Page 1 of Size Game
Alex
It’s been a long time now since my wife, Mary, passed on. It was devastating when it happened. She had just brought our little girl, Sadie, into the world, and thenboom! The doctors told me that a blood clot had formed in her brain. They told me that she went peacefully and without any pain, but that knowledge offered no comfort at the time. I was absolutely devastated, and could hardly pick myself up from the ground.
But I had to get my act together because Mary left me with a tiny baby to care for, our precious girl Sadie. Luckily, Sadie was healthy, and seemed not to know what she was missing. Some of the women working for my company with children of their own offered to help out. It was awkward, but I would bring Sadie to work, and one of the ladies would come and take her off my hands those first six months.
Despite the patchwork childcare, my daughter thrived and is now four years old. She’s the cutest thing with bright blonde curls and big blue eyes. My concern was, and always will be, my baby girl.
Lately though, my buddy Phil has been pestering me to join him at the various strip clubs and titty bars here in Manhattan. I keep telling him no. I’m a single dad, and I’m all Sadie has. It would be inappropriate for me to go, but Phil won’t let up.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asks. “Live a little, buddy.”
I glare at him.
“As if you could understand, asshole. I’m a dad, and my daughter needs me.”
Phil merely shrugs.
“But not all day, every day. And certainly not at night, when she’s asleep. Live a little, buddy. You’ve been a hermit for four years now, and a guy needs to get out sometimes. Why not enjoy yourself?”
I merely sighed, and shut the door in his face.
But today, Phil’s on a mission. He waltzes into my office and lets the door swing shut with a smirk on his face.
“Can I help you, Phil?”
“There’s a two-for-one special down at the Tabby Cat Club. You can’t beat that.”
“Really? The Tabby Cat Club? What a classy name.”
He snorts.
“Come on! Just one night. Give meonenight, my friend.”
I pause and ponder my options. I know that Imelda, the older woman that has been my live-in nanny for the past three years, would have no problem taking care of Sadie. Phil seems to sense my resistance crumbling.
“One night.” Phil is leaning closer to me on my desk, practically breathing in my face.
I roll my eyes and shake my head.
“I’m just not ready to get back out there, man.”
Phil scoffs and whines over-dramatically, “Really? When will you be ready? When you’re in the grave?”
I turn my chair away from him and look out over the landscape through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
Phil comes around and spins me to face him with his hands on the edges of the armrests. This guy is in my personal space, but he doesn’t seem to care.
“Give me one night. You don’t have to take anyone home, remember anyone’s name, nothing. Just enjoy a woman taking off her clothes and maybe a lap dance. Think of it as a bachelor party.”
“A bachelor party?”
“Yeah,” he says with a snicker. Then he walks back over to the door. Just before he leaves, he leans back in with a big grin. “We’re celebrating the end of your dry spell.”
He laughs and quickly ducks as I throw a pen at him. Unfortunately it just hits the door, and not his head.
It’s not that Idon’twant to go out and enjoy life, but every time I think about going out I feel a pit in my stomach. I don’t want to forget Mary, and I don’t want Sadie thinking that I will. Maybe Phil has a point, though. I can go out and not do anything just for one night. That couldn’t hurt, right?
I decide to do a bit of research on my own and get on my computer. I search for various clubs in the area, not really sure what I’m looking for. I see ads for all their crazy get-in-the-door specials and happy hours. A few of them have pictures and bios of some of the headlining dancers. Some have lists of other services offered, like lap dances, personal rooms, and bachelor party specials.