The Onyx Throne Pt. 01 Ch. 01

Chapter 1

Mitchell's phone buzzed and he tapped to answer, bringing the phone to his ear.

"Hey, you parking?"

Andy's deep, rumbling voice came through the phone, his Chicago accent still thick even after five years in Phoenix.

"Unfortunately, no. Jessica's suddenly not feeling well. I think the sushi didn't agree with her."

In the background, a female voice came through the phone's speaker.

"I'm so sorry, Mitchell!"

"We're rushing back home," Andy continued. "She's having some pretty severe intestinal distress. But look, watch it without us. We'll pay you back. They're supposed to be playing Barbarella next week and it's on us, okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Mitchell said. "Don't worry about it. Tell Jess I hope she feels better. And if you happen to let slip that I warned her about eating sushi in a land-locked state, I wouldn't be upset."

Andy chuckled.

"Maybe when she feels better. I already tried telling her that black guys from the South Side had no business eating sushi anyway, but she's trying to expand my horizons. Sorry again, dude."

Mitchell heard a groan from Jess in the passenger seat.

"Five more minutes, babe." Then back to Mitchell. "Got to go. Need to focus on the road. Enjoy the movie."

"No worries. Good luck."

The call ended and Mitchell stared at his phone for a second.

"Well shit," he thought to himself.

It sucked about Jessica but what could you do? Now he had three tickets and no one to watch the movie with. He looked at the crowd of people heading into Filmbar and wondered if he should be the guy that watched a movie alone. It was a surprisingly cool night for Phoenix in June and it seemed a shame to waste it. He thought about calling Madison but nixed the idea almost immediately. They weren't scheduled for their first date until next Wednesday and this was very short notice. Springing an invitation on her like that might send out some creep vibes so he decided it was best to leave her alone. Before he could decide whether to watch the movie or go home a voice spoke up behind him.

"I am thinking we have same problem."

Mitchell turned and saw a woman standing behind him. An absolutely stunning woman. Mitchell's tongue actually went heavy in his mouth at the sight of her.

What he noticed first was her height, almost as tall as his six-foot-one frame. Her black hair was long and cascaded in waves down her shoulders. She was wearing a braided leather headband that had several small gemstones woven into it. Her eyes were slanted but they didn't resemble the eyes of Asian people he'd met before. She had the epicanthic eye fold but her eyes were angled slightly upwards, and there was a purple tint to them. They looked almost alien but he found he was captivated by them. He thought the color must come from colored contacts but they didn't have that flat glassy look. Maybe it was the light from the marquee. Her skin was pale and she had startlingly high cheekbones and a narrow jawline framing a heart-shaped mouth with plump dark-red lips. He thought she looked to be in her early twenties but something about her face gave her a presence, an intensity, that few people that age would have.

She was wearing a light tan trench coat, a plain white blouse that buttoned up the front, a pair of faded jeans, and simple white canvas shoes. She was thin but her shoulders were wide and he could see her powerful trapezius muscles just beneath the collar of her shirt. He couldn't see her arms but if her shoulders were that well developed, she must work out.

Mitchell stammered as his brain re-engaged and he tried not to look like an idiot.

"The, uh... The same problem?"

She gave him a shy smile.

"My friend suddenly is saying she is not coming and she is having my...pass."

Her accent was strange and lilting. He wanted to say it was Russian or from some Baltic state but he couldn't be sure. The light reflected off the gemstones in her headband suddenly and it flashed, causing him to blink.

"Maybe we can be going together?" she said hopefully.

Mitchell had the sudden urge to do whatever she suggested. He couldn't figure out why but he knew he definitely wanted to see Godzilla with this beautiful woman.

"Yeah! Yeah, sure. I've got extra tickets. So it's no problem. Let's go! I'm Mitchell, by the way. What's your name?

The strange woman gave him a dazzling smile and Mitchell was suddenly so happy he felt like doing a dance right there on the sidewalk.

"I am Allora."

"That's a great name." He meant it. Her name sounded like music. "What the hell is wrong with me?"

"It's great to meet you Allora. After you." He indicated the double doors and she ducked her head in a slight bow and walked towards the door, pausing to let a few people in ahead of her.

She walked in just in front of him and then stopped inside the door. He stepped around her and walked toward the bar.

