Thursday Evening
I looked through my bags one last time to make sure I have everything I need. Everything seems to be in there: clothes, shoes, toiletries. I check my purse for money, wallet, cameras (my slim digital and the one I use for more artistic photos), and a bottle of whiskey. I walked over to the mirror and give my reflection a look-over. Right after we drop off our bags we will be heading straight to the clubs and casinos so I decided to put on my Vegas-wear here. I had on a very attractive red and black strapless dress with black stilettos. I kept on readjusting my outfit to make sure nothing was showing. I sighed and gave up. I had to choose the skankiest outfit in my closet! At least my face looks pretty. Lucinda kindly came over early to do my hair and makeup, managing to turn my messy bun into a lovely, curly hairdo and giving me smoky eyes and kissable lips.
"There!" she said triumphantly when she finished. "That should get you a couple of free drinks tonight!"
I grabbed my things and walked outside, where everyone was waiting. Lucinda invited two more models, Melrose and Aurora, and a shoe designer named Paul. Dom grinned at me when I stepped outside.
"You look great Isabelle", he said, not bothering to hide the fact that he was staring. I winked at him. "You look good too. Yellow skinny jeans", I commented, "A classic!" Dom smirked. "That's how I roll."
A few minutes later, the bus pulled up in front of my house. The driver, a man in his sixties, stepped out and greeted us. "My name is Edgar", he said, tipping his hat at us, "You all can enter the bus while I put these bags in the storage compartment. Should only take a minute."
Smiling, we walked around the bus and began to enter. I could hear a Lady Gaga remix blasting inside. Once I entered, my jaw dropped. This was not what I expected. The floor was covered in plush carpet and the seats ran along the windows, leaving a large area for dancing. The windows were tinted and the ceiling was covered with every type of light imaginable. There was a control panel next to the door with multiple buttons on it. In the back was a bar and next to it was -.
"A stripper pole!" I laughed. Tom spun around the pole a few times. "I bet Dom has some moves he wants to show off!" he laughed. Dom rolled his eyes. "Keep dreaming Tom!"
Like Edgar promised, he quickly packed the bags and we were off to Las Vegas. Tom began mixing drinks while the rest of us danced for a few songs. My feet began killing me, so I decided to take a break, sitting down. Paul sat down next to me, eying my feet.
"You could be a model for my spring collection", Paul said, his words slightly slurred. "You have beautiful feet!" Paul and I continued talking and drinking. For someone who was already drunk thirty minutes into the bus ride, Paul is a nice guy, telling me funny stories from photo shoots and fashion shows he's been to.
"When the model turned around", he whispered, "The strap broke and she fell right on her face, on live television!" We burst into laughter. "What did you do?" I asked, wiping tears from my eyes. "Well Macy, the model, hobbled off the runway with one shoe on and I ran backstage to console her. The rest of the show went perfectly and everyone liked my collection, so it wasn't that bad."
"Except for the face-plant on live TV!" I pulled out the bottle of whiskey from my bag. "Here, why don't you have some of this while I go to the bathroom for a minute?" Paul eagerly took the bottle. "Stay beautiful, my darling!" he shouted as he fell over on the couch.
I moved to the other side of the bus, where Dom was taking a break from dancing. "I thought you would never escape from Paul", he joked.
"Say what you will, Paul has great stories!" We looked over and saw Paul and Melrose laughing loudly about something. I heard Melrose squeal, "Live TV!"
"Ouch! Replaced already!" Dom said, wrapping an arm around me. "It would have never worked between us anyways", I replied in a mock hurt tone. I smiled as Lucinda pulled Tom out from behind the bar and began dancing with him. Tom looked like he just won the lottery. Matt was dancing surprisingly well for a drunk British man. He kept on shooting me looks and mouthing 'I want you now' to me. Dom chuckled. "Might as well dance with him before he goes mad", Dom said, pushing me up. I giggled and walked up to Matt, who looked very drunk.
"I've been waiting for you!" he said, placing his hands on my waist and dancing with me. Dom and Aurora were laughing at the sight of us. 'Undisclosed Desires' came on the speakers. "Oh, I LOVE this song!" Matt said, moving closer to me. I laughed and danced with Matt, trying not to burst out in giggles every time he did a funny move.
"Why don't we get a drink?" I asked, bringing Matt to the bar. Matt did a weird roll across the counter and fell on the other side. Matt popped up and said, "I'm Matt the bartender. What will you be having?"
"I'll just have a bottle of Coke", I said, pointing to the box of sodas behind him.
"You're boring!" he muttered, handing me my drink and pouring him a shot of a clear liquid. He swallowed the drink and immediately spat it out.
"Yuck!" he said, "That was disgusting!" I picked up the glass and drank the remaining liquid. "You just drank water", I said.
"Water? I've never had that liquor."
During the rest of the night, I continued dancing. Dom eventually joined in again and even Paul managed to bust out a few dance moves. Soon, we could see the Vegas lights in the distance. We cheered as we pulled up in front of Lotus Towers, one of the newer hotels on the Strip. We walked up to the receptionist's desk in the lobby.
"We have a reservation under 'Lucinda Kane'", Lucinda said.
"Ah, yes. The penthouse, correct?" Lucinda smiled. "That's right." We all received room keys. "The bellhop will bring up your bags shortly", the receptionist said. "Welcome to Las Vegas!"
