Words & Whiskey

EDITED VERSION: Chapter Three

I turned to see Nathan, still standing there, eyes darting between Darian and me. He threw a cloth over his shoulder and crossed his arms, looking utterly amused. "Another drink, Audrey?" He tilted his head like a puppy dog. "What about you, little brother?"

I looked at Darian with a shocked expression, "He's your brother?"
Darian shifted on his stool and licked his lips, "Unfortunately."

I stared blankly between Darian and Nathan. I saw zero resemblance. Nathan had a completely different build, his hair looked way darker compared to Darian's incredibly light blond, and his eyes were... well, they weren't anything like I had seen before. Tilting my head, much like Nathan did moments before, I said, "Are you sure? You guys look nothing alike."

Nathan gave a small laugh, "Same mother, different fathers. Probably why Darian is the next Einstein, and I'm not."

"Oh," I replied lamely. When Nathan went to give another customer a drink, I turned to Darian. "I thought we were having dinner?"

"He gets off at eight," Darian sighed, looking longingly at the beer bottle that rested in between us, empty.

Nathan took the empty bottle and replaced it with two new ones, placing them in front of Darian and me. "Eh, I'll get off a little early, it's not that busy anyway," he turned to the older gentleman behind the counter, who I quite frankly, didn't notice until now. He had a white beard and coke bottle glasses that made him look like Santa with bulgy eyes. "Isn't that right Ed?"

Ed only grunted in response.

"He's a man of many words," Darian's brother said sarcastically, as he made his way around the counter so he could now stand with us. "How about we move this to a booth?"

Darian nodded, grabbed his beer, as did I, and we followed Nathan closer to the quieter part of the bar.

The lights were just as dim here than they were at the front, making the green leather booths look black rather than green.

Once we were seated, a waitress immediately placed menus in front of us, checking out Nathan in the process. Nathan, however, paid no attention. Instead, he was staring at me. Leaning forward, his strange hazel eyes pouring into mine, he said, "I recommend the cheeseburgers here, the onion rings are nice too, we make our own batter. So, do you have a boyfriend, Audrey?"

Taken aback by the last sentence, I literally jerked my head back. Darian on the other hand groaned in frustration. "Bro, can you keep your penis in check? Yes, she has a boyfriend. Now shut up and stop hitting on my roommate. It's creepy."

"My apologies," Nathan said, not sounding very apologetic. He quickly glanced at the menu, clicked his tongue and said, "Well, I meant what I said. The burgers and onion rings are pretty good."

Twenty minutes later, all three of us are presented with plates of cheeseburgers and onion rings. Darian and Nathan were talking like normal brothers do. Occasionally I joined in the conversation, but I found myself backing off. Mainly because I didn't want to risk Nathan's flirty comments, but also because I didn't want to intrude. For the first time in weeks, Darian looked relaxed, despite being so stressed about having to see his brother tonight, but Nathan seemed to be on his best behaviour. I only had to tell him his hair needed work once.

But then Nathan stopped the conversation to say, "So, my smarty-pants brother and smarty-pants brother's roommate, I also invited you out tonight because I need a favour."

Halfway through the last bite of my cheeseburger, I swallowed it whole, nearly choking in the process. "Uh, okay-y?"

Darian gave me a nervous glance. "What's the favour?