"Move the table a little, will you, sweetie?" Femy said. "Just over here."

"What are you practicing feng shui?" Mac asked irritably, though he complied by shifting the table to the left.

The waitress was already upon them when Femy mentioned, "The manager won't let me sit here unless you treat me."

"Fine."

She ordered a glass of champagne.

Ironically, he hadn't come here to buy Femy to a drink, but to try and get back some of the $200 he'd loaned her a couple of months ago. He figured the champagne wouldn't put too big a dent in his wallet. It was an investment, anyway.

You see, Billy's was the last of a vanishing breed: the clip joint with tiny shears. The city's current mayor, Guiliani, was on a purity campaign, though one that aimed mainly at stifling workingmen's joints. The expensive gentlemen's clubs were staying open, but the cheaper topless places were being shut down. The renovations being done at Billy's were a belated attempt to upscale the premises, but, to Mac's mind, it was money wasted on a lost cause.

Of more immediate concern, though, was the fact, until then unknown to Mac, that the place was also crafting its prices upward, and the tab for one champagne Cinderella was a 10 spot.

After he suavely laid out the money and a lavish tip, he joked with Femy about the anemic Christmas touches like the one-foot-high, lit-up Santa, sitting at the back of the stage. He pointed out that it looked more like a small heating unit than a decoration.

By now Mac had realized why she had been so anxious to change the position of the table. As he had been trying to amuse her, she kept smiling at the fat man at the other table.

As Mac glanced at him, he jumped up and stepped over. "Sorry to interrupt you, buddy; but I just wanted to ask the lady if she might be available for a private session, that is, after she's done here."

"I'm free now," she said, bounding up. She put her arm through chubby's. "We have to talk price first, honey. We go over there." She was polite enough to whisper to Mac, before moving off, "Honey, I see you quick later."

She waltzed the guy away, and the last thing he saw of her was her lovely panther back passing through the beaded shower of sequins that curtained off the VIP rooms.

He didn't know if it was worth sitting around and waiting. Still, if fatso was generous, his money might be used to settle Femy's debt. To pass the time, Mac quaffed champagne. It wasn't much of a drink, tasting less like a wine than sugared piss.