BETTE AND KAY

Bette was gargling when Kay knocked on the front door to her apartment. She checked her hair then opened the door. Kay gave her a quick hug, neither woman wanting to disturb their carefully done hair for the morning’s interviews.

“Want some coffee?” Bette asked, admiring Kay’s new haircut, just the tips of her short straight hair recently frosted. Kay noticed.

“No thanks, I just brushed my teeth. Like it?” she said, turning her head for a side view.

“It looks so good!” Bette said.

“Makes me look just a touch older, don’t you think?”

“Perfect! Just the right level of mature.”

“Robert thinks it’s just perfect. I had to stop him from stroking it before I left this morning.”

They both smiled. Kay stood in the door, eager to get going.

“Let me just get my things,” Bette said, turning to get her carefully packaged M.Ed. diploma and purse from the side table at the door. She scooped them up and stopped just as she was closing the apartment door.

“Oh hell, the coffee maker.” She rushed back into the kitchen and shut off the machine.

They both laughed as she exited and locked the door.

“Whew. Don’t want to come back from the first job interview to a burned out apartment!”

They drove to the campus, Kay giving directions to the parking lot from her phone. Entering the H.R. building, they announced themselves and sat with three other women and two men in the waiting room, all sizing each other up.

She’s too nervous, Kay thought of the woman across from her who kept picking up and putting down a magazine. They’ll never hire her.

Bette kept her glances at the other candidates as short as possible. Never show interest, she thought.

When the interviews were over, the two women went and got coffee and compared notes.

“Did they tell you there was only one full-time position available, teaching English 101?”

“Yes, and I overheard the one girl say she had been a T.A. there when she was an undergraduate,” Bette said.

They both nodded in silence, knowing the odds were against them.

“There were several part-time writing lab positions, and lots of tutoring ads though,” Kay said.

“Can’t live on part-time work,” Bette said. “And I’m not going back to waiting on tables.”

“Well, what else do we have lined up?” Kay said and their smiles came back as they pulled out their phones and checked the other teaching prospects.

#

Two weeks and four interviews later, Bette joined Kay at a bar. Kay was drinking a gin and tonic, and Bette could tell it wasn’t her first. They were both wearing shorts, and two men down the bar noticed.

“Well, ducks, what else have you got for us?” Kay said, spinning on the barstool towards Bette and crossing her slender legs. “Whatever it is, it’s got to be better than that co-op down in Cul-vert Coun-tee,” she said, switching from her English accent to countrified American.

Bette nodded and tapped at her phone. “ Hey, I liked that tutoring job. It was slow down there, but the people were so nice….Anyway,” she said. “What do you think about relocating? I’ve just been reading about openings out in a few community colleges out in Nevada…”

“Oooh, Sin City, I like it already,” Kay said, pushing her blonde hair over her ear. She rattled the ice cubes in her glass. “Have a drink and tell me more…”

“Is Robert going to meet us?” Bette said, pulling her dark hair together and binding it in a scrunchie.

Kay looked away. “No, he’s having drinks after work with a client.”

“Oh. Any idea what he’d think about relocating?”

Kay shook her head and held her glass with both hands. “Not much. He’s doing pretty well here…”

“I heard they’re laying off every teacher without at least five years seniority at State,” Bette said.

“I know,” Kay said. “But they’ve appointed three new deans and gave them all a staff! It’s terrible!” she said, adjusting her glasses.

Bette looked down the bar where the two young men were sitting. One was watching them and signaled the bartender. He leaned in close and pointed towards her and Kay.

The bartender came over smiling.

“The gentlemen at the end of the bar would like to buy you a drink.”

Kay looked straight ahead and finished her drink.

“No thanks,” she said, then turned to Bette. “Lupine creatures, no doubt. I’m spoken for, anyway,” she said, tossing her hair. “If you want to stay…”

Bette looked at the two men, now staring. Nothing special, she thought.

“No, let’s get out of here,” she said. “I want to check out more about schools out West anyway.”

#

Bette called Kay a week later.

“Hey, remember Jack from Goucher?” she said.

“Sure,” Kay said. “He rather had the hots for you, as I recall.”

“Well he called me up and said he has four tickets to the Impressionist Exhibit at the Walters. Do you and Robert want to go?”

“That sounds fine, and the price is right. Things are a bit pinched at the moment.”

At the museum, Bette noticed Kay looking at a landscape with nude picnickers. She and Jack walked over to her, and Jack read from the guide pamphlet.

