Las Vegas. I always thought of meeting my soul mate there. The city of fate, fortune and sin. Romantic I think personally.
I curl my toes and stretch my muscles turning over in the thin bed.
I hear a knock at my door.
"Audette!" I hear my aunt speak loudly through the door.
"Yes, Aunt Tay." I murmur in my pillow. She opens the door and I look up.
"Time for Vegas. You ready?" Tay smiles sweetly.
"Yeah!" I answer realizing the day. Within two hours I'm ready and in the car. It is a used car. Beat up scrap metal nothing much but it takes me where I please. The dark stars fade as I continue to drive on the highway. 8 pm turns to 10 pm and I'm tired.
Being only 16 I don't have much experience with how the world works. I lean my elbow up on the window sill of my car and drive still. I'm usually a careful driver but I'm so tired I can't take it. I've always dreamed of going to Vegas as a child. My parents met there, and no they weren't drunk. I've never looked at Vegas as a place of mistakes and sin. I've always seen it as a dreamland. It just looks so magical in pictures.
Finally I'm at the airport. I park my car and phone my cousin to pick it up. I take my suitcase out and my carry on. Security is a hassle but I can already see the shining lights. Within three hours I'm on my plane. Safe and sound. I think to myself with my legs pressed together tightly sitting in my seat. "What if I meet someone?' The thought crosses my mind as I'm stuck between two men in suits. They seem lonely. I never really thought of Vegas as a business themed city. Maybe they live there.
The plane lands and I'm shaken up. It's dark outside though. I'm taken by a taxi to my hotel. I peak my head out the taxi cab windows. The lights scatter on my eyesight. They flash and my heart thumps. It's everything I imagined it would be. There's people on the boulevard, many girls. Skimpy girls which doesn't surprise me. I can feel a smile play on my lips just zooming past the magic.
I'm at my hotel now. I can hear the magic playing in my head almost like a movie.
"Las Vegas, give us your dreamers, your heartaches and your sins." a voice sings in my head. I take a step up to my hotel doors. It's a 4 star hotel. Beautiful. I step inside and see its quite busy. Many people scatter the lobby. I being lonely and taken by the breathless beauty walk slowly pulling my suitcase with one hand. As the golden doors open and close wind rushes in and blows my hair to my backside. My bare thin shoulders start to shake as I walk closer to the front desk.
"Audette Red. I reserved a room for a week here." I say to the lady at the front desk.
"Yes, we've got you booked for a suite. Room 317." The lady kindly says and hands me a key.
"Suite?" I look at her neat and all as I'm puzzled.
"Oh courtesy of the owner's son." She smiles falsely.
"Who's the owner's son?" I open my mouth of curiosity. The flawless plastic woman points behind me in the corner. I turn over my shoulder and smile seeing a dashing man roughly 18 years old. Very handsome. He has gelled dirty blonde hair and is wearing an expensive suit. He's leaning against a wall. He's slick and might I say very attractive. He notices me looking at him and smirks and gives me a sexy wink and then continues his conversation with another man. I turn back to the lady.
"I'll get a bellhop to bring your luggage up." She nods smiles and slams her fingers on the golden bell. Coming from nowhere a teenaged boy probably the same age as me stands straight beside me. He's cute. Dark haired, brown eyes. He has little bit of a smile and nervous feel. "Brandon room 317." The lady looks at him and her face is not smiling anymore. She flicks her head to me signaling him to probably take my luggage and follow me to my room.
"Oh yeah." Brandon shyly speaks under his breath. I let go of my suitcase on the floor and Brandon lifts it up. He breathes in deeply and I can see he's struggling a bit. He waddles like a skinny penguin to the elevator and presses the button. The doors open up and I go in first. Brandon comes in after me. The doors close and the elevator starts to move.
"You don't have to carry it." I say to him and smile. He slowly let's it down and sighs. Then wipes the sweat off his forehead.
"Okay than-." He looks at me as I look at him. He's captured and in awkwardness I can tell he's staring so I look away. He shakes his head "thanks."
"You're really cute." I smirk and bite the right side of my lip. I can see the roses perk on his cheeks. He doesn't respond he just seems to act more shy. "I'm Audette." I turn my head to him and he looks at me and keeps a straight face.
