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Rick Archer's Note:
In the classic 1983
movie, Tom Cruise reacts to his dilemma by saying, "There
is a time for playing it safe and there is a time for Risky
Business."
Caught between
Victoria's Blackmail and Jennifer's Bombshell, my back was to the wall.
I was convinced I was about to lose Jennifer unless I could find
some way to get Victoria to set me free.
Desperate times
call for desperate measures. The time had come to roll the
dice.
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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1979
SAYONARA,
PISTACHIO CLUB
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It was Friday,
September 28. I was still reeling from Jennifer's
Bombshell earlier in the day. Jennifer
was in Dallas at the moment, having left town to spend
the weekend with her fiancé Jeff.
I worried myself silly all day long over what Jennifer might do.
The thought of Jennifer in Jeff's arms was unbearable.
They say Idle hands are the
Devil's Workshop. I believe it. I drove myself nuts with the fear
of losing her. It was madness to be so completely out of
control of my feelings.
I felt incredibly pessimistic. In my entire life, I had never won a
single head to
head competition for a woman I cared about. Jennifer was
convinced we were star-crossed lovers. With Jennifer
resigned to her fate, I doubted I would win the
battle for her heart unless I could somehow get Victoria off my
back.
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I only had one class
to teach tonight, 8-9 pm. After class was over, I invited my students to join me at the
Pistachio Club.
Eight of my students decided to come along. I
appreciated their company. Due to my extreme anxiety, I wanted to
postpone going home as long as possible. After merging with a handful of
veteran students already at the club, we numbered 20 in all.
It was
sad to compare this tiny group of Disco Die Hards to the
throngs of 80-100 dancers at Camelot's peak. It was
not just the poor turn-out of my students that had me down.
There was not much of a crowd tonight. Recalling all the
fun I had experienced here, it was painful to see how empty the
place was. There was a
smattering of dancers on the floor, but they were listless.
Obviously the Ghost of Cowboy Future had everyone depressed.
This was the moment I realized Camelot
was pretty much a thing of the
past. So was the Pistachio Club.
The new October dance semester
would begin on Monday. I assumed my Monday Die Hard veterans,
several of whom were here tonight, would continue. However
I expected the overall
enrollment would drop precipitously as we neared the end of the
road. After attrition, I expected I would have
about 50, maybe 60 students left. Spread over an entire week, that
was pretty sparse. After paying rent and paying Victoria
for her two classes, I hoped to clear $1,000 for the month. That was
enough to pay my
house note, my bills and buy dog food. I wasn't rich, but at least I wasn't
going into debt. Unless, of course, Victoria expected me
to buy her a new car. ha ha ha.
Jillian, one of
students, came up and asked me to dance. Afterwards, as we
walked back to her table, Jillian asked where Victoria was.
"Gosh, Rick, I haven't seen Victoria here all month.
What happened to her? Does she still work at the studio?"
"I don't know if you
heard about the woman Victoria hurt at Annabelle's
a month ago, but she took that accident pretty hard.
Victoria was so spooked, she hasn't been the same since."
"Yeah, I
remember that. I was there that night. You
haven't been the same either. You look kind
of depressed. You must really miss her."
I laughed in spite
of myself. It was Jennifer I was missing, not Victoria.
I had to hand it to Victoria. She had everyone fooled into
thinking we were dating. When I said I was the Great Imposter, that
included being Victoria's public romantic interest.
To the world, I was Victoria's boyfriend. We sometimes held hands
at Camelot. In addition, Victoria was fond of putting her arm around my waist whenever a pretty
girl cast a roving eye in my direction. One night she even
hopped in my lap. Due to her fear
of seeing me find a replacement, Victoria was very
possessive. She never took her eye off me when I was
dancing and she never left my side for long. Due to
Victoria's constant presence, everyone thought we were an item.
Victoria expected me to play along. Throughout the Summer
Negotiations, I was Puppet Boy, Victoria's ever-smiling Ken Doll Escort
who helped make sure all eyes were on the Supreme Diva
wherever we went. I will compliment Victoria for one
thing. No one at the studio had any idea of the
struggle that went on behind the scenes. Nor did they have
a clue about her marital problems. To the world Victoria
maintained a pretty face.
"Actually,
Jillian, I do kind
of miss Victoria. Friday nights at the Pistachio
Club don't feel the same without her."
Jillian surprised me
by putting her hand on top of mine. "I'm so sorry, the two
of two haven't
broken up, have you?"
