He Married the Stripper.

Changes - Two.

---ALEX---

I looked at my phone again for the eighth time this evening. Anais Dupont flashed on my screen, she's a Parisian client I had months ago, a self-proclaimed yoga master and kama sutra practitioner. She's great but can be very demanding and for the eighth time I ended the call. I looked at the bar where Ed was flirting with women who looked too young to be in the bar. One of the girls looked in my direction and smiled. I ignored her and walked towards an empty booth. 

The bar was teeming with a variety of people since it's a Friday night. There were business people who looked eager to unwind, college looking kids who seemed lost, old men who brought their much younger dates and women looking for rich schmucks. 

I sat down in a booth and not even a minute had passed when a drink was placed in front of me.

"I didn't order..." The waitress smiled and put her finger to my lips.

"I'm taking a break in 10 minutes. Meet me at the back." She gave me a peck on the cheek and left. As she walked away I remembered who she was. Rita a good lay but can also be very whiny. 

My phone rang again and this time I just turned it off and after a few minutes Ed found me and sat across from me. His cheek stained with purple lipstick a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Why didn't you join me? Those girls were nice."

"They looked underage."

"They do but they're not. Graduating pharmacy students sila and the reason they're here is because they're celebrating." He said confidently. 

"You're still older."

"Doesn't matter, they seem to like older guys. Why are you so out of it tonight? A lot of women is looking your way but here you are moping and God knows why. Anyway, the reason I'm here is coz Lindy's asking about you. Tinatawagan ka daw nya hindi ka sumasagot."

"Ignore her." I saw him roll his eyes pero hindi ko na lang sya pinansin. Lindy is an American free-lance model we hired, she's extremely tall and flexible but can be very loud and annoying. 

"Oh yea. Pare, I went to The Club."

"Which club?"

"I mean The Club. Yung dating workplace ni Ems."

"Ano namang ginagawa mo dun?"

"One of the senior partners goes there and to get on his good side I had to go too." Sinimangutan ko siya.

"Seriously dude, prejudiced ka parin towards strip clubs even after everything Emily told you?" Hindi ako sumagot so he just kept going.

"Anyway, I didn't know it was that high-end. I went to strip clubs back in college but this one's really nice. Nakita ko pa nga si Gigi dun. She's a great dancer and it looks like she's a crowd favorite. Daming nagre-request sa kanya."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Just making conversation. Bakit ba extra ka-angasan mo ngayon? Wala ka sa mood makipag-flirt kahit makipag-usap wala ka din sa mood. Why'd we even come here if you're gonna be this way? You're scaring all the girls away."

"You can leave, I didn't ask you to keep me company." This time sya naman ang sumimangot.

"Where's Emily anyway?"

"With Anthony."

"Again?" Tumango ako.

 "Okay lang sayo?"

"Why won't I be okay with it?"

"Coz you hate your family? She's fraternizing with the enemy, shouldn't you be going berserk by now?"