A break in the deal

With my recent computer problems, limited writing time, and a new-found desire to finish a book I’m working on, I’m suspending the 52 Cards project.  I plan on finishing it eventually, and to that end I’ll list the remaining cards, as they appeared in the shuffled deck back in January (I haven’t looked ahead until tonight).  Some of them might get skipped to if I feel like writing something off my regularly scheduled beaten path.

Remaining cards:

Six of Hearts (I know that it was last week’s, but I don’t want to let it go)

King of Spades (this week’s)

King of Diamonds

Seven of Clubs

King of Hearts

Three of Spades

Six of Spades (part 2 of Inside-Outside Straight)

Eight of Diamonds

Eight of Spades (part 3 of Inside-Outside Straight)

Five of Clubs

Ten of Diamonds

Ten of Hearts

Seven of Hearts

Two of Spades (part 3 of  Two-Island Lake)

Two of Clubs (part 4 of Two-Island Lake)

Nine of Diamonds

Queen of Diamonds

Eight of Hearts

Nine of Spades (part 4 of Inside-Outside Straight)

Ten of Spades (conclusion of Inside-Outside Straight)

Queen of Hearts

Jack of Diamonds

Bryce kept staring straight down.

The mall was quieting down for the night.  It was a weekday, and closing time was less than an hour away.  The recessed lights were shining down onto the counters, and through the glass onto the waiting diamonds below.  Bryce had been staring at one ring in particular for a while.  His eyes had occasionally darted around the jewelry store, but the only woman he saw working was on the phone in a rather animated conversation about how she’d gotten a bad mocha at the coffee shop a few stores over.  His eyes had shifted back to the ring, and he just kept staring at it.  Lisa had been talking about rings for a while, and she had described a ring that looked just like this one.  Bryce drummed his fingers on the glass, and got ready to head for the wide open exit.  His eyes shifted focus from the diamonds behind the glass to the glass itself, where he saw his own reflection, along with the reflection of a man looking over his shoulder.  Bryce felt oddly uncomfortable, but the man started speaking before he could even turn around.

“Looks like you’ve zeroed in on a very nice ring” the man said.  His voice was calm and deep, and his face and hair almost made him look like a news anchor.  His black suit looked fresh off the rack, and his black tie was only broken up by one solitary red diamond that was centered exactly.

“Yeah…this one right here.  I…just…I mean, I’m not sure I want to buy it today.”

“Any particular reason?  Tight on cash?  The store is having a huge sale.”

“No…no.  I’ve got enough money socked away to pay for most, and I know I’ll qualify for the financing.”

The man squinted his eyes, and a smirk crept across his face.  “I think I understand.”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t know if you’re ready to buy the ring, because  you don’t know if this is the woman you want to spend your life with.”

“Well…I don’t know if I’d go that far…”

“But you don’t think you’d go so far as to buy her the ring.”

Bryce looked away for a second.  The other store worker had her back turned, and was becoming more animated as her conversation went on.  “I gotta tell you…I sell insurance for a living, and you’re not doing a great sales pitch with me.”  He looked back at the man, who was still smirking.

“Ah, but I’m not the one who needs to do the selling.  You have to sell yourself on the ring, and your future.  If you found the perfect ring…”

“…what makes you think I found the perfect ring?”  Bryce was starting to shift his body language into a near-defensive posture.

“You’ve been staring at it for twenty minutes.  I’ve seen that look.  The only time I see that look is right before somebody takes the plunge.  You’ve got cold feet.”

“Hey, I didn’t come here to get psycho-analyzed.”

“Then why come here?”

Bryce wanted to leave the store.  His hands were balled into tight fists.  He couldn’t believe a ring salesman was going Dr. Phil on him.  “I came here to look over the rings.”

“Because you want to propose.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but yes.”

“And here you are, with the perfect ring less than a yard away, and you’re ready to walk out without it.  Why?”  Bryce didn’t answer.  As angry as he was getting, there was a lot the salesman was getting right.  “You’re not sure she’s the one, are you?”

“Well…I’m mostly sure.  We’ve been dating a long time.”

“But there was another before her, wasn’t there?”

