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FONDL

THE DENOUEMENT AT LAST<br />
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If you recall from the third episode, Snuggles&nbsp;has moved on to greener pastures, leaving Funny Girl as&nbsp;my main attraction.&nbsp; So I began hanging out with&nbsp;Funny Girl&nbsp;on a weekly basis.&nbsp; The thing that initially attracted me to her, aside from being cute and very friendly, was that from the very beginning she treated me differently than any other dancer ever had - she treated me like a friend, I never&nbsp;felt like a customer.&nbsp; I attribute this to two things - first,&nbsp;she had just started to dance when we met and didn't know any better, and second, because she wasn't my number one for the first 6 months that we knew each other, I never really hustled her.&nbsp; So a certain trust and familiarity had developed between us.<br />
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I remember when this friendhsip thing actually hit me.&nbsp; She had become quite popular, and whenever a customer of hers came in, she'd dash over to him&nbsp;with this big smile of hers, open her arms&nbsp;to give them a big hug, and I tell him how happy she was to see him.&nbsp; But she didn't do that with me, which I found puzzling and a little upsetting.&nbsp; Then one day I noticed that when a real friend or relative of hers came in (that happened a lot because she lived in the same town) she didn't do that with them either.&nbsp; And it suddenly dawned on me that she thought of me more as a friend than as a customer.&nbsp;&nbsp; Whenever I was in the club she always sat with me except when she was hustling someone - I was home base.&nbsp; And a couple of her dancer friends often sat with us too.&nbsp; And often after giving a customer her big greeting, she'd return to my table and tell me what an asshole the guy&nbsp;was.&nbsp; We had truly&nbsp;become club buddies, which was a new experience for&nbsp;me.&nbsp;<br />
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By&nbsp;spring of 1998 I had become her best&nbsp;customer.&nbsp; She was very popular but didn't really have other older regulars&nbsp;like me who came in every week.&nbsp;&nbsp;That's probably because she didn't&nbsp;really have steady hours that she&nbsp;stuck to, she had a different schedule each week.&nbsp; By then we had exchanged cel phone numbers (a first for me) and&nbsp;she was calling&nbsp;me every week to tell me her schedule, and I'd tell her&nbsp;when I would be there.&nbsp;&nbsp;She often worked doubles (both shifts, 2-7 and 7-2) so she&nbsp;she'd only have to work a couple days a week.&nbsp; Plus the woman doing the scheduling was a family friend, so she'd&nbsp;often fill in&nbsp;when they were short.<br />
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One&nbsp;evening&nbsp;we were sitting together&nbsp;as her shift was&nbsp;coming to an end (7 pm) and&nbsp;the dancers weren't allowed to stay beyond the end of&nbsp;their shift.&nbsp; So I asked&nbsp;her if she wanted to go get something to eat.&nbsp; She explained that she wasn't allowed to do that, but then said&nbsp;if we&nbsp;left separately she would&nbsp;meet me at a nearby Outback Steakhouse.&nbsp; She chose that place because&nbsp;she had previously waitressed there and knew a lot&nbsp;of people, so she was comfortable meeting there.&nbsp; I wasn't sure if she'd show up but she did.&nbsp; And that soon became a frequent meeting spot.&nbsp; <br />
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And then one night while we were there it happened,&nbsp; I'll never forget that night, we were seated in the bar area at one of the high-top tables to two.&nbsp; She was telling me about her childhood,&nbsp;a favorite topic of discussion for me,&nbsp;because it was so screwed&nbsp;up and I was curious to know how she could be so seemingly normal and so apparently happy&nbsp;coming from&nbsp;such a horrible background.&nbsp; It really intrigued&nbsp;me, I was trying to figure out what made her tick.&nbsp;&nbsp;And after telling me yet another really bad story about her past, I casually commented, &quot;At least&nbsp;you&nbsp;were nevver sexually abused.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br />
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Without saying a word, she stared deeply into my eyes, and I could see the hurt&nbsp;and frightened little girl&nbsp;within that was her soul.&nbsp; Then she turned her head away and everything changed.&nbsp; All sound&nbsp;ceased (and it was a&nbsp;noisy place.)&nbsp; All movement stopped.&nbsp; Everything turned black and white.&nbsp; Time stood still.&nbsp; I don't know how long that lasted, it could have been an instant or an&nbsp;hour, but slowly her head turned back to me and the world returned.&nbsp; And we both went on as if nothing had happened.&nbsp; And we have never - no once - ever spoken of that night again.<br />
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Later that night I&nbsp;realized&nbsp;that no matter what it took, I was going to do everything I could&nbsp;to be a part of Funny Girl's&nbsp;life forever.&nbsp; Because once you have seen another person's soul I don't think you can ever let go.&nbsp; That was nearly 10 years ago and today she's still my closest friend.&nbsp; And she will forever be my ATF.