my head -with little success- and get ready for work.

The first thing I'm asked by a coworker when I get there is how my night went, and I lie and say it was fun. Later on, when Kevin -the bear I was talking to when Alyssa tried to kiss me- comes outside for his smoke break, he tells me everything that happened after I left.

Apparently, Alyssa got kicked out of the bar because she was too drunk; stumbling and tripping over everything. Kevin almost got into a fight with some guy. They all went to a different bar around one in the morning, and after that they started going home. Kevin, Don -Kevin's best friend- and Melissa -our supervisor and Kevin's crush- all went to the park to lay down in the grass and watch the stars.

That last part makes me wish that I had stuck around long enough to be part of that, but not enough for me to really care. But it's nice to know that everything went relatively okay and everyone made it home safely.

Towards the end of my shift, I'm pushing in a row of 12 large iron carts into the vestibule when Alyssa comes out for her break. "I'm so sorry!" is the first thing she says.

I smile at her. "For what?"

She doesn't look at me, too ashamed. "I don't know. I don't remember anything, but everyone was telling me that I was all over you. They said I practically raped you... but you didn't do anything about it so you must have liked it."

Typical cashiers, I think. Starting rumors about people they don't even know. "Don't worry about it. It's all good."

Now, she looks at me, big blue eyes fixed on my green ones. "Did I do anything to you?"

"Don't worry about it." I repeat.

"That's not a 'no' which means something happened!" she says, getting that hyper ermine tone to her voice. "You have to tell me!"

I smile my best devious smile I can muster -which is easy for a fox- and say "It's all good."

That sets her off into a fit of begging and pleading, which I relish in as punishment for the awkward night and don't tell her anything. I'll tell her later, but for now, revenge.

Luckily for me, her fifteen minute break is up pretty quickly and I don't have to worry about being dodgy with her anymore. With the day flying by so quickly, I've already forgotten about that wolf I met at the bar.

Hopefully, he's forgotten about me too. Maybe he'll only remember as the guy that wouldn't sleep with him, and in a week or two, he won't even remember that. I laugh at myself inwardly for stressing about it half the morning and walk inside and to the back room to clock out. Back there, Kevin is sitting at one of the break tables with Melissa, and when they see me clock out, they call me over.

I don't know about you guys, but sitting at a small table with two larger animals like bears is a little intimidating, especially for skittish-by-nature animals like myself. But I know them both and they're honestly some of the sweetest people I know.

"So," Melissa starts. "I saw you talking to that wolf at the bar before you left."

"Oh yeah!" Kevin says, eyes lighting up. "I forgot to ask about that!"

Shit, other people saw that? Kevin knows I'm bisexual and Melissa's so in tune with everyone she's apparently already figured it out. But the comment was so out of left field, it catches me off guard and flushes my ears, immediately giving me away.

"Oh... That?" I rub my ears, trying to bring them back up. "It was just some guy looking for some action."

"But you left alone." Melissa points out. "And that guy stayed for at least another twenty minutes before he left too."

"Y-yeah. I turned him down." God this conversation sucks. I just wanna go home.

"Was he like, a creep or something? He seemed really into you." Kevin says, leaning on the table with his elbows.

I shrug. "I don't know. He seemed fine, I guess. I just wasn't interested."

Kevin shrugs at that, but Melissa isn't convinced. She narrows her eyes and watches me, but she doesn't say anything. Girl's intuition is scary sometimes, and I don't like being read like a book, so I share a few more words, ask if they'll be working tomorrow, and take my leave.

Unfortunately for me, if I had just suffered through the conversation a little longer, I wouldn't have to suffer through the next conversation... as soon as I opened the door and walked through, I ran into something hard. I immediately apologize to the individual I had just bumped into, looking up to see those bright amber eyes.

Fuck my life, dude.