“Yeah, a few.”

“But only one you thought about buying a ring for.  You though she was your soul-mate.”

Bryce’s hands were relaxing, and he felt himself easing up, partially because the salesperson was getting so much of the story right.  “I did” Bryce replied, not sure why he was still engaging in the conversation.

“There are things about the current woman you don’t like?”

“No, it isn’t that…I mean, sure, she chews her gum a bit loudly, her mother is nuts, she doesn’t like football…”

“Nothing major though, just a few little things?”

“Little things can add up.”

“Your ex…she didn’t have little things?”

“Well, not those exact things…”

“She had different things that bothered you?”

“I…I don’t know.  Yes?  Look, why are are you asking me all these questions?”

“The fact you came in to find a ring tells me you’re ready to make a big commitment.  Yet, you hesitate.  Does the current girl love you as much as the ex?”

“Yeah…maybe more.  She’s been with me longer…”

“Does she make you happy?”

Bryce nodded.  “Yeah, I’m sure of that.”

The smirk on the well dressed man shifted into a full smile.  “A wise man once said that love is the only chance you will ever have for happiness in this life.”

Bryce started to smile a bit.  “That sounds like some pretty good wisdom Mister…uh, what was your name again?”

“You can just call me Jack.”

“Well Jack, I was ready to storm out, but I think you’ve just sold me.”  Bryce turned back to the glass counter, and his eyes went back to the ring.  “I’m ready.”

“Great.  Sorry about the wait” came a woman’s voice from behind the counter.  Bryce looked up, and the red-haired worker who had been on the phone was now standing in front of him.  “I take it you want to get that one?”  She pointed right at the ring Bryce had been eyeing all night.

“That’s the one.  You guys are good.”

“Guys?”

“You and Jack” Bryce turned around, but he saw no one.

“Jack?”

“The guy in the suit who was in here?  I thought he worked here?”

“No…nobody else is working tonight besides me, and I know there’s nobody named Jack on the payroll.”

“Then…then who…”

“Who what?”

“Never mind.  I’ll just take that one.”  Bryce tried to shrug off the conversation, but it lingered in his head.  The clerk unlocked the case and lifted out the display with the ring he’d picked out.  “What the hell?”  The clerk dropped the display on the floor, and she and Bryce stared into the  case.  A jack of diamonds was showing face up where the display had been sitting.

Jack of Spades

“Can I help you find something sir?”

Slowly, the man pushing the shopping cart turned around.  His hair was neatly combed, and his shirt was firmly pressed.  He had a big smile on his face as he shook his head.  “No, I’m just picking up a few supplies.  A little bit of everything.”

“I see.  I think you’re making a mistake.”  The worker in the blue polo shirt kept his hands behind his back.  The well dressed customer kept smiling, but the demeanor behind his eyes shifted.  He looked over the worker, and his eyes shifted to his name tag.

“I don’t follow…Jack.” The man had turned his body to the man, who kept smiling as he looked over his shoulder.

“That shovel.  It’s the cheap model, but you’ll regret buying it.  We take back so many of those in returns…can I show you something?”

“Uh…sure” the well dressed man said.  Jack walked to a nearby wall that had several shovels hanging up.  He picked out the one right next to the model the well dressed man had in his shopping cart.

“This model right here?  This is what you’ll want.  It has a tempered steel spade, and the d-top is always what you want when you’re digging something.  Also, it has a wider spade for increased shovel capacity.  It also has a limited five year warranty.”

“Sounds like one heck of a shovel.  I don’t do much digging, but thanks for the advice.”

“I really think you should reconsider.  You don’t want your shovel breaking in the middle of a big job.  Who has time to go get a new one?  I promise you, this one won’t break for years.  I’ve seen that model come back the same day, broke right in half.”

“Look, again…I don’t do much shoveling.”

“This one only costs five dollars more, and isn’t peace of mind worth five bucks?”  Jack held out the more expensive shovel, smiling all the while.  The man’s smile slowly receeded, and he walked over and took the shovel from Jack’s hands.  He balanced it and gripped it, and then put it in his cart.

“I think you might be right.  I’ll go with this one.”

“Sir, you won’t be disappointed.”