"I'm Brandon. I'm usually not this shy you're just so-... beautiful." He says to me. "I mean I don't wanna be that creepy guy just calling you beautiful. I'm a nice guy. I shouldn't be creepy because I call a girl beautiful. It's a common stereoty-."
"You talk a lot." I giggle as the elevator doors open.
"Heh." Brandon laughs almost as if it's fake. I walk out and he follows dragging the suitcase. I can hear the wheels of my suitcase touch the carpet floor and hear Brandon breathe in heavily regretting everything he says. I see my room door and I stop and look at Brandon. I feel generous or lucky more of.
"When are you off?" I stands still and rolls my suitcase beside me.
"I'm working the graveyard shift. I have a break in...-" He looks at his cheap plastic watch and then back into my green eyes. "3 minutes." I reach into my dress pocket and pull out my keys and open up my hotel suite door. I open it and the door swings open.
"Can you spend it with me? Just to chat."
"I'm not supposed to go into the rooms." Brandon's lower lip becomes heavier and his eyes grow larger.
"No ones gonna know but you and I." I smile.
"Well I don't know." He looks to the side of his vision. I sigh and take him by the arm and pull him into the room then after my suitcase.
"There." I close the door. He looks scared. I look at him. I notice he's tall. Very tall. I never really got a good look at him. But he's cuter than I saw before. "C'mon sit with me." I walk over to the window and sit in a chair looking outside to the gorgeous lights. He sits across from me nervous as hell. He swallows deeply and avoids eye contact with me.
"This is my first time vacationing alone. First time in Vegas too." I twist and turn in my chair.
"Are you serious? This is your first time?" Brandon smiles and scoffs lightly.
"I got you to talk!" I dart my face towards his and smile pointing my finger at him.
"You did. But this is your-... wow. Vegas is amazing. If you need a tour guide I'm your man." He says to me.
"What exact time are you off work?" I ask.
"At 2 in the morning." He fiddles his thumbs and looks down and laughs again as if it's funny.
"Are you busy?" I look at his pink face and dark hair.
"Well, not really but my aunt is expecting me to be home." He looks back to me into my eyes but soon looks back into the Vegas lights avoiding fucking up interaction with me somehow.
"Could you phone and tell her they are keeping you later?"
"They aren't allowed to keep me later." Brandon scratches his head and licks his lips.
"Ask your boss if you can get off early." I say.
"She wouldn't let me off early." Brandon pans his eyes to his shoes now.
"Try." I shake my head and widen my eyes.
"I might get fired for asking, nobody likes bellhops around here." Brandon starts to press his fingernails into his palms nervously.
"Ask your aunt then. Say you're taking a pretty girl on a date." I say then he giggles. I start tapping my fingers on the glass table and I kick off my flat shoes under the table.
"I thought I was giving you a tour." He smiles and looks up leaned back and shrunken in the chair.
"Well it's more of a night out with a friend you just met. It's just a little fib you could tell her." I start biting the inside of my mouth.
"I guess I could. Why are you so interested in me anyway? I'm just the bellhop. You already got the owner's son after you. He could take you out. He's loaded with cash. He's charming unlike me who stumbles and stares at you." He sighs and looks down disappointing as if he's used to being put last.
"How did you know the owner's son was after me?" I start rubbing my feet together.
"I saw him checking you out."Brandon scoffs lightly and looks at the carpet floor.
"And why are you jumping to romance? Can a girl not be friends with a guy in Vegas?" I shrug my shoulders.
"Not really actually. I mean like we can but it's not very common." Brandon giggles again. It's almost fake. His voice is so sweet and cute. He seems scared to speak to me. His teeth clench and I can tell he's tense.
"Oh, my break is over." he looks at his plastic crappy blue watch.
"Phone your aunt. Meet me at my room right after you're done work." I stand up and he does the same.
"It will be 2 am though! Are you sure?" Brandon asks scanning his nervous eyes on my dress.
"Yes, I'm sure. Now go before your boss fires you. I'll be right here... waiting." I say. He leaves and I settle into bed. I set my alarm for 1 am enough to get ready.