"Where are we going?" asked Anne for the fifteenth time that evening. Her curiosity was killing her ever since Eric got back from his meeting.
"Why don't you dress nicely for a night on the town?" was all that he said as he sat down on the bed in the hotel room. Anne had no clue what they were going to do. She only had a few outfits with her on the trip, but was still having a difficult time deciding whether to wear jeans or a skirt, fancy or casual.
"It would really help if you just told me what kind of place we're going to," she said from the small hotel bathroom.
Popping his head into the room, Eric smiled and replied, "Who said we're going to a place?"
"Arrrggh!" said Anne as she playfully tapped him on the arm. While she was thrilled that he had planned anything, she was still torn as to what she should wear. Finally, she made a decision. Pants and a silk top. Definitely. But what color top? Damn!
As she sat in the cab in her skirt and cotton sweater, Anne couldn't help but smile. Eric was very good at keeping secrets. Like her Christmas present. She still couldn't believe that he got her that. Totally unexpected. Anne turned and looked at him. Could she love him any more? "So, where are we going?"
"You know," Eric said, "you can ask me like a zillion times, and I'm still not gonna tell you."
"Okay," said Anne. She paused for a second then grinned. "Then who'd you vote for?"
The minutes passed as they drove through the warm Florida evening. Anne was just happy to be spending time only with him. Kids are great, but some Eric-Anne time was definitely what was needed for both of them. She snuggled next to Eric and put her head on his shoulder.
"You're not going to sleep on me all ready are you?" laughed Eric. "It's only 8:00."
"No, not yet," said Anne, "but this is very nice." As she said this the cab turned into a parking lot. Eric paid the cab driver and they got out. Anne looked at the sign. 'The Platinum Pussycat.' "Is this place what I think it is?" asked Anne, turning to look at her slightly sheepish looking husband.
"Yep. You always said that you wanted to know what goes on in one of these places. Now here's you chance." Anne looked at the tacky purple building and began to imagine what went on inside.
"I can't go in there," said Anne.
"Why not," asked Eric, "no one knows us down here. Let's go have some fun. I promise, if you don't like it after ten minutes, we'll leave and go somewhere else."
"Well," said Anne, still eyeing the place nervously.
"C'mon, you're always telling me to try new things," laughed Eric as he pulled her towards the front door. Other men were walking in the doorway as the couple approached it. Several of the guys were eyeing Anne. Women were not usually known as guests here. The bouncer at the door also gave Anne a long look. They had trouble with feminists at times trying to get in to give people a hard time. After examining Anne's driver's license for a while, the bouncer gruffly said 'twenny dallahs.'
As they went into the darkened lobby, Anne whispered to Eric, "It was a ten dollar cover charge?"
"These places aren't exactly cheap," replied Eric. Anne looked around the darkened lobby. Pictures of future performers lined the walls. A small display counter showed t-shirts, mugs and other novelties that could only be bought at exorbitant prices. An entrance lined with a velvet curtain lay before them. Anne could hear the beat of music pounding on the other side, but couldn't see what was taking place.
"Ready?" asked Eric.
"I-I guess so," said Anne. Eric led them to the curtain and pushed it aside. On the other side was a dark room. The combination of the pounding of the music, cigarette smoke, and flickering light show hit Anne like a sledgehammer. As she got her bearings straight, she saw a bar directly in front of her. Scantily clad women walked around serving drinks to small tables scattered around the room. At the far end, Anne saw the stage. Through the fake smoke, Anne could barely make out the woman on the stage. All she knew for sure was that she was dancing and that she was quite naked.
A woman dressed in a tight corset and stocking outfit came up and spoke to Eric. He pointed to a table. Anne realized that you could choose where you were going to sit and then realized that most of the patrons were in the seats right up next to the stage. As the two were led to a table, Anne began to scan the room. Guys. Everywhere there were guys. And naked women on the stage. It was very surreal. Anne still couldn't believe that she was in a strip club. God, what would her mother think?!? They sat at the small table that faced the stage. Anne watched the woman on the stage dance. She was in a bra and panty set. Another woman off to the side was completely naked, and the woman on the other side was dancing fully clothed. Anne was confused.
