"Here," Paulie grinned, offering me his pinkie finger, "it will make you feel good. Just a little. You're so stressed out today. That guy was giving you such a hard time."

A flare of anger caught in my throat, and I pressed my lips together tightly, daring not to breathe anywhere near Paulie's pinkie. I shook my head violently and kept it turned as far away as I could towards the bar.

"Come on, George, it's only Brufen."

I gave him a final head shake "no".

"Suit yourself," Paulie said cheerily, putting his pinkie under his nostril and snorting himself. He blinked several times and shook his own head.

Beside us on a cocktail napkin on the bar, Paulie's boyfriend, Avi, was crushing another pill with the side of his pocket knife. "It pretty weak stuff, George," he told me in his German accent. "It not hurting you. You take pain pill for headache?"

Paulie put his gloved hand on Avi's shoulder and Avi looked at him with a curious expression. Paulie made a sucking sound with his teeth to signal Avi to cut it out, that I didn't want any. Avi nodded and continued what he was doing.

Carl came back with our shots. He set one down in front of me that had whipped cream on top, but then he jumped when he saw what Avi was doing.

"What the fuck is that on my bar, you kike?" Carl barked. "Get that shit off my bar right now."

"Oh! Don't call my boyfriend a 'kike', you fucking- !" Paulie began, but Avi pressed the back of his hand to Paulie's chest and Paulie automatically silenced.

"That's the man's bar, he say what goes," Avi said, surrendered, scooping the crushed pill on the napkin, then folding it up and putting it in the interior pocket of his suit jacket.

"Sorry, but I don't want that shit on my bar. It's bad enough what goes on in those back rooms, don't need that shit out in the open," Carl said, offering Avi a shot in brotherhood. Avi took it and threw it back in his throat in acceptance.

"I wish you wouldn't do that shit," I sighed to Paulie.

"What's life if you don't challenge it," Paulie sighed, closing his eyes and smiling like in a Tex Avery cartoon.

Suddenly a weight was around my shoulders and I jumped a little bit. But as I did, familiar warm lips were kissing my ear. Beautiful breath accompanied this, and I completely relaxed.

"You need a hotel room or something?" Carl asked Frankie, chuckling.

Frankie smiled then kissed me on the lips. I took his hand and squeezed it as he sat next to me on a bar stool. Carl poured him a simple shot of vodka and offered it to him.

"Thanks," Frankie said shyly, reaching out to grab it, but Carl whipped it back to himself.

"Whoa, whoa, who is this kid at my bar? You old enough to drink?" Carl joked.

Everyone started laughing and Frankie started blushing like a tomato.

"Just jokin', here you go, Boss," Carl laughed and handed it to him finally. Frankie accepted it nervously and then sipped it. Sipped. "What you sippin' that for, boy?" Carl boomed in laughter.

"Yeah, you throw back," Avi grinned. "Do you need demonstration?"

Frankie impossibly went even redder. "What?" he asked, so embarrassed the liquid near the top of his shot glass was shaking.

"Here, baby," I said sweetly to him, taking his glass. "Do you want a beer or something?" I got up, but he pulled my hand and before I knew it I was on his lap. I blushed myself. He picked up another shot from the bar, Paulie's shot, and handed it to me.

"Take it with me," he suggested, looking into my eyes with his dazzling blue-green ones. My heart went all aflutter. All I could muster was a nod.

"How sweet," Paulie sighed in awe.

Frankie twisted his arm around mine in a classic romantic move and signaled me to drink. I grinned, the happy feeling threatening to overflow, and threw back the drink at the same time as Frankie. But immediately after, Frankie made a noise that I can only describe as inhuman.

"Mmmnnnngggmmmhhhh," he grunted, making the funniest face you ever did see. His face went completely red again as his eyes pressed together tightly. Then he shook his head violently.

Everyone burst into laughter once more. "Was that your first shot, kid?" Carl roared with laughter.

