No American Express

 by Robert Vaughan

One Friday afternoon I brought him to my apartment. Before I got out keys,

I turned to face the stranger.  “Still sure you want to do this?”

  

   The man bit his lower lip. Nodded. “Yup, how much is it again?”

   “Fifty bucks is the starting fee.” I opened the door. Flipped on the a.c.

  

   “Something to drink?” I asked, peeling off my sweatshirt.

   The stranger stood near the door. “I’ll have some water.”

   “Suit yourself,” I said, fetching it from the kitchen. I smelled my pits, as we’d come

from the gym. Not so bad. When I returned, the guy’d removed his light

windbreaker.

   They’re always so passive, I thought. “I’ll hang your jacket. Have a seat.”

I motioned to the couch, noticed his ring. Most guys remove them.

   “I’d rather get right to it,” the man said, trying to crack a smile.

   “Oh!” I said. “Okay, well, first look over that menu on the table. Your friend, Mickey,

he gets the harness, likes the gear. It’s all inside my room. Mick prefers blindfolds,

sometimes whips. But it’s up to you. Customize ahead, or we can roll as we go.”

   “Sounds good,” the man said, staring at the options.

   “Excuse me while I get set up,” I said. I walked toward the bedroom door, then

turned. “Oh. I take Mastercard, Visa, no American Express. Charges are way too hefty

sorry. We can do payment in advance if you prefer. Give me five minutes, then c’mon

in.”

Robert Vaughan's plays have been produced in N.Y.C., L.A., S.F. and Milwaukee, where he lives. He leads two writing roundtables for Redbird- Redoak Studios. He has masturbated in the coat room on Metro North. His fiction and poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in: Short, Fast & Deadly, 50 to 1, Heavy Bear, Girls with Insurance, Lesser Flamingo, Clutching at Straws, Thunderclap Press, Blink/Ink and Tryst. He is a fiction editor at jmww magazine, a flash fiction editor at Thunderclap! Press. A is a new proud member of Fictionaut and The Nervous Breakdown. His blog, One Writer’s Life, is at http://rgv7735.wordpress.com.