Stephanie's Revenge by Susanna Hughes

air.
    'Taxi?' It was
the doorman she had tipped earlier.
    'No. La
Sinistra.' She pointed over to Harry's Bar. 'It's there.'
    'Si,
signorina. For this you don't need a taxi.'
    'That's what I
was told. Help me, would you.'
    She took the
fur from her shoulders and had him hold it for her while she put
her arms in the sleeves. She could feel his eyes on her cleavage.
Actually, he was not bad looking, she thought; he was tall and
looked strong.
    'What time do
you go home?' she asked.
    'Two,
signorina.'
    'See you
later, then.' She pressed another ten thousand lira note into his
hand. He was her insurance policy; if there was nothing better at
the club well, he would just have to do.
    She crossed
the road and walked up towards Harry's Bar. As she approached, she
could see a bright red and blue neon sign in the side street
flashing the name 'LA SINISTRA' with a curved arrow pointing to a
small door.
    At the door, a
short but thickset man in an evening suit and black tie let her
pass without a word. He demanded no payment, despite the fact that
the couple in front of her had been charged fifteen thousand lira
each.
    Stephanie
walked down the narrow, red-carpeted staircase, decorated with
signed pictures of Italian pop singers. At the bottom there was a
cloakroom, where a girl in a red leotard and black fishnet tights
took her fur in exchange for a small plastic token in the form of a
hand engraved with a number. Beyond the cloakroom was a
lozenge-shaped bar in the middle of a large brightly coloured room,
from which half-a-dozen staff mixed and served cocktails as
colourful as the lights that flashed continuously from the dance
floor on the other side of the bar.
    The club was
not crowded. Stephanie found a table where she could survey both
the dance floor and most of the bar area. Almost before she was
seated, a waiter, dressed in a black and white striped T-shirt and
white trousers, was at her side.
    'Signorina?'
    'A bottle of
champagne. Dom Perignon.'
    'Si,
signorina. Presto.'
    Stephanie
crossed her legs, the nylon rasping on her thighs as she watched
the waiter go over to the bar and place the order. She watched the
bottle being extracted from the refrigeration, opened, placed in an
ice bucket in the shape of a top hat, then on a tray with two
glasses - perhaps they thought Stephanie was not alone - and swung
over the counter to the waiter. In a minute, he was back, setting
the tray down in front of her knees.
    He murmured a
question.
    Stephanie
looked puzzled. The waiter indicated the cork on the bottle.
    'Si. Grazie,'
she said.
    He eased the
cork out without a sound and poured the wine into one of the
glasses.
    'Grazie,'
Stephanie repeated.
    'Prego,' he
said, bowing slightly and hurrying away.
    Sipping the
champagne, Stephanie looked around. The hard, insistent rhythm of
the disco music pounding from the speakers on the dance floor
perfectly matched her mood. Her foot tapped to the beat.
    There were
several groups of men in the bar, some with women in the party,
some without. Stephanie had attracted everything from admiring
glances to lecherous stares. The fact that, seated, her leather
skirt hid little, did nothing to discourage their looks. There were
two young men sitting on bar-stools that she particularly noticed,
however. One was tall, slim but athletic, with black curly hair and
an open face with strong features and a firm chin. He looked like
he might be a long distance runner for the Italian Olympic Team.
His friend was shorter, but with equally curly dark hair. He looked
fit too, but was much broader in the shoulders, looking as though
he had considerable upper-body strength. His face was puckish, his
eyes glinting with mischief. Neither was more than twenty years
old.
    Both men had
glanced at Stephanie with admiration, their eyes lingering on her
long legs. The next time the taller of the two looked round,
Stephanie caught his eye. She beckoned him over with a crooked
finger. He pointed at himself as if to say, 'What,