The well dressed man smiled and thanked Jack again.  He pushed his cart around the hardware store, eventually finding a few more items.  As he was checking out, he noticed a man whose nametag said “Wallace:manager” walking by.  “I just want to say, Jack over in tools is quite a salesman.  He probably saved me a big headache with this shovel.”  The well dressed man took his change and nodded as he walked out the door.  The manager walked over to the cashier with a perplexed look on his face.

“Vera…do we have a Jack working in tools today?”

“I didn’t know we had anyone named Jack working here, period.”

Wallace turned and started walking to the tool section.  Vera looked out the window into the parking lot, where she saw the well dressed man driving off in a sport utility vehicle.  A brown Impala from the early 1970s followed him out of the parking lot.

***

“So, what happened then Tina?”

“Oh Kelly, it was a nightmare.  First he started showing up at work.  Granted, there isn’t any policy that states he can’t come to the club, but he would just sit in the back and stare at me during my stage sets.  He’d stare at me when I was giving lap dances, and he’d even stare at me while he was getting lap dances from any of the other girls.  It was just too much.  The other girls claim he’s really nice and friendly, plus loaded.  I can’t get my boss to have the bouncers keep an eye on him.”

“Are you still thinking about moving?”

“I don’t know.  This town only has one strip club, and I really like my friends outside of the job.  The girls at the club are really great too.  I knew I shouldn’t have tried to date somebody while I was still working there.”

“Any luck on finding another job?”

“No.  Nobody is hiring, and anyone with the money to hire is blowing it at the club.  Our business is as strong as ever.”

“Did you apply to the college there?”

“I can’t go.  I don’t have the money.  I had to get a totally new car a few weeks ago.  I…hang on, somebody is at the door.”  Tina walked to the front door, keeping the cellphone by her hip.  She saw flashing lights outside before she could open the door.  “Kelly, I’ll need to call you back.”  Tina tossed the phone into a small tray filled with keys and change, and she opened the door.

“Tina Nix?” the officer asked.

“Yes…”

“Would you come with me please?  We need to ask you about something.”

“Okay.  Let me lock up my house.”

“Oh no ma’am.  We’re just going out to  your backyard.”

***

“Any word from the hosptial Ivan?”

Ivan shook his head as he glanced through the window.  A woman was having an animated conversation with one of the other on duty officers.  “Say, where do I know her from?”

“Imagine her with less clothing.  She works at the Western.”

“Good call Darrell.  So, the man with the knot on his head is her ex?”

“Yep.  She ID’d him in the alley behind her house.  He was out cold.  That’s not all.”  Darrell passed Ivan a picture of the man’s SUV.  It had rope, duct tape, a bag of quicklime, and lanterns.  “We also found two knives and a gun on his person.  In his truck we also found the oil pan plug for her old car.  He even kept a meticulous diary of how he was stalking her and planning to kill her.”

“What a sicko.  He has a lot to answer for when he wakes up.  What happened to him?”

“Blunt force trauma to the head.  Somebody tried to cave in the back of his head with a shovel.”  Darrell passed another picture to Ivan.

“That’s a good quality shovel.  Any prints besides his?”

“Nope, but…”  Darrell dangled a baggie containing a jack of spades. “…we did find this tucked into his collar, right under where the shovel impacted.  Any ideas?”

Jack of Hearts

Melissa took a deep breath.  She checked her hair in the mirror one last time, and it looked exactly the same as the last five times.  She reached into her purse and pulled out the reddest shade of lipstick she’d ever bought.  As she put it on, she started to wonder if she’d gone overboard on makeup.  She had been waiting to go out for what seemed like forever, but now that she was outside the bar she was starting to have second thoughts.  She tossed the lipstick back into her purse and opened the door.  Her legs slowly emerged from the car, and her high heels clicked onto the pavement.  She closed her eyes to enjoy how powerful and sexy she felt.  Her new black dress was tight in all the right places, and her new shoes felt amazing in spite of the fact she hadn’t worn heels in years.  She held her purse tightly as she closed her car door.  She looked at herself in the car’s window, and she smiled as she half-struck a pose.  Damn, I am looking hot tonight.  This should be easy. She walked around the car to the sidewalk, and she couldn’t help but notice the men giving her the approving eye as she came closer to the entrance.  She had an odd mix of euphoria and anxiety as she strutted towards the man at the door.  The doorman’s hungry smile greeted her, and after looking her up and down, he crossed his arms.

