I unfolded the note and read it.
“I had a wonderful time last night and I’d love to see you again. You’re the first person I’ve met in Las Vegas who I felt I’ve made a connection with, and I’d truly love to get to know you better. Please call me, Megyn.”
For the first time since I met her, I realized that I didn’t even know her real name until just now when I read it on the note.
My thoughts turned to Gianna, and it brought back what I’d done the night before with Megyn and James. Even though he didn’t mean to, and was most likely unaware of it, James was complicating my life.
I knew that realistically I had no choice in what I did last night because there was no way I could have ever talked James out of bringing Megyn back to the hotel with us. However, I knew that I wasn’t blameless either. I could have made Megyn leave after the three of us had sex and James had fallen asleep. Instead, it was my choice to talk to her, get to know her, and then spend the rest of the night having sex with her again.
Blaming it all on James would ease my aching conscience, but as much as I didn’t want to admit it, I was complicit in this act and I dreaded facing Gianna on Monday.
I tried to put the whole sordid mess out of my mind as I rose up out of the bed. I found James’ T-shirt that I had been wearing, put it back on and walked out into the great room of the suite. I looked everywhere, but James was nowhere to be found.
Even though it was late in the afternoon, coffee sounded good and I walked into the kitchen to brew up a small pot. I had long since stopped being upset at the exorbitant price of half and half in the mini bar. Almost with thinking, I retrieved it and poured a couple of tablespoons into the mug.
As I sipped my coffee I saw a note on the table and picked it up. Today was the day for notes I guess.
The note read:
“Melanie, I have several meetings that I have to attend today, so I thought it would be best to just let you sleep. When did Flame leave? What did her note say? You can tell me everything tonight at dinner. Be at the valet station at 7:00 p.m. The dress you’ll wear is on the bed in the master bedroom. J.”
The day was just getting better, I thought sarcastically. I had hoped to destroy the note so James wouldn’t see it, but now, I’d have to share its contents with him. If I chose to see Megyn again, I wanted it to be on my terms. However, I knew that if James wanted to see her again with me, there would be no way to talk him out of it.
I picked up my phone and sent a text to Gianna telling her I was doing fine. I had sent her a couple of other texts yesterday, as I promised I would. She had also sent me several texts telling me that she had a relaxing night in my apartment and had completed the majority of her homework.
Gianna loved spending time in my apartment and I loved having her there. I just hoped that she’d understand what I was doing with James. She had a boyfriend and I had James, so even though that caused a little bit of friction from time to time, we accepted it as part of the parameters of our relationship; if relationship was a good way to describe what we had. Aside from that, there was an unspoken agreement between us that we would be exclusive to each other where other women were concerned. James and Megyn shattered that agreement this weekend, and I had no idea what Gianna would say about it, or if I should even tell her.
I had just finished my coffee when my phone vibrated telling me that I had a new text message. I read the screen, it was Gianna. She told me that she was at work getting great tips and that she’d text me again once her shift was over.
Was she at work? I pushed several buttons on my phone bringing up the calendar function and realized that tonight was Saturday night. I had lost track of time by staying up all night and sleeping in so late.
Once I had finished my coffee, I looked down at my watch. I had nearly three hours before I had to meet James and I was getting bored already. Now I wished I would have woken up earlier so that perhaps James would have allowed me to accompany him when he went to his meetings.
Since I had some time to kill I decided to hit the gym for a run, that always seemed to help relieve some of my stress and I definitely had a lot on my mind with James, Gianna, and now Megyn at the center of my thoughts. After stretching, I got on the treadmill and began my workout.
While I ran, my mind drifted and I began to reflect on my life since I had graduated high school. I was getting close to completing my second year of college and I thought back on my experiences up to this point.
Las Vegas, of course, was not a typical city, so it stood to reason that students at UNLV would not have a typical college experience. I lived in a city that was world renowned for partying and gambling. Because of the almost weekly conventions and trade shows, the clubs were packed with women of all ages, who came here to get away from their boyfriends and husbands and re-live days that had long gone by.