I carefully withdrew
my hand. If I didn't know
better, Jillian's gesture carried a note of hope.
This was exactly what Victoria always worried about. Well
aware I could replace her in a snap, Victoria felt
the need to
resort to threats lest I stray.
"No, Victoria is just taking a break. I'm
sure her dark mood will pass and she will be back. Maybe next week [a total fib]."
Jillian's look of
disappointment confirmed my suspicion. Jillian was a
honey, but the timing wasn't there. I needed to see what
Jennifer decided to do about Jeff and what Victoria decided to
do about Michael before opening
another can of worms. Excusing myself from Jillian, I
asked a lady to dance. It took half an
hour to dance with every lady in our small group. Then I
danced with them a second time. Anything to avoid going
home. As dead
as this place was, I kept getting more depressed. No
matter how hard I danced, I could not get Jennifer out of my
mind. Finally I was worn out. As I was leaving, I ran into Larry, the manager. Noting that the
Pistachio Club was a shell of its former self, I
asked him if tonight's meager crowd was an aberration or was
this
the new normal.
With a sigh, Larry
said, "Disco is on its last legs. Confidentially, I expect management will close the
place sometime before the year is up."
I nodded.
"Will you reopen as a Western club like everyone else?"
Larry shrugged.
"I doubt it. Now that all the other Discos have gone
Western, we would have to take our place at the back of the
line. There must be twenty, thirty western clubs at this
point who already have their turf marked out. Cowboy
is right down the street. How would we compete with them? No, I
think management is going to turn the place into a sports bar or
sub-lease it to another tenant. Who knows? It feels
to me like the party's over."
I nodded.
Staring at the Doomsday Clock, we both knew the end of the Disco
Era was close at hand. I shook Larry's hand
and said good night. I did not know it at the time, but
this was the last time I would ever visit.
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END OF
SEPTEMBER, 1979
THE PRESSURE MOUNTS
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Victoria's descent towards a nervous
breakdown had spooked Jennifer badly. If I
could get Victoria to leave me alone, I believed I
could win a head to head battle with Jeff.
Jennifer had practically said so herself.
She didn't want to settle. But she didn't want
to get burned either. Unfortunately, Jennifer
held the Upper Hand. She had her choice of two
men, so how was I going to win with Victoria's
tentacles all over me? This impasse with Victoria was pure agony. I have
never
handled worry very well. All weekend long I was on pins
and needles caused by visions of Jennifer walking
into the sunset hand in hand with Jeff. Faced with the
definite possibility of losing the woman I wanted
to marry, I felt desperate. However, I did have some hope to sustain me. My instincts
said I had the inside track to Jennifer's heart.
However, the only way I could get my skittish
girlfriend to trust me would be to get rid of Victoria
ASAP.
The uncertainty was so maddening, I could
barely tolerate
this endless waiting game. Now I knew how Michael
felt. Victoria had been doing the same thing
to him for months. I could not imagine how Michael
handled living with this nutcase.
• Michael thought he was losing
Victoria. Sitting at home every
Tuesday and Thursday night, surely the dark
thoughts of what his
wife was doing behind his back had to be painful.
• Victoria thought she was losing me. She could feel it in her
bones.
• Jennifer
thought she was losing me. That is why she was
pursuing her backup option.
• I thought I
was losing Jennifer. Her decision to see Jeff had
shaken me to the core.
Conclusion? When people are
scared, they do stupid things. I had no idea how this crazy
rollercoaster ride was going to end,
but I could not take much more of this. So far, waiting for
Victoria to make up her mind had gotten me nowhere.
Therefore sitting
back passively was no longer the answer.
I had to do something, take some sort of action. Although I had
never won a head to head battle with a romantic rival, I liked
my chances with Jennifer. She
and I were a very
good match. Unlike Victoria and Patricia who
found constant fault with me, Jennifer liked what
she saw.
Although she had not said it out loud, I believed
Jennifer was in love with me... or at least she had
been till Victoria put the fear of losing me into her. If I could
extricate myself from Victoria, I was certain I could
win this battle with Jeff. The thought of losing Jennifer was too much too bear, which was probably the same thing Victoria
and Jennifer felt towards me. As for Michael,
in his case losing Victoria might be a relief at
this point. On the other hand, Victoria had
been a supremely special wife until I came along.
He had to be so bitter.
My mind
was made up. On Monday I was going to call
Victoria and tell her it was over.
