“It sounds like you don’t think very much of men,” I observed.
“Hey! Don’t get me wrong. They’re a lot better than the alternatives. I just got a little sick of listening to the same old lines over and over and decided to turn the tables on ‘em. That’s all.”
“That wasn’t what I meant. A second ago you said ‘That’s what men want from a girl.’ It may be true, and I won’t try to argue the point. It’s uncomfortably close to ‘That’s all men want from a girl,’ though, and that I will argue.”
She scowled thoughtfully and chewed her lower lip.
“I guess that is over-generalizing a bit,” she admitted.
“Good.” .
“It’s more accurate to say ‘That’s all men want from a beautiful girl.’”
“Bunny…”
“No, you listen to me, Skeeve. This is one subject I’ve had a lot more experience at than you have. It’s fine to talk about minds when you look like Massha. But when you grow up looking good like I did-no brag, just a statement of fact-it’s one long string of men hitting on you. If they’re interested in your mind, I’d say they need a crash course in anatomy!”
In the course of our friendship, I had had many long chats with Massha about what it meant to a woman to be less than attractive. However, this was the first time I had ever been made to realize that beauty might be something less than an asset.
“I don’t recall ‘hitting on you,’ Bunny.”
“Okay, okay. Maybe I have taken to counterpunching before someone else starts. There’s been enough of a pattern that I think I’m justified in jumping to conclusions. As I recall, you were a little preoccupied when we met. How would you have reacted if we ran into each other casually in a bar?”