Moreover, vacationing college girls from California packed the clubs by the thousands. As my grandfather used to say, it was like catching fish from a bucket, and although I had slowed down since I met James and Gianna, it was nothing for me to hook up with two or three different women a week.
My thoughts then turned to the important people in my life; my family, my three best friends, James, Gianna, and now I added Megyn to that mental list.
I marveled at how much James had changed my life. I had been very successful at avoiding romantic entanglements since I started college, but now, because of James, I had met Gianna and now Megyn. It seemed much easier to hook up with girls and then leave the next morning than it was to try to navigate through relationships with them.
Winded, I hit the ‘stop’ button on the treadmill. I had run nearly nine miles and sweat was dripping off my body. I collapsed on the mat and began to stretch and cool down. Mentally, I felt a little better after my run. My main concern was Gianna, but once I had a chance to talk to her and somehow explain how things were with James, hopefully, she would understand and together we’d find a way to move forward.
I returned to the room and took a hot, relaxing bath. Between the run and the long soak in the tub, I felt invigorated and ready for the evening. I looked at my watch and found I had about forty-five minutes until I had to meet James, so I began applying my make-up and styling my hair. Since I had put my hair up the night before, I left it down for tonight, styling it loose with gentle curls around my face. I didn’t want James getting bored with the way I looked, I reasoned. In reality, I was pretty sure he didn’t care one way or another, but it mattered to me. After I had completed my hair and make-up, the only thing left to do, was to get dressed. Hesitantly, I walked out of the bathroom into the master bedroom and looked on the bed. I knew James had picked out the dress he wanted me to wear for the evening, and honestly, I was a bit shocked by his choice.
James had picked a bright yellow, neon, scrunch halter dress. Just like the corset dress it had a plunging neckline which displayed quite a bit of my breasts, but that didn’t really surprise me. Like all the other dresses he had purchased, it was very short, but aside from that, it actually covered more of my body than the dress I had worn the night before. I slid into it and studied how it fitted in the mirror and surprised myself by actually approving of his choice. It had a very tight fit, hugging the curves of my body, but it was a club dress and that was to be expected. The only thing that gave me cause for concern was the color. The bright neon yellow could probably be seen from space. But other than that, I was happy with James’ choice.
It was a few minutes before 7:00 and I grabbed my purse and left the suite. I tried to look confident as I walked through the casino, but I didn’t feel it, as the butterflies were churning in my stomach. I noticed quite a few eyes on me, but I tried to ignore them and look ahead as I made my way towards the valet station. I felt so much better being at James’ side when I was dressed like this. He had a calming presence when we were together, and I sorely missed that now. I cursed myself again for sleeping so late and not being with him.
The automatic doors opened for me as I stepped out into the warm spring evening. I heard my heels click against the ceramic pavers as I approached the curb. I started scanning my surroundings for an SUV, as I remembered James telling me that’s what he had rented for this trip, instead of the usual sports car. Unfortunately, the only vehicles in my sight were taxis and limousines, that were loading and unloading the people who were busily entering and exiting the casino.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed two older gentlemen who were drinking me in from head to toe and talking under their breath to each other.
I tapped my heel nervously against the pavers and looked at my watch, ignoring the gawking men. It was a couple of minutes before seven, so technically, James wasn’t late.
I scanned the valet area again as both of my ogling admirers approached me.
“You waitin’ for someone darlin’?” One of them asked in a thick southern drawl.
I could smell the alcohol on them from several feet away.
“Yes, I am,” I deadpanned back, without looking at him.
“Who you waitin’ on sweetie?” the other man said, in a southern accent even stronger than his friends.
“My boyfriend,” I replied, without looking at either of them.
“Why don’t you come inside with us and we’ll buy you a drink,” the first one asked.
“That would be precarious,” I replied, as I kept scanning the area for James.
“Precarious how honey?” One of them said, slurring his words.
I looked directly at both of them.
“My boyfriend works for Blackwater and he goes crazy when I talk to other men.”
Both of their eyes got wide and one of them was starting to stammer out some form of retort when a large black Cadillac Escalade pulled up in front of me with the passenger’s window down and I saw James giving both of the men a deep scowl.
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