"Do you want anything to drink? Some wine or beer, anything? They have some food too." When there was no answer he turned to see her still standing at the entrance. She wasn't looking at him, she was scanning the people already in the lobby and she had one hand tucked inside the flap of the overcoat. There were about twenty others milling about, most in pairs or small groups. He saw her eyes suddenly lock on something and she tilted her head as if studying it. He followed her gaze and saw she was looking at a back corner where one of the emergency exit signs was lit up above a door with a push bar. There was a hardness to her face that Mitchell hadn't noticed before. He walked up to her.

"Hey, uh, is everything okay?"

Allora blinked, then brought her piercing gaze back to him. Her eyes were still tinged purple. That was wild, he thought. A girl with purple eyes! In a flash, her face was soft again. Her hand came out of her coat and she gave him a small half smile.

"I am sorry. There is being food?"

"Yeah, they have a small but decent menu. And a good selection of wine and beer."

"I am being a little hungry but I am not having coin."

"Hey, no problem," Mitchell said immediately. "My treat."

She gave him a puzzled look.

"A..." she hesitated as if choosing her words carefully. "A gift?"

Mitchell wanted to smack himself. English obviously wasn't her first language. "Yeah. I'll buy it for you. Don't worry."

"You are being most kind, thank you."

Her eyes left his and she started watching everyone in the lobby and bar again.

He walked her up to the bar and they grabbed a couple of empty seats. They still had about forty minutes before the movie was supposed to start so there was plenty of time to eat.

As she settled into the bar stool next to him he grabbed the menu and placed it between them. She glanced at it but then looked at him.

"What will you be eating?" she asked.

"Uh... Well, they have a great bacon cheeseburger here. Also, they serve seasoned fries instead of regular, which is always a plus. And the milkshakes are amazing! They use real ice cream, not the stuff you get at fast food places."

Allora blinked at him and he got the sense that she didn't have the faintest clue what he was talking about. But she gave him a warm smile.

"I will be having that."

"Okay, my kind of woman," Mitchell said with a chuckle. "Ice cream flavor?"

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Let me guess. Whatever I'm having?"

"Yes."

Mitchell turned to the bartender who was watching him with a very puzzled expression on his face. He looked from Allora and back to him, then back to Allora again.

"You, uh... You ready to order?"

"Yeah. Two bacon cheeseburgers with fries, two mint chocolate milkshakes, and two of whatever pale ale you have."

The bartender--Dane going by the nametag--jotted it down.

"Sure thing."

The waiter stared at Allora again and his eyes lingered. She noticed and met his gaze without flinching. Dane blinked first, nodded to Mitchell, and said "Be right back with your beers."

Mitchell watched him go and tried to make sense of his behavior.

"Sorry about that," he said, turning back to Allora.

"Why you are sorry?"

"I don't know, just the way he was staring at you. It was kinda weird."

"It is being alright. Maybe he is knowing I am not from this place."

Her lips curled into a small, cryptic smile.

"Where are you from, anyway?" Mitchell asked. "Your accent is... unusual. I'm not sure I've ever heard anything like it. I went out with this Russian girl in college very briefly and I thought maybe you were Russian but you don't sound anything like her."

Allora studied his face for a moment and if Mitchell had to guess she was making up her mind about something.

"Not from..." She paused and it looked to him like she was trying to repeat the word he used but gave up. "...that place. No. My home is... Far away. Maybe you are not knowing it."

"And what brings you to Phoenix? Are you a student?"

There was silence for a moment as she appeared to process the question but just then the beers arrived, brown bottles already dripping with condensation. Rather than answer him she turned her attention to the two bottles.

"This is the... pale ale?"

"Oh, yeah. Never had it before?

"No."

"It's pretty good."

She watched as he picked up his bottle and took a drink. Only after Mitchell had placed it back on the bar did she pick hers up, bring it to her nose for a sniff, then bring it uncertainly to her lips. Her first sip was tentative and he saw her move it over her tongue. Then her eyebrows rose she pulled the bottle back to examine the label, then brought it back to her lips and took a much bigger drink. She downed nearly half of it before setting it back on the bar. She was grinning.

"Good!" she exclaimed.

Then she burped and giggled, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

"It is being very different than ale in my home."

