Chapter Six - Across a crowded room...
The town of Pasha was a vacation spot Mecca, but a small one by anybody’s standards, as was the town’s main drinking spot. The Tree-line Bar holds perhaps a hundred people at most inside what was an old farm parts store. It was, as the locals say, the only true hotspot in the town.
Olivia took Mandy to The Tree-line, along with two others right after they had finished the setting up for the arriving children the next day. The councilors all followed the time honored tradition, and headed into Pasha for a night of drinking and relaxation... to pack the little bar in the middle of nowhere.
Along with Olivia and Mandy, they were accompanied by two others. There was Doug, the preteen boys cabin Four councilor who was an out going chunky man with wild blond hair and equal as wild personality. It seemed that the man had been there for so long by this year, that it was joked that Pawa had been built around him.... or at least that is how Olivia described him. He seemed to like everyone, and the feeling was instantly mutual from Mandy. He was a very likable character
The last of the group was Abby. She was a very tall and incredibly thin woman, by looking at her, she seemed to be like a Flower Child from the late sixties caught in a time warp and brought to the present day. With long frizzy hair that was actually very nice on her, the white shirt with a ridiculously odd saying on it and finished up with large rounded sunglasses, she did look and act the part of the ‘Hippie’.
The group of four took a seat in the temporarily half full place at the back, beside a old jukebox that was pumping out some tunes. They all ordered a gallon pitcher of beer for everyone to share, along with a normal drink for each person. Once they had the beverages and a huge bowl of pretzels, they all sat back to enjoy the few remaining hours before heading back to Camp to await the arrival of the kids early next morning.
Doug and Olivia were in a spirited discussion over something political in nature, but seemed to be having fun being at opposite ends of it. They were arguing like crazy, yet there was no angriness attached to it all. Mandy sat back and listened, sipping on the tall mug of beer she had been handed while puffing away on her smoke. Abby was busy checking out a tall man sitting alone at the bar, her attentions so focused on the man at the moment- it was almost like she had forgotten she had came with people.
Mandy was feeling a little better by now, relaxed and just enjoying being out.. With a beer in hand and out with people like this, it was like a small vacation from all of the craziness that was happening overtop of the work they had just finished. Redirecting her focus on things that were pleasureful was helping, the cold beer in her hand was just a good addition to everything.
" Olivia was right." She mused to herself... this was just the thing she was needing.
Taking another sip of her frosty cold beverage on and off, she cold actually feel herself relaxing little by little. It was driving that image of Alison out of her head for the time, her stress was fading. She smiled and just began talking to Olivia, who seemed to have had enough political discussions for one night.
About two hours past, and so had three full mugs of beer into the young councilor... Mandy now was feeling the alcohol buzz kicking in. She was feeling just a touch of giddiness while she was enjoying everything The Tree-line had to offer... and well as the comradery of her fellow councilors. Feeling more relaxed than she had been, she even found herself checking out one young woman who was standing not far from her, looking at the song selections on the jukebox while sipping on a beer.
Mandy could not help noticing that this young thing was exceptionally beautiful, dressed in her purple top and tight fitting walking shorts. She felt her own face flushing, as the long legs that came out of the girl’s shorts were like looking at heaven. She noticed how the girl’s blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail, and how that helped show just how silky and shiny like spun gold it was. The girl’s heart shaped face had very little, if any, make up on it smoothness... that natural beauty needed little help for it to show through, Mandy thought to herself.
The girl never looked over once, but that did not matter. Mandy just tried her best not to be so obvious that she was staring at the girl, normally she was a very discreet type of person when it came to that... but the amazing attractiveness of the girl made it hard for her not to be staring. She knew that it just might be the beer making her like this, and for once, she tried not to be so self-conscious.
Olivia leaned over and giggled in Mandy’s ear all of a sudden.
" Seeing something your liking, Little miss Mandy?" She said.
" Uh, yeah." Said a now embarrassed Mandy, realizing that she had got caught looking at the girl.
" She’s a pretty young thing, I gotta admit...." Olivia giggled as she looked over to the girl Mandy was eyeing, obviously the woman had caught a buzz also.
