Authors: Maddie Cochere
Alex was his 14-year-old son from his first marriage. Mick had married right out of high school, and Alex was his only child. He was a nice boy and had accepted his parents’ divorce, and the subsequent relationships of his mother and father, with maturity beyond his years. He was friendly and polite to me whenever I had an opportunity to spend time with him and Mick together.
“What a wonderful idea
,”
I told him. “I know you’ll
have a good time. I’m getting ready to hit the spa for a manicure. I want to have my hands at their best to show off my ring.” I know my voice conveyed the joy I felt
at wearing it and knowing
we would be married soon.
He laughed and said, “That’s sounds like a good plan. I love you, Susan. I’ll call again soon.”
“I love you, too, Mick.” I didn’t whisper
it. I didn’t care if
anyone
was
around to hear me or not.
We hung up, and I
leaned
against the wall for a m
oment
to wait for the rubbery feeling to leave my legs. Mick’s warm, sexy voice always turned me to jelly.
I
glanced
around the pool
area. Even though
the pool itself wasn’t open, chairs and umbrellas were set up, and one of the bars was open.
The area was bustling with activity
, and it was lovely with beautiful trees and plant
s
. Dudley was standing
with coffee in hand
on the other side of the pool
by one of the cabanas
. He seemed
out of place, lonely even.
I turned
around and walked indoors. The spa was just around the corner, and t
hirty minutes later, I walked out with a
fantastic
French manicure
which really
enhanced my ring’s look. I was delighted.
The pool area had been enticing, so I walked back out and
chose
an empty seat in the sunshine. I slipped on
my sunglasses and
enjoyed relaxing and watching people. Some were reading magazines or newspapers, others had eReaders, and many people were simply visiting and chatting with each other. It was equivalent to a lov
ely fall day back home in Ohio, but
without the colorful leaves.
I noticed Dudley again. He was seated, facing me, directly across the pool. He seemed to be looking right at me. I felt the hairs stand up
on the back of my neck. It
never dawned on me that he might be following me. I had been down th
e stalker
road before, and it wa
sn’t pleasant. The feeling
of a
possible threat
again
was disconcerting, and I tried to quickly rationalize it away. First of all, he was in plain sight and had actually acknowledged me. If he was following me, surely he would be more inconspicuous. Maybe he was an admirer and harmless. Maybe he was a pervert. Whatever it was, I needed to be aware, but I
also
needed
to shake the creepy feeling
. Mom and Dad would be here soon, and I wouldn’t have to worry about Dudley.
“You look bright and cheery today,” said a masculine voice.
I had
been so focused on Dudley, I hadn’t paid
attention when the obnoxious man from the craps table last night sat down beside me. He was still sporting
an excessive amount of
bling
,
but was dressed casually in loafers, jeans, and a gray v-neck sweater with a white collared shirt underneath. Today, in the sunshine, I wondered if he was younger than his gray hair implied. His features seemed softer. I gave him a slight nod, but didn’t respond to his comment.
“I owe you an apology,” he said. “After an evening of a few too many drinks, and then the excitement of winning – thanks to you -,” he said pointedly, “I realize I got carried away, and I’m sorry.”
Everything about him seemed so much less abrasive today. “Thank you,” I said. “I appreciate the apology.”
He
extended his hand to
me and said, “My name’s Carl. What’s yours?”
“Susan,” I told him as I shook his hand.
“Well, Susan,” he said pointing to my hand, “it’s hard to miss your ring, but you s
eem to be here alone. T
rouble in paradise?”
He seemed softer, but it was obvious he couldn’t hide his
true
personality. “My fiancé will be here later in the week,” I told him.
“I see
,” he said slowly. It was as though he p
aused to think about what I
said. “
Where are you from?” he asked.
“Back East,” I answered
,
and followed it with a bit of a mocking voice, “and where are you from?” I hated having idle banter with him and wasn’t comfortable telling him where I lived.
He laughed
and said, “I guess from
Vegas now. I came here a couple of months ago to take a position with a company,
but haven’t found a place
I like yet, so I’m staying here in one of the condos.”
“Pretty nice,” I simply said.
“Yes it is. It’s nice to be able to affor
d the lifestyle,” he said
smugly. “And thanks to you, I’ll be enjoying it for a little while longer.”
I found him to be more unpleasant with each passing minute.
He
became more serious
and asked, “So, what’s the guy’s name? What does he do for a living? Does he make a lot of money?”
I was aghast at his brashness. “That’s certainly none of
your business,” I snapped
.
He laughed again and said
, “I like to make things my business.
Take you for instance.
I see
you dress nicely, you obviously take care of yourself, and you have an adequate ring.”
An adequate ring! This guy had some nerve. Any girl would be thrilled with this ring, and it was certainly more than adequate. I could feel my anger rising.
He continued with his thought, “You like nice things, and you want someone to give them to you. I can do that for you, Susan, and I want to.” He lowered his voice, leaned closer to me, and said, “I want you. I want you bad. And when I want something, I get it. I can give you
any
thing you could ever wish for and more.
Whoever is on the other end of your
ring could never give you what I can.”
