Extra Dirty Martini
More Random Acts of Poetry
Behind the bar, my wrist works on autopilot
like I’ve done this a thousand times,
like the night isn’t pressing in on all sides.
The street outside roars.
Inside, it’s sweat and glass and bodies leaning too close.
He steps up without hesitation.
Slick mustache. Shirt open just enough.
A hundred-dollar bill already in his hand,
folded once, deliberate.
“Gin martini,” he says, low, easy.
“Extra dirty.”
His eyes don’t stay on my face.
They drop to my hands, waist, and lower,
like he’s already decided something about me
and is waiting to see if I’ll agree.
“I’ll tip you this,” he adds, setting the bill down,
flat against the bar,
“if you show me your dick.”
No buildup.
No charm.
Just the offer.
Clean, transactional, almost bored.
I glance at the bill.
Then at him.
“Shaken or stirred?” I ask.
“Stirred,” he says, smiling now,
because he knows.
It’s late enough that things blur.
The crowd’s louder, looser.
My shirt sticks to my back.
I’ve been aware of myself all night.
Too aware.
So I give him what he wants.
I unzip with the same precision I’d use to pop a cap,
letting my cock spring free,
thick and heavy in my palm,
showing him what a real stirrer looks like.
His pupils flare like struck matches.
And I stir his martini with it.
Not just the idea, but the flesh,
circling once, twice,
the ice cool against my heat.
Then I tuck myself back in,
like a trick well-performed,
strain the drink,
snap the olive between two fingers
and drop it in with flair.
I slide the glass across to him,
fingers brushing the edge of the bill but not taking it.
“Dirty enough?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer right away.
Just takes a sip, eyes still fixed lower,
like he’s trying to decide
if he’s been satisfied or merely teased.
I leave the bill where it is.
Because that’s the part he didn’t account for.
It’s not the money that decides this.
It’s whether I feel like letting him have more.
And tonight,
I might make him wait an hour for my shift to end
to discover what happens
when the stirring isn’t for show.
Take the Reader Survey
If you haven’t already taken the reader survey, I’d love to know more about who you are and what drew you here. Your answers help shape the stories, the dynamics, the audio, and the tension.
Take a minute and fill out the survey below:
