The consummate French bar tender pours the well-heeled Englishman his drink. He knew right away; saw it in his customer’s eyes. Always a giveaway. Discreetly he says bugger all. Keeps it to himself. A reliance on ‘tips’ ensures tact.
Under a tiara of smoke rings, the racy girl perched delightfully upon a bar stool. Nonchalant and available. Her chosen expression, gently lascivious. She is sipping cognac. Her only concern, affordability. Being all too well of the patron at large hovering this way and that, she meticulously follows his path. Only when he’s out of sight will she make her move.
Against a backdrop of floodlit, half-naked dancing girls who she largely ignores; then again, largely appreciates. Such is the way of night life in Paris.
The Englishman spots her before she does him. He orders her another drink, whether she wants it or not. A mere gesture. The Frenchman behind the bar hands it to her, glances down the counter, an affirmative nod, says all that needs to be said.
Surreptitious eye contact, a subliminal yet prudent exchange as she idly sizes up his watch brand. A tasty Rolex. His attire, a Saville Row number, ‘That’ll do nicely,’ her random thought. She estimates his monetary worth. He meets her approval. A bargain is struck with hardly a word passing between one another. After all, an English gentleman never haggles. Une dame de la nuit; Elle connaît bien sa valeur
Should it be of interest, my new book is available across the globe via AMAZON. It’s for free on KINDLE UNLIMITED, alternatively just a nominal price on regular KINDLE or, if the PAPERBACK takes your fancy, a mere, $8.99 in the USA and £7.99 in the UK or equivalent outside of these nations. You can access the USA link to the book by clicking the picture below. If you are not from either of these countries, simply link up with your appropriate Amazon. All the best, Mike
Copyright © 2023. All rights reserved. Unauthorised copying, reproduction, hiring, and lending, prohibited.
This introduction pulls me the reader right in. Good luck with this:)
Thank you, Janet. Much appreciated, Regards, Mike.
mmmm sounds intriguing !
Thank you. ’tis a wild tale, is this one. Regards, Mike
Very nice
My thanks
The Fool of April makes landfall the day after tomorrow; therefore, the present moment is timely. Looking forward to spending a portion of the cruelest month UNDER A TIARA OF SMOKE RINGS.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/10/03/the-shock-and-aftershocks-of-the-waste-land
I shall have to remind Miss April Fool that her birthday is almost upon her. Her character is based upon Shirl, hence I’ll tell her as well! All the best, Mike
Happy BirthdayEve, Shirl!
The first mayor of Cincinnati was a certain David Ziegler:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Ziegler
No apparent relation. Back in the days of telephone directories, I once counted 8 “William” Zieglers alone.
A popular spelling in this town: Zinzinnati, z is pronounced “ts” in German.
She knows her value indeed!
A perfect image to illustrate the story, Mike.
Best wishes, Pete.
She certainly does. The joy of writing for the likes of us, young and old, is that when putting pen to paper it is the only pastime there is where we can do whatever we want without guilt. I’m a boring old fool in real life! Anyway, good on you, Sir.
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford.
Very nice. She… er…..the story has me interested.
She has that effect, Sir. All the best, Mike
I love the juxtaposition of the last two lines, not only the content, but the languages. And I actually understood the French without looking up the translation! 🙂
I’m most impressed, LuAnne. I had to play around with French before I got it sorted. Thank you for the read. Regards, Mike
German: Eine Dame der Nacht; Sie kennt ihren Wert gut
Dutch: Een dame van de nacht; Ze kent haar waarde goed
Afrikaans: ‘n Dame van die nag; Sy ken haar waarde goed
Swedish: En nattens dam; Hon vet sitt värde väl
Latin: Matrona noctis; Scit se pretium bene
Italian: Una signora della notte; Conosce bene il suo valore
Farsi: بانوی شب؛ او ارزش خود را خوب می داند
Note: Persian is Proto-Indo European (PIE).
https://billziegler1947.com/2019/04/19/cibara-arabic/
Arabic (transliteratie): sayidat allayl ‘iinaha taerif qimatuha jydan
Arabic: سيدة الليل إنها تعرف قيمتها جيدًا
https://islamanar.com/night-lady/
I love *all* language(s): احب كل اللغات
Tschüschen!
https://glosbe.com/de/de/tsch%C3%BCsch
Looks like you’re a polyglot! I have a daughter that aspires to be one, too. Thanks. (I pretty much stick to English, a little French, and even less German. Oh, maybe a spattering of Spanish. )
Sounds a juicy read. 🙂
This one is unusual for me, Debby. It started life as a poem from 2014 that never really worked. With that in mind, I recently turned it into a third person short story. I have a feeling it may well end up on the new book I’ve started on, as Paris is home to a lot of my writings. The way I pen these things, it’ll be another 12 months at least before ‘tis done and dusted. I’m glad you read it. My thanks, Mike
I do enjoy Paris based stories Mike. No surprise I loved Mayday. Good luck with this new project. Looks like another intriguing story. 🙂
Poetic prose.
Nice work
Kind words. My thanks, Mike
Wishing you a Happy Easter 🔔🕊️
Enjoy it you also. Regards, Mike
🌸🌸🌸
A lovely sultry piece, TOF! Thank you!
Thank you, young Miss Resa All the best, TOF
Good
https://drevans5.wordpress.com/2023/04/10/unique-aspects/
My thanks.
Nice
https://drevans5.wordpress.com/2023/04/10/unique-aspects/
My thanks. Regards, Mike
Such a wonderful first scene to make us wonder…and then what happens? I have always enjoyed your writing style. I bought your book ,Mayday and really enjoyed it.
Thank you, Karima. An odd thing in this case as usually I make sure that the gals always win…such as Mayday. Indeed, I’m pleased you liked her story. For the record, my latest book, re-Miss April Fool tale is that of Mayday’s daughter. All the very best. Regards, Mike
That’s true.. Mayday won!! All the best to you too:)
Beautiful as always, dear Sir!