"Think of it like a cycle," said Eric leaning over to Anne. "For each song, they introduce a new girl. The new one dances with her clothes on. For the next song, she strips down to her underwear. On the third song, she strips naked. Well, except for her garter." Anne noticed that the women would make eye contact with one of the guys sitting by the stage. The woman would dance over suggestively, and the guy would put money into the garter, or panty or bra. Whatever the woman happened to be wearing.
"What happens after the third song?" asked Anne.
"Then they leave the stage."
"Is that all that happens here?" asked Anne, wondering what was so special about these places.
"Just watch," said Eric. A scantily clad waitress came up. Eric said something to her and disappeared. Anne figured he ordered some drinks, so she turned back to the action going on in front of her eyes. Here were fully clothed men watching women dance naked in front of them. Part of her was disgusted, and yet, and yet part of her was excited too. The women were beautiful. At least, from what she could tell in the low lights and fog. They mostly had large breasts that jiggled as they moved. Most were very flexible and the twirled around a pole in the center of the stage. Women stretched their legs and thrust out their hips, hoping to get the men to pay them more money. Soon the waitress returned with a beer bottle for Eric and a drink for her. Anne took a drink and tasted a rather poorly made, but strong, whisky sour.
"Drink up," laughed Eric, "that just cost me seven bucks." Anne looked at the drink. Well, like he said, this place wasn't cheap. At that moment, the song ended. Some loud pounding disco beat song that Anne didn't recognize.
"Okay gentlemen, are you ready to really have some fun," boomed the announcer. "The ladies are coming out for some table dances right now. Buy a table dance and you'll also get one of our Pussy Cat t-shirts! So let's hear it for our LADIES." The music blared again and all of the women started making their way around the room, hawking their wares. They would approach a table and entice the gentlemen into buying a dance.
"Would you like a dance," said a voice next to Anne. Turning, Anne saw a beautiful blonde woman in a tight white bikini. Her large breasts were spilling out of the top, and the small piece of triangle between her legs did little to hide anything. Anne simply stared at her.
"Maybe later thanks," said Eric to the stripper.
"O.K.." she said and was off to another table.
"Th-thanks," said Anne."
"It's o.k.," smiled Eric, "it kind of freaked me out the first time too. Do you want to get a table dance?"
"I don't know," said Anne, "do you?"
"We'll see."
The dancing went on and the two nursed their drinks. Anne began to get buzzed from the alcohol and was beginning to get in to the dancing. At one point, the main headliner, Julie Juggs, did a dance on the center stage with some chocolate sauce and Frisbees. Anne couldn't see too well, and was content to watch some of the other women give table dances off to the sides. She began to watch the same blonde in particular. She was about five feet two inches tall. Short for a stripper it seemed; compared to all the other women. However, she was simply beautiful. It didn't take her long between dances before another group of guys were calling her over to dance on their table. She simply climbed on the table, took off her clothes and began to gyrate around. Anne watched the expressions on some of the guys - - pure lust. She noticed that several of them put their hands in their laps, readjusting themselves. The woman obviously knew her craft well. At the end of the dance, one of the guys would stuff some money into her garter; she would give him a peck on the cheek, and then casually begin putting her bikini back on, laughing and talking with the group.
"Pretty, isn't she," said Eric in Anne's ear.
"Um, yeah, I guess so," replied Anne, quickly taking another sip of her drink. She realized that Eric had ordered her another one. She was really flying. Anne suddenly realized that the blonde was walking over to them. 'Oh my god,' she thought as her pulse quickened. She turned and looked at Eric as she noticed his hand coming back down. He had called her over!
"You ready for that dance now," said the woman sweetly. Anne simply stared again.
