Away from the crowded dance floor and the main points of traffic in the club, Uma and Phoebe were able to find a curved booth where they could rest their feet and look over the menus. The club focused on small plates and appetizers. Even though there were only two sides to the squat menu there was quite a bit of variety.
"You weren't kidding!" Phoebe exclaimed, amazed by some of the choices. "Fried tacos! Cajun shrimp! Garlic cheese curds!"
"Yeah," Uma tapped a finger on one entry. "The wings are pretty kickin' too. I wanna try the spicy-sweet curry glaze."
Even as all these options presented themselves, a niggling doubt decided to tickle the back of Phoebe's brain. "But, aren't these kind of expensive? They don't even list change, just the whole dollar amount."
"Quit worrying, kid," Uma said slyly. "I've caught the funds covered." Audrey, on the other hand, might get steamed when she saw the credit card bill but that would be next month.
"What're thinking of getting, ladies?" Bruce came back from the bathroom, slipping into on the side next to Phoebe. Whether he was bent that way or not, Bruce was a hunk of a man that Phoebe couldn't help but ogle. Uma gave her a swift pinch in the side when she noticed, causing the redhead to yelp and bounce on her wide tuckus.
"S-S-Sorry," Phoebe said, feeling embarrassed. "It all looks so good, I don't know what to get."
Bruce hadn't noticed Phoebe fawning over him. "I've had the fried green beans here before. The edamame is nicely seasoned too."
"Eda-what?" Phoebe had no clue what he said.
"Edamame," Bruce pointed on the menu. "Soybeans. You can take the pod up to your mouth and pinch out the beans with your fingers. The lightest thing on the menu."
"So here's where you all ended up." Nat strode over in her clingy dress, tattoos undulating at the shoulders as she rested her arms on the table.
Phoebe shrunk in the middle of the booth, still kind of intimidated by the plump club owner.
"Yeah Nat," Bruce greeted. "Looking to get some chow. How about some edamame so Phoebe can try?"
"And the curry wings," Uma added. "I'm famished. What you getting Phebs?"
"Ummmm...." she looked down to the menu as if clinging to a raft for dear life out on the open sea. "These, uh, stuffed mushroom things, I guess."
"I'll fast-track those in the kitchen for you," Nat gave a faint smile. "Anything for old friends plus one. Also, you see my man Murray around, he'll get you any drink you want. On the house."
"Score!" Uma thrust her fists out in a cheer. Nat strode off, plump frame shimmying.
Phoebe was starting to reassess her roommate's former college friend. Maybe she wasn't too bad. While they waited on the small plates the three talked about music and times from the past. Phoebe thought her own college life could be pretty wild (well, wild for her, her twin Reagan could be an utter hellion) but the stories Uma and Bruce were trading about their co-ed life were amazing. Especially because it painted a side of her older sister Audrey she had never seen before.
"And then," Bruce continued midway through a tale, "when we were moving the paint cans for Aud's art project, we didn't realize there was a punctured hole in the bottom, so there were these criss cross lines all over the quad. Looked like a crop circle."
Phoebe was trying to keep up with everything she had heard up until now and snorted out a chuckle.
"And it turns out there was this little clique of Satan worshipers at the college, so the faculty thought they had done it. They even got blamed for the broken golf cart."
"Hoo hoo," Uma let out a long laugh. "But's its still not that funny, Bruce. The locker rooms stunk like garbage for weeks after all the pipes backed up.
Before Bruce could reply Nat and a server were there with the app orders and a refill of the beer pitcher. Phoebe looked confused at the fourth plate. "Did we order those? Because that looks amazing."
"Trying out something new," Nat explained. "Waffle fries as nachos, only as a baked potato. My treat." The fries were decked with melted cheese, bacon bits, chives, sour cream and seasoning.
Between the wings, edamame, stuffed mushrooms and loaded fry 'nachos' there was enough for the three adults to eat. Bruce kept himself to respectable portions. Phoebe and Uma, however, were so tipsy from the booze and enamored with the food that they couldn't stop eating.
"OMG this tastes amazing," Phoebe said, having had most of the fries after three mushrooms. "But I had really wanted to try those garlic cheese curds after reading them."
"What the hey," Uma threw caution to the wind. "We're here to enjoy ourselves and Nat's treating us well. We'll get another order. I also want to kick things up in the spicy factor, Cajun shrimp and the jalapeño poppers!"
"Wow," Bruce was both impressed and bewildered. "Didn't know you girls could eat that much."
Phoebe grinned in a half drunk stupor. Besides the excellent taste, she'd been putting away the appetizers to have her mouth occupied whenever she felt awkward talking around Uma's college friends. Yet Phoebe and Uma put a solid dent in the second round of apps. And the third round when it was just the two of them, Bruce excusing himself to chat up another college friend, the DJ named Sheryl.
The food and the drinks flowed freely at Uma and Phoebe's table, each round bigger than the last. So much that by the time they were done, they had almost eaten out the menu.
"*Hooof*" Uma exhaled deeply. Her crop top left her food baby on full display, covering the last of her abs. "Damn. That was so tasty but I'm so full."
"Mmmm," Phoebe had been eating well lately and the good living and good eats all blurred together in her overstimulated mind as she stretched, oblivious to her appearance. While her backless shirt hadn't been cut as small as Uma's top she had her own roll of pudge sticking out. And she had needed to unbutton her daisy dukes, as her rump and engorged belly left little room in the tiny shorts.
Frankly, it was a surprise that neither one was comatose at this point.
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