#1 Fan (26 page)
Authors: Andrew Hess
Evan knew what Las Vegas looked like from pictures, videos, movies and T.V., but nothing prepared him for his trip. Waters ordered a black limo to pick them up from the airport and drive them to the hotel. It was by far the largest hotel Evan stayed in. Mr. Waters led the way to the front desk. Audrey followed closely behind with Evan bringing up the rear. He felt plagued by exhaustion, letting his chin dip until it hit his chest.
The walk to the front desk was a bit longer than Evan expected. Following the others allowed his thoughts to trail off, wishing Sara was there to enjoy Vegas with him. Knowing how much she loved partying with Julie, it would be a perfect setting for Evan to step out of his comfort zone and show Sara he could be just as much fun.
Before Evan realized he reached the front desk, he walked right into the woman in front of him. Audrey stumbled and started to fall. Evan quickly dropped to his knees, catching her before she hit the floor.
“Nice catch,” Audrey said while bracing for impact.
“Thanks…I mean sorry.” Evan helped Audrey to her feet and stood with his hands on her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
She smiled at him and inched closer. “Yes, thanks to you.”
“You almost hit the floor because of me. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She patted his arms and squeezed his muscles momentarily. “Looks like the training I sent you to paid off.”
“Uh thanks, I think.” Evan was happy to see Mr. Waters walk towards them seconds later. He had three small card holders in his hand. He gave one to each and told them their room numbers.
“I say we head up to our rooms, unpack and meet down here in two hours for dinner.” They agreed and headed for the elevator together.
Evan slowly walked down the hall finding his room with ease. Even though dinner sounded great, his body was ready to give out on him from traveling. He entered the room and traveled down the brief hall, finding the nice comfy bed waiting for him. The chrome headboard surprised him as it rested against the blue and white wall. As much as he wanted to collapse on the bed, he was in awe of the room. A beige comforter was tucked in tightly under a blue, white, and black patterned throw pillow that rested comfortably against another navy blue pillow. The marble top desk sat in the corner of the room near the windows, which gave a great view of some of the other hotels and the giant fountain. The room was perfect, well…nearly perfect. Nothing was complete without Sara to share it with. He wanted to show her the room, but didn’t want it to seem like he was rubbing it in her face.
He dug out his phone and called first. “Hey, I wasn’t sure if I’d get a hold of you with the whole time zone difference thing.”
“Did you get an earlier flight or something?”
“Actually, there was a change of plans. Waters found a convention in Vegas for us to promote the book during and flew us out here for a couple of days before heading out to Seattle.” There was silence on the other end of the phone. “Sara, are you there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“Are you okay?”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay? My fiancé had an unexpected trip to Las Vegas, and I’m stuck here in New York.”
Evan knew this was a bad idea, but felt telling Sara the truth would be his best move. “You know this wasn’t my call.”
“Yeah, I know.” The anger behind her words was the mark of jealousy Evan was not accustomed to hearing.
“You’re mad?”
“No....” There was hesitancy in her voice. “Actually, yeah I am. I hate that you don’t have a say in where you go on tour or control the dates you’re on tour. You should have some right to say, no I don’t wanna go there.”
“They’re the ones who setup and manage the tour. They’re the ones in charge. I have to listen to them or else they’ll cancel the tour and won’t sign me to another.”
“Fine,” she reluctantly said. “Just do me a favor, and stay out of trouble. Vegas is called Sin City for a reason.”
“You have nothing to worry about. I’m not a party animal, and I’m not a big gambler either.” Evan walked to the window and saw the fountain going off. “I should get going. Waters wants us to meet for dinner.”
“Remember what I said; just be careful.”
“Don’t worry; I will.”
Evan hung up the phone and took a brief video of the fountain before taking a shower and passing out on the bed.
A couple of hours later, Evan woke to the sound of someone knocking on his door. He stood up to answer it, forgetting he was only wearing a towel. He pressed down on the gold handle and found Audrey standing with her hand in the air, ready to knock again. She was wearing tight leather pants and a black long sleeve that hung off her shoulders.
“Audrey, what are you doing here?” He noticed her eyes looking him over from head to toe. Realizing he was only wearing the towel, he walked back into the room and searched for his clothes.
“Please, don’t rush to get dressed on my account. Besides, I’m enjoying the view.”
Evan picked out a pair of boxers and slid them on under the towel. “What do you want Audrey?” He found a pair of nice khakis to throw on and entered the bathroom with the door half closed.
You were late for dinner. We tried calling your cell and the room a few times before Waters asked me to look for you.”
“Sorry about that. I must’ve been more tired than I thought. I should be down in few minutes.”
“No rush; I don’t mind waiting.” Evan opened the bathroom door and found Audrey sitting on his bed with her legs crossed.
“I should be ready to go in a minute.” He grabbed a green button down shirt from his garment bag and quickly buttoned it up so Audrey would stop staring. “All set; let’s go.”
Evan hurried out of the room with Audrey slowly following him. They took the elevator down to the first floor, finding Mr. Waters waiting impatiently in the lobby.
“Finally, it’s about time,” he snapped.
“Sorry,” Evan replied. “I overslept and didn’t realize the time.” He looked around as if expecting the restaurant to be right around the corner. “So where are we going for dinner?”
Waters had a sly smirk on his face. He had something up his sleeve and Evan wanted to know what was going on. “I have something special planned tonight.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Just trust us,” Audrey said as she grabbed Evan’s hand. She led the group out the front doors to an awaiting limo.
