Beginner's luck
Friday came without much else happening. Exercise, eat, work- it seemed to be my life. Not that I was complaining. My skinny jeans were becoming more and more comfortable by the day. That may have been because I kept wearing them without washing them for fear they would shrink in the washing machine and I would never be able to wear them again.
It was just around four when Alice called me. She hadn't been at the gym earlier that day since she had to meet with a seller. "What are you working this weekend?" She asked without a single hello.
"Well, my website says that I am available Monday through Friday, eight to five but I seem to work all the time," I answered sarcastically.
"No," Alice sighed. "You know what I mean. Are you meeting with anyone or anything?"
"Nope," I said, looking over the information a dog groomer wanted me to add to their website. A dancing Scottie dog in a Santa hat. It made me giggle a little. "Why?"
"Pack a bag, I'll be over an hour."
"What? Wait, huh?" I said, closing the email.
"I want to thank you for helping with Bridget. I'm going to help you cross something off your list. Now, pack a bag! We're taking the next flight out of DFW!"
"No, wait! Alice, I can't. I mean, I can do something over the weekend but it has to be within reason. I don't want to spend a ton of money or be on a plane for two days straight."
"It was your list," she reminded me.
"I realize and I realize when I wrote it that I drunk. But, if I was sober when I first wrote it the list would have said WITHIN REASON."
"Fine, fine. Within reason then. Pack a bag! I'm heading over soon."
I guess there was no stopping a determined Alice. I closed up everything and went to my room to pack a quick carry on bag. A toothbrush, a small perfume and a sample toothpaste that I had along with a brush. I also packed two shirts, a pair of capris, a skirt, underwear, and a nightgown to sleep in. The last thing I slipped in was a pair of sandals. It would just have to do.
I had just put on a thin sweater when Alice knocked on my door. She was too giddy for words. "Are you ready to get this party started?"
"You're nuts. You know that, right?" I said as I followed her to the elevator. She giggled, smiling as she leaned against the wall.
"Of course I do! But that's half the fun. I wonder where we'll end up. I hope it's someplace cool with lots to do," she said with a little sigh, leaning her head back. "Maybe it'll be Mexico!"
"I said within reason, which means I didn't bring a passport. No Mexico."
"Aw, that sucks," she pouted. "I guess we'll just have to see then."
It took forever to get to the airport, damn traffic. By the time we got there, it was already six o'clock. We went up to the ticket counter and the perky cashier greeted us. I had no idea how to phrase what I needed. "Um, let's see. We'd like the soonest flight leaving under say... three hundred bucks. In the country."
"We're having a spur of the moment girls weekend!" Alice added with a big smile, leaning against the counter.
"Um, okay," the cashier said, scrunching up her eyebrows as she typed away. "We have a flight leaving for Shreveport, Louisiana in twenty minutes. The tickets are 192 a piece. That is a round trip though, returning on Sunday evening. You did say it was a weekend. Would that work for you?"
"What's in Shreveport?" Alice asked, frowning slightly as she thought hard. Only one thing came to my mind and it made me smile. Sometimes you just couldn't miss the signs as you drove down the interstate.
"Casinos."
"Two tickets for Shreveport, please!" Alice said excitedly, handing the girl her credit card. I began to argue but she stopped me. "I'm repaying you for your help."
"Yeah, okay. Babysitters get paid like five dollars an hour. At most, you should buy me lunch."
"I'm not just talking about watching Bridge. I mean with me. Ever since we've moved back to Dallas I felt uninspired and I was having trouble painting. But since you came back into my life I haven't been able to stop. That is worth more than two hundred dollars."
All I could do was hug Alice. She was such a sweet person.
Twenty minutes later we were sitting on the plane, waiting for it to take off.
"Hey, Jazz... Just wanted to let you know that we're going to Shreveport for the weekend. I love you and I'll see you on Sunday night. Be a good boy," Alice said, leaving a message on Jasper's voicemail.
