Available Darkness Season 2

miserably. “Yeah, he’d be late to his own funeral.”
    “That’s OK,” she said, meeting his eyes. “I’ll keep you company.”
    The waitress smiled. “I’m Amanda.”
    “Rick.”
    “Ooh, I like that name,” she said. “It’s strong.”
    John laughed, knowing she would have said that for any name in the world, except maybe for Adolf.
    Her laughter made music as she set her palm on top of John’s gloved hand. “Cold?”
    John flinched, pulling his hand back and spilling whiskey onto the table.
    Amanda’s eyes shot open in alarm. “I’m sorry,” she said, reaching into her apron for a handful of napkins, then quickly swiping them across the spill, soaking a fair mess of it into the napkin before moving the flickering candle against the wall, avoiding John’s eyes as she mopped the tiny flood, embarrassed, or maybe feeling rejected.
    John felt like even more of a freak than normal. “It’s OK,” he said, trying to think of anything that might dim the sudden awkwardness from their table. He thought of three possible comments to smooth things over, though none made it to speech before Amanda slipped away from the table. She returned to the bar, asked the bartender for another shot of whiskey, then came back to the table and gently set it in front of John, still avoiding his eyes.
    “Thank you,” he said.
    “You’re welcome.” She paused, as if trying to decide whether to sit back down or switch tables and flee discomfort.
    “This asshole bothering you?” a voice shot out from behind Amanda. The waitress turned, startled, and saw Larry standing behind her with a huge grin. He was wearing jeans, a black tee and his faded green military-looking jacket, looking every bit the slacker. “It’s OK, he’s no trouble,” Larry said. “Just not used to being around such beautiful women. A bit shy, and a little on the gay side, I’m afraid.”
    Amanda smiled, seemingly unsure if Larry was kidding, until he laughed and reached out to shake John’s hand. “How’s it hangin’?”
    John shook Larry’s hand as Larry sat across from him, in Amanda’s too-briefly occupied spot.
    “Can I get you something?” she asked Larry.
    “You all got Mountain Dew?”
    “Um, no, we have Sprite, Coke, Diet Coke, and —”
    “I’ll just have whatever he’s having then,” Larry said.
    As the waitress walked off, Larry sighed, “Damn, man, she is fine. I really need to get out more, and really need to get laid. This babysitting stuff is not for me.”
    “You’re not babysitting Abigail, you’re looking after her, like a father.”
    Larry laughed, “Dude, I am not daddy material. Look at me.”
    “You’re doing fine,” John said, then after a long pause added, “You are doing fine, right? Abigail is OK?”
    “Yeah, yeah, we’re doing all right. Though, you could call her yourself, you know?”
    John shook his head and took a deep swig of whiskey. “No, it’s a whole lot easier if she doesn’t hear from me until I’m done working for Omega. Trust me.”
    “For her, or you?”
    Amanda returned to the table and saved John from his answer. She placed the whiskey on a black cardboard coaster in front of Larry, then handed them each of them a one-page laminated menu, full of fried vegetables, fried chicken strips, fries and the sort. John had told Amanda he’d wait to order something once Larry arrived.
    “I’ll give you all a few minutes,” she smiled, tapped the tabletop with her fingertips, then made her way to another table to clear a young drunk couple’s tempting basket of chicken wings, along with their growing collection of empty bottles.
    Larry took a swig of whiskey and swallowed with a wince. “Wow, been a while since I touched the hard stuff. So, what made you reach out for a meeting? I was starting to think you forgot about me,” Larry said, pretending his feelings were hurt.
    “I need to find someone, an Other.”
    “Who?”
    “Shadow.”
    “You want me to find fucking Shadow?” Larry asked. “You trying to get me killed?”
    “I wouldn’t ask if I thought anyone else could help. Jacob’s back, and if anyone can find him, it’s Shadow.”
    “Jacob is back? From the portal I saw on the Web?”
    “A new one opened in Anchor Harbor. We need to figure out how he created a new portal, why he’s back and what happened to Caleb. That means finding Jacob.”
    “Can’t you just tune in on your alien radar and find Jacob?” Larry asked.
    “No, that’s the thing. I