She brushed through the guy and sat down on the girl’s lap, sinking right into her completely as if the poor young girl wasn’t there at all.
“That sure looked creepy from out here,” Tommy said and Jewel realized he had never watched that before. She had watched him do that but he had never seen her do it.
He settled into the guy’s body and both of them stuffed their packs under the seat in front of them.
The moment she had brushed through the guy, she knew Tommy had been right. They were eloping.
But it was when she sat down with the girl that she got the big surprise. Her name was Spring Stevens and she was still a virgin with boys. She and Bryan, the kid beside her, had never had sex, even though they had been dating for two years and she loved him. They had done a lot of heavy petting, but no sex.
And both of them were freshmen in college, both over eighteen.
But Spring had had lots of sex with other women, mostly her two best friends. And she wasn’t sure she was making the right decision at all marrying Bryan, even though she loved him.
Through them holding hands, Jewel could feel Bryan’s thoughts as well.
Bryan wasn’t sure either and was scared to death. She got lots of images of Bryan masturbating to pictures of Spring in a bathing suit. But actually seeing her nude had him scared to death.
Then she felt Tommy put Bryan to sleep and she did the same thing with Spring.
Both Spring and Bryan closed their eyes and put their heads back, acting like seasoned travelers. The woman pounding her laptop in the window seat beside them didn’t even notice and Jewel doubted the woman would even care.
Jewel could now only sense Spring and Bryan’s deep thoughts, nothing else, like a light background noise.
“Well, that worked,” Tommy said.
“Don’t you think this is sad?” Jewel asked, squeezing Tommy’s hand.
“Real sad,” he said. “The poor kid is going to be a mess the moment he sees her without clothes and compared to her girlfriends, he’s going to be a bumbling fool.”
“But they seem to be in love,” Jewel said. “And they seem to be good kids from good families.”
“Yeah, they are in love, that much is clear. Maybe for the use of their bodies for the flight, we can implant some pointers to help them along.”
Jewel laughed. “We could let them wake up with his hand in her crotch and her hand in his crotch.”
“If I do that now,” Tommy said, “whose crotch would I really be touching? Yours or hers?”
Jewel laughed. “Your hand would go right through her crotch. Mine, on the other hand, your hand did some nice things to last night.”
“Oh, yeah, good point,” Tommy said. “His hand would feel her crotch, my hand would feel yours. We might want to wake them up some and test that.”
“Later,” she said, laughing. “Watch the safety lecture. We might need to know what to do in case of a water landing.”
“Between Missoula and Las Vegas?” Tommy asked, laughing.
Jewel leaned her head out of the sleeping Spring and faced the side of Bryan’s head. “You just never know. Now come on out of there and kiss me.”
He did.
And the kiss lasted until they were in the air. And she didn’t want it to end even then.
TWENTY-THREE
JUST AS THEY had done on the drive from Buffalo Jump into Missoula, Tommy and Jewel talked most of the way to Las Vegas. They kept both kids asleep and when the woman next to Jewel started to say she wanted to go to the restroom and had actually touched Spring’s shoulder to wake her, Jewel just put the woman to sleep as well.
Tommy could tell, because he was touching Jewel, that the woman really hadn’t needed to go to the restroom, but only wanted to try to make a cell phone call from the bathroom.
“Wow, she’s a piece of work,” Tommy said. The real sense he had gotten from the woman was cold. Ice cold. She was in a sex-less marriage for looks only and cared only about her job and the status of what people thought of her.
“There is no world but her world,” Jewel said, shaking her head. “At least these two kids eloping are worried about what their parents might think and their friends. That woman cares for no one but herself and her job and the things her money will buy her.”
“So we live trying to help people,” Tommy said. “And then there are people like her.”
“I can see why K.J. laughed when we asked if everyone ended up Ghost Agents like us.”
“Yeah, now that I think about it,” Tommy said, “that would be pretty silly. And make a real mess in the world in very short order.”
At that moment the flight attendant indicated they should start getting ready for landing.
“What should we do about these kids?” Jewel asked.
Tommy had been wondering the same thing at times during the flight. “How about we implant some sexual pointers for them to try in their hotel tonight. Give them a running shot at enjoying that.”
“I like that idea,” Jewel said. “But how about we also plant a few suggestions that they don’t need to get married here, that if they love each other, they can go home and get married with their families and friends. They can use this trip as an engagement trip.”
Tommy smiled at her. “You’re a real romantic, you know that?”
“I am,” Jewel said, smiling back at him. “And I love reading romance novels. So now the truth is out.”
He laughed. He really liked how amazing Jewel was and the more he found out about her, the more he liked.
“So we give these kids a running chance at a decent life,” he said.
“I think we should,” she said. “Seems like the least we can do for them after these last four hours.”
“Let’s start to wake them up and plant the ideas and sexual hints as we taxi toward the terminal,” he said. “Then before anyone gets up, let’s move up front and try to be the first out.”
“Yeah, getting tapped in this crush could be more than I want to know about far too many people.”
“My fear exactly,” he said.
