Take Me Home: Chapter Eight: Dice I'm Tossin'

Dice I’m Tossin’

          Sitting in the black Lincoln that was driving them to The Palms, Carrie looked out the window. Lights surrounded her, and the excitement was building by the minute. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Steven looking over at her. Turning towards him, she looked into his eyes and saw happiness.

          “Thanks for letting me come along,” she said with a half smile on her face.

          “Well it wouldn’t be much fun without you. I just hope it’s not too much,” he replied.

          “Too much? No. I’m excited to be able to go and experience new things, especially with you. It’s definitely a change of pace from Rillmont, but I love it,” Carrie replied, grabbing his hand. In return, he gave her a smirk. It didn’t take too long until they were pulling up right outside the enormous hotel and casino. The driver came around and opened the door. By the time she had taken Steven’s hand to exit the car, their bags were already on a cart being pushed away by the bellhop. Carrie was not used to this, my any means. People taking her bags, opening car doors for her, taking her to Vegas, it was all new. I feel on top of the world.

          After checking in, they rode the elevator to their suite. Stan, their bellhop, opened the door and allowed them to enter. Immediately Carrie walked to the window which provided a breathtaking view of the strip. Steven tipped Stan, and closed the door behind him.

          “What do you think?” he asked, walking up to her.

          “I think this is going to be the best new experience yet,” she replied, unable to tear her gaze away from the floor to ceiling windows. Chuckling, Steven grabbed their bags and brought them to the bedroom. Eyeing the bar, Carrie helped herself to a drink, and took a deep breath. She was really in Vegas, and Steven was sharing a hotel room with her. They were about to party and gamble for four days. She had a devil-smirk plastered on her face as Steven came back into the living room. He was on his phone again, but this time it didn’t sound like work.

          “Will do. We’ll meet you there,” he said into the phone, and hung up. “That was Adele. She and Peter are over at The Bellagio, and want us to join them,” he explained.

          “Oh, alright. I’ll just go get dressed. What do I need to bring with me?” she asked, finishing her drink.

          “Don’t forget your ID, and I’ll give you some cash,” he replied. Carrie frowned, and looked back at him.

          “What?” he asked, puzzled.

          “Money. I just hope you know that I’ll pay you back for everything. I’ll work for your friend Sandra for ten years if that’s what it takes,” she said, with a hint of stubbornness in her voice. He just looked at her and raised his eyebrows.

          “You’re company is enough for me. I don’t need the money. Money will always come and go, but you are much more important to me than money. You’re not an object, you’re someone, and someone who is becoming very special to me,” Steven said, completely seriously. She ran her fingers through her hair, nervously. Taking a few steps back to where he stood, she gave him a kiss, and hugged him. The two of them stood there for a minute, until Steven pulled away.

          “Come on now, this is supposed to be a fun night. Get ready, and we can head over to The Bellagio,” he said encouragingly. Carrie nodded, and turned to the bedroom. She found her suitcase on the bed, and opened it to find a dress for the evening. Finding a blue-green dress that was shorter and sleeveless, she got dressed. With her dress, she put on simple black heels that were decently comfortable. She figured they would be doing a decent amount of walking between hotels and stuff. As a final touch, she took out the post earrings she had been wearing and replaced them with new silver hoops. Before she was ready, she went into the bathroom to fix her hair from the plane ride. Putting some product in her brown wavy locks, she shook her hair side to side. Good enough.

          Emerging into the living room area of their suite, she saw Steven. He was sitting on the couch, drink in hand and watching the television. CNN was on, and of course he actually paid attention to what they said. Carrie watched much different shows, and very rarely watched the news.

          “I’m ready,” she announced, waiting to meet his eyes.

          “Beautiful,” he exclaimed, those eyes taking all of her in. He used the remote to click off the TV. They proceeded to leave their suite, and headed over to meet up with Peter and Adele. Once arriving at The Bellagio, they spotted Peter at one of the many blackjack tables. He was smoking a cigarette, staring intently at his cards. Steven immediately greeted him, asking where Adele was.