“‘Luxe, Calme and Volupte,’ it says.”

“Yes, an invitation to a voyage,” Kay said.

“Where’d Robert go?” Bette asked.

“Oh, probably getting a drink at the bar,” Kay said. “He’s bored.”

“Do you want anything, Kay?” Jack asked.

She shook her head. Jack looked at Bette, who shrugged. They walked over to another painting, of a bohemian couple sitting next to each other in a café, ignoring each other. Jack looked at his pamphlet.

“Degas. ‘In a Cafe,’ it says.” He read on while Kate stared. “Also known as ‘The Absinthe Drinkers.’”

“Stay away from that stuff,” Bette said. “That’s what Van Gogh was drinking when he cut off his ear.”

“It’s not the drink making them that way,” Kay said absently, intent on the painting, the woman gazing ahead, the man at something else. Jack and Bette exchanged glances.

Moving on, Bette said, “Here’s one by Monet,” looking at her own pamphlet. “’Luncheon on the Grass.’ It says it wasn’t finished in time for a Salon exhibition, and Monet was nearly driven mad. Hmmm. ‘I can think of nothing but my painting,’ he said.”

“No doubt,” Kay said, looking across the room where Robert was on his phone.

#

Bette had just dropped her suitcases onto the bed in the motel room when Kay said, “Let’s get out there and see the town!”

In shorts and t-shirts, they Ubered over to the Strip and checked out the promotional displays in the lobbies of the casinos for Cirque de Soleil and David Copperfield, then went over to Sahara Boulevard where a female bartender had told them she did her clothes shopping.

“New clothes for a new life,” Kay said.

“Business clothes, more Western, more casual style for interviews,” Bette said.

“Yes. And I’ll need a good solid purse. Something leather, I should think,” Kay said as they passed Lady D’s Leather Goods.

“Hmm, what’s this place then?” Kay said, seeing the display window mannequin with black high heeled boots and holding a swagger stick.

“I don’t know if they carry purses in there,” Bette said. They both laughed.

“Let’s go in,” Kay said. “It’ll be fun.”

They entered the shop, their eyes adjusting from the brilliant sunshine outside. The floor was a gleaming black and white checkerboard. Racks of clothes were divided into several sections up front, with accessories towards the back.

Bette smiled as she took in the bustiers, collars, cat-o-nine tails and several items she couldn’t explain. “Oh my God, look at this!” Bette said, when she came across a chain mail skirt and top.

“Hmmm,” Kay said, “What sort of occasion would that be suitable for, I wonder?” and they laughed again.

They walked over to the Club Wear section, where mannequins were dressed in a variety of leather and latex.

Examining a black leather jumpsuit, Bette said, “This would get way too hot.”

“How about this then?” Kay said, holding a long leather skirt split up both sides.

“Maybe in red?”

The woman behind the counter smiled and came over, observing their casual summer clothes and glasses.

“I know some very naughty boys who would like to have teachers like you,” she said.

“How did you…” Bette said. Kay nudged her.

“We’re just looking,” Bette said. Bette looked at the saleswoman. Mid-twenties, page boy blonde, blue jeans, Golden Knights t-shirt. Is that what a dominatrix looks like? she thought.

“Well, if you’re ever interested in learning a fun job,” the blonde said, putting two business cards on the counter. Kay snatched them up.

Outside, Kay handed a card to Bette. Bette looked at it, blinking, then gave it back to Kay.

“I don’t want this.”

Kay looked at her card closely. On it, a woman with masses of curly black hair and powerful legs twirled a whip above her head. It read, “Lady Demetria’s – Stimulating Discipline”

“I know one who could use a good thrashing,” she said as they walked into the Ann Taylor’s.

The last night of their stay in Las Vegas, they sat in the room and looked out at the lights of the city.

“Well, I had six interviews, you had five in ten days. What do you think, Bette?”

“We didn’t have that many back East since we got out of school. I definitely think our chances are better out here. This area is growing so fast – there will be all sorts of jobs to keep us going if we don’t get teaching jobs right away.”

“And the faster it grows, the more schools will expand, more opportunities for us.”

“What do you think about moving this far away from our friends and family though?” Bette said, thinking of her elderly parents and Kay’s rocky relationship with Robert.

“If I jumped across the Atlantic for school and a career, I can certainly go this far. I’m quite content to leave Baltimore’s potholes and grime for the sunshine here.”

“One small place for the both of us would be fine with me. I’ve saved a lot and I can help you out if you need it,” Bette offered.

