The dapper man picked up a penny. He inspected it, rolling it over, back and forth in the palm of his hand. satisfied, he pocketed it and kept walking down the street, a whistle blowing through his thin lips.
He stopped at a newspaper stand and debated over the local or the national paper. He glanced from side to side down the street and asked the man working there if he had anything more adult.
The clerk gave him a knowing nod and reached under the counter. The dapper man pulled at the neck of his suddenly tight shirt. He kept glancing down and up the street, inconspicuously, he hoped.
The clerk handed him a magazine wrapped in brown paper. The dapper man paid and tucked the package under his arm. He looked both ways and crossed the street quickly, trying to put as much distance between the news stand and himself as possible.
His heart raced from the exertion and excitement as he bounded up the stairs to his apartment. He tossed the package onto the chesterfield and took off his coat. He poured a drink while loosening his tie with his free hand. his mind wandered