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SUNDAY,
SEPTEMBER 30, 1979
TIGHT SPOT AT MEYERLAND CLUB
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It was Sunday night, September
30. Despite my personal crisis, I still had to teach my
fourth Meyerland class.
Week Four
started out with only half the people from the first
week. That was a very serious attrition rate, much
more than usual. I was not surprised. The ones who had come for the first week fashion show were never serious.
However, this could mean trouble. Given that
the clothing was
mostly normal and few people resorted to cocktails to get through the
night, the remaining few were here to learn something.
Indeed, my students seemed to being paying
attention. Ordinarily this was a good thing, but not for an
Imposter.
The fourth week
of class is usually easy to teach
because people have started to get the hang of it.
However, due to my inexperience, I had not explained
things very well. That plus the fact that no one
ever practiced explained why this group had made little
progress. The Cotton Eyed Joe review should have been
done in five minutes. Instead we wasted nearly 20 minutes going over
it for the umpteenth time. This did not leave much time
left for the Polka.
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Joanne and I
reviewed what we called 'Transition Polka', man
forward, transition, man backwards, transition.
After the review, I told the men to put the women in their arms and
practice in a
circle around the room to music. Unfortunately,
Joanne made a mistake. The song she put on was
much too fast for these middle-aged people. It was too fast
for me as well. The Polka
is tough to dance if the music is too fast, so the
inexperienced men
were understandably awful. Most of them could not
move their feet that fast. They frequently stepped on their
wives' feet and lost track of their steps. It was ugly to watch. Fortunately, they blamed themselves, not me. Close
call. No longer able to trust Joanne's judgment on music
selection, I decided to avoid music for the rest of
the night.
Seeing how
bad they were, I reviewed my 'step-together-step'
strategy. That idea
worked much better, so much better that I wished I had
done this at the start of class. Unfortunately,
that same thought occurred to one of the students.
A man named Bill spoke up. "Rick, your
step-together-step suggestion makes a lot of sense, but
why
are you telling us now? Why not tell us
in the first week?"
As all eyes
went to me, Joanne turned white. I took a deep
breath, then replied, "Bill, to tell you the truth,
I am learning how to explain things as we go along. The interest in western dancing
is new here in Houston. Although I go dancing all the time [a huge lie], I have never actually taught
Western to a group before. Prior to this class, my
experience has been limited to private lessons.
In other words, I am something of a rookie instructor. I
apologize for that and hope you will be patient
with me."
Other than
the nonsense about going dancing all the time, I had
more or less told the truth. I had no idea how the students would react. The
room got quiet, so I kept talking.
"Here's the deal. You guys
are helping me figure out how to explain things. Unfortunately, you
can always tell who the pioneers are. They are the
ones with the arrows in their back. That describes
you guys pretty well."
It was a corny line, but it worked well enough. People snickered
and the tension dissipated. I would live to fight
another day. Joanne
cornered me the moment class ended. "I
almost died of fear tonight. Where did you come up with
that stupid line about the pioneers?"
"That's
an old joke I used in my Disco classes whenever
an acrobatic move wasn't working.
Sometimes I called them 'Victims'. Other
times I called them 'Pioneers' and they all laughed.
I figured the same line would work here too. I may not
know much about country dancing, but I am pretty good at
faking my way through awkward moments in dance class.
If you remember from the class you helped me teach,
there were a lot of patterns where I did not know what I
was doing."
"That's
true. I always wondered how you got away with
that."
"I have
discovered students tend to blame themselves when a dance
move doesn't work right. As long as I don't take
credit for the mistake, the students seem to give me
the benefit of the doubt. I always make a point of
figuring out what I did wrong and introduce the solution
the following week. You have seen me do the same
thing here in this class. I may be a fraud, but I
do have a conscience. For example, that
step-together-step trick in Polka is an improvement I
shared. However I never expected someone like Bill
would notice. I was pretty nervous for a moment
there."
Joanne
nodded. "You have no idea how scared I was,
especially when you
told them you go Western dancing all the time.
What if someone asked you what clubs you've been to? You've never been
to a single Western club except for the Cactus Club.
Where do you get the nerve to say stuff like that?"
I grinned
ruefully.
"Um, yeah, that part was a little fib."
Joanne
rolled her eyes. "A little fib? Give me a
break. That was a
giant Pinocchio! I could hang clothes on your
nose." Joanne paused for a second, then added, "You should be ashamed of
yourself."