“Let’s do it, girl! The jaunts around Maryland and the East were just practice for this adventure!”

#

They sat in their small living room, both searching for teaching prospects on their phones. Bette looked at the legal pad listing the jobs applied for, the ones where she had been turned down crossed off. Hmmm. Only three possibles left now, she thought. She’s got to have about the same. Maybe further out, outside Clark County or even up in northern Nevada? Kay’s phone buzzed. She got off the couch, tossed her hair back and went into her bedroom to answer it. From behind the closed door, Bette heard her voice rise, repeating “No…no…hell no!” and finally, “I did not get a master’s degree to just follow in your wake, Robert!”

She came out staring venom at the phone.

“Not good, huh?”

“He’s…impossible. First he wants me to come back, then ignores me for two weeks. Now he’s got a job offer in Chicago and expects me to leap halfway back across the country for him there. I’m done with that bastard.”

“He’s been such an inconsiderate jerk! Let’s get a drink and chill out. We can still afford that little corner bar over on Maryland Parkway,” Bette said. On their way there, Bette considered their finances while Kay stewed.

“I figure we’ve got about a month left before we’ve got to take the first jobs that come along,” Bette said.

“I’m ready to go back to those dominators or whatever they call themselves,” Kay said. “The money’s good and we can always quit if it’s truly nasty.”

“Are you serious? Hurt people for a living? We’re teachers!”

“I’ve looked into it, Bette. Demetria said they don’t send you to some dungeon with a whip, not at first anyway. You just humiliate some loser who’s going to cry about his mother anyway. You just use a whip with cloth tails and call him names.”

Bette blinked. Is this my friend Kay, the one who wants to teach kids?

“You are serious! What about teaching adult reading classes until something opens up?”

“It pays nothing, and I’m sick of living hand to mouth. Look, we could just do it until something we want comes along. Nobody really gets hurt.”

“What will schools we apply to think? What about our families?”

“This is Las Vegas, Bette. Out here nobody cares, and it’s like they say, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Tell everyone back home you’re working with the handicapped. That’s what the clientele is anyway. They’re emotional cripples and always will be.”

“I dunno about this, I’ve got to think about it.” I can just imagine what dad would say. Now mom, on the other hand, always said a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do, like when they came over from Croatia.

#

Six weeks later, Bette was watching The View in her pajamas, her phone sitting silent at her side. Kay came in to the apartment with two bags of groceries. Bette looked over at her as she put the bags on the counter, then down at the floor, blinking.

“I know it’s tough, Bette,” Kay said. “We’ve got the applications out there, people will be retiring the end of semester, moving on. Something’s bound to come up.”

“It’s not that. You’re working at that place and paying all the bills.”

“Don’t worry about it! Remember when we were in our last term at university and I was broke? You paid for our trips to Philadelphia and New York to look for jobs – and all the fun we had there,” a smile came to Bette’s face at the memory.

“Yeah, but then you didn’t have to work in an S & M parlor.”

“Bollocks,” she said, and pulled Bette off the couch. “Turn that rubbish off and let’s get something to eat before I go into work. There’s this neat little diner over on Polaris I want to try.”

#

They changed the subject over burgers and tater tots, talking about teaching prospects and Bette’s movie date the previous night. On the way home, Kay said, “Look, just come with me once. You don’t have to do it, just come along and see what happens. Let me show you the outfits they gave me. The place is clean, spotless. Locker room, showers. Better than those dump restaurants we worked in getting through school.”

Bette sat in the desk chair by the dressing table while Kay squeezed into a halter top and leather mini skirt. She pulled on the boots with stiletto heels and turned to the mirror for a look.

“I do look a right smasher, don’t I?” she said.

Demetria walked by and said, “Right Smasher. Perfect with that English accent! That’s your trade name, baby!”

Kay nodded in satisfaction.

“How about you?” Demetria said to Bette. “You could be her assistant. We’ll dress you up…all in red, I think. With that long dark hair, you’ll be amazing. You just get the client to lie down, then gently apply these,” she said, holding up handcuffs, “using a soothing voice, just like a teacher or a nurse…”

#

When they came out, Bette stared at the ground, silent. I can’t believe the feeling of power, she thought. He would have let me do anything to him. What’s wrong with these people…

“Well, what did you think, partner?” Kay asked.

“I dunno,” Bette answered. “It was so strange. I can’t imagine anyone asking someone to do that stuff to them.”