          “She met up with some friends that are here from California. I think she’s inviting them to our hotel later, but I’m not sure. That woman has a mind of her own,” he commented. Seeing as Adele was not answering her phone, Steven and Carrie decided to join Peter.

          Carrie had no idea how to play blackjack, and wasn’t even playing with her money. Peter began to explain the rules of the game to her.

          “The goal is to get to twenty-one. Aces can be worth one or eleven and all face cards are worth ten. You get dealt two cards, and are playing against the dealer. If you are dealt a low number, then you say hit, and the dealer will give you another card. If you think you’re close enough to twenty-one, or don’t want another card, you just say stay. But when you say hit or stay, you have to make the motion with your hand. It’s a casino thing, the cameras need to see it,” he explained. Carrie was nodding, trying to take it all in.

          “If you go over twenty-one then you bust, which means you lose,” he continued.

          “Okay, I think I get the general idea,” she replied.

          “There’s also splitting, double down, and a few other things, but I’ll help ya out when the time comes,” he offered. Smiling back at the man she literally had never had a single conversation with, she was given cash from Steven to exchange for chips. This is going to be an expensive blackjack lesson.

          They played for around two hours at that same table, drinking and enjoying the game. Carrie wasn’t winning, but she wasn’t horribly losing either. Steven was epically losing, but still having fun, while Peter was hit and miss all night. Every time she would win, she beamed with excitement and clapped for herself. Steven laughed every time she did this, thinking it was cute.

          After blackjack, they went over to the slots. Carrie blew through $100 in a half hour, and decided she didn’t like slot machines.  

          “At least I can lose money slower at the blackjack table,” she explained to Steven, who held back a laugh. Walking towards the front of the casino, Steven’s phone rang.

          “Okay, see you soon,” he said, hanging up the phone. “Adele just got back to our hotel, and wants us to find Peter and bring him back with us. She said she has a few friends over in their room and wants us to come,” he explained, craning his neck to find Peter. After about fifteen minutes they found him by an elephant-themed slot machine, losing.

          With Peter in tow, they headed back to their hotel. Even though it was pretty late, around midnight, the streets were full of life. The city that never sleeps. It’s definitely true. Carrie shook her head in amusement. It was a ridiculous scene compared to life in Michigan. On their way to their hotel, she spotted quite a few things that she figured were probably illegal in Rillmont. It was like a giant party in the streets, filled with so many different kinds of people. Like a potluck, where everyone brings something to share. This was similar to that, because there were rich southerners, Beverly Hills bitches, general tourists, different nationalities, and multiple Elvis Presleys.

          Finally they arrived back at their hotel, and the three of them entered the elevator. Peter and Adele’s suite was right across the hall from Steven and Carrie’s. Entering their neighbor’s room, twenty random people occupied the space. In her feathery orange dress, Adele Fletcher stood in the middle of the room, talking intently to a man who looked to be in his forties. There was definitely a party going on here, the music accompanying the few people dancing. Steven went over to the table, and poured him and Carrie a drink. Handing it to her, he raised his glass.

          “Here’s to the night, your first party in Sin City,” he said, clinking his glass against hers.

          The party continued, and Carrie was having a great time. They danced, sang, drank, talked, and didn’t have a care in the world that night. Once again, she let the now familiar feeling of letting go, swim through her veins. She got lost in the music, once again. Steven came up to her a while later and gave her a casual kiss. Sighing loudly, he scrunched his nose.

          “I hate this song,” he said. It was an old hip hop song from 2006. Carrie winked at him and walked away. Finding where the stereo was, she decided to play a different song. She pulled her phone out of her clutch and plugged it in. The other night she spent a long time downloading good music to her phone that Jay and insisted she purchase.

          In a matter of seconds, Joan Jett was singing I Love Rock ‘N’ Roll through the speakers. Realizing she had a few screams of excitement from their party crowd, she cranked it up. Singing and dancing her way back to Steven, he laughed. Carrie loved to dance, and he knew that. Knowing the alcohol she consumed was giving her a great amount of courage, she stepped onto the coffee table. To the lyrics she knew by heart, she began to sing and dance as the main attraction in the hotel room. She was having fun. Everyone joined her in singing, and Steven was trying his hardest to keep a straight face. He joined in too, raising his glass to her.