" She is pretty...isn’t she..." Admitted Mandy, her eyes falling back on to the pretty thing.
" Gonna go up ‘n’ talk to her then?" Razzed Olivia, nudging her with an elbow repeatedly. " I think that girl works at the camp as well, would be convenient... Go on, you’re a free player now!"
Mandy blushed shook her head, as her embarrassment grew.
" No... not right now I think...." She stuttered
" Awh... Go for it... all she can do is shoot you down." She said back, poking Mandy with her elbow again.
"Your so bad....." Mandy giggled nervously, while a little voice in her head was telling her that she was not quite ready for that type of step just yet.
" Don’t say that I didn’t try to encourage you any..." Olivia said, taking a swig of her drink.
Mandy just laughed and took another sip of her beer. Olivia had gone quiet for a time, then leaned back to the young girl again.
" Don’t look now, but Doug here is startin’ to eye you up..." Olivia said
" He is?" Said Mandy, seeing the man was looking at her... but not in a creepy leering way... but still it was like a man looking at a woman.
" He thinks your pretty, I overheard him say..." Olivia said with a giggle. " Little does he know that he doesn’t have a snowballs chance in hell with you... does he?" She snickered. " for you, he has the wrong parts!"
Mandy giggled bashfully and nodded. Doug was a nice guy, but Olivia was right with her thoughts.
" Your way too blunt for your own good, but that is right...." Mandy said, adding. " Say...Why don’t you go for Doug yourself?"
" I did not know you had it in you... to even suggest that to me..." Said Olivia, looking at the girl with shock.
" So are you going too?" Said Mandy, needling the woman back.
" Quoting you... Not right now!" Was the woman’s answer.
" Chicken!" Pestered Mandy back in play.
" Cluck, cluck." Said the woman back, much to the surprise of the young woman next to her.
Olivia peeled off a loud fit of laughing and nearly spilling her beer in the process, much to the confusion of the two at the table. The confused two looked at the laughing women, then at one another as they took another drink..
Mandy also join in the group ‘sip’, the she suddenly stood up.
" I’ll be back, guys..." She said, finding herself not as unstable from the drinks as she was expecting to be..
" Let me guess... the beer is starting to do it’s inevitable work.... to pee it out?" Olivia said, smirking.
" Yeah." Laughed Mandy, stepping away from the table.
" Well, with beer... comes pee even for me. I’ll come with you... gotta really pee too.." Said Olivia nodding as she got up from the table very quickly, obviously she had to go rather urgently.
The youngest of the councilors at the table laughed, and went off with her friend to the washrooms that were located behind where the jukebox was situated in the bar. The others just stayed at the table, continuing to drink and talk away with some of the other councilors from Pawa that were sitting at various table around the bar.
A few minutes later, Mandy was at the row of sinks in the bathroom, fixing her hairband a little, after relieving herself of the beer. She was passing the time while waiting for Olivia, who was still in a stall at the far end of the bathroom, to finish her own pit stop.
" You feeling better, Mandy?" Called the woman’s voice over the sounds of running water.
" You know.. I am." The younger woman said, realizing fully that she was a little better.
" Told you going out for a drink with friends would chase things away..." Said Olivia, walking out of the stall, a drink sodden and relived look on her face. " Now you might get some perspective back on things... forget about that what’s-her-name. After what she did to you...she ain’t worth it, if you ask me."
" You think?"
" After years of failed relations myself... I’d have to say yes on that!"
Mandy smiled and nodded. She was starting to feel that same way already, but just starting on that. It hurt like hell still, but she was getting a little better of a perspective than she had before joining Olivia and the others here. She knew that things would get better, but she would have to go through things that were going to be tough.
After camp, it was gong to be hard When her and Alison finally part ways completely. Alison will have to move out of their apartment before school, that will be rough in itself. There was going to be so much emotional stuff that will come after being together for four years, living together for almost two... but with what has happened, it was now unavoidable. What will be harder still, was the unknowingness of life after that.
