I don't own the characters, and I only vaguely own the plot. I got the idea from another book, but the exact events are of my own creation. Enjoy. Oh, and don't worry. Angel is Bella. You'll find out later. And Carlisle is not the head of the hospital in Vegas because he's going to come in the picture later. So are all of the other Cullens/Hales. So, please, be patient.
Not very many people believe in love at first sight anymore. To tell you the truth, I didn't used to be very confident in that particular theory either. The most beautiful woman could pass and a million men would be after her. That doesn't mean that she would marry all of them. Unfortunately, the instant that I began believing in the absurd idea of love at first sight, it was because of a girl just like that.
I had originally intended to come to Vegas simply to help out my uncle at his hospital. Ever since the crime rate had been going up in Vegas, beatings had been increasing and the emergency room was always crouded. After a year of living in Vegas I was used to beautiful women flaunting and parading down the streets. I never thought that a particular girl would be able to grab my attention when I was already surrounded by them.
Then I saw her.
Her chocolate hair framed her elegant face, which, while not beautiful to a magazine's standards, had it's own charm. Her boots seemed to be custom made for her perfect legs. Her clothes fit every curve of her slender body. Her strut was flashy, yet conservative as she let off the type of aura that told you that she had power. She was chatting on her motorolla cell phone, which was held to her ear by a perfectly manicured hand. I looked around and realized that I wasn't the only one staring at her.
She seemed oblivious to the looks being thrown at her. And if she did notice, it was obvious that she didn't care what people were thinking. And people were thinking alright. I could just imagine that men were undressing her in their minds. Very few women were focusing on her, which was understandable. Why would they care? Those few who were weren't exactly her best friends, though. Their minds were clearly coming up with ways to wipe her off of the face of the planet. I figured it was jealousy. Their husbands were staring, and everything on her body was designer, probably all the way down to the perfume that she was most likely wearing.
I didn't realize how soon I would learn the truth for their hatred.
One would think that nearly every man would drool over someone like her. Why would my caught attention mean anything more then physical desire? But watching her made me feel that the job offerings at my uncle's hospital had opened up specifically to bring me to her. Something had called me to take the job, and it wasn't just the crime rate. Something told me that while every other man only wanted to marry her, I was actually going to. It felt as if she had been meant for me.
So I followed her.
I followed her until we reached the last place that I had expected someone like her to go. A resort called Pair-a-Dice. Places like Pair-a-Dice were rare these days. Like most resorts in Vegas, Pair-a-Dice had the essentials: Hotel, spa, casino, restaurant, and even a gift shop. But there was also a part of Pair-a-Dice that was unusual. Unique. While some Vegas resorts did have night clubs, the one at Pair-a-Dice was different. Far from the norm.
I traced the beautiful woman's steps through the resort, praying to any god that would listen, hoping that she wasn't going where I thought she was going.
I stayed on her heels until my greatest fear was confirmed. I stopped dead as she opened the door to the Palace and walked in confidently.
The Palace was a twenty-first century version of a brothel. During the day and most of the night, the joint was just like half of the others in Vegas would be at night, where the girls would come out and dance to the arousal of men. But late nights through the early mornings, instead of going home like other dancers, they would continue their work upstairs to private paying customers. The money that they brought in as individuals went to their food, board, and expensive clothing.
That was when I understood the looks on the streets. Men who knew who she was knew what they could get from her, and those who didn't hoped for it. The women would look at girls like her and have a pretty good idea of why their husbands had come to their hotels or appartments late last night, smelling like perfume.
But why would this particular dancer draw so much attention on the streets. It's not like people remembered what every single stripper looked like the morning after they visited a club...
Hesitating, I finally found the nerve to step into the Palace.
The darkness closed around me the instant the door shut. The only illumination was coming from spotlights, some of which were filtered with colored gels. The lights were focused on the dancing women everywhere. Some were in enlarged cages, dancing while men through money at them. Others were at the traditional poles, dollar bills and chips bulging out of their minimal clothing. Others were in unlit areas giving lapdances and making out with potential customers.
