Page 5

Yes, the point of this trip was to forget about how I quit my job with absolutely zero backup plan. Last night the drinks did the trick and today I’m too hot and too exhausted to give it any thought. The only thing on my mind now is wondering how I can eat and take a nap at the same time.

“I’m going to need a nap, and you’re going to need more sunscreen.” I reach my arm over, poking my finger into her shoulder. Her light skin is currently holding a light tan but I know from many beach and pool days that at any moment it could turn red.

“I should have brought that pizza down with us,” she ignores me.

“What pizza?”

“I found a slice of pizza in the mini-fridge this morning.” She turns her head to look at me now, the first movement she’s made in an hour and I throw my arms over my face as my chest shakes with laughter.

“Damn, I wish I remembered eating pizza. I hope it was from that retro place.” My stomach grumbles in response to the thought. “Run back up and get it,” I tease her.

“I would, but after wearing those shoes last night, my dogs are barkin’.” She lifts her leg towards the sky, holding her thigh with her hands while shaking her foot.

“Alright, I’ve got a few more minutes out here then I’m done.” It's only the beginning of May, so I guess by Vegas standards it's not really that hot. But when you’ve spent the last eight years in The Bay Area, where it's pretty much always windy, and even when it's warm there's a slight chill, the 84°F feels like the middle of the sun.

“Okay. Fifteen more minutes, food, nap, food, club. Sound like a plan?”

“Ready, break,” I clap.

“The music in here sucks.”

“Definitely not the vibe,” Taylor says, curling her lip.

“You want to finish these drinks and then bail?” Before the words have even made it to her ear, Taylor chugs the contents of her mixed drink.

“Your turn,” she says, smiling and eagerly nodding her head towards me. I’m already feeling the buzz and my drink is still three fingers tall but the eighties love songs mashed with techno beats are more annoying than fun right now. I bite down on my straw and suck down the rest of my drink while Taylor gives me a five-second countdown. “Nice.” She takes the glass from me and dumps it on an empty tabletop nearby.

I swivel around looking for the best way out of the patio bar, spotting a door right past a group of men to my right. The space is so cramped, I have to squeeze between the men and a long high-top table. “Excuse me,” I say. More out of habit than anything because it’s not like they can really hear me.

“Hey,” the tallest guy of the bunch shouts at me. His breath reeks of stale beer and he’s yelling louder than necessary. “Where ya headed?” I don’t respond, but still give a polite smile as I push past him. I stop and turn back to face him when he’s put a hand up in front of Taylor. In her heels, she’s as tall as he is. “That’s alright, I’d rather bring you home anyway,” he says to her.

She tilts her head and flashes her full, beautiful smile and I just know in a matter of seconds this poor guy is going to be licking his wounds. “Baby, if you had three wishes from a genie, you couldn’t take me home,” she says before patting him on the head. I cover my mouth to stop my laugh from flying out as she passes the guy and we make our way outside.

As we walk down the Las Vegas strip for what feels like an eternity, I have to hold on to Taylor’s arm so I don’t fall over laughing. Aside from the matching scars on our forearms, from a rafting incident gone wrong while night swimming one summer, we couldn’t be more opposite.

Her sea-green eyes and pale skin are a stark contrast to my dark eyes and year-round deep summer tan. Never mind the fact that she has a good five inches on me in my 5’4” frame, but her confidence matches her height—and then some. You would think after fifteen years together I would have picked up some of her wild, carefree spirit but I’m starting to think there are just certain parts of myself that will never change.

The alcohol has been holding up its end of the bargain. For one weekend, I wanted to not be plagued by my anxiety. I wanted to live a weekend free of feeling that tightness in my throat. No headaches or stomach aches. I wanted to forget the dreaded feeling of being every bit the disappointment that I feared I would be to my parents. I’ve been a pack mule with the amount of stress I’ve carried from that job, and quitting it might have just worsened the load. But right now, I won’t think about that. I won’t think about any of it. I focus on the feeling of the alcohol warming me as it works its way through my system and tells my brain that everything is fine. At this moment, my only concern is for my feet because I look around and realize that Taylor has been leading us the opposite way of our hotel.

“Oh my God, Taylor! Our hotel is the other way.” I stop in the middle of the overly crowded sidewalk.

“Be so for real right now Mila, we’re not going back to our hotel yet.” Her feet stop a few steps ahead of me when she realizes I’m no longer by her side. “The night is still young.” Her arms fly up over her head and she accidentally whacks a man with her clutch. “Oops, sorry,” she shouts after him before turning around to face me. “There's still plenty of time to make bad decisions.” Her hand reaches out to me and where she fails at wiggling her eyebrows she succeeds in flashing me her wolfish grin.

“Great.” I groan with a forced smile. “So, where are we going now?”

“You know the lady that I do the meal prepping for?” Taylor has fifty or so odd jobs, so it's hard to keep up with all her gigs, but with a slightly confused expression I nod along anyway. “Well turns out, her husband's company opened this new club, and I texted her on our way here. She was able to get our names on the list. Apparently, it's super exclusive and practically impossible to get into.”

The hotel bed is calling my name but I can tell she's excited so I rally. “I’m going to need a Vodka Red Bull,” I say pointing a finger at her.

“How about three and a kamikaze to top her off?” We link our arms together and stagger off down the strip.

Taylor givesour names to a man who looks like he could be security for WWE and we walk right in, past the line, up the stairs, and into the most extravagant roof-top club I’ve ever seen. With the sun having set hours ago, it creates a dark indoor nightclub feel. Cool blue and purple lights dance above and the music is so loud I can feel it vibrating in my chest. We lock hands and have to make our way through the dance floor to get to the bar that sits on a raised platform in the middle. Taylor flags down a bartender to order our drinks as I lean against the bar taking in our surroundings. Next to me, a woman is shouting at her crying friend, “He’s such an idiot, screw him, seriously!” And even though I’m in no position to judge, I’m glad that's not my situation tonight. I give the crying woman a pinched smile before noticing she's holding her heels in one hand and a drink in the other.

Pata sucia.

I continue scanning the club and my eyes catch on a bachelorette party in one of the VIP areas. Dicks everywhere. Penis headbands, penis straws, sunglasses with a vibrator in the middle. One woman is even waving around an ejaculating penis wand. I have no idea how she managed to sneak that in here, but good for her.

Taylor's blonde head of hair whirls around with all of our drinks in hand. “Cheers, bitch!” She screams over the loud music. I take the cocktail, set it down on the bar with one hand, and hold out the shot glass with the other. “To us, and our last night in Vegas, may tomorrow be filled with maximum buffet options and minimal headaches.” We cheers our glasses and throw them back.