Oh my gosh! He was practically licking his lips, and I was thoroughly disgusted. I
jumped to my feet,
and through gritted teeth
snarled
at him, “You are abhorrent to me, and I would never, ever want you in a million years.” I whirled around and
stormed
away.
I could hear him yelling after me, “You’
ll be sorry. You’ll regret
you ever talked to me that way.”
What a dirtbag! I was so angry, I almost plowed into Dudley who was leaning against the doorway of the pool area. He started to tip his hat toward me, but I gave him a
growl from
the back of my throat. I’d had enough of both of them.
I rushed inside and
walked briskly down the hallway
. Mom and Dad wouldn’t be here for a couple of hours yet, so I decided to leave the hotel for a while.
It would feel good to walk away from Carl and Dudley.
I
exited
through the main entrance and headed for the taxi stand. There were several
cabs
waiting, and I was able to get
one
right away.
“The Bellagio, please,” I told the driver. I thought it would
be n
ice to see the fountain show during the day, and then again at night with my parents.
The ca
b driver had a heavy accent
I couldn’t identify, but he was chatty. “Oh, yes,” he said, “the Bellagio. Hockey players there. You like hockey? I get you tickets for game tonight?”
I sm
iled thinking about Dell and that
horrible newscast, but it was less painful as the day wore on. “No thank you,” I told the driver. “I already have plans for the evening.”
“Ok,” he said. “I like hockey and go to lotsa games. I go see funny Dell Grady tonight. You see Dell with funny woman on his back on news?”
I could feel the blush creeping into my face. I quickly looked down and said, “No.”
Walking to the Bellagio would have taken me a little
while, but the cab ride was only
a couple of minutes. Thankfully, the driver was pulling in before he recognized me. I paid the fare and gave him a generous tip because the ride was so short. He
gave me
a
huge
smile and said, “Thank you, Susan,” and he pulled away from the curb.
Ugh!
I
should have known he recognized me the minute I stepped into his cab. What cabbie talks about hockey to the fare? I sighed, shook my head, and stood at the front entrance trying to decide if I should go in and look around the hotel, or walk around to the front and wait for the next fountain show.
Before I could make up m
y mind, a group of people exited
the front doors, and one of them called over to me. “Susan!” It was Dell.
He was coming toward me with a big smile on his face, and I started to walk toward him. We weren’t three feet apart, and I tripped. There was nothing to trip over, but I tripped. When I was a child, my mother used to yell at
me
to pick up my feet. If felt like one of those moments. I didn’t pick up a foot and the front edge of my shoe stuck and tripped me. I pitched forward, but Dell caught me quickly and pulled me up into his strong arms. We both laughed. At that exact moment, from out of nowhere, came flashes upon flashes of cameras. What was going on?
Dell laughed, grabbed my hand, and pulled me inside the front doors
of the hotel
. “Paparazzi,” he said. “I’m afraid we might be in for it again, Susan.”
Oh my gosh! This was nearing disaster level.
He didn’t seem fazed by it at all. He was still smiling and asked, “What are you doing here? Are you looking for me? Do you want to come to a game?”
I laughed
and said, “I came down to take a break from my hotel and see the fountain
show. It was just my luck
you were coming out as I arrived
.” I looked around and saw
the guys he had been with were now gone. “Where are your friends? Do you need to be somewhere?”
“No
.
As a matter of fact, I don’t. The guys are headed downtown to do some gambling.” He
paused for a moment and said, “
I haven’t had lunch yet, have you?” I shook my head. “Let’s grab a bite to eat
.
We can talk about your recent fame.” He laughed again.
We walked through the lobby and into to the Café. We were seated
overlooking the conservatory. I
t was a peaceful, enchanting setting.
A waitress came to our table
, and Dell asked me, “Are you allergic to anything, or are you fussy about food?”
I shook my head and said, “I’m up for anything.”
“Good.
” He
smiled
at the waitress and said, “Two mimosas and two lobster omelets.”
“Ooh, that sounds really good,” I told him.
“It is,” he replied. “I think it’s my new favorite thing to eat.” He smiled at me. “Now, tell me what you’ve been doing since I last saw you yesterday.”
My eyes opened wide, and I told him, “Well, I had the shock of my life when a bartender recognized me from a sportscast. Then he showed it to me on his phone! Dell, I almost had a plumber’s crack!”
Dell laughed a big belly laugh, “Oh, Susan, all of those videos were hilarious. You know what they say,
any publicity is good publicity
. A
lot of people
are
talking about the Blue Ball Blades, and if we win all of our games this weekend, this will have all been a good lead up to even better publicity.” He smiled at me, gave me more of a commiserating look, and said, “No one was laughing at you. You’re so pretty, that’s probably why they kept showing it over and over again.”
“I’m not as freaked out about it as I was,” I told him truthfully. “And I won over $6,000 at craps last night,” Dell’s jaw dropped, “so, it’s been a good 24 hours.”
“You must have had some serious luck with you,” he said shaking his head. “I’m down at least five grand already.”
The waitress arrived with our mimosas. Champagne and orange juice; they were refreshing.
Dell turned things a little more personal and asked, “When are you getting married, Susan?”