A Bitter Pill To Swallow

GRAYBRIDGE, 1 NOV 2023
The Hop Spot

She wonders about her actions, then. Does having the goblin as back up give her more confidence against rough bar leches? Bonus!

"Hi Bree, I'm Augusta, this is Dave. We're waiting for his friend. You're welcome to sit with us until then."

ANNESBURG, 1 NOV 2023
The Brewseum Restaurant
Stuttered? Brian doesn't stutter.

"You know, your compliments are being canceled out by the insults you have been delivering in fake friendly tones. I am still getting the messages. Maybe she had a reason not to tell me. Maybe she was protecting me. Ever think of that, huh? On the one hand, you want to try again with us, and on the other, you are trying to drive a wedge between me and my best friend and it almost feels like you really don't want to be with me either. What's your game? A quick lay? I mean, I've never heard you stutter before."

Melissa was scrambling to process all he was saying while trying not to show how hurt she was by both him and Belinda. Shaking her head she takes a gulp of her drink and it finally starts calming her nerves.

Dave dusted off the cracked leather seat of the barstool as Augusta led Bree through the crowd, "Well, it's nice to finally meet you. Tim talks very highly of you..." he smiled after Augusta introduced him. "He said this was the place you two met to try and maybe bury some old hatchets. Maybe he'll be along soon. Order what you want, tab's on me."

GRAYBRIDGE, 1 NOV 2023
The Hop Spot
Bree looks between Augusta and Dave, visibly confused. It takes her a moment before she speaks. "You are Timothy's friends?" She sits down in the seat Dave dusted off for her, one leg crossed over the other. She seems to be speaking more to Augusta as she asks, "How did someone like him meet someone like you?" Her eyes remain on Augusta for another moment, then the bartender draws her attention and she orders a whiskey cola. "I can pay for myself, Dave," she then informs the large man. "But while we're waiting, you could let me know why Tim wanted me to meet you. And on such short notice."

GRAYBRIDGE, 1 NOV 2023
The Hop Spot

Augusta is slightly confused by the coincidence, too, although she did see the resemblance to Tim. She shrugs at the question about how they met, and just says, "We met at church."

She smiles coyly and sips her ale. "I'm just here to talk with Dave."

GRAYBRIDGE, 1 NOV 2023
The Hop Spot, Outside
Eva frowns, not having put two and two together until now. She knew this Tim guy had assaulted someone and Draven or someone had interceded... but she didn't realize it was Tanya who'd been the target.

"Who? Who paid you to hurt her? Why?"

These questions might have been answered during the group sessions, but Eva frankly didn't pay much attention to the various sad sacks spilling their guts. But now... this was personal.

It was time to find out what the fuck was going on.

ANNESBURG, 1 NOV 2023
The Brewseum Restaurant
Frankness was one of the things she had liked about Brian but now she wasn't so sure. It felt abrasive and insulting.

GRAYBRIDGE, 1 NOV 2023
The Hop Spot
"Church?" the brown-haired woman asks. "I didn't know Timothy has ever set foot in a church without being dragged into it." Her drink arrives and she thanks the bartender, then takes a sip from it. Afterwards, she doesn't put it back on the counter but keeps it in her hand, covering the top of the glass with her palm.
She reluctantly pulls her eyes away from Augusta and looks at Dave, hoping for him to enlighten her.

GRAYBRIDGE, 1 NOV 2023
The Hop Spot, Outside
Looking at her old school, non-smart Nokia again, Eva frowns at the cryptic message from Dave, and wonders if 'Tim' is bullshitting her as she tucks it back into the back pocket of her hip-hugging jeans. She thinks about it a moment, then shakes her head and shrugs. "Okay. Fuck it. Let's go in. Let's figure out who put you up to scaring Tanya."

As they head into The Hop Spot, the woman adds, in her mind, ...and why you actually agreed to do it.

ANNESBURG, 1 NOV 2023
The Brewseum RestaurantThe absolute worse thing a guy can say to Melissa is "trust me". In her experience, it definitely means the opposite and now her suspicions are raised even more. He's being too nice and it goes contrary to the way he broke up with her no matter how he excuses or excused it. He is not being forthright with her and she knows it.