I got very
quiet for a second. "You know what? I want to
teach dancing for the rest of my life. It is the
only thing I have ever been any good at. I would
die if I had to give up teaching. Right now,
Western is my only hope. If I have to lie to
scratch my way through this class, then I am prepared to do
that."
Joanne
nodded. "I understand what you are saying and I don't blame you one bit.
But that guy gave you a dirty look. I think he
knows something or suspects something. So far you
have been crazy not to visit a club
and check things out. If you continue to behave
like this, you will get caught. By
the way, are you okay? You don't seem yourself
tonight."
No kidding.
I
had never been more depressed in my life. I wanted so much to tell
Joanne what was going on, but I knew
whatever I said might hurt her. Deep down, I believe she
still carried a torch. So instead I whispered one
word: "Victoria..."
That's all I had to
say. Joanne's eyes grew
large, then she gave me a sympathetic
touch on the shoulder. "Hey, I have an idea. You want to go dancing? We don't have to go
the Cactus Club. What about Rodeo?
Maybe if you see some slow slow quick quick in action, you will
catch on faster."
It was a
good idea; it was the right thing to do. Joanne
looked at me hopefully, but I was too depressed over
Jennifer. Right now I was desperate to get
home and see if she had called.
"Maybe another time, Joanne. Do you want me
to walk you to your car?"
"No, I'm
fine. Are you sure you don't want to go
dancing? It might make you feel better."
"Maybe next
week."
Joanne
rolled her eyes. "Have it your way. Talk to you later."
After we parted, I wondered
what I had ever done to deserve a friend like her. I had
brought this woman so much pain and yet through thick and thin Joanne had never stopped
being loyal. Too bad I couldn't get the same kind of loyalty from Jennifer.
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SUNDAY,
SEPTEMBER 30, 1979
SANDY TRACKS ME DOWN
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I was about to
leave the Meyerland Club when someone called to me. It
was Sandy, the lady who hired me to teach this class.
"I am so
glad I caught you, Rick!"
Considering my
nerves were shot, I immediately worried that something was
wrong. Fortunately it was a minor matter.
"What's up,
Sandy?"
"I forgot to
remind you there is no class next week. We are
having our annual fashion show next Sunday."
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I could not help
but recall those insane Western outfits from Week One.
"Will your
fashion show include some of the fancy western outfits I saw in
the first week of class?"
Yes, I was being
insincere. Some of those outfits bordered on hideous.
They all bordered on overdone.
Sandy laughed.
"That was pretty crazy, wasn't it? Yes, there will be
Western fashion on display."
That aroused my
curiosity. "Sandy, can I ask you a question?"
"Sure.
What do you want to know?"
"How did this
class come about?"
"That is a
funny story. It was kind of an accident. One
of the ladies at the club knows Robert Sakowitz.
You've heard of him?"
"Is that the man
who owns the Sakowitz department store?"
Sandy nodded.
"Yes, that's him. Sakowitz is a high-end
fashion store and my friend Naomi is always trying to get the
inside scoop. When Naomi ran into Robert at a
party, she asked him what to expect in Fall fashion. Robert passed
on some gossip. Oscar de la Renta had told Robert that
Western apparel was going to be the new rage and they had John Travolta lined up to make it happen.
Robert quoted something Oscar had said, "John did it once
and he can do it again!'"
"What does that
mean?"
"John
Travolta's Disco movie inspired a bonanza of Disco fashions.
I assume they expect John's new
movie will do the same thing for Country fashion."
"So someone bet
the farm on Western clothing based on John Travolta."
"Exactly.
And it worked! I hear western apparel is selling
like hotcakes. Meanwhile Naomi turned around and shared this insider knowledge
with her friends here at the Meyerland Club. The
next thing you know, several fashionistas went crazy and
cleaned out the Western section at Sakowitz
and Neiman Marcus."
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"Did their
shopping spree have something to do with this dance class?"
"Yes. As gossip
spread, other women in the Meyerland group went shopping
too. While they were at it, they picked up various items
for their husbands. Now the ladies needed an excuse to strut their stuff. Looking for an
opportunity to wear their fancy clothing in public, someone
suggested they incorporate a Western theme into the upcoming November Gala.
They hired a C&W band, arranged for catered barbeque and rented Western decorations.
Everything was set until one lady mentioned she had no
clue what western
dancing looked like. The women looked at each
other and suddenly realized not one woman in
the room knew
what country dancing looked like. They were all under the
impression that someone else knew and could show them.
So they panicked and called me to arrange for lessons."
