"Whatās wrong? Why am I only meeting weirdos?"
"You just had bad luck, thatās all," Sam comforts her. "Everyone knows you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a prince."
"What if all youāre kissing are a bunch of pigs?" Ellenor moans.
"Oh, thatās not fair! That hunk wasnāt a pig, he just had a very small dick!"
"AND he was a bad kisser," she points out.
"What do you care, if itās only a One Night Stand?"
She looks at him sternly.
"I deserve good quality fucking EVERY time," she says.
"So weāre not talking about merely getting laid here, weāre talking about great sex? Someoneās improved her standards! Not only does she wants a sex life, now she wants it to be good, too!"
"Damned right!" she says, hitting her fist against the table. "I want a nice, normal guy, unattached, with a big dick, who wants to have sex in bed ā preferably one who is good with his tongue, too!"
"Be careful what you wish for," Sam warns her. "You just might get what you ask forā¦"
"Fastlane" is a hip new club downtown. Ellenor sees quite a few local celebrities in the crowd. Itās opening night, and the place is full of people. Itās clear that itās going to be the most popular club in town this season. Itās a big place, originally it used to be a storage facility for the local shipping agency; now itās been transformed into a hypermodern world of glass and iron, all in black and white. Bright neon lights flicker over the walls and the ceiling, and through the thick glass floor shines hundreds of electric blue lights. Itās a little bit overwhelming. She hides out in the bar, and watches the dancing crowd.
"Do you love it or hate it?"
Heās got a British accent, has big, gray eyes, curly red hair, and looks like a singer she had a crush on as a teenager.
"Do I love or hate what?" she says.
"It. This. The whole club."
She looks around.
"Itās very elegant," she says. "But itās not my taste."
"How come?"
"All this glass," she says. "I donāt trust it. What if youād trip and fall right through it?"
"May I buy a beer?"
"No thanks. But a Diet Coke would be nice."
"You donāt drink?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I donāt like the taste of alcohol. Because I like to keep my head clear. Because I donāt like the way people behave after theyāve been drinking."
"Oi! A Diet Coke for the lady! On me!"
"Yes, Mr. Ollerton," the bartender replies, and fixes a Diet Coke with ice and a slice of lemon for Ellenor.
"The place has only just opened, and the bartender already knows your name?" she says.
"Mark Ollerton," he says, and shakes her hand. "Iām an architect. The architect of this whole place, actually. Iāve spent more time in here than the owners, even!"
Oh," she says. "Have I offended your work, then?"
"Not at all. Itās very refreshing to hear at least one voice agreeing with me."
"You donāt like this?" she says. "But⦠you made it? Youāve created it just the way you wanted it, havenāt you?"