Mandy knew that she had her dreams of being a Law Advocate to follow, there are other friends at school who will support her through this and everything, but after being with someone for so long... there was that black specter of doubt looming so large. She knew that she could not bend to that. She would have to buckle down and get to work on her studies, knowing that a failed relationship does not mean she stops her life. What Alison did, hurts, but she vowed now not to let that break her.
She took a long look at herself in the mirror and give that reflection a grin. Her own Pep talk to herself, was just what she needed. Feeling much better now, she followed Olivia back out to their table. Mandy was expecting that they were going to drink a little more, before going back to camp for the night. She smiled, telling herself to have some fun in the process.
She stepped out of the bathroom, and around the jukebox while trailing Olivia, but she suddenly stopped. Two people walking in to the bar caught her eye, and that what had froze her in mid stride. She could not believe what she was seeing with her own eyes...there just inside the main doors of the bar, stood Alison hand in hand with the man that had taken her away and made her pregnant...their friend from school called Allen.
Olivia had noticed that the girl stop, and was baffled with why Mandy had just stopped. The woman saw that Mandy was staring past her, so she then followed the girl’s gaze over the throng of people and to the front of the establishment. The woman caught sight of Alison and the tall man over at the main bar of the little club.
" Oh shit!" Olivia commented, turning to look at her friend.
" Oh shit is right." Agreed Mandy, feeling ever ounce of those emotions she had been working through, now busting out to the surface.
Olivia took a second glance at Alison and the man, then snapped her head back to look at Mandy
" Why would Alison be in here?"
" I... I don’t know..." Said the still shocked young woman.
" Would she have known you were going to be here?" Olivia asked.
" I never told her... have not talked to her since the other night."
The senior councilor took a few moments to eye the two at the front bar.
" Would that man standing next to her... be the one that fucked your little bitch of an ex, would it?" Dryly asked Olivia, showing her dislike she was now having for the girl in question.
" It is... He is Allen" Was all the younger one said.
" Why is he out here, with her, in Pasha?"
" I am not sure...." Mandy said.
Mandy shook her head, as she could not speculate why they were even in the bar in the first place. She wanted her feet to turn so she could find another exit and get the hell out of there as fast as she could have, but what her mind was telling her feet to do failed miserably... they seemed not to want to even move. All she could do then was watch the two, as her heart pounded deep in her chest...and her soul felt like it was breaking into little shards like fine crystal.
Mandy and Olivia both watched as Allen seemed to be there picking up something from the bar’s main counter with Alison happily waiting. Mandy watched, her heart sank as she watched the two, noting they kept close and were hand holding. She fought back the many tears of both hurt and anger that were welling up in her eyes, not wanting to let herself collapse into some sort of pitiful sobbing heap in the middle of this place.
Alison finally took a look around the bar as she waited. Instantly, the girl had spotted Mandy standing near the back of the place. Alison’s face showed not one hint of any emotion, not the slightest indication of what she may or may not have been thinking could be even speculated. As Mandy looked back at her so intensely, the young woman seemed to sink herself into the tall man’s side... while her eyes stayed locked on to Mandy. For a instant, there seemed a glint of defiance in Alison’s brown eyes. After a few seconds, the girl then averted her eyes, the way she did it so cold.
The tall man known as Allan finally got whatever it was from the pudgy bartender, wrapped up in a brown paper bag. Allen payed the bartender with a laugh, then turned to look at Alison. After a few seconds of talking, the two left hand in hand, and exited the bar. Alison never again looked back as they left, she seemed just to stay very close to Allen as the walked out. As quickly as they had appeared, the two were gone.
Mandy looked at Olivia, unable to say a word for a moment. The woman read the girl’s face, she just put her hands on hips.
" That was just plainly screwy as all hell." She spat, then got concerned looking at the still blank faced Mandy. " Your not alright, are you?"
Mandy shook her head and headed to the table again. Sweeping up the mug that held her beer, she looked at Olivia with this look of sheer astonishment as she took a seat heavily.
" No.. I am not alright." She said. " I think I am far from that..."
" How could you be?" Said the woman, looking over at the now empty front doorway. " What do you need?".
" I need a fucking drink." She flatly said, the half full mug was drained in about a second after she had said that.
