“Cut loose, huh?” he laughed at my expression. He shrugged. “Sure, let’s go to Vegas.”
It only took an hour from the Arizona/Nevada border to reach Vegas. We drove up and down the strip, considering where we’d stay before deciding on The Venetian for the novelty of the gondolas. We pulled up to the driveway in our trash heap of a van and laughed again at the faces of the bellmen. Their expressions changed once we got out of the car and they recognised us. The head bellman said something into his earpiece and soon a woman in a black suit came to greet us.
“Welcome to the Venetian, Mr. Siler, Miss Shaw. We don’t seem to have your reservation, has it been made another name?” she asked.
He looked at me. “We didn’t make a reservation. We hoped you had a room available?”
“We certainly do. We have our top suite available. Our Renaissance suite is ready for you to check in immediately.”
“We just need a room,” Laurie said.
“It would be our pleasure to accommodate you in the Renaissance suite, Mr. Siler. I am sure you will find it very comfortable.”
Laurie shrugged. “That sounds great.” He handed over the keys to the head bellman and we followed the woman inside.
The hotel was lit up with a yellow glow. It was like walking into an Italian museum. The ceiling was painted like the Sistine Chapel and the floor was intricately patterned marble. “Wow,” I said, reaching for Laurie’s arm. The lobby was buzzing with people who all looked at us. They were saying our names to each other, confirming who we were amongst them. We were taken straight into the elevator where a security guard kept out the other guests who wanted to get in.
The woman led us into the suite, a palatial, royal looking apartment with a bedroom, living, dining, even a gym and spa. “We need another room for a friend of ours, Ted Murray,” Laurie asked.
“We can certainly arrange that. Arriving today?” she asked. We nodded. The bags came up soon after and then we were left alone.
“This is beautiful,” I said to Laurie as he unpacked some things. “But, a lot.”
“I know. There was no arguing,” Laurie said, not ungratefully. “What time does Teddy get in?”
I checked my phone. “He just got on the plane. Should be an hour and a bit.”
Laurie smiled. “Just enough time for a shower and some gambling.”
“I didn’t know you gambled,” I said. He had a wicked smile on. I showered first, knowing I’d take longer to get ready. He showered next. Then we made our way down to the casino.
We found ourselves an empty blackjack table and started there. I’d played before but couldn’t remember it completely so Laurie talked me through it. We lost 500 then made 400 back and moved on to roulette. It was fun. But more than the playing itself, I loved watching Laurie have fun. There were a few young people on the roulette table who asked for pictures. They stopped playing the game and just watched us play.
A sort of hush fell over the room and a small number of people started to move with us as we moved around the casino. Before I knew it, we were surrounded by a group of people, threatening to mob us. We greeted everyone with smiles, taking pictures and answering questions. One middle aged man, with very intense blue eyes and a long grey beard, grabbed hold of my hand and held my gaze. “You’re so perfect,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said, not knowing what to say to such a statement, as I tried to pull my hand away. Laurie was taking photos with the young girls. I tried to get his attention. The man wouldn’t let go of my hand. He rubbed it firmly with his calloused fingers.
“You’re so beautiful and perfect. I love you so much,” he said.
“Thank you,” I said, again. I don’t know why I kept saying that. I wanted to call out to Laurie for help, but I didn’t want to offend the man. Suddenly, hotel security was upon us, keeping people at bay.
“Are you alright, ma’am?” one of the guards asked, looking at the man’s grasp on me. Laurie looked over then, finally, and pulled me close to him.
He pushed the man back a little. “Let her go, mate,” he said. The man did so easily and moved backwards in the crowd.
“Would you mind getting us a taxi?” Laurie asked one of the security guards. He nodded and spoke into his earpiece. The guards guided us off the main gaming floor and to the front entrance. Laurie kept me close, under his arm. There was a black town car waiting for us. We got in and the sound of the crowd was cut off as the door closed.
“You okay?” Laurie asked me.