"Glad you like it." He picked his up and tapped it to the neck of her bottle with his. "Cheers. To chance encounters!"

Allora blinked, looked at his bottle, then back to hers, picked it up, and did the same to his. It clinked pleasantly and she took another drink, this time finishing it off.

"Woah, might want to slow down if you haven't eaten anything yet."

Another small burp escaped her lips and she set the bottle down with a grin.

"Yes. We should be eating first."

Her purple eyes met his once more and Mitchell almost lost himself. He'd never seen eyes like that before. Screw the movie, he thought. I just want to sit here and talk with her!

"Mitchell..." She said his name in a most interesting way. She curled her tongue far back in her mouth for the 'L' sound and he found he wanted her to keep saying it. "Are you having a...profession?"

"A job? Yeah, of course. I'm a data analyst for a cosmetics company."

Her eyebrows pressed together and he watched her try to form the words. "Da da an-sis. An-a-sis." Her face twisted in apparent frustration at her inability to nail the pronunciation. Giving up, she looked at him again.

"This is good profess-- Is being good job?" She said the word job with a little too much 'h' and an extra syllable. It sounded like ja-hab.

"It's not bad. Mostly I just sit in an office and look at sales data and try to find out where our advertising is the most effective. A little boring, if I'm being honest."

This close to her he could see her eyes watching his mouth intently and it took her a moment to respond.

"I am sorry. Is being hard to understand this language."

"It's alright. My fault. I should talk slower and maybe use simpler words. I basically find ways for other people to make more money. Coin." He amended, grinning at the new terminology. "I find a way for other people to make more coin."

Allora nodded, apparently getting the gist of it.

"And... Are you having wife or husband? Partner?"

"Ah, no. I'm single. No partner."

She nodded to herself then and said something under her breath. It sounded like 'is being easier' but he couldn't quite be sure.

"What about you? Married? Boyfriend? A girlfriend?"

"No," she wobbled her head a little bit in a way Mitchell found odd. Maybe that meant 'no' where she was from. "Family?" she continued. "Are you having family?"

"Parents live in Oregon, I have a sister in her second year of college at Oregon State. No major. Says she hasn't 'discovered her passion yet'. What about you?"

A frown creased her full lips.

"No family," she answered plainly.

"You... don't like talking about yourself very much, do you?"

Her eyes weighed him for what felt like a long moment. He tried to read her face to get some indication of what she was thinking however, her beautiful but alien face was smooth and expressionless.

"I..." She began, before another brief pause. "I am being private person sometimes. But maybe I can be telling you more another time."

"Okay, I can respect that. Just feels more like an interrogation than a conversation but I can be patient."

"I am being grateful for your understanding."

Mitchell was searching for something that she might be willing to talk about when their food arrived and he was saved. "Right back with your milkshakes," Dane told them. He seemed to avoid looking at Allora.

Once again, she stared at the food with open curiosity. "Have you not had a burger before, either?"

She picked up the top of the bun and looked underneath, then brought her nose in to sniff it. "No," she said while sticking a finger into the melting cheese. She brought it to her lips and tasted it and made a sound of pleasure as the melted cheddar hit her tongue.

"You're kidding? You've seriously never had a burger? Like not even Mcdonald's or Burger King?"

Her head made that small wobbling gesture again and he thought for a moment she was going to get angry, something flashed behind her purple eyes, but it passed. Instead, she only smiled slightly and said, "No. Where I am from we are not having this food."

"Well, dig in!"

The burger was almost but not quite too big to be eaten in a single bite. To Mitchell's mind, if a burger was so big that you couldn't get all the components into your mouth in one bite, it wasn't a burger, it was an upright meat salad. One should not need a fork and knife to enjoy a good hunk of ground beef.

"Mmmm, ohmagod!" Mitchell exclaimed as the first bite slid home.

She was staring at him again, watching his movements carefully and he suddenly felt slightly embarrassed for how much he was enjoying the food. He'd had a hell of a day at work and had skipped lunch, so he was starving.

"Sorry, I'm just really hungry."

