The Hyena (Patreon)

I drummed my fingers annoyed that yet again the call had gone to voicemail. I hit redial for the fifth time just as Bea said, “Leave it alone, they won’t answer.”

It was her and I in an otherwise empty karaoke room. She worked in my company’s human resources department, and while we weren’t necessarily friends, we had both agreed to be escorts on a double date, me with Roger and Bea with her colleague Alice. However about 20 minutes ago they had both up and left, leaving the two of us behind.

"They could have at least warned us," I said, my voice dripping with annoyance. I was very uncomfortable being in a room alone with Bea. She was a furry mutant, a hyena to be more specific and she was serious, VERY serious. I never saw her smile at work, not even in the cafeteria.

“I think we'd better go. It was nice to meet you,” she said as she took her bag.

“Wait…” I interrupted her. “We already paid for the drinks and this room, and tomorrow is Saturday. Why don't we try to make the most of this night?”

Bea looked at me a little puzzled. She took a deep breath as she said, “Ok, you're right. I think I need a drink. This week was heavy,” she said as she took the margarita.

“Yes, I hear that. It seemed like a lot of work had piled up,” I told her as I took a sip of my mojito and flipped through the karaoke playlist.

"I wish it had just been heavy workload," Bea said. "There's a new supervisor in HR and well, apparently she doesn't particularly like girls with fur."

"Seriously?" I asked somewhat surprised. "That's weird… I thought there were strict policies against mutaphobia in the company."

“That policy works well with obvious mutaphobia. It's complicated when it's more underhanded. I don't want to make a fuss about what could be just a wrong interpretation on my part.” Bea silently swirled her drink for a moment. “Alice noticed that I was feeling a little bad and asked me out… though now she's probably off to a love hotel with Roger,” she said as she smiled wryly. I stared at her as she smiled. "What?"

"Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt you," I said. "It's just that in all the time that we’ve worked together I’ve never seen you smile, let alone laugh, even with your friends."

“I got used to not laughing at all,” she told me with an air of sadness. “Not only do I have the appearance of a hyena, I unfortunately also have their laugh and it's a bit… uncomfortable.”

Bea was clearly unhappy, so rather than continue the depressing topic I put on “Piano Man” and began to sing. My enthusiasm was great, but my singing could use a little work. Still, I could see Bea was beginning to relax a little, even having to put effort into stifling her laugh. When the song was over, I handed her the mic. “Your turn,” I said with a wide smile and flopped on the posh couch. She sang “Total Eclipse of the Heart” about as well as I did, and when the song ended, we ordered more drinks.

And then a few more.

By the time we had had several drinks, Bea was smiling all the time, although I still noticed that she was holding back. I was more than a little tipsy, but nothing terrible. I was able to stand up and choose another song easily enough.

"You know, if I'm honest, you sing pretty badly, but I like the enthusiasm you put into it," she said, somewhat blushing.

“Well, I only sing in the shower, although you know what they say: Singing in the shower is fun until you get soap in your mouth. Then it's just a soap opera,” I said.

Bea stared at me for a moment before busting out laughing in a tremendous, high-pitched sound that reverberated throughout the room. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAAHAAA,” she laughed before realizing what she was doing and covering her mouth with her hands. Her face turned completely red. “Sorry… you caught me off guard!”

“From the way you described it earlier I thought your laugh would be much worse. It's not that bad, really,” I said smiling at her. “I actually kind of like it.”

She relaxed a bit, "Still, I won't do it at the office."

“Was my joke that good?” I asked her.

"It was a terrible dad joke, but I think that’s why I laughed," she said.

Our time was almost up. Neither of us had heard from Roger or Alice, but at that point we didn't care anymore. We were having so much fun that we were already talking about favorite foods, things we liked as children, and who we liked the least in the office.

“Hey… you're a Spotted Hyena… I mean, you're a girl with spotted hyena DNA, right?” I asked her, already dizzy from the alcohol.

“Yes, just as you see me,” said Bea showing her little spots on her neck.

“Right, right..." I stammered a little. "I once saw a documentary about female hyenas and..."

“Yes, I have something between my legs. It's not a penis, but it looks like it,” she told me as she spread her legs a little.

"Seriously," the shock had almost sobered me up.

"Yes. Do you want to take advantage of our last few minutes in the room and see it?” she said as she lifted her skirt slightly.

“Well…I…um…” her proposition made me turn red as a beet. She gave a soft hyena laugh.

“Naah. It's too early for that,” she said, pulling down her skirt and smiled coyly at me. “Maybe after a few more dates. If you're interested."

I was a little puzzled for a moment, before smiling at her and replying, "So, do you have plans tomorrow?"