          She wanted to remember this feeling, and this memory. Would her best friend Allison approve of this? Probably not. Was it the smartest decision? No. Was she being responsible? Definitely not. Was she enjoying life? Yes. In that moment, it was all that mattered. Eventually the party died down, once Adele accidentally fell asleep on the couch. Peter had carried her into the bedroom, and said good night to the guests.

          Steven and Carrie returned to their own suite and soon fell asleep. After flying from Florida to Nevada, going out gambling, and partying all night, they were pretty beat. It took all of thirty seconds for Carrie to fall asleep, still in her dress and on top of the covers. Covering her up, Steven tried to make her comfortable before passing out next to her.

          The next morning, Steven woke up to the smell of breakfast. Sitting up, he noticed he was still in his suit from the previous day. Finding a black t-shirt and some jeans, he wandered out of the bedroom. Carrie was sitting at the breakfast bar eating pancakes.

          “Morning hun,” she said, taking another bite of pancakes dripping with syrup.

          “Morning. You ordered room service I see. Did you get me bacon?” he asked smiling as he ran his fingers through his messy bed hair.

          “Yep,” she answered, “and the Tylenol is right there,” she pointed towards a pill bottle on the counter. He slowly grabbed it, popping three of them into his mouth. Sitting down next to her, he grabbed a few pancakes and some bacon. Food tasted good after a night of heavy drinking, and his stomach thanked him. Having hangover breakfast together was actually pretty nice. He reminded her of the little performance she gave the night before, and she blushed red, but laughed.

          “So what’s the plan for today?” Carrie asked, finishing her coffee.

          “Not sure, I’m guessing Adele has some sort of lunch plans for us, and probably plans for the evening. But considering we have a few hours until she’ll be expecting us to call…” he trailed off, putting his hand around her waist and leaving kisses along her neck.

          Jay was laying on one of the lounges by the pool, on a sunny Monday morning. Chase was nearby, playing guitar and talking to one of his female companions who still hadn’t left. It was mid morning, and he had a few hours to relax before he had to be somewhere. Feeling the sweat form on his chest, he decided it was time for another drink. Heading to the bar on the patio, he prepared his second Bloody Mary. Nutritious breakfast.

          Chase and his friend had moved by the bar to talk with Jay.

          “That was a pretty decent party for a Sunday, don’t you think?” asked Chase. Jay was wearing his sunglasses, so Chase didn’t see the glare from behind the lenses.

          “Yeah, it was. But I really didn’t want guests coming back to my place after. I’ve got places to be today,” he replied, looking at the girl. His band-mate just shook his head, figuring that Jay was in one of his moods.

          Not wanting to be by Chase and his female who was sucking his face off, he returned to his lounge. Enjoying his drink and looking down at the beach, he focused on the blue waves rolling in. This triggered a memory he had worked hard to not think about.

          Steven and Charlette stood by the waves, kissing, being a couple and whatnot. Jay had his arm around a beautiful blonde, Charlie. He loved her, deeply. She turned her head to look at him with a smirk on her face.

          “They’re so cute; I just know they are going to get married someday. They’re too young now, but down the line I’m sure it will happen,” she said to him. Jay’s heart skipped a beat, and he tentatively asked,

          “Do you ever want to be married someday?”

          “What? Why sure, of course I do. Someday I want to. Why not? It’s such as beautiful thing, marriage. Being with one person the rest of your life, and knowing they’ll always be there for you. It’s comforting isn’t it?” Charlie responded. At that moment, Jay returned his gaze to his younger brother Steven, and then abruptly turned to leave.

          “I got to go. I’ll call you later,” he said, heading back to his house. That was the day it started.

          Shaking his head, Jay took another big sip from his breakfast in a glass. Shoving the memory back down, he grabbed his phone and played music, drowning away the thoughts.