"Be a good boy," I snickered as she turned off her cell phone. Mine was already turned off and in my pocket. "How old is he?"
"He's still young enough to get into trouble," she laughed. "I just hope Emmett doesn't get him too drunk. They're going to a strip club tonight."
"You're not worried?"
"Gosh, no. They're both married. He can have his fun. It's not like I've never been to a strip club myself. Oo!" She said suddenly, turning to look at me.
"I'm not going to a strip club," I answered bluntly. Alice instantly began to pout. "No, I'm sorry. There are just certain things I don't want swinging in my face, in front of people anyway."
"Fine," she answered but instantly brightened as the drink cart passed. Alice ordered us two glasses of cheap champagne. "To rekindled friendships and girls' weekends."
"Where I'll end up totally broke," I laughed, clinking my glass to hers. "I hope I don't lose my shirt. Stop me from spending too much, okay?"
"Only if you keep me from doing the same."
"Deal," I agreed. I slammed down my champagne just as the captain announced we were about to take off.
The flight took a grand total of forty-five minutes and then we were at the counter for rental cars. Alice, of course, rented a sports car. It was a brand new Mustang. I just rolled my eyes.
We thought it would be harder to get to the casinos but the signs were EVERYWHERE. They were literally every two inches. The only problem was picking one. There seem to be like ten different ones from what I could tell.
"What do you think? Horseshoe? Sam's town?"
I had never heard of Sam's town but I had heard of the Horseshoe. I think anyone that had ever watched a movie with a casino in it knew about the Horseshoe.
"Horseshoe."
"Wow, this is really... tacky," I said as I looked over the marble insides of the casino. There was gold everywhere. I wasn't really surprised though.
"Ah, it's a casino," she dismissed me with her hand. "So, what first? Cards, dice, slots?"
"Slots," I said with a shrug. "We'll start easy and work our way up."
I squealed a little in my head when they checked my ID. That always made a girl feel better about herself. As we waited for verification of my age we made small talk with the security guards.
"So, you're from Dallas. Ever been here before?" The man asked, eying the plastic card before handing it over to another guard to double check.
"Nope, first time," I answered. Alice was next and the guard did a double take. Alice looked almost the same she did when she was twenty.
"Well then. There is this ritual for first-timers. You run your fingers along the million dollar wall here for good luck," he said, nodding towards the wall right beside him. I thought it was just wallpaper but apparently, it really was a million dollars. "But you have to keep your hand on it the entire time until you get to the entrance."
"And that brings you luck?" Alice said, smiling stupidly. "Come on, Bella. We'll both do it."
"Good luck, ladies," both guards called as we dragged our fingers over the glass-covered million dollar wall.
"I hope that worked," Alice said as she got to the very end. "Mama needs a new Gucci purse."
I laughed, rolling my eyes. "Just about as much as you need a new Porsche."
"Yeah, but I feel less guilty when the money isn't earned but won. Makes it more fun," she said with a wicked little smile. "So, this is your party. Tell me what you want to do first."
"Slots," I repeated, pointing to a machine. The floor seemed to be mostly table games but there were some machines scattered around. There were some that looked more like video games but others that looked like from the classic movies. What I thought of as a slot machine was something with an arm that you pulled and everything. I walked to the first one I saw, a machine with a single line and a dollar minimum bet. "Um, just put my money in and go?"
"Yup, put it in and press a button."
So I did, accidentally hitting the max bet button which turned out to be three dollars. It was obvious by my face that I didn't mean to. Alice snickered. "I didn't mean that one."
"Oops," I laughed and shrugged. There were so many sights and sounds that I barely registered that the machine began to ding. "Oh! I won. Think I got my money back?" Alice didn't answer. I turned to look at her and her eyes were wide and surprised, a finger pointing at the top of the machine that showed the jackpots. "Alice?"
"You won!" She squealed.
"Yeah, what? Ten bucks?"
"No, the jackpot! Look! Look! Woo!" She said, jumping up and down. "You won! You won! You won!"