“Can I see some ID?” he asked.  Melissa blushed a bit as she pulled out her driver’s license.  “Is this right?  You don’t look thirty-eight.”

“I don’t look thirty-eight anywhere” she replied, even surprising herself that she had said it.

“I’ll bet” he said with a smile.  “Cover’s five bucks, but…I’ve never seen you before, and I’d like to see you again, so just go on in.”

“Thanks…maybe you will see me later” she said as she walked by.  She thought of touching his shoulder, but she decided against it as she walked into the bar.  The sound of people talking was almost more than the blaring sound system.  Smoke seemed to be everywhere, and the smell mingled with a subtle hint of alcohol and sweat.  She spotted at least five guys checking her out right away, and it was becoming obvious she may not have to buy a drink all night.  She wove her way to the bar, and found an open seat next to the waitress station.  As she sat, she noticed the man sitting next to her.  He had thick blond hair that was wavy and almost too perfect.  He was nursing a beer, and as she looked forward, she saw his face in the bar’s mirror.  Oh my God!  He is the best looking guy here.  No pressure, no pressure…might as well start big…She cleared her throat and turned her face towards his.  He was still staring at his half-empty mug of beer, and she wasn’t even sure if he’d seen her sit down.  His eyes were ocean blue, and he looked like he could be a double for a younger Ben Affleck.  He had a white shirt, red tie and black pants that were without wrinkles or lint.  He hadn’t taken his eyes off his mug since she sat down.  She wanted him to notice her, but he looked like he had other things on his mind.  Slowly, she began leaning towards him, until she had the courage to speak.  “Are you okay?”  He blinked a few times, and his eyes slowly looked to his left.  A smirk began to form, and he straightened his posture.

“Yeah.  I’m good.  Just a long day at work.”

“Aren’t they all?” Gosh that was a stupid thing to say.

“Pretty much, yeah.  You’ve never been here before, have you?”

“What makes you say that?”

“A woman that looks like you?  I’d remember.”  He quickly pounded his remaining beer, and he loudly placed the mug back on the bar.

“Let me buy you a drink” Melissa casually remarked.  What are you doing?  He’s supposed to buy you a drink!

The man smiled and pointed to his mug.  The bartender, almost coming from out of nowhere, took his mug and started filling it once more.  “Tell you what, I’ll get this round.  You can get the next one.  What are you drinking tonight?”

“Bahama Mama” she said.  The bartender nodded and muttered something she couldn’t hear before moving a few feet away to begin making her drink.  The man pulled a ten out of his pocket and sat it on the bar.  “My name’s Melissa, in case you were wondering.”

“I was, actually.  Tell me Melissa, why did you decide to hit the town tonight?”

“It’s Friday!  Do I need another reason?”  She started to turn her body towards the man.  She started planning her next move, and she was leaning towards sliding her foot up his leg.

“Maybe you do.  When was the last time you went on the prowl on a Friday?”  She hesitated for a moment.  I don’t want to say last week and have him think I’m easy.  I don’t want to say too long, otherwise he… “I’m going to say over a decade, no offense.”

Melissa’s jaw dropped as the man took a sip of beer.  The bartender sat her drink in front of her, and lifted the ten off the bar.  “Do you need change?” he asked, but the man just shook his head.

“A decade?  You obviously don’t know me very well.”  Melissa grabbed her drink and was ready to stand up.  The man took a long drink of beer and then sat his half full mug down.

“The ring finger on  your left hand has a mighty deep divot from a ring with a small band.”

Melissa froze in place.  She stared down at her drink and sighed.  “Anything else give it away” she said just loud enough for him to hear.