Despite my lousy
mood, I managed to smile. This was all starting to
make sense. With visions of an empty dance
floor at the November Gala, someone suggested dance lessons.
Since I had previously taught Disco at Meyerland
in the spring, my phone number was on Sandy's list of people
to call.
"When you called
me around Labor Day, you said you had called some other people too."
"That
is correct. I opened up the Yellow Pages and called several
dance studios. They all said the same thing.
No one knew anything about Country-Western dancing.
I was getting pretty frustrated when I remembered you."
"On the day we
spoke, you said you had some other names you had not called
yet."
"I had a few
other studios to call. However I had no idea if any of them knew how to teach
Country. At that point I was just crossing my fingers
and hoping someone would say yes."
I had my answer.
I owed my lucky break to Western fashion. Gee, what an
honor.
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At that point
Sandy looked at her watch and I took the hint. As I
drove home, I gave it some thought. Sandy hinted
she had made a dozen phone calls. If so, why
didn't someone more qualified than me take the job?
Maybe because there was no one qualified. Like Sandy said, no one she called had any knowledge of
Western dancing.
When I went looking for someone to help me learn Western, I had gotten the same answers.
Prior to my inspiration to ask Joanne, I had made similar phone calls to dance studios. No one seemed to know a thing about it.
Based on Sandy and my own experience, I doubt
there was a single dance studio in Houston which offered Western lessons in 1979.
Why should they? There was probably no demand, at
least not yet.
Were there individuals who knew how to teach Western?
Of course there were. I am sure there were A&M graduates living
in Houston who knew enough to teach. However, there was
no word of mouth or
useful Internet to
track them down on short notice.
In desperation, Sandy called me,
a Disco instructor. Although I
suspect Sandy had a hunch I was
unqualified, she had no other choice but hope I could deliver.
In other words, I got lucky. Or maybe it was Fate.
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After my talk
with Sandy, I was amused to discover my foray into
Country-Western was created by a
fashion binge at Sakowitz. Looking back, there
was a curious incident that meant nothing to me at the time.
One year earlier, October 1978 to be specific, Victoria and I went
Disco dancing after
class. We visited élan, the magnificent private membership
nightclub and disco that catered to socialites, wealthy
businessmen and celebrities. Over the public
address system came an announcement that Bill
Blass, the well-known fashion designer, was in attendance.
Victoria, always the fashion hound, sprinted to the
VIP area with me in tow. We got there just in
time to see Mr. Blass stand up and acknowledge the
applause. Sitting with Bill Blass at his table
were three men dressed in business attire.
Noting their serious expressions, I got the
impression these men were in the
process of making a deal. One year later Houston was suddenly inundated with the
new Western fashions. Coincidence?
Maybe. Or maybe not. When I began writing my
book many years later, I wondered if one of the men at
the table was the mysterious Wizard of Oz who responsible
for the Western takeover here in Houston. Was the
Wizard explaining his marketing
idea to Bill Blass? "Hey, Bill, let's use
Urban Cowboy
to sell Western clothing!"
Of course I had
no idea what was going on when I began
teaching at Meyerland. I knew there were changes
taking place, but I did not know what to make of them.
Speaking of changes, I changed my mind about Country-Western
at least five times a day. Lost in extreme bitterness
that Disco was
sure to die, one moment I decided to finish here at Meyerland,
split the money with Joanne and call it quits. Ten
minutes later I would be overcome by the feeling that
something very strange was going on in my life, so why not
keep an open mind? I will say one thing.
Based on the curious way things developed with Meyerland and
Joanne, I often wondered if a Supernatural element had
something to do with Sandy's phone call. I would have
definitely turned
her down if it had been less money. However it was
impossible to resist an offer that paid more than a month's
wages at my previous social work job. I
wondered about those people Sandy had called before me. $2,000 was
so much money, you would think someone besides me would be willing to take a
chance. But then again, maybe not. Maybe the
professionals
had the sense to avoid teaching a style of dance they had no
knowledge about. Maybe the amateurs were never contacted.
Whatever the reason, I got the job due to my unique
talent. And what would be my unique talent? Was it my
gift for teaching dance? Oh, heaven's no. My unique
talent was my willingness to teach a class even though I had no idea what I was
doing. Not that I am proud of it, but I was the master
of Fake it till you Make it.
I was once
Houston's best-known Disco teacher due to the fluke of being
in the Right Place at the Right Time. However, that
did not mean I knew what I was doing. Far from it.