“Yeah,” I said, shaking it off. “We have to get Teddy.”
He nodded. “Can we go to the airport, please?” he called to the driver.
“You got it,” the driver responded and drove onto the strip.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked again. I assured him I was and then asked if he was okay. He was the one who seemed most thrown off. “There’s a lot of creeps out there,” he answered, shaking his head.
We stayed in the car and waited for Teddy’s call. He delivered his small carry bag to the driver and got into the back with us.
“Hey! How was your flight?” I asked as he hugged me, tightly.
“Fine. How has your trip been?” he asked, shaking Laurie’s hand.
“It’s been amazing,” I said.
“Really cool, man,” Laurie agreed.
“I’ve seen the pictures. Looked incredible.”
“I’m so sorry about Georgia, Teddy,” I said, putting a hand on his knee.
He put his hand over mine. “It’s all good. That’s why we’re here, right? Where are we staying?”
“The Venetian,” Laurie said, looking at our hands. I took mine away, suddenly feeling like he was misreading the friendly gesture.
“Nice,” Teddy said. “Are we gonna do some gambling?”
“There was a bit of an intense crowd earlier by the tables…” I said. I didn’t want to repeat it.
“Oh shit. Well, there’s been a lot of attention on you two lately.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Have you seen the news lately? You two are all over it. The lady beside me on the plane was reading a magazine that had mapped out your whole road trip by the photos you were posting to Instagram and selfies you took with fans along the way.”
“Are you serious?” Laurie asked.
I supposed we shouldn’t be surprised. Even so, I opened up my Instagram and looked at the photos. I couldn’t help but scroll a little further down to look at the comments.
Fuck this bitch
Laurie belongs with Angela Ritter
I totally ship TaliaxLaurie
#Lauria?
She is nowhere near pretty enough for Laurie Siler and she can’t sing
Is this what Laurie had been worried about? When the women got our picture on the trail and about the photo we took by the waterfall? Teddy took my phone out of my hands. “Don’t look at that shit. What are you doing?”
I had been trying not to look at any comments since looking at the ones on my music video on YouTube. But, it was like walking past a room where everyone is talking about you and not pressing your ear against the door. I only had so much self-control. “I’m starving. Let’s line our stomachs before we drink ourselves sick.”
The driver took us back to the hotel where a couple of paparazzi had already set themselves up. The security guards held them at bay as we were guided into the hotel and to a Chinese restaurant with a private dining area. We ordered our food and talked about clubs. Teddy had heard that XS at the Wynn was the place to go. I had always heard people talk about 1OAK.
“Maybe we should stay in,” Laurie said.
“What?” Teddy asked, like he was crazy.
“Teddy came all this way,” I insisted.
“You don’t have to come, Siler,” Teddy offered. “I’ll keep her safe,” he said, throwing an arm around me. Again, it was all friendliness but Laurie looked at the gesture with disdain. Then he looked at Teddy. They seemed to be communicat
ing something between them. I didn’t understand it.
“I’ll be back,” I said, excusing myself to go to the restroom. I slid out from under Teddy’s arm and out of the booth. I looked back and the two of them were talking. Maybe I had seen something where there was nothing.
I was about to walk out of the cubicle when a couple of women walked in. They stood at the sinks, reapplying makeup I guessed. They were midway through a conversation and again, I didn’t have the self-control to not listen in.
“Talia Shaw. She sounds like an old lady.”
“Did you see what she was wearing? It’s like lingerie. Who does she think she is?” the other said.
I looked down at my dress, a silver grey and dark blue lace number from Ari. It was a little racier than what I’d usually wear. But, I figured it was Vegas. Suddenly I wished I’d brought a jacket.
“Fuck me, Laurie looks hot. Like seriously hot.”
“You should hit on him. Just see what happens. Like how often would you get a chance like that?”
“You don’t think they’re together?”
“I doubt it. And who cares if they are?”