“I think it’s fun!” Kay said. “Sometimes I just have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. These men are such losers…”

When they got into Kay’s car, she said, “Oh, before I forget, here,” and she handed Bette a handful of twenties. “Demetria says this is for tonight. She said you were great and if you want to keep doing it, even part time, they’ll put you on the payroll…”

Counting the bills, Bette said, “All this money… for that?”

“It gets better as you learn more routines. And, I have health benefits. Premium ones at minimum cost.”

Bette took the job part time, looking for teaching jobs daily. Kay went at it full time, working nights.

#

Bette was making coffee one morning and turned when she heard Kay coming in.

“I’ve got to tell you this,” Kay said, laughing. She came right to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of wine. They both sat down with their drinks, Bette smiling.

“This one was a regular,” Kay said. “Whispered that he hadn’t done his homework, like he normally does. Then I grab him by his hair, pull his head back and say, ‘Do you know what we do to boys who don’t do their homework?’ Then he always tells me, and we go through it. The faux cat o’ nine tails, make him kneel on his knuckles while he recites his lessons – oddly, he remembers the lines from Poe’s poems very well. Lately now, he’s been turning more and more to the switch. This time, he hesitates as I first go to the cat, no reaction. Then I order him on his knees, and he shakes his head. I give him a big smile as I put my hand on the switch, and he starts yelling, ‘No, not that tonight, I’m going to a conference and we’ll be at poolside!’”

“Then I give him my biggest growl and drag him into the locker room where the other girls are dressing. ‘Swirly time!’ I shout and shove his head into a toilet. While his head is in there, I tell the other girls to start cursing him. Every time I pull his head out, he recites another stanza from ‘The Bells!’” and the girls call him every name in the book!” Kay broke up laughing, slapping her hand on the table. Bette sat there, chuckling at first, then covered her mouth with her hand.

Kay kept laughing and said, “But this is the best part! When it’s all done, and he’s recited the whole poem, Demetria comes into the locker room with this amazed look on her face, and I drag him back to Room 4. As he’s wiping his face off with a towel, he apologizes, the sniveling wretch.

‘I can’t have any marks on me this week, Mistress Kay. I’m a plastic surgeon going to a conference, and if my colleagues see the lacerations from the switch…’” and Kay laughed for two minutes straight while Bette stared wide eyed in silence.

When she got her breath back, Kay put her hand on Bette’s arm and laughed again. “There’s more!” she said. “Afterwards, Demetria called me into the office. She stands behind her desk and says, ‘I was going to fire you for bringing a client into the employees locker room, but when I saw how innovating you were being, and how happy our friend the doctor was when he left, I decided to pass this on to you,’ and she hands me a hundred bucks! Do you believe it? That guy left an extra hundred bucks he was so happy!”

Bette concentrated on her coffee and wondered what was happening to Kay, and to herself as well. I was laughing at that at first, wasn’t I, she thought. Then she thought about having to go to such a person for medical care and shivered.

With their different schedules, Kay and Bette didn’t socialize much together. Kay slept in the morning, exercised in the afternoon and watched TV in the evening before the sun went down and she went to work. Bette found a bowling league and made friends, dated and went to museums and movies on weekends. They did shop and clean the apartment together, and Bette noticed Kay was becoming suspicious of everyone. A trip to the grocery store was followed by a comment by Kay after the boy at the register smiled at them. “Hmmph. He’ll probably make a towel wet tonight thinking of us.”

A drink at the bar aroused Kay’s suspicions about the bartender and the service waitress. “He’s abusing her, I know it.”

Where does she get this? Bette wondered.

#

As Bette took out her red teacher’s dress in the locker room, Demetria came in, looked at the reservation book and said, “Hold on. You’ve got Frank tonight, right?”

“Yeah. The guy who likes the bottom of his feet slapped with a ruler until he sings the school song.”

“Well, he upgraded for tonight. He definitely wants you, says he thinks you’re ‘making him into a man,’ but he’ll be in Room 8 tonight.”

“Uh, isn’t that where…”

“It is. Look, there’s nothing to it. You just use the swagger stick across his butt a few times. And here, here’s your outfit,” she said, handing her a dry cleaning bag with a camouflage uniform with a Drill Instructor’s hat. Bette sat down on a bench and looked at the stick and the uniform.

“Well? What do you think?” she leaned towards Bette and said, “And it’s twice the money, Bette.”