We thanked the woman and entered an elevator. "How did you manage to get the penthouse in such short notice?" I asked, remembering how I had to reserve a basic suite here months before my trip.
"The owner of the hotel has a daughter who is crazy about Paramore", Lucinda answered, "I offered the father VIP tickets to their upcoming Vegas gig and an entire day with the band in exchange for him telling the customers who booked the place for this weekend that the penthouse in undergoing construction. Throw in some Fueled by Ramen merch and a 'date' with Pete Wentz, and I got the place, and all services offered by the hotel, free of charge."
"That is truly amazing!" I said, hugging her. "Yeah, I just hope Hayley and Pete don't mind. I haven't told them about the plan yet."
"Tell them when we get back to L.A. because it's time to have some fun!" The elevator stopped on our floor and we walked into an elegant hallway leading to two large, wooden doors. Carved above the doors are the words 'Lotus Flower'.
"Hmm, I wonder if Thom Yorke is going to be inside dancing for us?" I asked. Only Matt, Dom, and Tom laughed at the joke. Everyone else looked at me confused. "Come on. You guys don't listen to Radiohead?" Blank stares.
"Whatever", I muttered, throwing open the doors. There was a collection of gasps behind me. The penthouse was simply beautiful. It was decorated in Japanese décor and very elegant furniture. The living room had very comfortable-looking couches and Asian art hanging on the walls. I walked up the stairs to the second floor and into one of the bedrooms. The far wall is a giant window facing busy Las Vegas. I didn't need to turn on a light due to the street lights brightening up the room. There is a very large and lavish bed in the center of the room. I decided to lie down and close my eyes for a few seconds.
"Don't fall asleep so soon!" I heard a voice say. I sat upright on the bed and saw Dom smiling at me from the doorway. "Paul just passed out in his room and you're not getting out of partying tonight."
"Relax, I'm all up for partying!" I said, jumping off the bed. Dom offered his arm and I took it, both of us walking back to the living room.
The next few hours flew by. I don't remember how many clubs and casinos we visited by the end of the night. For a group consisting of models and musicians, we were hardly noticed. I made this point to Matt.
"The trick is not to draw so much attention to yourself", Matt said as we watched Snoop Dogg become surrounded by scantily-clad fans. "Unless we go around saying, 'Hey everyone! I'm famous!', people tend to leave us alone. If we really wanted the attention, we could get it like that." He snapped his fingers.
We stumbled back into the penthouse around 5:30 AM. I sleepily kicked off my heels and began walking up to my room when Tom shouted, "There's a pool in here!" I turned in the direction of his voice and was surprised to see that there was an Olympic-sized pool on a deck right outside the living room.
"How come we didn't notice this when we first got here?" I asked, walking outside to look around. There was also a Jacuzzi and a bar on the pool deck. I dipped a toe in the water. It was very warm. Shrugging, I walked around to the diving board and climbed up. Just as I was about to dive in, Lucinda shouted, "You still have your dress on!"
"I could care less about my dress!" I said, diving in. When I resurfaced, Lucinda is laughing. "You must be really drunk to be swimming around at 5 in the morning!"
"I swear to drunk I'm not God!" I said, attempting to splash her. Lucinda squealed and moved out of the way. The rest of the group came out and laughed at the sight of me.
"I like where this is going!" Dom said, stripping off his shirt and jeans before jumping in. Matt and Melrose jump in shortly after. We began a giant splash fight, soaking each other and laughing for a few minutes. Aurora fell asleep on one of the pool chairs. Tom and Lucinda headed off to bed.
"Let's play Chicken Fight!" Matt suggested. I climbed unto Dom's shoulders while Melrose got on Matt. "Let's get ready to rumble!" Dom shouted as me and Melrose attempted to push each other into the water. After a really hard shove, I almost toppled backwards but Dom kept a firm grip on my legs. "Don't worry", Dom said, "You won't fall as long as I've got you."
After a few more minutes of struggling, Melrose fell into the water. Dom and I cheered and I fell backwards into the pool. "Okay", I announced, "Matt get on Dom while I carry Melrose." Dom looked at Matt. "What? No!" he said, "I don't want Matt's junk pressed up against my neck!"
"Quit being a wimp and crouch down so I can sit on you!" Matt said. Dom scowled at me as Matt sat on his shoulders. I smiled back and lifted Melrose up. "Round Two!" I said, bringing Melrose up to Matt. I almost lose my grip when the fighters first make contact.
"Don't let me go!" Melrose squealed as she tickled Matt. "That's cheating!" Dom said as he moved a giggling Matt away from Melrose. The guys move closer to us and me and Dom are practically nose-to-nose with each other.
"Ready to give up yet?" Dom asked, smirking as I stumbled a little. "Never!" I replied. Suddenly, I'm pushed into Dom and we all go under the water.
"What the hell was that?" Dom asked as we all resurfaced. "Matt cheated!" Melrose said, splashing Matt. "Right before he fell, he decided to grab my arm and take me down with him."
"There are no rules against that", Matt replied, splashing Melrose back. I laughed and climbed out of the pool. "I'm going to bed", I yawned. "Night Isabelle!", they said.
I grab a towel from the bar and dry myself as I walk up to my room. I quickly changed into my pajamas and collapsed on my bed, falling asleep as I hit my pillow.