Richard Kind

After work that day, Toby changes into jeans and a sweatshirt and drives down to Dayton Mystique.

He pulls into the parking lot, dons his Bengals cap and sunglasses, and he steps out of the car.

Inside, he is overtaken by the deafening music and the clouds of cigarette smoke.

In college, coming here filled him with vigor and a sense of wonder.

Now,

It reeks of despair and seediness.

On the stage, a woman older than Toby tiredly spins around the pole.

He slides into a chair by an empty table in the corner, lowers the bill of his cap, orders a ginger ale, and scans the stage where Marta is nowhere to be found.

But eventually, he spots her at the far end of the room.

She's speaking earnestly with a man dressed sharply in a suit.

The man is significantly younger than him and based on his attire and posture, considerably wealthier.

They're alone at his table where she's doing most of the talking.

Toby grips the table.

A woman approaches Toby's table.

"'Hey, you gorgeous, why don't you come closer to the stage?'

she asks brightly.

Her smile disappears when he ignores her."

And when she realizes he is not going to speak at all, she shrugs, walks away.

Toby studies Marta.

He tries to make out her words, but it's dark.