The two at the table stared over at Olivia and the long dark haired woman, not knowing what was happening. Abby leaned over and eyed the pale faced younger gal.
" You seem mad as hell..." She said, her head swaying a little off to the side as she spoke.
" She saw her ex come in here..." Explained Olivia, but not going any further than that in the explanation. Abby did not have to know anything else.
The hippie lady seemed to pause to pounder all of this very carefully, dispite the fact that she was now almost too drunk.... as this had really caught her attention more than the man she saw earlier, had done.
" Saw an ex, did she?" Mused the flower child out loud. " Thought I was recognizing that look of shock, pain and anger on Mandy’s face..." She hiccuped loudly and smirked before continuing on.. " I myself, have one particular man from my past in mind... if I saw him right now, in this very bar... wow... it would not be a good scene!!."
" Murder scene?" Asked Olivia, trying to lighten the mood a little.
" Precisely!" Nodded the hippie woman, as she once again erupted with a big hiccup fit. " It would be murder... although I think it would be justified on my part!".
" I think we all have that in one way or another..." Commented Olivia, noticing that the woman did not have a clue to who Mandy’s ex really was.
Abby slowly nodded and raised her glass to Mandy.
" I don’t have to know anything else but this..." She said, her bloodshot eyes catching Mandy’s. " ... if I ever see my dumb assed ex-boyfriend ever again, I’d probably end up in jail for murder...."
" I would be in jail forever if I saw my one ex too..." Piped in Doug, who seemed to be the drunkest of their group.
" Your such a copycat..." Said Abby, giving a glare at the man.
" It’s the truth..." Said the man back, his eyes were now glassy as all hell. " But you repeat yourself when your smashed."
Abby just shook her head again at the now far too drunk Doug. She looked across the table at Olivia and raised her now empty glass as she poured some more beer from the gigantic pitcher they had almost emptied by now.
" Olivia... lets just get this girl a wee bit more drunk and take her back... it might not solve things, but damn it feels good from time to time.
" That was my plan... but we cant be too drunk though." Warned Olivia. " We do have the kids coming in first thing.
Abby downed her drink, winced as it slid down and then took a long look over at Olivia.
" The kids arrive...I know..." She grinned, then added after a very un-ladylike loud burp that could be heard over the music. " How unfortunate."
" Lovely!" Sarcastically thought Olivia to herself. Politeness was not one of Abby’s strong suits, she always knew that.
The four soon shifted the talk to other things as another round of drinks came for them. Mandy just sat and had a couple of drinks more the rest of the night... but stayed very silent. Her mind was trying to help her heart... and it was also so very desperate to forget. She could not shake one memory in particular from this night. The defiance that she had seen in Alison’s eyes as she stood there with Allen, haunted her. The more she tried to force it out of herself... she found that it could not be pushed away.
Through the rest of the evening, Mandy made herself hold her own self back from drinking like crazy. She wanted to be nothing more than drunk and numb to get away from the crap that whirled around in her head... but Olivia was right. The children were coming, getting drunk was not an option..
The girl finally found something to be smiling about, as she realized her responsibilities looming closer and closer. Being with the kids...being their councilor... she was sure that it would help her. She had promised to do a job, and she was not about to not do it, because of her now up-in-the-air personal life
******
The four councilors made it back to camp just a little after twelve thirty. Olivia and Mandy seemed to be the soberest ones in the car... dispite each being more than just tipsy, while Abby and Doug were they ones staggering their way to their cabins. They obviously had drank the bulk of the beer and hi-balls this evening.
Through the dark, the two made their way back to Cabin Nine from the parking lot. Mandy was quiet while she was walking, but how she was so intensely smoking on a cigarette said volumes to what may have been going through her mind.
This odd way of acting did not pass the notice of Olivia. She quietly watched her young fellow councilor, as she strolled along beside her. The girl was puffing away like a steam engine going up hill. She wanted to say something to the girl, give a little comfort or some sort of advice... but she had a feeling that it was not the right time to actually do it. She sighed, and kept walking.
