Page 25 of Scarred King

“OK, not that,” I laugh and realize that this is a moment of pure happiness. No prostitutes, no strippers, no perverted Frenchmen, no boss to keep me off-balance. Just pure pleasure from knowing that I can look forward to an exciting and thrilling experience.

We return to the lecture hall, and during our last lecture I find it hard to keep my eyes open and my yawns become audible.

“You should go to sleep,” Johanna whispers and giggles when I yawn again.

“I have to go to work,” I answer and blink my eyes rapidly.

“You'll collapse,” she says, and I breathe a sigh of relief when the professor dismisses the class.

I wobble toward the campus exit, barely able to raise my hand to hail a cab and as soon as I give the driver the address, I close my eyes.

“Ma’am, we’re here,” he says loudly and I can hardly open my eyes. I’ve never been this tired in my life.

I pass the bouncer at the entrance and go inside. I don’t even have time to wash my face. Two girls are already sitting with customers. I take their order and walk to the bar.

“Need a few bucks to buy a new shirt?” the brunette asks nastily and turns to the staircase.

Shit. I only now realize that I haven’t been home to shower and change. The black shirt and blue jeans that I’ve been wearing since yesterday have the smell to prove it. I serve the other customers from a safe distance, running from table to table and I notice that the round table is empty. The partners aren’t here. I pause longer each time at the bar. My eyes are burning, my legs are heavy and my arms are trembling as it becomes hard for me to hold the drinks without spilling them.

The last customer follows the blonde upstairs and I run a cloth over the table and feel my legs giving way. I glance to the right and to the left; the room is empty. I pull back a chair and sit down, lay my head on the table and close my eyes.

“You’re new,” I hear a masculine voice panting a little from other side of the table and look up in panic. I am so tired that the movement makes my head spin.

“I’m not…”

“Let him finish.” I hear the order and raise my head. The brunette is standing there, smiling at me maliciously. I want to disobey her and stand up but she moves behind me, lays her hand on my shoulder and leans down to whisper in my ear. “Help him come, otherwise he’ll go crazy.”

I look back at the mustached man sitting across from me. Shit.

“I like new girls,” he pants, his arm is going up and down under the table. New girls excite me,” he pants heavily again, and I can feel my dizziness descending to my stomach. “Tell me something,” his arm is still moving vigorously. “Whatever you want, just talk.”

“Talk?” I ask and put my hand over my mouth, fighting a gag reflex.

“Yeah, yeah, just like that,” he puffs, his skin reddening.

I try to stand up, but the brunette is still holding me in my place and I’m too tired to resist. Pull yourself together, I say to myself. Pull yourself together and get this nightmare over with. But what the hell am I going to talk about, feeling the way I do? I shut my eyes for a moment, and I know that there’s a good chance I won’t be able to open them again. This exhaustion is unbearable, I feel sick and my brain is trying to fight off the daze I’m in.

“Newton,” I say suddenly, and open my eyes. Whatever is going on across the table seems so far away now, like a movie I’m watching but not participating in. “Newton’s laws were first published in 1967 in his book The Principia: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy.”

“Yes, yes,” the man keeps on panting and squints his eyes.

“The first law says that an object will always be consistent in its speed and direction of motion, unless the external forces acting on it don’t balance each other,” I lecture as if I’m standing behind a podium.

“Wow. More, more.” His eyes roll upward and he looks like he’s possessed.

“The second law of motion shows that the acceleration of an object depends directly on the force acting on it, and inversely on its mass.”

“Great, great.” His arm starts shaking and then his whole body does.

“The third law—”

The panting and puffing of the creature across from me turn into loud moans, and suddenly he lets out a howl and his body relaxes.

“Thank you so much,” he says sincerely. Picks up some napkins from the table, shoves them between his legs, arranges his clothes and stands up.

“I haven’t enjoyed myself like that for a long time…” he says with a dreamy look on his face as he throws a pile of bills on the table. He turns and leaves quickly.

“I didn’t finish explaining the third law…” I lay my head wearily on the table.

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