He reached for his beer and Allora turned her attention back to her plate. She picked the sandwich up and brought it to her mouth. After sniffing it once more, her dark lips opened and she took a big bite. He watched her closely, trying to gauge her reaction to her first burger but it wasn't hard to spot. Allora chewed slowly a couple of times. Then her eyes went wide and she grinned

"Mmm!" she vocalized through a mouthful of food. She powered through her next few chews and, barely stopping for a breath, took another large bite. A large dollop of ketchup ended up on her lip and Mitchell couldn't help but laugh. She looked so adorable he almost didn't want to give her a napkin.

After that, what conversation they were able to have became sporadic and mostly about the food. He had to demonstrate the ketchup and fries to her but she seemed to enjoy those, too. She polished her burger off a lot faster than him and went after the fries with a similar amount of gusto. She'd mostly ignored their shakes that had come just moments after the burger but once the fries were gone she turned her attention to the tall vintage soda shop glass that contained the mint chocolate concoction. After a little more sniffing and watching him pull up the milkshake through the oversized straw, she copied his motions once more and practically inhaled the frosty dessert. He cautioned her to slow down, wanting to warn her about brain freeze but it was too late. Allora sucked in a huge breath and her face contorted in pain. Both hands came up to the sides of her head and she pressed. A small groan came from her throat and she cursed. At least that's what it sounded like, although he couldn't make sense of it.

"Stolar's burning cock!" she hissed.

"Yeah, probably should have warned you," Mitchell said apologetically. "I should have guessed you'd never had ice cream before.

She sucked in a few more breaths and looked at him, her cheeks going slightly red. "Not being your fault. I should not be eating so much. But it is being very good."

He cautioned her to drink a little slower and they continued their meal.

Her plate was clean before he'd polished off his fries and she was slurping up the last bits of her milkshake before he'd gone halfway through his. "You know," he said between sips. "I admire a woman with an appetite."

Her food coma was beginning to settle in and she slouched back on the bar stool, one hand over her stomach and the other hanging limply at her side. Before she could respond a loud burp erupted from her throat and got the attention of several people nearby. Her eyes darted around and she dipped her head in a conciliatory manner to the woman next to her who she'd startled out of a phone conversation.

"Feel better?" Mitchell asked her, amused.

Her eyes slid lazily over to him and she smiled. A big smile this time, not the small ones she seemed to favor. This one reached her violet-flecked eyes.

"Yes. I was being little hungry. Mostly I am eating fruit for some days."

"Ah," Mitchell said, understanding. "My sister is always doing fruit cleanses. Usually, she's an irritable bitch for a week, then she folds and eats a whole pizza."

Allora's head cocked sideways at his words but she didn't respond.

"Anyway, I'm glad you enjoyed it," pressing on past her stoicism. "Whenever you're ready we can head into the theater."

Allora excused herself to the ladies' room while Mitchell paid the check. As the bartender was handing back his card and the receipt, he asked, "Hey man, what language was she speaking?"

Mitchell blinked. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"The girl. What language was that?"

"Um... English?" Mitchell slid the card back in its place in his wallet and returned it to his back pocket.

"I'm not trying to be rude," Dane continued. "I've just never heard a language like that. I only want to know where she's from."

"I seriously have no idea what you're talking about. She has an accent, sure but she was speaking English."

Dane looked annoyed for a moment and Mitchell thought he might press the issue but had no idea why he would. It was a ridiculous thing to argue about. After a couple of tense seconds, Dane decided to let it drop.

"Whatever," he said, his voice curt. "Enjoy the movie, sir."

He turned back to the small dishwasher they had behind the bar and began to unload the cocktail glasses and beer mugs that had just finished their cycle.

Mitchell shook his head and went to stand by the theater doors to wait for Allora.

*****

Mitchell had seen Godzilla a bunch of times but still loved the campy fun of it. His dad was an old movie buff so he'd grown up watching stuff like this. Allora confessed to never having seen it but he couldn't say he was really surprised. If she'd never had a burger and milkshake what were the odds that she'd seen a nearly seventy-year-old Japanese horror film? Even so, her reaction to the film surprised him. She visibly cringed at the noise, for one thing. Almost like her ears weren't comfortable with the surround sound. As the rubber-suited monster began its obliteration of the oft-destroyed city of Tokyo, she was looking around constantly and flinched several times when a building was crushed or a car hit a power line and exploded. Mitchell had to check with her more than once to see if she was okay and she replied each time that she was fine.