Chapter two:

Jackie dragged herself from the hotel lobby to the reception. Surprisingly, Steven found a nice hotel, something she didn't expected from him at all. She could swear they were going to stay in a crappy motel near the airport. Steven was probably trying to compensate for the fact that she was being forced to spend the night in the city that was the scenario of all her nightmares. The Four Sea is a very elegant hotel, and it was probably expensive.

"Welcome to the Four Sea, how can I help you?" The blonde receptionist asked with a forced smile.

"You could help us by showing us a cheaper place" Steven mumbled, and Jackie glared at him

"Just ignore him" Jackie said "Four rooms, please"

The receptionist nodded and checked something in a big notebook.

"We only have three regular rooms and a premium suite available" She said, still smiling. The mention of the suite made Jackie imagine herself submerged in a huge hot tub, her body floating and the bubbles tickling her.

"We will take the suite" Jackie said without even thinking twice

"Jackie!" Steven protested

"Steven, I'm in a city I hate, because it reminds me of the worst moments of my life. Moments of pain, pain that you caused by breaking my heart and stomping all over the shards without giving a crap about my feelings. The least I deserve is a suite" Jackie said, keeping herself zen.

Steven sighed, running his hand across his face "Fine, we will stay at the goddamn suite"

Jackie smiled triumphantly. Steven paid for the room, and after all the formalities were done, the group went to the elevators, Jackie walked in front of them, trying to keep her head up.

Whoever saw her now, would think she's okay with the whole situation, because she kept herself calm, zen. But on the inside… Jackie was literally sick, she felt like throwing up, at every step she felt more and more like she'd dump all the contents of her stomach on the floor. That's why she bolted out of the elevator when it finally reached their floor, ignoring the way her friends were calling her questionably. When she finally saw the room, she opened the door quickly and ran to the bathroom, puking her guts off in the toilet.

After a few seconds of feeling like she was about to die, she felt someone delicately pulling her hair away from her face and out of the splash zone. Steven. She felt him rubbing her back, trying to calm her down.

"Just take a deep breath, doll" He whispered in her ear, kneeling next to her. Jackie felt tears leaving her eyes, she didn't know if they were the result of this awful situation or just a reaction to the awful smell of vomit. Steven kept rubbing her back "It was a long and stressful trip, okay? Maybe it's food poisoning"

"Steven, shush!" Jackie groaned before throwing up again. He pulled her hair again and waited until she was done. She took a deep breath and he kissed her shoulder, a small gesture he always did whenever he tried to make her feel better about something

"Maybe now I'll be able to hear my thoughts again" He tried to joke, running his fingers through her hair. She chuckled a bit and leaned her body backwards into the hot tub, Steven flushed the toilet and handed her the roll of toilet paper.

"I'll go get you some water, okay? Stay here" He instructed and kissed her forehead

Jackie observed him leaving the bathroom and placed her hand on her stomach. She couldn't get sick now, she needs to enjoy this trip with Steven, even if they have to spend one night in this awful place, because she spent months insisting on a trip out of town. He had scoffed and said he wouldn't spend any money on a trip, but Jackie pouted and almost cried, until he finally said yes. Even Mrs. Forman participated in some of her persuasion attempts, in fact, Kitty was the one that suggested a trip in the first place.

But now, sitting in a hotel bathroom and leaning into the hot tub, Jackie wondered if this whole thing was actually a good idea. She was starting to think if maybe it would've been easier to get Steven to propose instead.

The sun was burning her skin, and Jackie could feel the way all the guys in the hotel pool gazed at her almost naked body. Her sickness was long gone, leaving behind a strong urge to drink something cold. So she decided she would head into the pool and order one of those exotic drinks, but in the last minute she felt like replacing the alcoholic beverage with a strawberry smoothie.

And now she was sitting in one of the chairs with Donna and Brooke by her side, while Michael, Eric and Fez played in the pool, enjoying the sunny day. Steven was the only one who's not there. He stayed in the hotel room to call the hotel in Los Angeles and explain the situation, Jackie hoped that he would join them soon, but she knew him better, Steven would never swim in a pool in public, mostly because of his stupid aversion to shorts.

"This is so much better than I thought it would be" Brooke said, smiling

"This hotel?" Donna questioned

"No. The fact that there isn't a toddler calling me all the time"

Jackie laughed before drinking the rest of her smoothie. According to Brooke, Betsy stayed with Mr and Mrs. Forman in Point Place, because Brooke's mother was out of town and Michael's parents had way too many kids to pay attention to their only granddaughter. Jackie would kill to see Red taking care of the kid, he was attached to the tiny Kelso and she knew that he would spoil her as much as he could, just like her Steven does.

Jackie observed all the people sunbathing and enjoying the pool. It's not Los Angeles, but it could be worse. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

"Now I get why Hyde is so fond of his sunglasses, they're great if you want to observe someone without anyone noticing it" Donna said and Jackie chuckled

"God, I hate when Steven does that, because I never know if he's appreciating my natural beauty or thinking about different ways to shut me up"

The girls all laughed, Jackie sighed and slightly moved her head upwards, that's when she saw him.

He was hot, Michael Douglas hot. None of the three girls could take their eyes off him, Jackie lowered her sunglasses when she saw him approaching them.

"Hey girls, wanna have some fun?" The tall, muscular brunette man asked. His hair was neatly combed, and his outfit - a button shirt and linen pants - highlighted his broad chest.

"What kind of fun?" Donna asked, removing her sunglasses and biting the stem, Jackie repressed a laugh and Brooke's face reddened, looking embarrassed for her friend.

"I think that first we should know your name" Jackie said, smirking

"Horace Delko, but you can call me Delko" He said, smiling flirtatiously at her "First time in Vegas? Have you been to a casino yet?" He asked

"Yes and no. We're just enjoying the hotel before we take the plane to L.A tomorrow" Donna said and Delko nodded

"Since you're spending the night in town, I think you should stop by my casino, it's called Lotus, everyone in Vegas knows it, just ask around. You'd definitely pretty the place up"

Jackie bit her lip and considered the offer. It would be kind of cool, going to a casino, she's good at everything, so it wouldn't be so hard to earn some cash.

"Mrs. Burkhart?" Jackie turned around and faced one of the waiters, who was holding a phone in his hand

"Yes?"

"Phone call for you" He extended the device, Jackie furrowed her brow in confusion, but took it anyway.

"Hello?"

"No pouting" He heard Steven's voice, he sounded harsh. Jackie couldn't help but look up into the hotel, and she quickly found Steven leaning into the balcony of their room, looking at her "And stop flirting with this guy"

"I am not flirting!" She retorted, lowering her voice

"Baby, I have known you for many years, I know when you're flirting. Now stop it and put the sunglasses back on, you look absurdly hot in them" He said, and she could almost see him staring longingly at her, she had to resist the strong urge to get upstairs and show him how hot she can be

She laughed and bit her lip, looking at the man debrussed into the balcony and putting her sunglasses back on.