There was a murmur amongst the couples who were going to play the game.

She smiled as she continued, “The person seated will then be given a chance to feel the hand extended to her/him, and if the person doesn’t think the hand belongs to her/his partner, then the person will let go.  If the person thinks the hand belongs to her/his partner, then the person will kiss the hand.  If the person seated guesses wrongly, then the person is disqualified, along with the partner.”

The murmur grew to exclamations.  “What, no second chances?”  “Even under the law we’re allowed three strikes, right?”

Marissa shook her head laughing, “No…no second chances.  And no third strikes.  One wrong guess, and you’re out!”

“Is that how you run your business?” someone asked in jest.

“No wonder they’re making a ton of money!” another from the crowd joked, to general laughter from the crowd.

Marissa continued with a laugh, “Speaking of money.  This game has raised the most money amongst all these impromptu games tonight.  So last call for bets!  Just as an added sweetener, the chairs will match the amount raised by the winning couple dollar-for-dollar.  In some cases, this will amp up the winning pot to well over six figures, so… let’s place our bets now, shall we?”

The murmur in the crowd grew louder, and as more people called questions out about where to place or add to bets already made, Marissa signaled to her team to circulate amongst the crowd.  “Place your bets with my team here … they’re the ones wearing the red top hats.  Can’t miss ‘em!,” she called out.

She gave Bette and Tina a slight hug, “Hope everything’s ok with you two?”

Tina smiled back at her and nodded.

“Good, because I’m adding to my bet!” she laughed, as she walked away to talk to one of her assistants.

As the general chaos settled, one of the assistants tied a blindfold around Bette, and led her to one of the seats.  Tina was led to the loose grouping of other partners, whose hands were being wiped down with alcohol wipes.  She signaled that she was dropping her jewelry into her evening bag, which she kept clutched to her side.