She gave herself one more glance in the mirror before she left the room and took the elevator downstairs.

The lounge was deserted. Sighing in relief, Sheila went to the counter and sat down on the stool. She had hoped the place wouldn't be packed. She was tired, and the last thing she needed was to be surrounded by a hundred smelly, giddy, drunken men with hard-ons.

The barman was a nice, rough-looking man. He took her order and quickly returned with her drink. Sheila sipped the drink slowly. The warm liquor quickly soothed her. She relaxed and took another sip.

Sheila was beginning to feel much, much better. Suddenly something caught her eye. She turned and saw someone sitting on the stool next to hers. He was a good-looking guy in his early thirties. He was tall and well-built. He was smiling. Sheila smiled back.

"Lemme buy you a drink," he said softly, signaling the barman.

"Thank you," she said when the barman brought her the drink.

"That's quite all right," he said. "By the way, what's a gorgeous hunk of woman like you doin' drinkin' alone?"

She sipped her drink and shrugged. "My name's Lou," he said. "Mine's Sheila."

"How long are you gonna be stayin' here, Sheila?"

"Just for the night," she replied. "Maybe a little longer."

"Want some action?"

She eyed him carefully. "What kind of action?" He smiled at her. "I gotta room on the third floor."

"Thanks, but I'm pretty tired…"

"What you need is something to perk you up," he suggested. "I know just the thing."

She laughed. "I'll bet you do!"

What the hell, she thought. It had been a long time since she had accepted a pickup. And a much longer time since she had really enjoyed herself with a man. She smiled at Lou and replied: "All right. When do you…"