“You’re so bad. I love it.” They laughed as they left. I gathered myself as I left the cubicle and washed my hands. I knew it was nothing. Just trolls and bitchy girls. Why should I care? I knew logically, I shouldn’t care. What they said meant less than nothing. The internet commentary meant even less. But I couldn’t get my emotions to understand that. Don’t get upset, I told myself. It’s not like before. People aren’t just going to look at you with pity. They’d snap a picture like it was nothing at all and sell it to the highest bidder. I steeled myself, told myself I looked incredible in the dress and walked out of the bathroom with my head held high.
I started walking back to the bathroom and stopped in my tracks. There was a woman in our private dining area. Teddy looked on, just as disgusted as I felt. Maybe she was one of the girls in the bathroom, maybe not. But she was all over Laurie, and he had an arm happily slung around her. He was looking at her with that perfect charming smile.
The food arrived then and Teddy looked around for me. He saw me there, saw my expression and smiled warmly. I smiled back and walked over. I took my seat beside Teddy and smiled at the girl. She smiled brightly at me. “Oh my god, Talia Shaw. Hi.”
She was definitely one of the girls. “Hi,” I said, brusquely.
“I love your dress,” she gushed.
“You don’t think it looks like lingerie?” I asked, pointedly. She gasped a little and laughed.
“Not at all,” she shook her head. The waiter moved around her to deliver the last of our order and she backed away. “I’ll leave you to your dinner. Have a good night.”
“You too,” Laurie said, with a smile and a wave as she walked back to her table. She was sitting with another woman, the other from the bathroom, and two men.
We all dug in, silently. Teddy reminded me of a dinner of Chinese food that we’d had on the cruise ship and suddenly we were reminiscing about that trip. I wanted to talk to him about the road trip I’d just had but I also wanted to punish Laurie by giving all of my attention to Teddy. I knew it wasn’t his fault. Women were always going to throw themselves at him. But did he have to be so friendly? So charming?
Finally, we finished and decided to go to 1OAK. Laurie agreed to go, too. We arrived and were taken to a VIP area with bottle service from a very attractive Megan Fox type. Again, she was all over Laurie and he just happily took in her attention and gave it back to her. Teddy watched, seemingly just as bothered as I was.
“Are you having fun?” I asked Teddy, trying to seem enthusiastic.
“Not really,” he answered.
“I’m sorry. Let me wing woman you. Do you like the look of anyone?” I asked, looking for women on the dancefloor.
“What is he doing?” Teddy asked me, his eyes locked on Laurie.
I looked at him, tears threatening to form in my eyes. “We’re not exclusive. He can do what he wants.” But did he have to do it inches from me?
“That’s bullshit. Why are you making an excuse for him?”
“I’m not.”
“You deserve better than this, Talia,” he said.
“I know I do,” I answered. I looked away and out onto the dancefloor. I was looking for girls, but my gaze was caught by a group of guys. They were looking over at me as they danced, with bright smiles. They waved and screamed my name. I ducked a little, embarrassed. One of them, a very buff and scruffy guy, raised a drink to me. I raised mine back to him. He held his hands out in front of him, in a ballroom dance kind of gesture. He was asking me to dance.
“What are you looking at?” Teddy asked. I downed the rest of my drink.
“I’m going to dance,” I said.
He said something back, but I couldn’t hear him. I was already moving, past Laurie and the Megan Fox clone, out of the VIP area and to the boy. His friends cheered.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi,” I answered. I started dancing with him. He grabbed onto my hips with his big hands. He was so sweaty, I felt the sweat from his neck dripping down my back as I turned around and ground into him. Then he stopped dancing. I looked up and Laurie was there in front of us.
“Come with me,” Laurie said, pulling my hand. I went, with a scowl on my face. The group of boys booed.
“What?” he asked, as he pulled me in close on the dancefloor. We weren’t moving.
“Nothing.”
“Not nothing. You looked like you were about to start crying to Teddy about me and then you went off dancing with that idiot. I was just talking to that girl.”