Graybridge, 1 NOV 2023
The Hop Spot

"Well, we're more of a support group than an evangelical bunch." Dave answered Bree with the beginnings of a mischievous grin creeping across his mouth. "But it's funny you mention him being dragged into church..." Before he can elaborate, the big man noticed how Bree shielded her drink from the top. He tried to lock Augusta's gaze with his own and guide it to Bree's hand over her drink. It might just be paranoia on Dave's part or sheer coincidence or just good safety measures on Bree's part but Dave found it suspicious of her to automatically cover her drink.
"Anyway, as I said before..." Dave continued, dropping his prior line of conversation. "We're a support group and Tim mentioned that he'd been in a pretty bad spot but things might be taking a better turn since you'd tried to reconnect with him after being estranged for a while. We just figured that we'd come along to support him in trying to reconnect with you. He seems to think very highly of you and we just want to see Tim better himself." He scooted up on the barstool to a less 'casual' posture, his attention firmly on Bree, "He mentioned you had a new job you're really excited about. I hope that's going well. Tell me some about it while we're waiting on Tim..."

Graybridge, 1 NOV 2023
The Hop Spot

Augusta had noticed the hand over the drink thing. She'd done the same earlier, with her bottle of IPA, keeping a thumb over the top. That was an advantage of narrow neck bottles like beer could be purchased in. Before the Brian Floyd thing, being roofied was still a concern for women out and about on the town, not even just dive bars like this. Since Tanya had brought up the possibliity of there being a drug pathway for superabilities, she was more aware than before.

The question was, did Bree feel the same, or was she just 'old fashioned' paranoid?

GRAYBRIDGE, 1 NOV 2023
The Hop Spot
Bree looks skeptical of the positive words Dave has for her. "Timothy said he thinks very highly of me?" she asks, clearly not convinced this man isn't bullshitting her. "Estranged is a very harsh word," she then says. "We had some fights and we haven't spoken much in a while. That's all."

When Dave brings up her career, there is a passionate spark in her eyes for a moment but she quickly subdues it a bit in favor of maintaining a measured attitude. "Yes, I was a chemistry major. Recently graduated, then applied at a couple of places. My dream was to work for Plaxo Pharmaceuticals. I'm sure you know them." Her tone is filled with admiration as she speaks of the company. "It didn't quite work out as I hoped, but I did get hired by one of their subsidiaries. It's all still very fresh, but very exciting."

Meanwhile, the door of the bar opens again and the unmistakable statuesque form of Eva enters, turning heads just as Augusta had. Notably, however, after looking her over for a moment, even that man who had first bothered Augusta and then attempted to do the same to Bree does not approach her, though his eyes don't leave her for even one second as she enters, appreciating parts of her body a more polite man would not be so obviously focusing on.
Entering with Eva and looking rather pitiful compared to her, is Tim, hands in his pockets, hunched over and a nervous expression on his face, clearly uncomfortable. As he glances around, his eyes meet Bree's and the two just look at each other for a long moment before Tim breaks eye contact and turns to Eva. "They're over there."

Graybridge, 1 NOV 2023
The Hop Spot

"Well, it's good that you're doing so well for yourself. I know that's a bit of a contention point between you and Tim..." Dave opined on their sibling relationship. "Plaxo is a large company with their hands in just about everything. It's no surprise they have spin-off subsidiaries. What is the one you work for focused on? Plastics? Petrochemicals? Organics? It's all very fascinating but it's all beyond me..." Bree seemed really excited about her employment but maybe a bit too guarded. It was early in the conversation to tell if she was just avoiding having to explain the complexities of what she does to someone who'd look more natural standing beside a mammoth than sitting in a college classroom or if she had something to hide. "Don't let me keep you from enjoying your drink. It's definitely better before the ice starts to melt... You can taste the Graybridge tap water in it if you let the ice melt.". Maybe getting more alcohol into her might lower some social barriers. That's what alcohol is for after all.
Dave smirked as Tim came in followed by Eva. Tim had that look on his face like he had stomach spasms but that seemed pretty normal for him. Eva had 'that look' about her though... The look that told him there's a good chance she left her fingermarks in the door handle on the way in. He held his hand up and waved over to them, as if the trio didn't already stand out in the Hop Spot crowd. Well, Augusta and Bree did anyway.

Her head buzzing with everything she's learned, and now armed with a hundred more questions now than she had just a few hours ago, Eva leads the way towards the table where Draven, Ang, and a woman with some resemblance to Tim sit. The woman's strides are long and purposeful, and the cut of her jeans means that there are a bunch of other eyes on her as she moves, but she just doesn't care at the moment. There are times when Eva takes amusement in either torturing men by pretending to be unaware of the effect she has on them, or by making the real shitheads suffer in other ways, but now isn't one of them.

"Hey," she says simply, arriving at the table. "I got your text."