"Excuse me," Alan said politely, "but do you know where I can find an ATM?"
"A what? I mean..." Bonnie looked at the card Alan was holding. There was something strange about the hologram, which seemed infinitely deep, almost as though it were sucking her in. She tried to focus on the rest of the card for a moment, then looked back up at the man's face. "Sorry," she said, in her best BBC accent. She'd been born and raised in Glasgow, but speaking English comprehensibly was a necessary part of her rather boring job in the tourist information centre. Having a pretty face, red hair, a complexion that went well with the McNeil tartan, and the ability to suffer fools without screaming also helped.
"An automatic teller machine."
"Oh, aye." She'd never been to America, but remembered seeing 'ATM HERE' signs in American TV shows. "Up here, we just call them Holes in the Wall. The nearest one is just around the corner," she added, pointing. "Just next to the, uh... well, you'll see it," she said. The little town's adult bookshop was not usually considered one of its tourist attractions. "Opposite the pub - do they say 'pub' where you're from?"
"Not often, but I know what it means. I get around."
I suspect you do, she thought, as she looked at his face before returning her attention to the hologram on his card. The effect was quite hypnotic. "Well, I hope our little town doesn't disappoint you."
"I'm sure it won't," he said. "Thank you for your help."
"Any time," she said, watching him leave. Nice buns, she thought idly, then glanced at her watch. She was relieved to see that it was almost time to close the place and go home. Not that home seemed all the appealing - she'd been living alone since breaking up with Matt three months ago - but it was only Tuesday and the small town didn't offer much in the way of entertainment during the week. But at least she could get out of her work clothes, have a beer and a shower, masturbate -
Where had that thought come from? she wondered. She'd hardly felt horny at all since the break-up, hadn't even bothered buying fresh batteries for her vibrator when they'd run flat a month ago. She quickly closed the shop, donned her warm hoodie, and was heading home when she stopped and looked down the side street. She suddenly remembered telling that pleasant, good-looking man who'd come into the information centre that there was a hole in the wall next to the adult bookshop, but it occurred to her that she almost never went that way and may have inadvertently given the man a bum steer. Better to check that the - what had he called it? - ATM was still there.
It was, and she was about to turn around and walk home when she noticed the vibrator displayed in the bookshop window. It was purple plastic, and looked more like something meant to curl hair, or a scale model of some weird piece of 1960s furniture, than it did a penis or any other body part. She found herself comparing it to her own vibrator, which she'd been given at a hen's night before leaving Glasgow, and which resembled a small missile. It did the job (usually), but was hardly erotic or aesthetically appealing. She blinked, and impulsively opened the door and walked inside.
The clerk, a balding man in his early fifties, looked at her uneasily as she walked in, worried that a young and rather pretty woman might scare away the more easily embarrassed male clientele. Bonnie gave him a slight smile as she walked over to the rack of sex toys for women, aware that he was looking at her shapely legs and pert bottom, and mildly turned on by the attention as she examined the vibrators, dildos, and lubes, and then the anal beads (in a variety of sizes, the largest of which made her blink) and a vibrating inflatable butt plug. She blushed, suddenly aware that her mouth was dry but her crotch was wet. The urge to masturbate was now almost overwhelming, but she wasn't ready to do that with the clerk watching. She grabbed a piece of fetish-wear, a PVC parody of a nurse's uniform, and hurried into what she thought was a changing room. After she shut the door behind her, she noticed the folding bench seat, the TV screen, the coin slot and controls set into the wall, and realized that it was a video booth.