Free Innocent Monsters by Barbara Doherty

counter. Her ass looked good, wrapped in a tight dark purple mini skirt, like a fancy chocolate waiting to be peeled open, bitten into. Christ. He needed to get laid. How long had it been now? Over a month. Too long. He had to start again. He didn’t want to end up like his cousin Michael, who complained constantly about not having had sex since his divorce. You grieve and grieve, he kept saying, and by the time you realise you haven’t had sex for a while, two years have gone by and the only thing you remember is how to use your hand, if you know what I mean.
    But Roger wasn’t grieving. He didn’t have a wife who had decided to trade him in for a younger, more successful specimen. No, Roger was simply getting over a hump. All he had to do was take a first step and everything would be on the right track again. Same as before .
    “You enjoying that?” He asked the brunette still smiling.
    “It’s ok, I’ve had better. I’m thirsty.”
    “And hot by the looks of it.”
    The girl looked down at herself as if suddenly noticing how little she was wearing. “Oh, this is my uniform. I work around the corner, at the Crazy Horse Club.”
    Roger laughed. “And you come in here for a drink?”
    She smiled at him, shrugged her shoulders. “Needed a change of scenery, I guess. Long shift today. Can’t be in there all day. Why are you here? You look like you should be in an office or a bank at this time of day, not in a bar chatting up girls.”
    He looked at his watch and wondered whether he’d have enough time to slip her his phone number before Jessica arrived, wondered what time her shift would start again.
    “Actually, I’m working. I’m waiting for a client.”
    “Sitting in a bar, working, uh? My kinda job. What do you do?”
    Roger thought about it for a moment. The last time he had lied about his job things had become complicated, everything had gone wrong. He was never going to make that mistake again.
    “I’m a book editor.”
    The brunette turned to face him, leaning on the bar with one arm, her chest pushed out towards him. Her tits looked as good as her ass, squeezed in a small strip of fabric the same colour as her skirt. She bit her lip.
    “Book editor? What’s that? You publish books?”
    “Not exactly. I buy ‘em, read manuscripts. I decide if a story should or should not be bought and sold to the public.”
    “Big responsibilities, uh? Bet you get to read a lot of shit.”
    “Oh yes.” Roger laughed again, looked at her straight in the eyes trying to work some of his magic, trying to decide if she was finding him attractive enough. Then he saw Jessica through the glass front, walking towards the entrance. Shit.
    “Ah, shame! My client is here now...” He left the sentence hanging there, hoping she would pick it up.
    “That is a shame.” The brunette bit her lip again returning his stare. “I was hoping you could get me another drink.”
    “Well, that ain’t a problem.” Roger gestured to the guy behind the bar asking for a fresh cocktail. “What is that you’re drinking anyway?”
    “Long Island Iced Tea. Why don’t you come and see me when you’re finished working here. I’ll bring you one to try.”
    “That sounds like exactly what I need.”
    The girl giggled, placed her hand on his knee. “I’m Britney.”
    “Roger.”
    Jessica reached them at that moment.
    Roger looked awkward bent towards the counter, too tall for the stool he was sitting on. The ceiling light hanging above him seemed too close to his head, it made her think of an ugly woman under the hood dryer at the hairdresser. The girl standing next to him certainly didn’t seem to find him in any way comical.
    “Am I disturbing?” Jessica raised an eyebrow.
    Roger gulped down the rest of his drink without looking at her, waited for the brunette to turn her back on them winking.
    “No. We’re good. Shall we?” He got off the stool and pointed to one of the tables in the center of the room. “Have a sit,