The two stepped into the cabin’s silence, hearing their own footsteps echo through. It was still as sparkling clean as they had left it before they gone in to town. To each of them, it was a great thing to see.
" Clean, Hu?" Commented Olivia.
" Very..." Said Mandy, somewhat flatly.
" How long do you think that this level of cleanliness can last though?" Posed the older of the two.
" A day or two..." Mandy said flatly, looking at the ultra clean cabin area around them both.
" I sort of figure that as well..." Snuffed Olivia, knowing that teens, no matter if they happened to be boys or girls, they can all be real slobs.
Leaving the open area and heading straight into their little room at the back of the cabin, they each hurriedly undressed for bed. The arrival of the little people known as Campers will be starting to arrive just after their breakfast tomorrow morning... sleep was a real necessity to be getting now.
Mandy was just about to jump into bed, when she found a white envelope had been jammed under her pillow. The writing that was on the front, was pleading for her to read what was inside, the words seemed to be so desperate in nature. She already had identified that the writing was clearly and unmistakably Alison’s. Without even opening it, Mandy crumpled the envelope and tossed it into the small trash can at the foot of her bed. She stared at it for a moment, laying in the empty wastebasket, then turned away from it.
Olivia was already undressed and tucked in bed, but she was now looking over at Mandy. She had seen Mandy find the envelope that had been placed there, and how the girl had stared at it for a long time... then watched her simply discarded it.
" I take it that envelope was some sort of note from Alison?" She asked,
" Yes." Mandy flatly responded with a snap as she threw her self into bed and threw the covers over her nakedness. Without another word to Olivia, she quickly rolled herself over to face the wall.
Olivia knew that Mandy was not trying to be rude directly to her, and let it go. She did wonder about the girl’s mind set going in to the first day of camp being open to the children. It was not quite on at the moment, but she had some sense that somehow... Mandy will be right on the ball and it would be for the sake of the children that were going to be assigned to them. She turned off the light for them both, and layed there.
An hour went by, and Olivia found that it was now her turn not to be able to sleep. She layed there, listening to the breathing of her bunkmate. By the sounds from the last little while, the girl had finally feel asleep. She was glad for Mandy, as all of this can be so exhausting to be dealing with, but now it was her problem t sleep.
Olivia could not stop thinking about Alison, and what she had done to Mandy. It seemed to have touch a very raw nerve in her, a nerve that she never even knew that she had in the first place.
Olivia herself had been married twice, but neither one of the break-ups had been because of infidelity. Her marriages had all just had seemed to fall apart within the space of a few years, without ever really knowing why they had collapsed in on her like that. Because of that, she had no idea just why it bothered her like this, but it has.
Olivia sat up on the side of the bed and stayed there in the dark. She could see the sleeping Mandy in her bed, and watched the younger person for a moment. She looked so sweet as she layed there, the moonlight that was coming in partially lit up the girl’s face.
Her attention soon moved to the trash bin at the end of Mandy’s bed. She seemed to be almost drawn to it, now her mind fixed on the letter the girl had gotten. She shook her head, not quite understanding why she was focused on it all of a sudden. She had the urge to see it up close for herself.
Feeling the coolness of the air on her nudity as stood up on her bare feet, she crept over to that side of the room and peered in. She saw the envelope at the bottom of the waste can, crumpled up but still looking pretty much in tact. To her own surprise, she reached in and snatched the envelope out and walked back to her side of the room, looking at what she had in her hand.
The white envelope was unopened, but badly creased and crumpled up. She smoothed it out as quietly as she could do and then turned the writing towards the window for a little moonlight help. The writing was in green ink, and just pleaded for Mandy to open up the letter and read it...if she would do nothing else but. The message scrawled there made Olivia a little mad at it’s apparent boldness.
" The bitch..." She thought in her mind.
Olivia did not replace the envelope to the trash, but ended up tucking the thing into a large book she had sitting on the small stand next to her bed. Once she had closed the book, she found herself really unsure of why she was actually doing this in the first place. She set the book down under the bed, then crawled back into her bed., feeling this wave of relief go through her.
She layed there until she fell asleep, still figuring out why that odd thing she did had calmed her so much.