“I don’t care.”
“Yes, you do. You’re jealous. Why are you jealous?” I shook my head. I didn’t want to answer that.
“Talia,” he said again, demanding an answer.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” I yelled. “You’re you.”
“You keep saying that. Just say what you mean,” he demanded.
“I don’t get why you want me. Why are you with me? You could be with anyone.” Like that girl who was throwing herself at you, I added in my mind.
He scoffed. “I don’t know if you realise this, but you could have anyone just as easy.” He threw a look back at Teddy. We were both jealous.
I waited. He rubbed his face and then started. “You’re… fuck… you’re talented and you’re intelligent and you’re funny. And, you’re just… light. Even though bad things have happened to you… you’re so full of light still. You light up every room you’re in. I hate how much interest this is getting. I hate it. But right now I don’t care.” He took a second. He brushed my hair back, running his hand down my check and grabbing my neck. “And fucking hell, you’re pretty.”
This relationship could end monstrously badly, I thought. Or stay and be the best thing that ever happened to me. I knew it could go either way. But when he said things like that, how was I supposed to not fall in love with him? I was looking at him with uncertainty when he kept going.
“You know I didn’t want anything serious.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, we’ve had that conversation.” He didn’t believe in serious things.
He smiled at me, amused by my irritation. “And, I still don’t. But… I don’t want to see you with anyone else.”
“I don’t want you with anyone else either.”
“Good. It’s settled then.”
“What’s settled?”
“While we’re doing… what we’re doing… we don’t see other people. Okay?” He curled a hand around the back of my neck and pulled me close.
I wanted to argue. ‘Isn’t that breaking your rules, Laurie?’ But, I didn’t want to lose the little piece of hope he was giving me. That an end to our relationship wasn’t inevitable. So, I said, “Okay.” And, he kissed me, his tongue seeking out mine, his hands on my neck, mine on his back, feeling the heat through his shirt.
We broke apart and I felt the flashes of th
e surrounding crowd taking photos with their phones. “The cameras,” I said.
“Fuck it,” he said, and kept holding me, dancing with me, kissing me on the dancefloor, until we stumbled our way out of the club. The gondolas weren’t going but Laurie talked them into starting up for us. We took a gondola ride in the early hours of the morning, when there was barely a soul to bother us, before finding our way back to the hotel room. We barely slept, taking the time to make each other feel good until we were too tired to keep going.
* * *
I woke up at 8am to room service breakfast in our room. Laurie had ordered it and then disappeared for a bit. When he came back he told me we were going to the Grand Canyon. He’d gone to the concierge to organise everything.
“You’re so sweet!” I gushed, kissing him between bites of pancakes. I thought we should ask Teddy considering we had bailed on him the night before. We went to Teddy’s room. We knocked three times and heard him groan. Laurie’s phone rang so he stepped aside to answer it. Teddy had given us a spare key so I just slipped right in. “Teddy?” I called. Another groan came from the bedroom. “Are you alone in there?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said.
I walked in. The room did not smell good. He’d kept drinking through the night and ordered late night room services too, I guessed. Something greasy and pungent. I moved to the balcony door and opened it up. He opened his eyes, looking at my outfit, a tan trench coat, black boots and red lips. Ari had said if I were ever to wear the coat then I needed to have red lips.
“Where you going?” Teddy asked.
“Grand Canyon. Laurie booked a car. You wanna come?” I sat on the bed beside him. He was faintly yellow, obviously heavily hungover.
“No. You go.”
“Okay. You want anything? Food? Water?” I offered. I saw he had paracetamol on his bedside table an old glass of water.
“I’m good. Have fun.” His eyes stayed closed.
I pushed his red hair from his forehead. “Bye, Teddy.”
I walked out. Laurie was off his phone and waiting.
“He’s not coming?” he asked. I shook my head. “Shall we?” He offered his elbow. I took it.
Bright Lights: Book One of the Talia Shaw Series Page 14
