Nothing Stays In Vegas (9 page)

I looked at my watch. Only fifteen minutes had passed since I left Lexi in her room to shower and get ready, and already I was counting the minutes until I would meet in her the lobby. 

Our 'breakfast' had left me with the sweet taste of her on my lips and I felt like I was gliding across the floor on the way to the staff locker room. It was ridiculous to feel that way about a woman I'd just met, but maybe that meant I was ridiculous and at that precise moment, I didn't care. There was no point examining it or analyzing it. I was just going to go with it. 

But first, I needed to shower and change. And sweet talk Keith into covering for me today. It wouldn't be hard; I knew he was trying to get the long weekend off next month. If I worked double time, I'd be able to cover for him. It would be worth it for one more day with Lexi. 

I looked at my watch. There was still twenty minutes until I was supposed to meet her. 

When I pushed open the door to the locker room, it wasn't just the humidity from the showers that hit me, but Keith, who ran right into me. 

"There you are," he said and pulled me inside. "I was just about to start scouring the halls for you. Why didn't you answer your cell phone?"

I reached into my pocket and pulled my hand out empty. I must have left it in Lexi's room. I had other things on my mind this morning.

"I must have left it-"

"It doesn't matter," Keith said his voice taking on a frantic edge, "you have exactly ten minutes to get ready. Let's go."

"What are you talking about?" I spun the combination on my lock and examined him out of the corner of my eye. Not waiting for an answer, I asked a new, more important question, "Hey, can you cover for me today?" 

"Are you kidding me? We're both on duty today," he said and pushed me towards the shower, "which you would know if you had your phone or had been answering calls."

I peeled my shirt off, slipped out of my pants and got into the shower. "Seriously," I said through the curtain, "I need the day off. It's important."

"Leo, you're not paying attention. Today is huge. Huge as is in, career making huge. As in, skip your best friend's wedding, huge. There is no way you're missing this."

"Okay, since I clearly missed the memo, tell me what's up." I finished a quick shampoo and soap down and turned the tap off, grabbed a towel and headed back to my locker.

"We've been given the chance of a lifetime. Or at least of our careers. Management wants us to, get ready for it..." Keith paused and held out his hands for dramatic effect.

It only annoyed me. 

"Just tell me already," I said as I slipped into a new shirt.

"Fine, fine. But you're ruining the suspense," Keith said. "We, that's you and me, buddy, have been selected to fill in and head up the opening night party for KA."

I stopped and looked at him. KA was the latest, biggest Cirque du Soliel show opening in Vegas, in the MGM. The opening night party was a big deal. No, it was a huge deal, which is why Keith and I had nothing to do with it. We were both customer service grunts, and were not in major events, yet. 

"I thought Marcia was in charge of that?" 

"She was in charge." I thought Keith's smile might split his face in two as he said, "Turns out our Marcia has quite the little coke habit. She checked into rehab last night which means that, we-"

"Get the opportunity of a lifetime," I finished for him, my grin matching his. 

"I knew you'd catch on quickly. This is our big break, man. If we pull this off, we'll be moving into big events by tomorrow morning."

"What do you mean,
if
? More like
when
we pull this off. How much time do we have?" I yanked on my pants and tucked my shirt in at the same time. 

"We have to go like, right now," Keith said. "Don't want the day off now do you?"

Keith's question slammed me back to reality and my stomach dropped as I realized that Lexi would be waiting for me in the lobby in less than fifteen minutes. "Shit."

"What? Don't tell me you still want the day off?"

"No. I mean, yes. I mean...shit." I slammed my hand into a locker.

"Leo, what the hell?"

"There's this girl-"

"Stop." Keith held up his hand. "Don't even think about telling me that you were going to take the day off for some chick and that you are even remotely considering the possibility of passing up the career opportunity of a lifetime for her."

"I-"

"Don't tell me."

"Keith," I said and pushed his hand away. "She's not just some chick. Lexi's different. With her, it's... I can't even explain it."

"So see her tomorrow."

"She leaves tonight."

