-Hi There Stranger Do You Remember…-

Same bar, same crowd, half an hour earlier….

Robin's P.O.V

Something about her caught my attention from the very moment she entered the room…. Probably her outfit (or lack thereof) - A short black waitress uniform, complete with apron, leather collar, six inch heels and nametag that read 'maiden magic.

With her dark hair and fair complexion she reminded me of a gothic angel, melancholic and dark but beautiful all the same. … Actually she looked nothing like the way I remembered her. In fact I didn't even recognize her at first. But then it dawned on me and I had one of those 'Oh, my GAWD!' moments… You know with flashing light bulbs, bulging eyes and jaw drop.

It was her… Marian… It had to be her. The longer I stared at her the more convinced I became. Even with her back turned toward me, I knew…. Her appearance may have changed but her body language and the way she carried herself was still the same. And then there was the fact that I was so aware of her presence, as if my senses were magnified about a zillion times over. Oh yeah…it was definitely her.

She hadn't acknowledged my presence yet but that didn't come as a surprise…Last time we spoke wasn't under the most friendly of circumstances. We had one of those relationships that seemed to thrive on tension and turmoil – we kept pushing each other's buttons, even when we knew they were the "wrong" ones to push. During the short period of time we dated I learned many new things about life and about myself. Some of them were not things I WANTED to learn, but perhaps NEEDED to learn. It scared me… she scared me… She brought out a part of me that I would rather have stayed dormant… and so I did the only thing I could think of, I pushed her away and that was the end of it…

…or should have been the end of it….

Truth be told I had often wondered what I would say or do if I ever saw her again, but never in my wildest dreams had I imagined it happening like this -a chance encounter in an "adult" club with exotic dancers...

The Marian I once knew would rather walk barefoot on lava than be caught dead in a place like this. Still there she was, right in front of me, waiting tables in a skimpy outfit, strutting her stuff like a pro. But then again, I was there too wasn't I!? Worse than that, I was a paying customer…. (pathetic much?!)

Just so you know, it was not the nightlife that brought me back to this town. Believe it or not, this was originally a well-planned business trip. I'm currently traveling the length and breadth of the country giving seminars in martial arts to military personnel and police. I had people to meet, hands to shake and sponsors to keep happy but somewhere along the line I still somehow managed to end up in this bar, at this bachelor party…

A buddy of mine was in the process of getting married. Never one to turn down a good party I managed to get myself invited to the wedding. Ha, no it's not as bad as it sounds. Carter (the soon-to-be groom) and I go way back. He served with me on an UN peacekeeping mission in the middle east last year but we have known each other since we were kids. He used to be an athlete, just like me. Archery was our primary discipline and we were fierce competitors for many years. We were neck to neck on wins, titles and sponsorship deals until Carter bowed out to pursuit an academic career...

He's a third year law student these days and has done pretty well for himself. His fiancée Paula can only be described as super nice. No doubt they'll be deliriously happy….

Anyway with the wedding date fast approaching, the plan for the weekend was to help Carter celebrate his last days as a single man…hence the topless bar scene…. The spirit was high and the stag night quickly progressed into a haze of booze, strippers and exaggerated storytelling about life in general, and girls in particular (male bonding in other words).

Sounds innocent enough, right? Well, this is where I made the first mistake of the evening. You see, my obvious interest in one of the waitresses had not gone by unnoticed. Someone pointed it out and I made the blunder of letting a blush creep upon my face.

I tried to shrug it off at first, but after a while… let's just say I made a few remarks that maybe I should have kept to myself. I know, I know, a gentleman never tells, but then again I'm pretty sure a gentleman never visits a bar like this in the first place so… uhm yeah… After that all kinds of comments, insinuations and blunt jokes on my expense were fair game.

Apparently some of the girls at this club were known for offering more than just lap-dances. And even though I insisted that this girl, Marian, wasn't one of them, things quickly got out of hand.

Carter's cousin David took care of the details and swiftly organized a betting pool. And Steve (the best man) who was known for never turning down a dare made it his personal mission to prove me wrong. Not my idea of a good time but my opinion was outnumbered, seven to four.

That's pretty much how the bet came about. What neither of us knew at the time was that someone overheard us talking and that the girl was warned in advance… The rest is -as they say - history….

-------------------