Twice the money for more humiliation and now serious pain, she thought. And they’re starting to ask for me, Miss Brunette and her Lesson Plan. What the hell will this be now? What am I becoming?

“No. I’m sorry, I can’t do this anymore. I’ve got to go…”

#

The next morning, Kay came in, poured herself a gin and tonic and took out her contacts.

“Well, what happened last night?” Kay said. “Demetria said you quit, just didn’t want to do it anymore.”

Bette nodded. “I can’t, Kay. I just can’t. Those people are sick what they want. And it just gets worse as it goes along.”

Kay spread her hands wide and said, “They’re going to get what they want anyway, Bette. The whole city’s mad one way or another.”

Bette shook her head. “No, I just can’t do it.” They were silent for a few moments, then Bette said, “Hey, want to go swimming this afternoon? There’s a bunch of people from the book club going to the community pool at two.”

“Yes, that sounds great. It’ll be nice to be around some normal people for a change.”

At the pool, the club members checked each other out in their bathing suits while they talked about the books they were reading. Bette noticed a guy named Clark spent most of his time near Kay, talking about Mary Shelley and her circle.

“What’s he like?” Bette asked later as they dried their hair and Kay applied the washable silver dye she now used for work.

“He’s quite nice. Works in public relations for a casino. Moved here a year ago from California. Trying to break into journalism. Loves everything British, it seems,” she said, holding her head up.

“Are you going to see him again?”

“Yes. Thursday night, my night off, as a matter of fact. We’re going out to dinner at a new Thai place he discovered.”

“Oh, Thursday. That reminds me. I’ve got an interview up in Reno at UNR Friday morning. They’ve got an opening in the English Department. I am so psyched! Is it possible I could borrow your car?”

Kay put the tube of dye down and hugged Bette. “That’s awesome! Of course you can! We’ll go out and buy you a new outfit for the interview as soon as we get dressed!”

“Hey, anything beats the red one I was wearing those nights!” and they both broke up laughing.

#

Bette couldn’t sleep the night before the interview, going over possible questions and answers in her head. When Kay came in from her date with Clark, Bette listened and heard the clinking of glass and ice from the kitchen. Putting on her robe, she went out where Kay was pouring herself a stiff one.

“How’d it go?” she asked.

“Oh God, it was dreadful.”

Bette tied her robe tighter. “What happened?”

Kay took a big swig, swallowed and shook her head. “He was a perfect gentleman at first, even opened the car door for me. The restaurant was nice, but over drinks he started mentioning he might have heard about me online. Then he starts to ask me about the club and was I the English Torturer? Said he wondered if he could come in and watch…I tell you, they’re all sick in this town.” Kay shook her head and took another big swig from her drink.

“How did he find out?” Bette asked, and wondered if there was someone out there tracking her.

“Oh, these trolls can find out anything, Bette. They’ll spend hours following their worst desires until they find it.” She finished her drink and poured herself another.

“I could use some fresh air tomorrow, girl,” Kay said. “How about I give you a ride up to Reno for the interview? We can practice the interviewing Q and A on the way?”

“Excellent idea. It’ll get me razor sharp and get your mind off things here.”

It was a cool day heading north and they kept the windows open.

“Why do you think you’ll be a good writing teacher?” Kay asked.

“My education and experience has all led to this place, both figuratively and geographically…”

They went on like this until they reached the outskirts of Reno. They rolled the windows up and Bette checked her hair.

“You’ve got this, girl!” Kay assured her as she dropped Bette off in front of the building. Kay drove around Reno, liking the mountain views and less intense heat and traffic, until Bette texted her with a thumbs up.

“How’d it go?” she asked when Bette threw open the car door.

“They offered me the job right there!” Bette shouted, hugging her friend.

“Bloody marvelous! When do you start?”

“The semester begins in two months! I’ll start orientation in a month!” She paused, then said, “But I’ll have to move…”

“Oh, don’t worry about me, I can pay the rent myself. Let’s start looking for a place for you here! And a car! You’ll be able to afford a car now, Miss College Teacher!”

They hugged again, but it wasn’t splitting the rent that had Bette worried about Kay living by herself.

“It’ll be busy at first, but we’ll be able to get together here or there when things settle down!”

“So tell me, did they ask about working at Lady D’s?”

Bette smiled. “I told them I was a hostess at a private club. They went right past that. I really think they didn’t want to know. You should put in an application, Kay. The school is expanding and I’ll be making connections here!”

“Perhaps I will. I think I could use a change.”