Frankie looked down at the floor in shame, but I brought it up again by his chin. He looked at me with that familiar nervous expression. I kissed him on the lips, the taste of vodka lingering still. "I'm so proud of you," I told him quietly, smiling at him knowingly. His face remained red but for a different reason, out of his love for me.

Suddenly Paulie jumped. He was looking at his pocket watch. "It's fucking 2 AM," he gasped, "I have to get up at six for my job. We're painting inside this building over on the upper East side. Fuck, my boss is gonna be pissed if I show up late again. Lord knows you people don't pay me enough to have this as my only job, though I'd love to stay."

"Just work at my father's store," Avi told him, beginning to put a coat over his boyfriend's shoulders. "It would be so nice?"

Paulie smiled at him, but it was a non-committal sort of look. He didn't respond. Avi looked hopeful, though, and took his hand. They waved to us as they left, grinning together.

It was Carl's turn to look at his watch. He cleared his throat. "Best be leaving now. My daughter's waiting for me at home," he said to us, giving us a knowing look. "You kids behave." He left the bar and went into the coat room. Then, thus clothed, he tipped his hat to us and went to leave, too.

As the door slammed, I looked at Frankie and he looked at me. He broke into a beam and let me down from the stool we shared and then got up himself. He wrapped his arms around my waist, and pressed himself to me. I sighed deeply, closing my eyes, as he began to kiss my neck slowly, deep kisses coming one per second, traveling up my neck and towards my ear. His hands slipped up from my waist, feeling my back, my ribs, finally alighting at the back of my neck and his fingers began to undo the halter bow of my white dress.

I kissed his cheek, then his chin, then his nose and then his cheeks again, repeating slowly as he fumbled with the bow. He didn't seem to be able to untie it. I forced down a laugh in my chest and backed away from him, trying to stifle my giggling further with my hand.

"Do you need some help, baby?" I asked, reaching back and touching the tails of the bow at my neck.

"Y-yeah," he breathed, a pink blush forming on his baby cheeks.

"Aww, darling," I giggled, kissing his pink blushing, which caused him to blush even more.

I looked at him sideways, smiling seductively like Marilyn Monroe, elbows above my head as I reached backwards and began to undo the knot. Then fumbling to undo the knot. One of my eyes squeezed shut as my long nails tried to pry the knot loose, but it was so stubborn. Shit, I had triple knotted the thing when I was putting it on this evening and not even realized. This would take some time and time was something we did not have.

I let out a long sigh, and pouted my lip. His face softened at it, and he appeared like a shy little boy looking at the first woman who ever made him excited. My arms went around his waist, and I extended my pouty lip. He leaned forward and I felt his warm breath as he took my lip with his teeth, pulling it gently. Then his tongue licked over my lips and it was in my mouth and I about melted on the floor.

"You could fit Texas on that lip," he was smiling now, looking at me so close to my face. His warm breath kept coming on my face and I almost forgot to breathe.

"Y-yeah?" I asked, totally taken with him.

"Yeah," he responded with a small voice, looking so incredibly shy I wanted to pinch his downy cheeks.

I began laughing instead, and this caused him to laugh. I pressed him to myself, squeezing him with my arms and he hugged me so close I thought my heart was going to explode in wildly beating adoration for him.

With grace, he took my hand and then looked at me with equal adoration. I felt like I was floating on air. His other hand went to my waist and I knew what was coming. He pressed his cheek to mine. "Dance with me then, if we can't tango," he blew into my ear, sending a rush of gorgeous honey feeling all over my body.

All I could do was breathe hard, my heart beating even wilder.

"Mmm," he sighed into my ear, as he began to lead me in a slow, romantic waltz. He began to sing to me, lightly, lovingly. "It was fascination, I know, seeing you alone with the moonlight above. Then I touch your hand and next moment, I kiss you...fascination turned to love."

I sighed so deeply I thought my lungs were sweeping the floor.

As I snuggled my head on his shoulder and he danced with me in front of the bar, my mind drifted off to one thought: let Paulie have his drugs and his high feeling from them. I had all the high I needed right here, in Frankie's arms.