I had to learn on the job without a teacher to show me the
ropes. Forced to teach myself how to
teach Disco partner dancing based on nightly trips to the
Pistachio Club, many of my ideas did not work out like I
hoped they would. There was many a night when I made
a mistake and had to bluff my way out of trouble.
Fortunately, by faking my way through time after time, I
stayed ahead of professional dance instructors far more knowledgeable than myself. Did they fake it too?
No, of course not. They had the sense or integrity to stick to what
they knew while I gambled like crazy to keep my lead.
So when Sandy
called, out of all the dance teachers in
Houston, only one person in a city of one million had extensive prior training on
how to fake teaching dance. What are the
odds? Weird coincidences like this help explain why I
developed my belief in Fate.
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THE
YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY
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084 |
Suspicious |
Lucky Break |
1979 |
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Due to the mysterious circumstances
by which Victoria sent
Joanne into Disco Exile, Joanne's decision to switch to Country put her in the
right place at the right time to save Rick's dance career. |
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083 |
Suspicious |
Lucky Break |
1979 |
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When the Meyerland Club opportunity falls into Rick's lap, the offer is
too lucrative to turn down. Rick accepts the offer despite his distaste
for all things Western and lack of knowledge. And so the Gamble begins. |
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SUNDAY
NIGHT,
SEPTEMBER 30, 1979
THE ULTIMATUM
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On my way home
after the Meyerland class on Sunday night, I was desperate
to know what Jennifer had decided to do about her fiancé
Jeff. She had not called Friday. She had
not called Saturday. She had not called Sunday. Since I did not know what time Jennifer's
plane was coming in on Sunday, when I got home after
Meyerland, I prayed there would be a message from
her. No such luck. The answering
machine was blank. No one called, not Jennifer, not even
the Black Magic Woman. In the dark, I sat by the phone
and brooded. An hour passed and the phone stayed
silent. Another hour passed. The silence and darkness
were tough to bear. It was 10 pm. Jennifer should
be back in Houston by now, so why didn't she call me? I decided to
tough it out. If I called Jennifer, it would show how
insecure I was. If Jennifer cared, she would call me.
In the meantime, my insecurity was driving me nuts. It
was tough to accept another man had the advantage. However, it wasn't too late. I was
certain I could still win Jennifer's heart if I could just
free myself from Victoria's infernal puppet strings.
However,
before I risked everything to confront Victoria,
first I had to know where Jennifer stood.
Finally around 11 pm
I couldn't stand the tension any more. I broke down and called Jennifer. No answer. I
felt sick. I decided if Jennifer had good news, she would have answered
the phone.
No news was not good news. That is when I
snapped. If I was going to fight
for Jennifer, I had to get rid of Victoria soon. No,
change that. I had to get rid of her
NOW! So much for my ineffective
Appeasement Strategy. Since waiting for Victoria to
make up mind was not working, it was time to take action.
What other choice did I have? Jennifer's visit to
Jeff had forced my hand. So I said to heck with my
dance career. It was almost gone anyway, so what
difference did it make? I wanted Jennifer so badly I was willing to risk
losing my dance career. It was time to stand up to
Victoria.
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Victoria had been driving herself
nuts trying to keep me from leaving her.
Now I was in the same spot. I was driving myself nuts trying to keep
Jennifer from leaving me. There is
something about fear that makes people do
really stupid things. I call it 'Betting with Scared Money'.
Gamblers claim
a person's attitude makes a difference. They say people who
bet with scared money always lose. The
tense player is so worried, he or she simply
can't seem to think straight. They
take stupid risks because the anxiety is
driving them crazy.
There is a Vegas theory that borders on the
Occult. Some say humans have psychic
energy that can affect the roll of the dice.
Fear turns up Snake Eyes, Confidence
turns up Lucky Seven. The guy at the
casino who does not fear losing catches all
the breaks. Why? Because his psychic energy is allowed to flow freely
and influence the results.
I have no interest in gambling for money. I have always assumed
Gambling is for people who
flunked 5th grade math. However, I was
willing to gamble on Jennifer. Convinced I
needed Jennifer in order to be happy, I decided
tomorrow I would tell Victoria about
Jennifer and ask for my freedom. I
turned on a light at my desk and wrote out
an Ultimatum.
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"Victoria makes up her mind
today. She
is welcome to consult everyone she knows. She either
leaves her home AND moves in with me OR I want her to
leave my life till circumstances permit a return."
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