“There’s my sister, Lascivia.” Studs pointed out a tall brunette in the center of the trio now performing.
Most of the men in the room were staring at her. She was worth staring at. With her back to the audience, her high, round, foam-rubber posterior evaded the fringe caressing it and assailed the senses of the audience like twin trip-hammers, each vibrating with a life of its own. Still bent over, she swung around and the tips of her large breasts grazed her knees. Then she slowly straightened up and—surely it must have been imagined—-a large red quivering nipple, shaped like a bullet, flashed into view, and then was lost in the bodice beneath the mounds of imposing flesh still jiggling to the now savage beat.
_A moment later the show ended and Lascivia went off with the other girls. “Will she join us for a drink?” Annie asked Studs, a glint in her eye.
“No. She’s not allowed. The management’s very strict about that. No mingling with the customers.”
“That’s a shame.” Annie sighed. “Hey, Penny, I have to rinse a kidney. Keep me company.”
“When you put it so delicately,” Penny said, “how can I refuse?” She got to her feet and followed Annie to the ladies’ room.
When they returned, Penny again detected a subtle change in the atmosphere. Mostly it was Studs’ attitude toward her which had changed. He was more attentive, seemingly more eager to restore some of that rapport they’d once had. But the more attention he paid to her, the more surly Brian became. This in turn bothered Annie, and before long the party was obviously fizzling out.
“It’s time for me to get home and to bed,” Penny said finally. “I have to be up very early tomorrow.”
“I’ll see you home,” Studs said quickly.
“What!” Brian exploded. “An’ what about me, laddie?”
“You can take Annie home,” Studs told him smoothly.
“It really isn’t necessary—” Penny started to protest.
“But I insist,” Studs insisted.
“Then it’s all settled.” Annie was quick to take advantage of the opportunity to have Brian all to herself. “Come along, darling.” She tugged at his sleeve.
Glowering, Brian allowed her to take his arm as they left the Ginza. Outside, Studs insisted that they take the first cab which came along. And then he and Penny were alone.
“My place is right near here,” he told her. “Why don’t we go up there for a nightcap before I take you home.”
“No thanks, Studs. I’m really awfully tired. And I do have to get up early tomorrow.”
“Please, Penny. There are some things I want to say to you.”
“So say them.”
“I can’t like this. Standing out on the street.”
“But why this urgency, Studs? Why now? After all this time?”
“I’ll explain why if you’ll come over to my place so we can talk.”
“Oh, all right.”
Studs’ place was a comfortable bachelor apartment on Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park. He mixed a couple of drinks, put some soft music on the stereo, turned the lights down low, and settled himself on the sofa beside Penny. It was just the sort of come-on she would have expected of Studs, and she resented it. She resented the implication that all he had to do was snap his fingers and she’d fall panting into bed with him. She particularly resented it because of the scene they’d had the time she’d done exactly that. That was the time that the subject of marriage had come up and Studs had given a good imitation of a man frantically searching for a fast train out of town.
This time Penny decided the shotgun was going to come first, before he wore down her resistance—which she had no intention of allowing him to do anyway. So, when he slid his aim smoothly around her and attempted to kiss her, Penny pushed him away sharply. “No, Studs!” she told him firmly. “I’m not going to get burned twice in the same place.”
“Ahh, come on, Penny. You can’t deny that there’s a damn strong attraction between us. So why fight it?”
“Lots of reasons. But the main one is that I can’t keep up with your changes of mood. I don’t hear from you for nearly two months and now you come on like we’re suddenly Tristan and Isolde.”
“Well, seeing you made me realize-—”
“No, Studs. It won’t wash. Seeing me didn’t make you realize anything. You weren’t exactly on fire for me during most of the time we were at the Ginza. Why the change?”
“I was too. I just don’t like to show my feelings in public,” Studs protested.
“Since when? Come on, Studs. You said you had something to say to me. So say it so I can get home and get some sleep.”
“All right.” Studs drew a deep breath. “Penny, will you marry me?”
“What? !”
“You heard me. I’m asking you to marry me.”
“Oh, I heard you all right. The question is: why? The last time the subject came up you shot out of my place like a man trying to beat out a spastic colon.”
“Because I love you!” This time Studs grabbed her firmly and managed to force a kiss.
“Well—” Penny said breathlessly, her resistance shaken. “Now just a minute!” She slid away from him. “Let me just think a minute.” She stared at him with mixed feelings. “You still haven’t answered me,” she said finally. “Why all of a sudden like this?”
“Because I realize that I love you, and I have to marry you.”
“You have to marry me,” Penny mused, thinking back. She remembered then that Studs’ attitude had changed from the time she and Annie returned from the ladies’ room. Something clicked, and Penny knew that while they were gone Brian must have told Studs something to make him change like this. But what? Then Penny remembered how Brian and Annie had looked while they were talking on the dance floor and how much less antagonistic Brian had been when they returned to the table. Now the pieces fell into place. Annie must have been reassuring Brian that he didn’t have to worry about competition from Penny over Studs because Penny was pregnant. Then, when they’d gone to the ladies’ room, Brian must have passed the information along to Studs, thinking it would discourage him from being interested in Penny.
Brian couldn’t have known that it would have just the opposite effect. And now Penny suddenly realized why it had had that effect, why Studs was so eager to marry her. It was the same reason he’d had for becoming involved with Brian. The draft! He knew Penny was pregnant and if he married her he would quickly become a father and that would keep him out of the army! Sure, that was it! But what Studs didn’t know, what he had no way of knowing because Penny had never told him or anybody else, was that he was the father of her unborn child!
That was Studs’s angle! Penny was sure of it! And her sureness made her decide to bring it out in the open. “Brian told you I’m pregnant, and that’s really why you want to marry me, isn’t it?” she said accusingly.
“No! It’s because I love you.”
“But Brian did tell you I’m pregnant, didn’t he?”
“Well —“
“Didn’t he?”
“Yes. But what’s so wrong with that? I just want to help you out of your predicament. Some people might even think I was being pretty noble.”
“Noble, my foot. You’re only doing it to stay out of the service! Admit it! Aren’t you?”
“Well, that’s part of it, Penny, but—”
“And you have the nerve to think that I—”
“You have it wrong. I also happen to be in love with you.”
“And all love’s fair in war! Is that it?”