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Fall was officially underway and the cool temperatures suited Eddie just fine. He sat at the bar watching the Vikings game as he went through the day’s receipts. The dinner crowd had been good, but the place had emptied out except for a few tables in the dining room.
A short, busty blonde woman in her mid-forties walked up and pulled herself onto a stool two seats from him. She ordered a vodka tonic and turned to Eddie just as he looked her way. His eyes immediately fell to her breasts overflowing from her low-cut black dress. She appeared somewhat attractive, but the bar’s dim lighting often played tricks. He returned to his work.
“You’re workin’ hard,” she said. Her deep voice suggested a tough life of drinking and smoking.
Eddie looked up to see the broad was talking to him.
“Ah, yeah,” he said. “Gotta’ lot-ta do tonight.”
“Mmm,” she said, sipping loudly. “This your place?”
Eddie put down his pen and turned to her. Never disrespect a customer.
“Yeah. It’s mine. First time here?”
“It is.”
She twisted her chest in his direction, her glass in hand, as she drew a long sip from her straw.
Eddie’s eyes once again drifted to her exposed breasts. She smiled up at him. Her dull ash-blond hair appeared dry and brittle, and her solid size was heftier than he usually liked. But those jugs—they were enormous and jiggled as she breathed, talked and laughed, almost as though they were speaking to him.
“It’s nice,” she said. “I haven’t eaten here yet, but I like the ambiance.”
“Thanks.”
“Maybe I’ll order somethin’. Can I eat here? At the bar?”
Eddie smiled and nodded. “Sure. Eat wherever ya’ want.”
The bartender handed her a menu and she looked it over as she sipped her cocktail.
“Try the Ravioli Alla Calabrese,” Eddie said. “It’s like a cheese ravioli, only better.” He kissed the tips of his fingers. “Fantastic.”
She shut her menu. “Okay, I’ll try it.”
The bartender took her order, and then brought Eddie his usual Johnnie Walker Black on the rocks.
The woman talked to Eddie occasionally as she ate her ravioli. After she’d had three more vodka tonics and Eddie had had one more than his usual three scotches, the conversation blossomed. Eddie moved to sit next to her. She seemed to enjoy his wandering gaze.
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Eddie. Yours?”
“Shari,” she said, slithering a bite of ravioli, sauce spilling around her mouth.
Eddie flinched at the sight, but with each drink, her obvious flaws became blurred. Her breasts became his focal point. It’d been quite some time since he’d been with a woman, and he was enjoying the warm feelings of arousal.
They talked and laughed until it was time to close up. The waitstaff had been gone for a couple of hours when the bartender said goodnight. Eddie walked Shari to the front of the restaurant.
“Wait here,” he said. “Gotta’ lock up.”
Feeling optimistic he might get lucky, Eddie pranced through the restaurant doing a less-than diligent shutdown.
“Okay,” he said. “All set.”
He held the door for her and then turned to lock up. Payne Avenue was deserted and the crisp, cool air sobered him a bit.
Shari bent over to adjust her skirt, giving Eddie a brilliant view of her chest. When she came back up, she pushed a strand of her dull hair behind her ear and giggled.
“So,” she said. “Ya’ wanna’ maybe come to my place? It’s just down the block here.” She pointed up the side street from the front door. “We can walk. Maybe have a nightcap?”
Eddie’s heart skipped. He was gonna’ get lucky.
“Yeah, sure. I’d like that.”
She leaned in and kissed him, the taste of cigarettes and alcohol confirming his earlier assumption.
“Come on, Eddie,” she said, taking his hand.
She guided him up the darkened sidewalk, the streetlights dimly lighting the way. They traveled a block and a half, arriving in front of an old brick three-story apartment building. The hallway smelled of stale food and old carpet, but Shari’s unit was clean and neatly decorated.
Eddie got what he’d come for. At his insistence, Shari turned off the bedroom lights, swallowing the room into darkness, and making it easier for him to imagine Kate’s beautiful face looking up at him. He imagined her long chestnut hair sprawled across the pillow below him, as she whispered softly.
Eddie rolled roughly off Shari, her face thankfully invisible in the lightless bedroom. She panted and rolled onto her side to face him, setting her hand on his hairy chest, as he lay next to her fighting for breath. He patted her arm with a false sense of thoughtfulness.
After waiting a reasonable amount of time, he sat up.
“Gotta’ go.”
“What? No! Eddie—why? Why can’t ya’ stay?”
He swung his feet over the edge of the bed. “Gotta’ work in the morning. I told ya’. Don’t bust my balls.”
She slapped the mattress. “Fine. Go.”
Eddie pulled up his pants and slipped into his shoes, as he buttoned his dress shirt. He headed to the bedroom door and Shari called out to him.
“Wanna’ do it again sometime?”
He turned down the hall without responding.
“Fuck you, Eddie!”
“Jesus Christ,” he whispered, before grabbing his jacket and slamming the door behind him.
It never fails. One way or another, there’s always a price for a piece-a ass.