"Oh man, she's a guest?" Keith laughed and turned to face the mirror. "That's even worse. It's not like that's going to amount to anything. Forget her, she'll be gone tomorrow and your career will be on fire. What's to think about here?"

"She's special."

"Sure she is. And I bet, the minute she gets home from her Vegas weekend she'll tell all her friends about her wild weekend fling with a local and that'll be the end of it. Don't kid yourself, Leo. It's not worth it. Let's go."

Was it just a fling? Would I ever see Lexi again? Of course I would. Making love to her this morning was just that, love. 

My thoughts battled in my head as I  tried to replay the last twenty four hours. It was more than just sex, it felt like more. But how could I know for sure? And what Keith was saying was true, the KA party would be a career maker. I couldn't pass it up. That would be the stupidest thing I could do.

"Come on, Leo," Keith said. "Let's go. We'll get Tamara at the front desk to get you a new phone. Now there's a girl you should busy yourself with. She's hot as hell and would jump into bed with you in a flash."

"What are you talking about?" I shook my head and tried to clear thoughts of Lexi.

 Maybe I could call her from the house phone and explain?

"Tamara, she'll do anything for you. Come on."

I let Keith lead me through the hallways, listening as he filled me in on the details of the KA event, as least as much as he knew. When we got to the lobby, I found Tamara and asked her to get housekeeping to retrieve my phone for me. Keith was waiting at the end of the counter tapping his foot but I turned my back to him, picked up the house phone and dialed Lexi's room number. It rang three times before going to the voice mail service. 

She must have already left. 

"Keith," I called, "do we have time to-"

"No."

Damn. I scribbled a note for Lexi, trying my best to explain and left my phone number asking her to please call me. She'd understand. 

She had to. 

Locating Tamara again, I handed her the note. "Could you please get this to room 2634? Or watch for a blond woman, tall, with legs that- she'll be down here in a few minutes."

"Isn't that the same room you just told me to send housekeeping to fetch your phone?" Tamara asked. She smiled and before I could stop her, opened the note and scanned it. "Looks like someone had a little fun last night," she said. I thought I detected a bit of jealousy in her voice, but that might have been because what Keith had told me earlier. Maybe Tamara was interested in me. 

"It was nothing," I said trying my best to flirt with her so she'd help me out. "Can you just make sure the note gets there? I would really owe you."

"Anything for you, Leo," she said and smiled in a way that needed no clarification.

"Leo," Keith yelled. "It's go time."

"Thanks, Tamara," I said. I glanced at the note to Lexi in her hands, and turned to meet Keith. 

"I'm ready, Keith. Let's do this."

"Leo, buddy. Today is going to change your life."

Chapter Seven

People flowed all around me. Coming and going in every direction. I felt like I was trapped in an arcade game of Frogger. I scanned the crowd. Women teetering on impossibly high heels, rolling suit cases behind them, business men with lap top bags, tourists in a combination of tacky shirts and sweat pants, and what looked like a staggette party with a bunch of ladies wearing pink boas, streamed past me.

"Lex, over here." I heard Nicole's voice and turned. There she was dressed in black yoga pants and a tight t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back and oversized sunglasses covered most of her face despite the fact that we were inside. I picked up my duffel bag, shouldered my way through the crowd towards her and prepared myself for the barrage of questions I knew I was going to get. 

"So, how was your day with yummy Leo?" she asked the moment I got close enough. "No, wait. How was your
night
?"

After Leo left the room to get changed and make arrangements for work, I'd called Nicole's cell to let her know I was going to spend the day with him. Just like I thought, she was more than okay with it, opting to spend the day sleeping off her hangover. 

I shrugged. "We didn't get together after all." 

"What? Well, where have you been then?"

I hadn't told her that I'd spent the day alone. After packing up my bags, I went to the lobby to meet Leo like we'd planned. 

I waited for an hour before I gave up. 

I'd been stood up. And worse, I had his cell phone that he'd left in my room. For a moment I thought about throwing it away as revenge for ditching me. But I didn't. 

I couldn't. 

