18Ariadna made an impatient noise. She tapped a cigarette from the pack and lifted it to her mouth. Fat Boy from the adjacent table was beside her, a lighter flickering in his hand. She leaned toward the flame, sucking fiercely before she said the Polish equivalent of f**k off to her eager guard. He looked hard at me and at Jerzy before he turned away.
Ariadna pointed at me with her cigarette. “I don’t want to talk to you. You bore me.” She blew smoke toward me in a belittling gesture as studied as her s****l come-on.
But she didn’t move.
I forced myself to gawk at her as if love-struck. “I don’t think you know a thing I want to hear.” I ignored the dubious look on Jerzy’s face. “How could you? A lap dancer.”
“I have many friends. Close friends, some quite knowledgeable. They speak fre
