Free Cocotte by David Manoa

The onset of vertigo struck me. I was out on the town with my business partner Marc Strong to celebrate our new acquisition, a lucrative deal. We sold eighty percent of our patented technology to a company called Cerberus Petroleum. To be blunt, we were now multi-millionaires and we decided to pay ourselves forward.
    Marc and I staggered past the line of seedy nightclubs. His face had that look of hunger and sex and I knew where we were going.
    The streets leading up to his favourite strip club were wet and littered with trash. Taking a shortcut through the alley had me nervous, the way it was barely lit, and the strong smell of urine from the drunks that took comfort in the dark to relieve themselves.
    Marc was eager to get there, walking briskly in front of me. I couldn’t believe he could handle the amount of tequila shots we had and still be coherent. I couldn’t match him so I stopped drinking, but I was hungry too. Not for women, but for a nice greasy steak burger, with chips and a hot dog, dipped in tomato sauce. My mouth was beginning to salivate when we arrived at the street, to smell the lingering scent of the burger joint, which was on my left. The strip club was on my right and my body turned, to what it needed the most.
    “ Oliver! Where are you going?”
    “ Marc, I’m hungry. Can we grab something to eat and then head up?”
    Marc glanced at his watch and I took out my phone to check the time. It was four a.m. He shook his head and walked over and put his arm around me.
    “We 'll grab a feed after. Let’s check out the chicks first!”
    “ Marc, can’t you resist the urge for just one night?”
    He shook his head again and gave me this devilish grin.
    “When Marc wants the pussy - he gets the pussy,” he said, holding his crotch up like Michael Jackson.
    I rolled my eyes. My stomach was growling for hot food , hot shower and a warm bed. Marc would gloat about the women he would sleep with at Showgirls. I think the money we would be making now, made him think he has a new sense of power and entitlement.
    The day started with us celebrating in the office, when he went to the bank and took out $100,000 dollars in cash. We sat at the boardroom table while he split the money into two piles. We stuffed about five hundred one hundred dollar bills in each pocket of our suits. We looked ridiculous with six rectangular piles bulging out.
    We shouted everyone and anyone, at the bars we started at. We were like celebrities the way everyone wanted to be our friend. We went to a bar named Danny Doolans. The women were friendly and it was amusing how quickly our rent a crowd gathered. We went up to the second floor to do our tequila shots. We decided to ‘Make it rain’ with the money, we threw on the dance floor. Watching the cash float down like feathers in the air, amongst the smoke and laser lights was memorable. It caused a frenzy, like throwing bloodied fish into an ocean of sharks.
    “Mate , come up and have some fun, The girls up there do absolutely anything you want… “Anything…” Marc added.
    “ Marc, I’m tired. I’m going to grab a taxi and head off.”
    “C’mon , come up, and get your dick sucked at least.”
    “No thanks.” I said.
    I always had this negative association with prostitutes and strippers. I drive past this suburb of Papatoetoe , on my way back from work. The women I see on the corners… Well, that’s if they are women, freaked me out. I always gave Marc stick about his indulgences, not that he seemed to care. It was a shame. He had a beautiful wife and two-year-old daughter.
    I’ll admit , it did disturb me. But what people do in their personal lives was none of my business.
    “ Oliver c’mon, will you wait for me at least?”
    I looked at my phone . It was now four fifteen a.m. I sighed and nodded.
    We were now outside the entrance of Showgirls. The mirrors at the entrance reflected our distorted figures and our bloodshot eyes. My vision shifted up to the moving