Chapter 2

It had worked out tonight exactly as Jack Lurton could have guessed almost to the word and the inflection of it so far as haughty Theodora was concerned. After dinner, he'd taken her back in a cab to her North Lake Shore Drive high-rise apartment and gone into the lobby with her to make certain that she would be safe for the night. She had looked at him and drawled, "I know what you're thinking, Jack. You'd just love to have me invite you up for a nightcap, wouldn't you?"

"To be truthful, of course I would, Theo."

"I don't like that nickname, if you don't mind," she had said with an icy look. "Theodora is a perfectly good name, there was an empress who was quite famous, and for all I know I may have even descended from her."

"Well, in a way you have. In the way of giving your subjects orders and expecting them to be carried out without a murmur of dissent," he couldn't help parrying.

"I see. So that's what you think of me. Well, perhaps we hadn't better see each other again. Besides, I know why you go out with me, you're hoping that maybe I'll say yes and let you go to bed with me. I'm not even ready to get married, and I certainly am not going to have an affair."

"Frankly, I don't think you're capable of one," he had been goaded into saying.

And then, something he hadn't expected, she had compressed her lips and slapped his face, saying, "Good night, Mr. Lurton. Please don't bother to call me again. Thank you for a most unpleasant evening."

Then she had taken her key, opened the inner door and disappeared. He had shrugged and gone back to the cab. And the driver, a hearty, plump Dane who was something of a chatterbox and who had been offering helpful information all through the ride, winked at him and said, "No luck with that one, buddy?"

"No luck at all."

"You know, if you'll pardon my saying so, Mister, you look like a regular guy to me."

"I try to give that impression, but I'm afraid the young lady I just left wouldn't agree with you," Jack Lurton had chuckled.

"What I mean is, she was really a dish. I could see you had the eye for her-begging your pardon-"

"No reason to beg my pardon. I did have the eye for her. I also had a hard-on for her, if you want the truth," Jack Lurton said coarsely to relieve his feelings. What he was thinking was that he would have given all his salary for a month to be alone with Theodora Ames up in her apartment for about an hour, no holds barred.

"Well, since you're being frank with me, I'll be frank with you, Mister. Now understand, I don't do this for a living. But in my business, a guy meets girls in the trade-you get me?"

"I think so. In other words, you want to make up for my rejection by that slinky brunette by offering me a girl on the string in your little black book-am I right?"

"I can see I'm dealing with a guy who knows the ropes. Mister," the cabdriver chuckled. "That's right. Now take it from me, this little number is clean, she knows her business, she doesn't get into any trouble, and she's sort of new, too. What I mean is, she's nice and fresh and she doesn't charge too much. And there won't be any badger game or nothing like that to spoil it for you. Interested?"

"Damn it, why not?" Jack Lurton said aloud, half to himself. And why shouldn't he knock off a piece of cunt, after the edgy way Theodora had worked him up only to let him down with a bang? He hadn't had a piece in quite a while, and he also hadn't had a pro. It might be fun just for a change. Anyway, better an honest pro than a bitch like Theodora Ames.

"Okay, Mister. Would you pay fifty bucks?"

"For good merchandise, of course I would. Where would it be, at her place or at mine?"

"Either way you want. Just let me know. I'll give her a ring."

"All right, why don't you make your phone call, and then if it's okay with her, pick her up and bring her to where I'm going? That's on 54th and Blackstone," Jack Lurton suggested.

"Great! I'll go up to that drugstore, see, because I need a pack of cigarettes. I'll call Amy -that's her name-and find out how things stand."

Jack Lurton settled back in the cab and lit a cigarette His prick began to ache at the thought of satisfying himself after having been worked up to a frazzle by prick-teasing Theodora Ames.

A few minutes later, the affable cabdriver came back to report that "Amy's free, and you're sort of lucky, Mister. I told her that you were a nice guy, young and on the ball, and what I'll do is let you off at your place, and then go back and pick her up. That way, you can get all nice and ready."

"Great. Then let's get home, so I can relax and forget about the girl I just dropped off," Jack Lurton chuckled as he lit a cigarette. "And here's a ten-dollar bill for you, cabby, for your thoughtfulness."

"Thanks, Mister, that's great. Understand, this little girl doesn't really split with me or anything like that, I'm not a pimp, I happened to meet her about six months ago and she was down on her luck. Came from a little Wisconsin town, ran away from a stepfather who was trying to bang her-you know what I mean. Couldn't find work, got sick, so I guess she had to do the next best thing. But she takes real good care of herself, and she's sweet and accommodating."

"You've already sold her, don't do it again," Jack Lurton laughed as he leaned back and enjoyed the ride home along the Outer Drive.