“A few things.  New shoes and hose, but the dress?  They haven’t made that particular dress in a while.  I can see what appear to be lines from it being on a hanger for a long time.  Your makeup is now but your hair is a bit dated.  That and you’ve been second guessing everything you’ve been doing since you walked in.  That tells me you haven’t played the dating game in a while.”  The man started drinking his beer once more, and Melissa took a sip from her drink.  She didn’t taste anything but the alcohol.

“It has been a long time.  Almost 20 years.  I’m just trying to get back in the game after…”

“After what” the man asked as he looked at Melissa while pointing to his beer.  “Don’t give me some bullshit line that your husband is dead.  Where is he?”

“Business trip.  He’s gone until tomorrow night.”  The bartender took the man’s mug away and started filling it once more.

“Let me guess.  He doesn’t appreciate you like he used to.”

“It’s not that” Melissa said.  The bartender sat the mug back in front of the man once more, and he held one hand out to stop her while the other pulled out a five dollar bill.

“Well, since you stumped me, I’ll buy my own beer.  What pushed you out of the house and into a den of wolves tonight?”

“We don’t talk like we used to.  We don’t get physical like we used to.  We’ve been married for almost fifteen years, and I think we’re growing apart.  He’s always focused on his job and his hobbies.”

“You don’t have a job or hobbies?”

“I do have a job yes” Melissa said as she started to swirl her drink around.  “I have hobbies as well.  I know some of it is my fault.  We’re both wrapped up in our own lives, and we don’t have as much of a life together anymore.”

“Have you talked to him about it?”

Melissa took another sip of her drink, but the taste had only gotten worse.  “No.  He thinks everything is fine.  We have pretty average sex every week or so, but other than that we barely see each other.  He’s off playing on-line poker or reading, and I’m off scrap-booking or I’m getting together with some of my friends.  I just want things to be more like when we started out together.”

“You thought it would be easier to shack up with some random guy than talk to your husband?”

“I just wanted to feel alive again.  I just don’t think I’m going to be happy with him, so I thought I’d find some fleeting happiness.”

“Fleeting being the operative word.  At least you don’t have any delusions about what you were out here for.  I’m sure it felt good to have all the guys here crane their necks to look your way.”

“Yeah” Melissa said as she stirred her nasty drink.  “It did.”

“Well, let me give you some free advice” the man said as he looked at his watch.  “You should go home.  Forget you came here to do this.  Forget why you came her to do this.  If your husband saw you in that get-up, I can guarantee the fire would be back.  Then, you strike while the iron is hot.  Talk to him about the great night you two had, and how it should happen more often.  Play your cards right and he’ll open up.”

“You really think so?”

“I do” the man said as the bartender brought him another beer.

“How can you know?”

“I am a marriage counselor during the day.  It takes a lot out of you, listening to marriages dissolving in front of you.  For what it’s worth, you made my year.  It isn’t often I can nip the process in the bud.”

Melissa’s face was red as she sat the drink on the bar.  “All right.  I’ll go home.  Deep down, I think I always knew this was a bad idea.”

“Hey, sometimes bad ideas can have good outcomes.  We’ll see.  I hope my advice helps.”

“Me too” Melissa slid off the stool and took a few steps away.  “By the way” she said as she turned around quickly.  “I never caught your name.”

“Jack” the man said with half a smile.

***

Melissa plopped on the couch and turned on the TV.  She was still in her dress and heels, and her head was still spinning from her trip out on the town.  She was thinking about her wedding, and how much she had invested in her marriage.  She smiled as she thought of the good times, keeping thoughts of the rough times far away.  The TV was on, but it might as well have been turned off.  Slowly, she stood up and turned off the TV.  It was late, and she was thinking about finally changing out of her dress and into some pajamas.  The remote landed on the sofa, just as she heard the front door unlocking.  Her husband stepped in and his suitcase hit the floor with a loud thud.  “Melissa?” he asked.  His eyes were wide and he was frozen in place.

“Todd?  I thought you were gone until Sunday?”

“We got their and the company we were meeting had been sold before we arrived.  We just decided to come back.  Well, I came back.  The rest of the guys are spending the weekend in Denver on the company dime.  I’d rather spend it with you…and I see I made the right call.”  His hungry eyes looked her over, and Melissa felt more powerful than she had at any point at the bar.  “Why did you dress up like this?”

