Chapter Sixteen

Sloan was tending bar for the regular afternoon crowd while his mind applied itself to his favorite passive spectator sport, people watching.

The big difference, in this case, was that the people he was watching were women. Usually, Sloan liked to add the gestures, speech patterns, and physical attitudes of the customers that came into the club to his acting repertoire. it made for a quick and easy reference when he might be asked to read an unexpected part at an audition.

Tonight, his focus was on the women who came in. He was shocked at the nuances of womanhood. While men were physically extroverted, women were much more subtle. That is not to say that they were less complex. On the contrary, they were infinitely more so. A simple thing like a tilt of the head, a raising of an eyebrow, or a simple reply could carry a plethora of meanings. It was like learning a foreign language.

He had witnessed many pick-up attempts at the club, both successful and unsuccessful. It was part of being a bartender. People came to the

Anvil for a variety of reasons, but several of those reasons included some form of sexual connection. That is not to say that every connection involved physical sex; however, it involved some form of emotional sexual connection.

Many women came to be seen. Many more came to be discovered. It seemed that they all came to be on display. He could not help thinking that for them it was a form of performance art. They went through costuming, auditioned, performed in some fashion, and received the acclaim. In many ways, to Sloan, it seemed as though the performance did not need to include sex to be successful, it only needed to imply sex.

As a case in point, he had noticed a gorgeous, leggy blonde, well-endowed, maybe 28-33. She sat at the bar and sipped from a glass of Chardonnay for over an hour. During that time, at least, two dozen men (and three different women) hit on her. She was friendly, very pleasant to all, with the exception of a few jerks that tried to get too 'handy', and was sometimes flirty. After shooting down another would-be conquistador, she smiled, stuffed a twenty in the tip jar, winked at Sloan, and walked out with a smile on her face like the cat who got the canary.

Apparently, she was very pleased with how her evening went. There was a definite sexual tension around her all evening. Yet, she left alone. It was an amazing performance. He began to realize just how much power a woman has over her, supposedly stronger, male counterparts.

As the night proceeded, he would sometimes look into the mirror behind the bar and toss his head, smile just so, or imitate some other mannerism that he had seen during the evening. He was so absorbed that he failed to notice some of the looks he was getting from patrons, and staff.

Toni came by during a lull and caught his performance.

"You auditioning for Gayz n' Dollz?" she asked, naming a club that was legendary for its "shemale" review.

"Huh?"

"Sugar, the way you keep flouncing behind the bar, customers are beginning to wonder if we are running a cabaret?"

Sloan glowed beet red, "Sorry, I just...."

Toni raised an eyebrow and was off to one of her tables before he could figure out what to say. A few minutes later, she came back with an order and he spoke up.

"Look, Toni...I'm sorry if I'm acting a little weird. I was offered a chance to audition for a part, but I'm not sure I can do it."

"Sloan, you're a great talent. What's the big deal?"

"You remember what you said about the new Matt Sharp film?"

"OH MY GOD !!! You have an audition for Matt Sharp????"

"Shhhhhhhh !" Sloan frantically tried to calm her down. "It isn't so much an audition, as...."

"GET OUT! I heard he is a little kinky, but he wants..."

"NO!" Sloan hurriedly replied. "It's not like that."

"Ooooo-Kay," she smirked, "Tell Auntie Toni what it is like"

Just then Toni had to take care of someone else, and it took most of the night for Sloan to lay it all out for her. He eventually was able to fill her in on Dana's being invited to the Sharp's Carnaval party, Danielle Sharp's assumption that Sloan was a woman, and Dana and Danielle cooking up a plan for Sloan to go to the party en femme in order to convince Matt Sharp that he would fit the role perfectly.

"Actually, that isn't a bad plan" Toni eyed Sloan critically. "You have gorgeous facial structure and slight physique that could definitely fit a man or a woman. I would think that might well be worth the risk"

"What risk?"

"That some sex-hungry movie star might rape your cute little ass for one" she giggled.

Sloan glowered at her for a moment, before he started to laugh.

"Thank you, little miss sunshine!"

He began to frown but she was quick to interject, "Come on, Sloan. This could be a huge break for you. You know that."

"Yeah" he sighed as the lights flashed twice for last call.