"What?"
Within a minute there was a person who worked at the casino right beside me, telling me congrats. And then another. And another.
Right after taxes, I won around ten thousand dollars.
"I think the wall worked," Alice giggled after I signed all the paperwork. The whole ordeal took about twenty minutes to get settled. One of the people that came over took our picture and offered us a free suite for the night in the hotel that was attached. We couldn't turn down a free hotel. We decided we were going to get some food to go and go up to our room to eat before playing some more.
"You think?" I snorted. "So, we're going to stay here both nights?"
"Works for me! We don't even have to leave the casino."
"That sounds like such a bad idea."
"Sounds like fun though, huh?" Alice giggled, leaning into me. I rolled my eyes but smiled. I needed to have a good time, that was for sure.
After our late dinner, Alice decided to call Jasper to see what he was up to. She also wanted to inform him of our good luck. So, I was left alone in the 'living room' area of the suite while she talked to him in the bedroom.
I pouted. I will admit it. I didn't like not having someone to tell about my good fortune. If I told my mother she would tease me. My father would tell me to put it in the bank and even though that's mostly what I was going to do, it wasn't fun to hear. I didn't want to ruin my buzz. I glanced at my phone and realized that it was just after ten and maybe I did have someone to call.
"Ello?" His groggy voice answered. I felt instantly bad for calling Edward.
"I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"
"No, no. Don't ever feel sorry for calling me. What's up?" He said softly.
"I just wanted to talk a minute. You'll never believe where I am."
"In bed, nude, I do hope?" He teased. I clicked my tongue at his silliness, making him chuckle. "No? Okay, so where are you?"
"In Shreveport."
"In Shreveport? What the bloody hell are you doing in Louisiana?"
"Well, Alice wanted to do a spur of the moment girl's weekend," I kind of lied, kind of didn't. I still hadn't told him about my list and wasn't making any plans to. "So we decided to go to the casinos."
"Oh, yeah, I forgot that they had those. I haven't been to a casino since I lived in California," he said and I could hear him rolling over in his bed. I had woken him up. I could just imagine his hair wild and all over the place. It was a cute image.
"You lived in California?" I asked, getting back to the conversation.
"Yeah, for about a year. It's a long story but that's really how Jasper and I became friends," he said quietly. "Anyway, are you winning?"
"Actually, I won on the first spin."
"Awesome! How much did you win, sweetheart?"
"Well, it was around sixteen thousand, but after taxes, it was around ten thousand."
There was a silence over the phone for a long second. "Holy shit. I need to go gamble with you, love. I have horrible luck. Maybe some of yours will rub off on me."
I giggled softly. "Yeah, maybe one day. I'm really lucky that there aren't any casinos in Dallas because I would be broke!"
Alice came out of the room, a dopey grin on her face. "Ready when you are!"
"Hey, Edward. Why don't you go back to sleep? Alice and I are going to go play some more," I informed him.
"Alright. Good luck then. Call me tomorrow and tell me if you win a million, okay?"
"What? Want to borrow money?" I teased him.
"Hm," he hummed in thought. "No. But if you do I'll take you out to dinner to celebrate."
"You'll only take me out for a million? Nothing less?"
"I'd take you out if you came out penniless. But, if you win, it just gives me an excuse. Not that I would need one."
"Edward," I breathed, rubbing my forehead. There went to the carefree easy conversation.
"Sorry. Goodnight, Bella."
"Goodnight," I replied, snapping the phone shut.
"So-" Alice began but I quickly stopped that.
"Shut up," I muttered as I stood.
"I didn't say anything," she laughed. "Someone's touchy."
"Someone's ready to play," I answered back. I handed her ten one hundred dollar bills. "A thousand for me to play, a thousand for you, a thousand to eat and such with and the rest is going in my savings. Enjoy."
"Wait! No! I can't take your money, Bella," she argued. I just shook my head.
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you. Now, I'm not giving you anymore so if you lose it all you have to spend your own money after that," I said, shoving my money into my pocket. She didn't say anything but instead gave me a big hug.