I stood there making up million different stories for why he hadn't shown up. I refused to believe our night together didn't mean anything to him. I'd seen him that morning, the way he looked at me. I didn't imagine that. 

Did I? 

I took the phone to the front desk and gave it to the girl across the counter. "I need to turn this in," I said. "It belongs to Leo Mendez, he works here."

When I said Leo's name, the girl's face changed, like she was shocked for a moment. 

"Do you know him?" I asked her.

"I've seen him around," she said. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets it." 

"Thank you," I said and turned to leave. Then I had a thought and turned back to the desk. "While I'm here, I'd like to check to see if I have any messages."

"Sure, what room are you in?"

"2634."

The girl tapped her fingers along the keys before looking up. "Sorry," she said, "no messages." 

"Nothing? You haven't seen Leo, have you?" The moment I asked the question, I wished I hadn't. 

The girl grinned and said, "I think I saw him with a girl. Petite. Dark hair."

My stomach flipped and the floor tilted under my feet. 

I was so stupid. 

"Oh, well thanks, Tamara," I said reading her name tag and doing my best to sound in control.

After that, I was too embarrassed to tell Nicole that I'd been stood up. Besides, she was going to sleep anyway. So I checked my bag and spent the day walking down the strip. Trying not to think about Leo. 

"Well, even if you didn't do anything today," Nicole said now, "I still want to hear all about your night. And I want to tell you all about Josh and my night too. But first, I need another coffee." She started walking towards a coffee shop in the terminal. "We have time, and you can tell me all the juicy details."

###

Half a coffee later, Nicole was still drilling me about my night with Leo. I let her ask all the questions she wanted. If I didn't tell her details; she'd worm them out of me somehow.  I finished my story with how Leo had ordered up a breakfast buffet to the room. I left out the part about the fantastic sex we'd had instead of eating it. 

"Wow," she breathed. "You sure know how to pick 'em. Your first fling and you find a guy who treats you to VIP club access, room service and a private breakfast. It makes my evening look almost dull."

Grateful for the change of subject, I jumped on it. "How was your birthday night?" 

Nicole brightened. She pushed her sunglasses up to her forehead, and said, "It was awesome. I may not have had room service. But Josh had a suite at Planet Hollywood. What an amazing view. And the sex!" She continued to give me the play by play of her escapades and I did my best to listen but my mind kept drifting back to Leo. 

"Earth to Lexi," Nicole said. She was waving her hand in front of my face. 

I shook my head and took a sip of my drink. It was cold and I pushed it away. 

"Were you even listening?" she asked.

"Of course." I racked my brain for clues to what she'd said. "So," I took a chance, "are you going to see him again?" 

She almost spat out her coffee. "You're kidding, right? Please tell me you're kidding."

I wasn't. 

"Of course I am."

Nicole stared at me for a minute then said, "Shit. You weren't kidding were you? Please tell me that you weren't thinking of seeing Leo again."

I didn't answer. I looked down at my tea and contemplated another sip. 

"Shit, Lexi. You were, weren't you? It was a fling. That's what Vegas is all about. Flings and mindless sex. Safe of course. But mindless none the less."

I still didn't say anything. How was I supposed to explain to her about the connection I had with Leo?

"Have you ever heard the expression, 'What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas'?"

"Of course."

"Well, there's a reason that expression came to be," Nicole said. "You don't form relationships here. You have fun. That's it, end of story." 

Leo was more than a fling. 

I rolled the napkin in front of me into a tube. "I don't know, Nic. It felt like more than that."

"Lex, you have got to be serious. You didn't even hook up today. What was that all about anyway? Did he stand you up?"

"No, he didn't stand me up," I said straightening in my chair. "He just didn't show. We were supposed to meet in the lobby, but something must have happened. He probably couldn't get out of work." 

"Wow, was he that good in bed?"

I could feel my face heat up, but I didn't answer. 

"Well, good or not," Nicole continued. "It doesn't matter. Even if you wanted to see him again, he lives in Vegas and you, my dear, are Canadian. Long distance, especially that long, would never work."