#

Bette jumped into the job and added tutoring to her schedule as soon as she moved to Reno. Kay had helped her move to her new place, but their schedules didn’t mesh for a while, and it was almost two months before Kay came for a visit. They went to a bar that had a rotating schedule of entertainment: country and western one night, rock and roll another, karaoke a third.

“It’s a great place for out of towners to meet,” Bette said. “So friendly. I’ve met a lot of people here. You’ll love it!”

They got there for happy hour, and the bartender greeted Bette by name. Two men in cowboy hats waved to her from across the room.

“Cowboys?” Kay inquired.

“They’re both IT programmers,” Bette said. “Nice fellas. I’ll introduce you…”

“A bit later,” Kay said, putting her hands on Bette’s. “I want to hear all about you, first!”

Bette told her all about the writing courses and how she had introduced the students to her favorite authors and the narrative non-fiction she loved. She got along with all the faculty except one egotistical poetry teacher who sported an ascot no matter the weather, and she found a lot of the students were ill prepared for college. What did they learn in high school anyway?

Kay noticed Bette glancing occasionally at the television set behind her, and said, “What is it, anyway?”

“Oh, it’s that ongoing Senate hearing for Kavanagh.”

Kay turned and watched for a moment while Ashley Ford spoke, then turned back. “Whining git,” she said. “Now tell me more about the faculty…”

They moved to a table and ordered dinner, and Bette brought up Kay’s career in teaching.

“I think they’ll have some openings in the fall next year, and several other department members say there’s definitely openings in the community college.”

Well into her fourth gin and tonic, Kay said, “Those cowboy friends of yours are eyeing us again.”

“Well, why don’t we ask them over? They’re nice guys.”

“Fiifth” she spat. “Cowboy hats. They’ve got some kinky fetishes, I’m sure of it. Everybody’s got some hidden sick ways out here.”

By dessert, Kay was sitting back in her chair, just listening glassy eyed to Bette talk about teaching.

Finally she spoke. “I don’t think I’ll go into teaching after all. Every time I’ll look at a student, I’ll be wondering what sick thoughts he’s having and what warped desires he has in that squirrely mind…”

“Aw, c’mon, Kay. It’s not that bad…”

“I didn’t tell you. Robert came out to visit. Said he’d thought about us a lot while we were apart. He kept calling, and finally I relented. That reunion lasted less than twelve hours…” she said.

“What happened? “ Bette asked after a several second pause.

“Well, all was fine until we went out for dinner. I told him what I’d been doing, and after a few drinks, he asked me to take him to some of the ‘places he’d heard about’…”

Bette again waited for several seconds before saying, “And?”

Kay waved her hand in front of her face. “It was awful. He said he wanted to go to this one particular pit of misery. All sorts there, flashing lights, throbbing music…Well, I could tell he was excited by it when we got there…I introduced him to some particularly bear-like gays, then said I had to go to the loo.”

Kay broke out in laughter at the memory, covering her mouth with her hand. “I left him there. He eventually escaped the cave men and found his way back to the apartment, but I wouldn’t let him in.”

Bette laughed too and then asked, “What happened to him?”

“Oh, he went to a hotel. Left some very nasty messages on my phone and flew back to wherever.”

They both laughed for a long time, and then Kay said, “Must visit the loo.” Bette noticed she was weaving as she walked away. When she came back, her eyes were dilated, and she slapped both hands on the table.

“No, I don’t think I’ll be pursuing the teaching path this year, dear. As a matter of fact, Demetria has offered me a franchise of the shop, perhaps here in Reno. Wouldn’t that be super?”

“Wow, Mistress Kay’s,” Bette said. “What will they say back home?” and they both laughed.

Kay again looked over at the two IT cowboys. “Oh, what the hell, Bette. Let’s ask them over.”

“Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea just now, Kay. We have had quite a bit to drink.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” she said, patting Bette’s hand. “You’ve always been the sensible one.”

Bette called for the check.

Mark Hannon has had short fiction published in a dozen publications, including The Wayne Literary Review and The Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. He has three published novels, "Every Man for Himself" and "The Vultures," the latter a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award. His third novel, “Dunleavy,” was a finalist for Killer Nashville's Claymore Award and his fourth, “The Predators,” was a Top Pick for the Claymore in 2024. He is also the author of a history, “The Fire Laddies,” published by MT Publishing in 2023. A native of Buffalo and a graduate of Fordham University in the Bronx, he and his family make their home in Baltimore.