asked hopefully.
“No, of course not. Just about . . . you know.”
His jaw clenched angrily. “Well, I want more than a quick lay.”
“Nick, don’t ruin tonight by arguing. It was a wonderful evening. I didn’t know how much I had craved this kind of thing. It was like a fantasy come true.”
“You craved the fantasy?” he said with decided interest, his face no longer so despondent.
“I guess I did. Deep in my heart.”
He said the oddest thing then, “Thank you, Lord . . . and Madame Nadine. At least I’m on the right track.”
Day Four
The things a guy will do for love . . .
“Ouch! I thought you said this wouldn’t hurt.”
“No, darlin’, you asked me if getting a tattoo might fulfill your wife’s ‘heart craving,’ and I said it probably wouldn’t hurt. It’s not the same thing.”
Sitting on a high stool, Nick tried to peer back over his shoulder at Madame Nadine, who was working with concentration on his right shoulder blade. Or at least as much concentration as she could muster with that blasted cigarette hanging out of her mouth, cats meowing all over the place, and flowers sucking all the oxygen out of the air. Or did flowers give off oxygen? He couldn’t remember in the midst of his pain.
“Ouch!” he said again.
“Stop moving. I can’t see.”
Hah! He didn’t know how she could see anyhow in the glare of her bright orange dress embroidered all over with neon yellow sequined sunflowers. The broad did have a thing about sunflowers.
“Watch you don’t burn me with that damn cigarette,” he grumbled as her two-inch ash grazed and crumbled against the back of his neck.
Madame Nadine mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like “Up yours.” But he was probably mistaken.
Just then, her needle hit a particularly sensitive spot, and Nick almost shot out of his chair. “Are you sure you didn’t work for Hitler in another life?”
“Tsk-tsk! No pain, no gain,” she remarked blithely.
“Easy for you to say! What kind of tattoo are you putting there anyhow? It better not be one of those hokey snakes. Or a skull and crossbones. I want something to impress Paula, not gross her out. How about two linked hearts?”
“Puh-leeze, I’m an artiste. I am creative. I am—”
“—a fraud,” he muttered under his breath.
“I heard that, young man,” she said. “Watch your mouth, or I won’t help you anymore. And I still think you should have let me put the tattoo on your privates. It’s the latest thing, you know.”
“Get real!”
“Would you consider a genital earring?”
“You’re not getting within a mile of these family jewels.” He placed both hands protectively over said treasures. “And you’d better hurry up. I only have another ten minutes left on my lunch hour.”
Finally, she finished and told him how to care for the tattoo over the next few days. He tried to peer at her creation over his shoulder, but she kept distracting him, blabbing on about how she’d gotten a ticket the day before for failing to procure a business license, and could he fix it for her. He kept telling her he didn’t work in that division, but somehow she managed to talk him into seeing what he could do.
After putting his shirt back on and slapping fifty dollars on the table, he asked the question he’d wanted to ask for the past half hour—the real reason he’d stopped by to visit Madame Nadine once again. “So, how do you think I’m doing on this heart craving business?”
Madame Nadine blew a smoke ring the size of an inner tube his way, and, in the midst of his coughing, she said, “You tell me, sonny boy. Has she torn up the divorce papers yet?”
“No,” he said on a groan of despair.
“Is she weakening?”
Remembering last night’s senior prom fantasy, Nick felt his face grow hot. Since he never blushed, he figured it must be the lack of air-conditioning.
Madame Nadine raised an eyebrow questioningly. When he declined to tell her the
“No, of course not. Just about . . . you know.”
His jaw clenched angrily. “Well, I want more than a quick lay.”
“Nick, don’t ruin tonight by arguing. It was a wonderful evening. I didn’t know how much I had craved this kind of thing. It was like a fantasy come true.”
“You craved the fantasy?” he said with decided interest, his face no longer so despondent.
“I guess I did. Deep in my heart.”
He said the oddest thing then, “Thank you, Lord . . . and Madame Nadine. At least I’m on the right track.”
Day Four
The things a guy will do for love . . .
“Ouch! I thought you said this wouldn’t hurt.”
“No, darlin’, you asked me if getting a tattoo might fulfill your wife’s ‘heart craving,’ and I said it probably wouldn’t hurt. It’s not the same thing.”
Sitting on a high stool, Nick tried to peer back over his shoulder at Madame Nadine, who was working with concentration on his right shoulder blade. Or at least as much concentration as she could muster with that blasted cigarette hanging out of her mouth, cats meowing all over the place, and flowers sucking all the oxygen out of the air. Or did flowers give off oxygen? He couldn’t remember in the midst of his pain.
“Ouch!” he said again.
“Stop moving. I can’t see.”
Hah! He didn’t know how she could see anyhow in the glare of her bright orange dress embroidered all over with neon yellow sequined sunflowers. The broad did have a thing about sunflowers.
“Watch you don’t burn me with that damn cigarette,” he grumbled as her two-inch ash grazed and crumbled against the back of his neck.
Madame Nadine mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like “Up yours.” But he was probably mistaken.
Just then, her needle hit a particularly sensitive spot, and Nick almost shot out of his chair. “Are you sure you didn’t work for Hitler in another life?”
“Tsk-tsk! No pain, no gain,” she remarked blithely.
“Easy for you to say! What kind of tattoo are you putting there anyhow? It better not be one of those hokey snakes. Or a skull and crossbones. I want something to impress Paula, not gross her out. How about two linked hearts?”
“Puh-leeze, I’m an artiste. I am creative. I am—”
“—a fraud,” he muttered under his breath.
“I heard that, young man,” she said. “Watch your mouth, or I won’t help you anymore. And I still think you should have let me put the tattoo on your privates. It’s the latest thing, you know.”
“Get real!”
“Would you consider a genital earring?”
“You’re not getting within a mile of these family jewels.” He placed both hands protectively over said treasures. “And you’d better hurry up. I only have another ten minutes left on my lunch hour.”
Finally, she finished and told him how to care for the tattoo over the next few days. He tried to peer at her creation over his shoulder, but she kept distracting him, blabbing on about how she’d gotten a ticket the day before for failing to procure a business license, and could he fix it for her. He kept telling her he didn’t work in that division, but somehow she managed to talk him into seeing what he could do.
After putting his shirt back on and slapping fifty dollars on the table, he asked the question he’d wanted to ask for the past half hour—the real reason he’d stopped by to visit Madame Nadine once again. “So, how do you think I’m doing on this heart craving business?”
Madame Nadine blew a smoke ring the size of an inner tube his way, and, in the midst of his coughing, she said, “You tell me, sonny boy. Has she torn up the divorce papers yet?”
“No,” he said on a groan of despair.
“Is she weakening?”
Remembering last night’s senior prom fantasy, Nick felt his face grow hot. Since he never blushed, he figured it must be the lack of air-conditioning.
Madame Nadine raised an eyebrow questioningly. When he declined to tell her the
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