We played until three in the morning, trying every possible slot machine we could find. I decided to just stick with those. They seemed like more fun. When I finally crawled into bed, Alice beside me, I went to sleep within five minutes.
Damn perky Alice was up at nine. Apparently, there was a breakfast buffet and she wanted to hit it. That was a temptation I could not pass up. I would have to exercise a bit extra the next week. Hopefully, I wouldn't gain any weight.
I ate eggs, yogurt, hash browns, bacon, sausage and crepes covered in bananas fosters with actual bourbon in it. It was awesome and I could practically feel my ass grow. But hey, I had to have fun sometimes. This was the first time since the whole 'cake' thing that I had splurged.
We decided to wander the shops for a little while before we went inside the casino. Everything was extremely overpriced, but it was fun to look. While we were looking in the jewelry shop I felt a buzz in my pocket. A text message waited for me.
"A millionaire yet?" Edward asked.
"Not yet," I replied.
"What a shame. I wanted to borrow a 20 ;) Have fun."
I giggled to myself as I typed an answer in. "Oh, I always have fun. And how lame, only 20?"
"Yup, just 20 so I could take you out to fancy dinner of pizza," he replied back quickly. I snorted, rolling my eyes.
"Oooo, I'm impressed already."
"I knew you would be." I snorted out loud. I began to type but I got another message before I could send it. "I miss our emails today. I've got to go to work but will you call me later?"
"What time?" I asked. I didn't want to wake him up.
"Whenever you want. I just miss talking to you. Good luck, Bella."
Dammit, why did he have to be so damn charming?
We finally went into the casino and didn't come out until around seven in the evening. Alice was down a hundred bucks from what I had given her and I was up around fifty. I didn't bet as high as she did and enjoyed the penny slots more. Not that you spent much less on those but it felt like it. We ate again, this time at the steakhouse where we shared a bottle of wine. I got pasta and Alice got a big bowl of gumbo. We split a dessert of black tie mousse cake as well. It was delicious.
I was definitely going to gain weight this week. Oh well. I was still doing pretty good.
We went back in, Alice determined to get her money back. She just lost another hundred where I gained another three. She was not pleased in the least. It was rather funny.
We decided to head up to the room sooner that night, both of us really tired. It was just around midnight when we came into the room. Alice headed straight to the bedroom, going to take a bath before heading to bed. I would take a shower in the morning before we left out for the day.
So, I sat in the living room and looked at my phone. I tried to decide if I wanted to bother Edward or not. I did kind of say I would or at least didn't say I wouldn't. And he said whenever.
So I dialed before I could really think about it. He wanted me to call so I did.
"Mm, good evening," Edward's voice said smoothly, obviously awake and awaiting my call.
"Good evening to you too. How are you doing?"
"Alright. I had a busy day. Three weddings," he said, his voice sounding tired. "I just got back in about an hour ago. And now I'm relaxing with a beer or three."
"Oh, that sounds nice," I said, laying across the couch. I toed my shoes off, putting my cheek on the palm of my hand as I lounged on my side. "I think I could use a beer right about now."
"If you were in town I'd say you could come over and have one with me. I'd love the company."
"Even if you're tired?" I asked.
"After the long day that I've had? Yes. Being in the company of a beautiful woman with a beer sounds like the perfect cure for my day," he said smoothly before sighing. "Sorry. This is my second beer and I'm tired. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."
"You didn't," I said softly, feeling my cheeks heat slightly. "You're too sweet but I'm sure there are plenty of beautiful women who'd want to share a drink with you."
"Maybe, but I only want to share it with you."
"Edward," I said quietly, closing my eyes as my cheeks heated.
"I know. I know, I'm sorry."
"You're just making it hard on me," I whispered before taking a deep breath. "Anyway, did you at least come out with clean shoes today?"
"Yeah, thank god. Win any more money?"
"A little bit," I shrugged. "Alice is going to be the penniless one though. She's doing awful."
