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to relive the culminating moment.
    “Do you mind if I sit down,” Amanda’s thoughts were interrupted by the exact same words she had heard a week earlier.
    As she opened her eyes and looked up to see the man in seat seven, the flash of anticipation was immediately extinguished when she saw it wasn’t him.
    “Not at all,” she smiled as she hid her disappointment and replied professionally. “Are you here for the five-ten no limit game.”
    “No, honey, I just saw you sitting over here all by yourself and decided to come over and say hello,” he grinned before taking a sip of his drink. “Has anyone told you what a beautiful woman you are?”
    Amanda cringed slightly as she looked down at her grandmother’s engagement ring on her finger, a supposed deterrent from these unwanted advances. Just smile, Amanda, she thought to herself as she quickly regained her composure and looked back up at the middle-aged man in seat seven, dressed tackily in $200 designer jeans and a shiny black silk shirt far too open at the collar, the scent of cologne overpowering her senses.
    “Can I sell you some chips,” she smiled somewhat awkwardly as she ignored his advance and continued her routine.
    “No, I’m just here for the New Year’s Eve festivities, this game is probably a little too rich for my blood. What time do you get off tonight, sweetheart,” he continued his lusty pursuit.
    Get the message, buddy, Amanda though to herself as she made the subtle hand signal to floor security, one of the benefits of working in the high limit section.
    “I work all night,” she lied as thankfully the floor man arrived to handle the situation.
    The process was subtle and performed quickly, and as she watched security politely escort the man out of the high limit section, Amanda was thankful that her days as a cocktail waitress were long over and that she had worked hard enough to be promoted to the poker room.
    Amanda remembered how exposed she had felt out on the floor without a table to protect her from the customers, security not nearly enough to do the job. She recalled feeling like a piece of meat thrown to the wolves, gawking and drooling over her body parts, ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness. She had been left to fend for herself, security too busy to bother with simple acts of molestation.
    Dealing poker was better, she thought to herself, the table an adequate shield from predators, although she realized it was no longer her body that needed protection. After all these years, Amanda understood it was her mind that was in danger, that she was in jeopardy of losing faith in humanity, and more specifically, of losing faith in the male species.
    With this thought in mind and her table still empty, Amanda decided to make her resolution for the New Year. She resolved to never again involve herself with any man while she was in Atlantic City. Graduation would be here before long, and she had no interest in being hurt or disappointed anymore, not by this town and not by these men. Soon, she would be in a better place with better people, and then she would be ready to take that chance once more time.
    “Just a few more months,” she whispered to herself as her table finally started to fill up and she began her nightly routine.

Chapter Four
    It’s funny how sometimes a tiny item can bring back so many memories and change the direction of one’s life. In Jack’s case, it was a pair of cuff links that instigated a life altering event.
    It was New Year’s Eve, and as Jack performed the once a year routine of donning his tuxedo, he reflected on all that he had accomplished during the week away.
    It had been a great week. He had enjoyed the time with his family, particularly his niece and nephew, and had gotten plenty of sleep, something that had been nearly impossible during the last year. He had even started to eat well again, and had put back on a couple of pounds that he had lost while forgetting to eat the majority of