Ten minutes later, they were on the ground safely in Las Vegas. The sun was low over the mountains from what Tommy could tell out the windows. And it looked like a clear day.
Tommy slowly worked to bring Bryan up from his deep sleep. And as he did, he planted some deep suggestions about how to please Spring. And how to help himself last longer to please her as well.
And then as Bryan woke up completely, he gave him the strong idea that they should call this trip their engagement trip and go home and get married if they still loved each other after having a few days alone together.
Tommy was pretty sure that they would.
“Ready,” Jewel said.
They both grabbed their packs of clothes and as Jewel stood, she brushed the woman asleep near the window one more time.
“What did you do?” Tommy asked.
“Made sure she would sleep through everyone getting off the plane,” Jewel said as they headed up the aisle, doing their best to not touch anyone as they went past. “This flight goes on to Los Angeles. She might wake up there.”
“Perfect,” Tommy said, laughing. “I’m starting to really love being a Ghost Agent.”
“I thought you said this morning that we were superheroes,” Jewel said, laughing.
Tommy glanced back at the two kids who were waking up, surprised they were already in Las Vegas. Two kids who might now have a much better start into their future.
“You know,” he said. “I think we just might be.”
TWENTY-FOUR
GETTING OUT OF the Las Vegas airport was a lot harder than getting through the Missoula airport. Jewel couldn’t believe how busy the place was, and how narrow some of the hallways were, often cluttered with slot machines.
She ended up walking through or brushing a good ten people before they got to the taxi stand. Most of them were just regular people, but one guy was working some sort of scam she di
dn’t want to think about at all.
Tommy had the same problem.
“There has to be a better way to get around,” Jewel said. “Or a way to block people’s thoughts when we want to.”
“We need to ask K.J. when we see him,” Tommy said.
“How will he know we are here?” Jewel asked as they stood off to one side of all the massive rope and chains that directed people in a steady stream toward taxies.
“I have a hunch he’ll know,” Tommy said. “But let’s find a room and get settled and then shout out for him.”
“And you have some ideas on how to find a room?” she asked. She sure didn’t, but clearly Tommy had been here before and had been thinking about this.
“I do,” he said.
Then he pointed to a taxi that was actually a van pulling up at the taxi post labeled 61. “Our ride somewhere. We’ll see how many people are riding in the van and where they are going before jumping in.”
She nodded and they walked through the ropes to a place out of the way, but close to the taxi van.
Around them, the warm air felt good to Jewel. It wasn’t a hot day, but after being so cold at the wreck, this felt wonderful.
Way down the line an airport worker was directing people to taxi stands. As it turned out, only one guy was going to end up riding in the van, and he was headed for the MGM Grand on the strip.
“Perfect,” Tommy said.
The guy climbed in the front seat beside the driver and Tommy and Jewel climbed into the second seat.
As the taxi left the airport, Jewel was stunned at the huge buildings of the strip she could see and how close it was. The postcards and photos of Vegas didn’t do the place justice.
And the late-evening sun was lighting up some of the tall buildings, making the scene even stranger.
Even though the buildings looked close, it still took almost fifteen minutes to get to the big unloading area in front of the MGM Grand. Jewel was overwhelmed and just gawking at everything, from the tall, ornate building shooting into the air from the desert to the sparkling lights and the size of everything.
They climbed out of the van and stood against a decorative pillar to one side under the massive parking area that looked like it was six or seven cars wide. Jewel just kept looking at the incredible bustle and numbers of people moving here and there. About half of the people wore blaring loud shorts and loud-colored shirts and many had drinks in their hands.
Some men wore expensive suits and the women with them wore slinky, expensive-looking dresses. They were overdressed, clearly trying to impress someone, or headed to some formal event. Jewel just felt out of place completely in her Montana comfort white blouse and jeans, even though no one could see her.
“Looks like we got here at a peak time,” Tommy said.
“Top check-in time,” Jewel said.
“Afraid so. This is going to be hard to get from here to the front desk without walking through some people,” Tommy said.
“Just get us a good room and that will make up for it,” Jewel said, smiling.
“Stay close to me,” he said.
“I like doing that,” she said.
He laughed and headed across the unloading area toward the huge entrance glass doors.
They made it to the doors without touching anyone thanks to Tommy being able to almost outthink where a person was headed.
On the other side of the doors, it was the sounds that hit her first. Fantastically loud noises of slot machines and hundreds and hundreds of people talking and laughing and having a great time.
The lobby area of the MGM Grand was exactly that: Grand. Huge marble columns seemed to hold the ceiling up and bright chandelier lighting filled the entire space with bright, warm light. Most of the flooring was a brown and gold and tan marble and all the colors were gold or muted browns.
A massive curved wooden and gold and marble front desk with a good fifty people behind it stretched along one wall with lines of tourists waiting in places to check in or get other services such as show tickets and such.
Tommy led her over quickly to the wall area on the right of the big room from the front door and toward the front desk. He found an alcove that was out of any traffic pattern and stopped.
