Free Her Body of Work by Marie Donovan

I’ll stick with younger men.” Meg’s eyes widened and she slapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry, Rey. I’ll take my foot out of my mouth now.”
    Rey had confided in her friend about losing her virginity at age eighteen to forty-two-year-old Stefan Early. She waved a hand. “Stefan was a long time ago. I actually spotted him at a gallery exhibition last week.”
    “What?” Meg looked up from her plate, poised to eat a bite of salad.
    “In the flesh. The wrinkly, pasty flesh.” She hadn’t tried to get a closer look.
    Meg clattered her forkful of organic arugula against her plate. “Stefan Early? From what you told me, his name should have been Stefan Come-Early.”
    Rey giggled. “He did have a problem with, um, anticipation.”
    “Anticipation?” Meg grabbed a fat bread stick and drooped the tip downward. “That’s a nice way of saying premature ejaculation.”
    “I was eighteen and didn’t know any better.” Rey drank some of her hot tea. Too bitter. She pulled a packet of herbal sweetener from the table rack.
    Meg rolled her eyes. “And that’s why Stefan is notorious for dating teenagers. An experienced woman would never tolerate such a lousy lover.”
    “He’s recovered from his heart attack last year.” Rey stirred the sweet powder into her tea.
    “Is it true he collapsed on top of his nineteen-year-old girlfriend?” Meg asked.
    “I heard that, too, but I don’t believe it.” Rey gave Meg a wicked smile. “How could five seconds of thrusting give anyone a heart attack?”
    Meg whooped and fell back on the red vinyl booth. Rey smiled, but her heart wasn’t really in it. She sipped her drink. The bitterness was gone from her tea but not her memories.
    Her friend caught her breath and sat up. “I’m glad you can joke about him now. I wanted to strangle him with his greasy gray ponytail for how he treated you.”
    Rey’d never told Meg half of what Stefan had done, but now wasn’t the time. She decided to lighten themood, especially since the waiter was approaching with their lunch. “My first lover, but not the last.”
    “Thank God. You deserve a man with more staying power.” Meg took a bite of the thick bread stick.
    “Amen, honey.” The waiter winked at them, leaning in to serve their plates with a flourish. “We all deserve that.”
    “See? Even our waiter agrees.”
    Rey pointed her fork across the table at her outrageous friend. “Use your mouth for eating instead of embarrassing me.” She dug into her own meal.
    Meg gave her an injured look. “Have I even mentioned that new model of yours?”
    Caught with a mouthful of corn bread, Rey couldn’t defend herself without spraying crumbs on the pretty blue-and-white-checked tablecloth.
    “Did I even ask how you could be so crazy to have lunch with me instead of rolling around with a hot, naked man?” Meg sliced into her tofu and grimaced. “It’s weird to eat Japanese food with a knife and fork.”
    Rey finally swallowed. “I don’t have time to roll around naked with a man, much less my own model. If I goof up this commission, I’ll have to move and Evelyn will drop me.”
    “I know your building’s going condo, but why would Evelyn fire you?” Meg ate a bite of stir-fry.
    Rey set down her spoon, her appetite waning. “She said my last few paintings were dull.”
    “Ouch. You’re not a dull person, so what’s going on?”
    “She said I need more passion,” Rey said glumly.
    “Doesn’t everyone?” Meg replied. “You’ve had a drier spell than most, though. How long has it been for you?”
    “Passion in my artwork, not sex.” She refused to think there was a connection.
    “And you don’t think the two are related?”
    Busted. Rey shrugged.
    “So Evelyn says you’re missing some passion in your artwork.” Meg leaned closer. “I think you need to get laid.”
    “Meg!” Rey shushed her friend and looked around the café to see if anyone had overheard their conversation. The waiter scurried