“Dry run for when you got home” she said as she walked towards him.  “You should see what’s under the dress.”

“I will soon enough” Todd’s arms wrapped around Melissa tighter than they had in years.  Melissa’s lips found Todd’s, and soon the remote was being hastily shoved off the couch.

***

“I’m so glad we had this talk” Todd said.  Melissa was running her finger up and down Todd’s bare chest.  She was pressing as much of her skin against his as she could.  She felt at peace, and a thousand times better about how their marriage was going.  “I’m sorry I’m a typical guy who doesn’t talk about this stuff more often.”

“Well, for not talking about it often,  you had a lot to say.  What is it, four in the morning?”

“I think so.  Nope, five.  Hey, remember what we used to do after an all -nighter?”

“Pancakes at Perkins?  I can’t remember the last time we ate there.”

“Then let’s get dressed.  I think I can talk more with a tremendous twelve in me.”  The two of them quickly rolled out of bed, and they threw on whatever clothes were handy and easy to put on.  Melissa grabbed her car keys and Todd tossed her a jacket as they walked into the garage.  Todd was almost at the passenger door when he noticed Melissa was still in the garage entrance.

“What’s that?” she asked.  She still wasn’t moving forward.  She was pointing at the windshield.

“Looks like…a ticket?  Wait no…”

Jack of Clubs

“I don’t know if a dance club is really my scene” Meghan said.  The alleyway was dark, and her jeans were feeling a lot tighter than usual.  Why didn’t I wear something with a bit more room?  Why am I here?  I wish I could just go home and…

“C’mon.  It will be a lot of fun.  You only come to visit us out here once in a great while.”  Sally’s hair remained perfect, even with the drizzle falling all around them.  Her blond hair briefly brushed her face as she tugged Meghan’s arm along the pavement.

“Yeah.  This place is always fun.  Plus, tonight they have a special DJ spinning tracks.”  Marcus was dressed up a lot nicer than Meghan was used to.  Sally had told her about her boyfriend back home in Boston before, but seeing him in person didn’t really do much for.  At least, it hadn’t.  Tonight was changing her mind.

“There’s the place.  Watch the stairs.  They can be tricky in heels” Sally said.  Sally didn’t seem to be having any trouble, but heels weren’t something Meghan wore very often.  The door had a ratty red awning, and a neon sign flickered in the drizzle.  As the words ‘the Sweet Spot’ flickered in Meghan’s glasses, she noticed the posters haphazardly hung up outside the club.

TONIGHT ONLY: GUEST DJ “THE JACK OF CLUBS”

***

“What is your deal?”  Sally had a drink in her hand, and it was by no means her first.  The club wasn’t totally packed, but it was a busier place than Meghan preferred to be in.

“I don’t do the club thing usually.  I’m a bit out of my element.”  Meghan started going over the reasons in her head that she could give Sally for keeping her precious wall space, that had a nice ledge for balancing a drink on.

“Hey, we won’t stay too long.  Just try to enjoy yourself.”  Meghan’s head tilted slightly as her brain was off balance after hearing Sally’s casual indifference to Meghan not wanting to be anything more than a wallflower.  Some of Sally’s other Boston friends were talking around her, and occasionally one would ask her what she thought of Boston, and what living in North Dakota was like.  The music was nothing special, and Meghan started thinking about the book she had brought along to read during her down times, and how much she’d rather be reading it.  The music came to an abrupt stop, and a low, pulsating bass beat took its place.  After a few seconds, a voice that sounded like it belonged selling cars more than announcing at a dance club made an announcement.

“Ladies, gentlemen, and ladies again…I give you tonight’s guest DJ…the JACK OF CLUBS!” Meghan looked to the stage area, where a table had been set up with some turntables, a mic, and a shoddy looking mixing board.  A man walked up to the table and bent forward into the microphone.