I wasn't unused to this. I myself had come to a couple of night clubs my first few months in Vegas. I just never really found it that appealing. I couldn't help but think of my younger sister, Tanya, trying to dance like that to the seduction of men, offering herself to the highest bidder. It made me think of who the dancing women really were. Someone's little sister. Someone's daughter. Hell, some of them might even be someone's mother.
I scanned the club for young woman that I had followed in, but I couldn't find her. It occurred to me that, if she was one of the dancers here, she was probably getting ready, changing, or removing, if you wanted to call it that.
There was something special about a dancer named Angel. She got her own introduction. She was announced as if she were a main attraction. Then, Angel stepped out and I realized that it was the same, dark-haired beauty that I had followed to Pair-a-Dice.
I felt myself gagging. I could literally taste the vomit on my tongue. Not because of her appearance. God knows she wasn't ugly. Her body was exponentially exquisite when the vast majority of her clothes were off. I just found it rather distasteful. These other girls around me I could look at without giving in to the urge to throw up. But being especially drawn to her, I felt personally offended that she thought she had to reduce herself to that kind of low. I just wanted to take off my jacket and put it around her.
Watching her move from mouth to mouth on all fours on the catwalk, giving men a preview, a sample, of what they could get if they paid, it made me forget that I had ever had nightmares. This reality in front of me was equal to all of the bad dreams that I had ever had as child combined. And then some. I kept trying to wake myself up, and every time I failed I became sicker.
The only advantage to seeing her in there was that I didn't look suspicious when I tried to get a closer look. All of the men were drawn in a trance, like I was, towards this Angel. I saw her face clearly for the first time since I had laid eyes on her. My heart stopped.
She couldn't be any older than eighteen. She couldn't possibly have expired all other options at such a young age. She must have just graduated from high school this last Spring. Someone at her age should be in college, or working at McDonald's, or something. Which meant that she either dropped out of high school, or never thought that she had a chance at college when she graduated...
Without me noticing it, her gaze had turned to me. To the dismay of the surrounding spectators, she made her way over to me, hopping off of the catwalk.
"You look a little petrified. Got a pretty little wife at home? Feeling a little guilty?" she wondered, attempting to soothe me with her seductive tones, pressing herself against me. She stared down at my left had where no rings were to be found. "Why don't we sit down and I can help you relax?" she offered.
"I greatly appreciate your offer, but I don't think anything that you'll do will help me relax," I explained, trying to leave. I knew I looked like the dork in high school who never had a girlfriend. I could tell there was an awkward expression on my face and I knew that my discomfort showed in every backward movement I made.
"That's alright. I enjoy a challenge," she teased, coming closer, if that was possible.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I have to leave," I excused myself. But before I left, I pulled my arms out of my jacket and draped it over her shoulders. "You must be cold," I told her before I walked out the door.
The brightness blinded me for a moment when I exited the Palace. And when I finally stepped outside of Pair-a-Dice altogether, the last remnants of the day were passing, the sun setting over the streets and walkways of the bustling city. The air was relaxing, and I felt like I could actually breathe out there, versus the stuffy air of the Palace.
I finally found myself at home, ordering Chinese. I was in absolutely no mood to cook. I didn't think I was in any mood to eat, either, and while I felt I shouldn't have an appetite after what I had seen, I couldn't ignore the grumbling in my stomach, realizing that I hadn't eaten since breakfast that day.
My instinct must have been a mistake. There's no way that I was called to Vegas to marry a dancer at a night club. I came out of need for a job, and to officially become a doctor. I still needed to work in my uncle's hospital for two more years. I had no need for marriage, yet. Hadn't I told myself that could wait until I had my medical license?
I tried to talk myself out of it. Doctors don't marry hookers. I used every rationalization I could think of, but the truth still lingered. Had I not followed her before I knew what she did? And no boy ever grows up dreaming that they're going to marry a whore. But girls like her deserved their own happy ending, one that doesn't include selling themselves for whatever men thought that they were worth.
I had already known what decision I would make the instant I began contemplating escape. There was no escape from nature, and I was naturally allured to her. This Angel.
I knew exactly what I was going to do when I went back to the Palace that night.