“Wait here,” he said, handing her his pack. “Got to secure a room for us. Then we can get out of these crowds until we learn to handle it a little better.”
She nodded and watched as he went around to the end of the big counter and stood there a moment, seeming to study the people behind the counter. Then he went through the counter and toward one woman standing near a back countertop, watching. Jewel had a hunch she was the front desk manager.
The woman wore what was clearly an MGM manager outfit, with a trim brown skirt, a tan blouse, and a nametag. She had her hair pulled back up and tight on her head and had glasses around her neck on a chain.
As Tommy got close to her, he reached up and touched her shoulder. Then he nodded and disappeared inside her.
Then, less than five seconds later, he came back out and stood, his hand touching her shoulder.
Jewel was going to have to ask him later what it was like being in control of a woman like that. Jewel had a hunch that anything Tommy might say might get him in trouble.
A moment later the woman, with Tommy still touching her shoulder, moved over to a terminal and started typing. It took about five minutes, including the woman printing out two keys and putting them in an envelope and placing them on the back counter in a special file there.
Finally Tommy nodded and then walked the woman back to where she was and took his hand away. The woman stood there as if nothing had happened, watching her clerks help customers.
Tommy stood beside her for a full minute, then nodded and smiled at Jewel and headed her way.
“Got us a suite,” he said as she handed him his bag back.
“How did you do that?”
He laughed. “Just had her believe that a large whale, meaning a big spender, was coming in later or tomorrow or maybe the next day and they had to reserve a room for him just in case.”
“So we have a suite for three days?” Jewel asked. “In this place?”
“Only a two thousand dollar a night suite,” Tommy said. “But we’re dead, so I think we can afford it.”
“I don’t want to take that kind of money from the hotel,” Jewel said, shocked. She didn’t feel right doing that. She didn’t need a suite, just a nice hotel room would be fine.
Tommy laughed. “They never charge for these rooms,” Tommy said. “That’s just the rack rate to make the whales feel like they are getting something when they are given the room for free. The rooms are not designed to actually rent out. They are always comp rooms.”
“Oh,” she said. “How did you know that?”
“Always thought it would be interesting to be a professional poker player,” he said. “So I studied all this stuff while I was in a boring semester in college. Back in the big poker craze days.”
“Did it lead to one of the drunken trips down here you mentioned?”
He laughed. “Nope. You can’t drink and play cards. This is my first time back after doing all that study.”
“I’m afraid you can’t use the card part this time either,” she said. “But if this suite is as good as I think it’s going to be, I’ll reward you in other ways.”
He leaned over and kissed her, then said, “I’ll take you up on that.”
TWENTY-FIVE
TOMMY HAD TO be honest, the suite was so big and spectacular, it even surprised him. Four huge rooms, two of them bedrooms, each with large bathrooms. A giant sunken living room with large leather furniture that looked almost too expensive to sit on, a large dining area that could seat twenty easily around what looked like a pure oak dining table, and a kitchen area. Plus there was a stocked wet bar to one side of the living room.
Back in his college days, this would have been a kid’s dream come true. It wasn’t bad now.
Everything in every room was done in brown tones, with gold trim that made the place feel comfortable, yet ornate. Huge windows, with the drapes pulled open, looked out over Las Vegas toward the center of town.
“Now this is amazing,” Jewel had said when she saw the big tub in one bathroom. “I’ve died and gone to heaven.”
“Died, yes,” Tommy said, laughing. “Not sure if a suite at the MGM Grand is heaven. But I have to admit, it’s darned close.”
So after taking the grand tour and hanging their clothes up in one of the closets, she sat down on the bed and asked what they should do next.
Tommy had all sorts of ideas that included that big bathtub and the huge bed. But he was getting hungry and he knew Jewel was as well.
“I have some ideas about that big bed, but I think we need to do a few other things first to get settled.”
“Food?” she asked.
He nodded. “How about we call K.J. and see if he’ll come and give us some pointers on how to get around in a crowded city. And get decent food.”
Jewel nodded. “A plan.”
He took her hand and they went out into the living room. She sat on one of the big couches, he sat in a big overstuffed chair that felt even too big for his frame.
“K.J. we’re here!” Tommy shouted up to the ceiling. He had no idea why he shouted at the ceiling, but he did.
Nothing.
So he shouted again.
Nothing.
“Maybe he can’t hear us,” Jewel said.
“I can hear your bellowing just fine,” a voice said from out of nowhere that was clearly K.J. “Give a guy a second to put on some pants and I’ll be right there.”
Jewel laughed and Tommy just shook his head.
A half-minute later K.J. appeared, his hair wet and his face flushed. He had on a tight pair of jeans that left little to the imagination, a frilly pink shirt, and his nails were painted pink now.
“Sorry, bad timing?” Tommy said.
“Nah,” K.J. said, waving his hand limply, “the orgy was just winding down and if I didn’t get out of the hot tub soon, I was going to prune up like bad fruit in a hot sun.” Then he looked around. “You two learned some quick ropes I see. Nice place.”
Smith's Monthly #10 Page 16