“Is the Sweet Spot ready to move, groove and get rude?”  he asked the crowd.  His delivery was odd in a way Meghan couldn’t comprehend, but it wasn’t what she was expecting to hear.  Before the crowd had finished shouting their approval, the bass beat shifted and the sound of an air raid siren (or something like it) started kicking in, and then the dance floor began crowding up.  Sally was off in a flash, as were most of her friends.  Meghan found herself tapping her foot along to the beat, which had nothing in common with a lot of the singer/songwriter music she frequently listened to.  The DJ kept his focus on his job, but when he took his eyes off the equipment for the first time, his eyes met Meghan’s.  He smiled, and she found herself smiling right back.

***

“Where’s Meghan?”  Sally wasn’t drunk yet, but she was teetering on the precipice.  The drink in her hand was more than enough to push her over into hangover canyon tomorrow.

“I lost her” Marcus said.  He was yelling as loud as he could, but he was still having to repeat most of what he was saying before Sally could hear it.

“Well find her!  This isn’t fucking Minot!  We don’t want her to…” Sally’s words trailed off for a moment, as Marcus got even closer to hear her over the music.  “Is that her over there?”  Sally said, pointing more towards the stage area.  Marcus looked over in that direction, and he didn’t see her on the dance floor.  Sally’s hand lifted his jaw upward, tilting his head above floor level.  There was a woman who had climbed onto a ledge that surrounded a support pillar who was dancing feverishly.  She wasn’t a great dancer by any means, but she was attracting quite a crowd of admirers and cat-callers.  Her hips swayed to the beat, and her hair flung around her face as she continued to move her body as rhythmically as she could.  A stage light caught her glasses and Marcus’ head tilted even further back, as Sally’s hand kept his jaw from dropping.

“Meghan?” Marcus asked Sally, who shrugged and downed her next drink without even a hint of worry.

***

Meghan was breathing heavy at the bar.  She had never danced at a club before, much less standing on a thin ledge.  Her feet were sore, her legs ached, and her hair was a mess of sweat, alcohol and bits of the makeup Sally had applied to her earlier.  She was sipping a pink squirrel when she felt the barflies shift around her.  “Diet soda” a familiar voice said.  Meghan looked over and she saw the DJ standing next to her.  He looked over at her, and he smiled slightly.  “Hey, you’re the girl who danced on the table or whatever.”

“Pillar, but yeah” Meghan said, quickly looking at her drink and then back at the DJ.  “What’s your name, really.”

“Jack” he said in a monotone voice.  “My name is Jack.  I just happen to be a club DJ.  Some club owner coined the name, and it stuck.  I’m getting out of the business though.”

“Oh why…you’re so good at it.”  Meghan saw her hand on his shoulder, but she felt relieved when he saw it and smiled a bit wider.

“Thanks for coming out to the set tonight.  I’m glad I could help you come out of your shell a bit.  Take care…”  Jack walked away with a smile.  Meghan tried to keep an eye on him as he disappeared into the crowd, but he was swallowed up by the night’s revelers.

“There you are!”  Sally said as she elbowed her way through the crowd.  “C’mon, we should get going, and get you out of here before you hop on another table” Sally was smiling as she led Meghan towards the exit.  Marcus was laughing as Meghan pleaded her case.

“It was a pillar, not a table…”

***

Sally slammed the car door with some authority.  “I had a great time, didn’t you Marcus?”

“Not as good as Meghan” he said as he fumbled for his keys.

“I did have a nice time.  Thanks you two”  Meghan said as she reached for her backpack, which had a welcome change of shoes waiting for her.

“Don’t mention it.  Better yet, chip in a bit for parking.”  Sally and Marcus started laughing again, and Meghan joined them.  Sally and Marcus were still laughing when they noticed that Meghan had stopped.  “Meghan?”  Sally asked, still laughing somewhat.

“Did you guys lock the car?”  Meghan said.  Her voice was quiet and her face was even more pale than usual.  Her backpack was in her lap, and partially zipped open.

“Sure.  The stereo’s here, my CDs are here…even my Oakleys are here.  Did somebody steal something out of your purse?”  Marcus had turned around to face Meghan, just as Sally had.

“Not exactly” Meghan said.  She reached into her backpack and pulled out a tattered and worn playing card.  She turned it around for Marcus and Sally, who saw the scuffed up jack of clubs.

“Okay, that’s really fucking weird” Sally said, suddenly feeling a lot more sober.