A/N 1: I hope that I'm not actually screwing with my readers too much. Well if I am, I'm happy to accept the flames. All I can promise is a happy ending; I can't promise your mind won't dribble out of your ears somewhere along the journey.
~.~.~.~.~
CHAPTER TWO: OBLIVION
Las Vegas
12:16AM Monday morning
Alex lay in bed watching the room spin, hating herself. So drunk she couldn't even hear her companion's quiet breathing. Stifled a giggle at the thought of what she must have looked like on the hotel security cameras, stumbling pie-eyed down the luxurious hallways. On tiptoes, despite the thick carpeting and even thicker walls. How embarrassing. Luckily she was still too drunk to be embarrassed.
Even in her inebriated state, she was honest enough with herself to admit that she'd been reluctant to return to their room this evening, to the person who waited here for her. Stupid reaction, after all this time. Cowardly. But perhaps not unexpected. After all, she wasn't only one kind of coward.
Her mind turned reluctantly to Bobby. She'd promised herself a break from him this week. The same promise she'd made every year… the promise that had been progressively harder to keep.
She'd felt badly about not saying goodbye to him. Truthfully, the closer it came to her departure, the harder it was to face him. She even thought of cancelling. But she couldn't. Couldn't give up this too, when she'd already turned her back on so much.
She rolled over carefully, shuddering at the tilt-a-whirl she felt like she was lying on. Ugh, she hadn't been this drunk in years. And then, she'd been home, when she could drink herself into blessed oblivion; no need to stay sober enough to use a key card, to quietly slip out of her clothes and into bed.
She'd laughed more than once over the years at how ridiculously enthusiastic Bobby'd been about her trips to Vegas. Actually, the first year she'd been a bit offended; thought he'd been glad to be rid of her. But even then, she'd recognised how genuinely supportive and interested he was regarding issues of equality in their still fairly white and very male profession.
Over the course of their partnership, she'd grown accustomed to his eagerness and curiosity, and eventually grown flattered by the attention he paid her just before and after her trips. She loved counting down her departures with mock pity, making him beg her for the details of her itinerary. She loved regaling him with anecdotes when she returned.
She'd been absurdly hurt by how he'd acted this year before she left.
~.~.~.~.~
Pleeease review!
A/N 2: BTW, this is a mystery, and folks may post theories in their reviews. So if you don't want to be spoiled, read reviews with caution. The same goes for hunting down the post with the plot as outlined on the forum.
WORDS: 502 UPLOADED Saturday, March 27, 2010
Edited Friday, July 2, 2010 to re-insert section breaks.