"She's never had any luck when it comes to gambling," he chuckled.
I yawned softly, humming as I stretched my arms over my head. "Gosh, I'm tired."
"Go to bed, love. I'm tired as well. I might turn in myself," he said, his accent thick. I noticed that his accent became thicker when he was tired. Or turned on.
Jesus, mind out of the gutter.
"Okay, sweet dreams..."
"Mm," he moaned and I could tell he was stretching as well. I could just imagine how his tee shirt raised a little bit above his stomach, exposing his white skin. Yum. "Of course, love. If the last thing I hear before I fall asleep is your beautiful voice, then I'm bound to have wonderful dreams."
Dammit...
"Goodnight, Edward," I stuttered out stupidly.
His voice was soft in reply. And sexier than I had ever heard it before."Goodnight, love."
Like I could sleep after that.
Dammit, Dammit, Dammit...
So I turned on the television, though that seemed to be a horrible idea. Halloween was only a couple weeks away and every channel seemed to do something with horror. Not ideal for sleeping. Finally, I came to a movie that was more cheese than blood and gore. Dracula 2000.
Hey, Gerard Butler is hot. I especially liked his outfit and hair. And the girl reminded me of Alice, which made me laugh. I could totally see Alice kicking a vampire's ass. She was a lot meaner than most people expected her to be, especially when she wanted to be.
I think I fell asleep right after the main character found out that Dracula was actually Judas. I always liked that little twist. Kind of made sense, I suppose. Not really. But, I still liked it anyway.
Then, I began to dream...
I was wearing a red dress of all things, the fabric whipping around me due to the wind though I was not sure where the wind was coming from. I seemed to be in a dark room with only a canopy bed. That was the only thing that seemed to be lit.
"Hello?" I called, looking for someone for some reason. I just knew they were there, too.
"So beautiful," Edward's thick English accent called to me, making me turn quickly on my bare feet. Of course, he was wearing the exact outfit from the stupid movie, his wild red hair moving in the wind. He was obviously a vampire. "So so beautiful."
Stupid fucking movie.
"What are we doing here?" I asked him, moving closer. I was drawn to him. I had been drawn to him from the first moment I saw him.
"I can only be so patient for so long," he cooed, ignoring my question. "Only for so long, beautiful one. My patience has run thin."
"Give me time!" I begged him in the dream. As I walked up to him. When my hands reached out to touch him, he disappeared.
"Time? Why? I see that you want me as I want you. Why wait?" His thick voice said, washing over me.
"Because I need it! Please! I'm almost ready."
I kind of doubted that phrase was true. Even in my dream, I knew it wasn't. I had a lot of issues to work on just yet. I needed to know him better. I just wasn't ready.
"Tick tock," he breathed in my ear as his nose skimmed over my flesh. I felt his hands skim over my waist, pulling me./ to his chest. "Time is running out. I won't wait forever."
I felt his erection press against my ass as he growled against my neck, fueling the fire that was burning in the pit of my stomach. "Edward-"
"Time's up!" He snapped seconds before his teeth penetrated my flesh.
I screamed and rolled off the couch and onto the floor. "Son of a bitch!" I hissed, rubbing my butt as stood up. As I looked outside I saw the sun right above the horizon. It was just after seven. "I swear to God," I mumbled, rubbing my back as I made my way to the bathroom. "I'm not watching any more vampire movies before bed. I need a shower."
"Good morning, sunshine!" Alice called to me as she stretched in her perfect silk pajamas, her eye mask resting on her forehead.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." I mumbled, stomping to the bathroom. Casinos were fun and all, but I was ready to go home. I needed to throw myself back into work so I didn't have to think about certain people and certain dreams for a while.
"Well, I think someone woke up on the wrong side of the couch this morning!"
No, someone just woke up on the floor. That was never the best way to start the day.
I have to throw my hometown into stories. If you've read my other stuff you know what I'm talking about. If not, check out my story Blind ;)
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