Once they entered and pulled away from the hotel, Mr. Waters reached for the bottle of champagne. “So Evan, I have a slight confession to make.” He popped the cork on the bottle, letting some of the bubbles fizz out into the first flute glass. “We’re not here for a convention.” He continued pouring the champagne until there were three flutes filled.
“Then why are we in Vegas,” Evan questioned.
Waters handed out the glasses to both Evan and Audrey. “We are here to celebrate your upcoming nuptials. What I mean is, welcome to your bachelor party.”
Evan was floored by the realization Mr. Waters and Audrey planned a bachelor party for him, and flew him out to Vegas. He knew when Sara found out about it, he was a dead man. He just hoped the party didn’t get too out of hand.
Waters kept quiet about what he had planned for the night, but Evan knew they were going to dinner first. He sipped the champagne slowly at first, but found his glass empty within minutes.
“Would you like some more,” Audrey asked as she grabbed the bottle. Evan nodded allowing more to be added.
By the time he finished the second drink, the limo pulled up to the restaurant. Evan stumbled out of the limo, feeling the two drinks crash into his nearly empty stomach. He glanced up at the towering golden building.
“Is that…Did we fly to Paris or something,” Evan asked.
Waters laughed off the question. “No, this is the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. You’ll find they have the best food and the best view in Vegas.”
They were escorted to their table, but Evan was more concerned with the view. He was able to see his hotel across the way along with the lit up fountain.
“Shit, I think I can see my room from here,” Evan said in complete astonishment.
“Easy boy,” Waters said while pulling Evan away from the window. “I just order us a bottle of wine for the table. Hope you like red.”
“Yeah, red is fine. Although, I’m not a big wine drinker.”
The waiter returned to the table with a cold bottle of wine sitting in a large bucket of ice. He poured a glass for Waters who made sure it was perfect for the table. Evan tried to wave him off, but Audrey placed her hand on his lap, massaging his thigh.
“Try it,” she whispered. “Don’t think about it; just try it.”
Evan could feel Audrey’s hot breath against his ear. “Is it hot in here, or is it just me?” He fanned himself and while taking a gulp of water.
Audrey presented him with the glass of wine. “Try it; you’ll love it. Trust me; you will want to taste this before making up your mind.”
There were devious thoughts behind her eyes, and Evan knew it. Hesitantly, he grabbed the stem of the glass and took a sip. His eyes lit up as the wine collided with his palate. Evan had never been a fan of wine tasting in the past, but this changed his mind.
“That’s amazing,” he said.
“You know I only sample from the best,” Mr. Waters proclaimed. “Wine is just one of the many fine things I enjoy.”
Dinner seemed to pass by without much effort. They hardly spoke about business throughout their meal. Evan wanted to try the Alaskan Wild Black Cod, but Audrey urged him not to eat seafood because of the long night he had ahead of him. Instead of ordering the Cod, Evan asked for the Rossini Style Filet Mignon. Audrey, decided the Muscovy Duck would be perfect for herself, while Mr. Waters ordered “The King” a broiled beef tenderloin of Filet Mignon. By the time dinner ended, the table had polished off three bottles of wine.
Mr. Waters paid the bill and joined Evan and Audrey in the elevator as they returned to the limo. “You two ready for our next stop?” He smiled at Evan, but stared questioningly at Audrey. “I don’t know if this will suit you. We can drop you back at the hotel if you like.”
She glared back at Waters. “No, I’m up for anything you have planned.” She strutted in front of both men. “And I guarantee I can put on a better show.” She continued to the limo, leaning on her left knee on the backseat giving the guys a perfect view as she wiggled her hips. Evan and Mr. Waters turned to each other and hurried to follow Audrey into the limo.
They pulled up to the beige building with gold trim. The red pillars sat next to the glass doors, welcoming the trio as they stepped out of the limo. Waters paid for them to enter the club and placed the wrist bands on each member of their party.
Evan followed closely behind on the red lipped carpet. They were brought to a small group of black chairs with a circular table between them. They had a perfect view of the stage, which led Evan to believe Waters tipped extra to ensure they were given the royal treatment.
“You have an open bar for the next four hours,” the manager said as he moved away from the table. A moment later, a woman in tight black clothing approached asking to take their drink orders. She returned three minutes later with their drinks, ensuring the man of the hour received his a little stronger than the rest.
Evan’s eyes were focused on the young Asian woman dancing on the stage. She moved around in perfect rhythm with the music as she danced in clear five inch heels.
“Evan, turn around,” Waters shouted.
Evan turned around to find a woman wearing a white lacey teddy with a determined look in her eyes. “So I hear you’re the bachelor.” Part of Evan wanted to lie and say that Mr. Waters was the bachelor. He knew Waters would enjoy it more, but the way the woman was looking at him made him melt. Evan nervously nodded his head yes. “Then get ready for the night of your life.”
She put her hands on his shoulders, pushing Evan firmly against his chair. Her knees straddled his sides as she lowered herself onto his lap. Slowly, she rocked up and down on him while bringing her teddy clad breasts closer to his face.
Evan could hear Audrey laugh at something Mr. Waters said. He craned his neck to see them, wondering if there was a joke he missed, or if they were laughing at something else. He managed to see Audrey, her eyes were scanning the room while swirling her drink.