Biker (2 page)

Noelle came back to the present, and let Quinn and Liz help her get ready for bed. Once the condo was dark and quiet, Noelle let the tears fall.

They ran down her cheeks, soaking her pillowcase. They fell until Noelle felt empty and hollow inside; which was how she preferred it. Feeling nothing was better than feeling pain.

She closed her eyes and fell into a dreamless sleep.

T
welve hours later, Noelle found herself in the Philadelphia airport, holding a boarding pass to Las Vegas and her new Coach carry on. The bag had been intended for Aruba, but it seemed just as stylish and fitting for Vegas—maybe even more so. She had only a slight hangover, and it was nothing a cocktail on the plane couldn’t fix. After all, when you go to Vegas, how can you deny yourself an in-flight cocktail?

“You know,” Quinn said, as they took their seats in first class, “I have plenty of room in my house. If you wanted to sell your condo, you could always come live with me.”

Quinn’s uncle had left her a beautiful four-bedroom house. And in their small, historic town of Chadd’s Ford, Pennsylvania, it was worth quite a lot. Noelle appreciated her friend’s offer, and while she knew she would be welcome at Quinn’s home, she wouldn’t part with her condo. With or without Todd, her condo symbolized the fact that she had finally broken free of her old life and was able to support herself.

“Thanks.” Noelle managed a small smile, “I’ll figure it all out somehow.”

“Right. But not now,” Liz cut in, sticking the drink menu in Noelle’s face.

Noelle pushed her hurt, anger, and fear out of her mind and took the drink menu from Liz. The next five hours were going to be spent enjoying herself before they even landed in Sin City.

After a couple of drinks, the flight was surprisingly smooth, and Noelle was quickly learning that alcohol was a good bandage for her pain. Of course, she knew it couldn’t be a crutch forever, but it was certainly going to come in handy during this trip.

After departing the plane, the women caught a cab to the strip and Noelle ogled Caesar’s Palace in awe as the cab pulled up smoothly in front.

The next twenty minutes were a flurry of activity as the women unloaded their bags, checked in and were escorted to their suite by a very cute, though very young, bellhop.

At twenty-five years old, Noelle wondered when she had turned into an adult. Obviously sometime during her three years with Todd, but now that those were a waste, she wondered who she was now. Sometimes she still felt like the scared little girl who was running away from her past, and trying to hide her emotional baggage. Some days Noelle felt whole and it was as if her past had never even happened to her.

Other days, Noelle felt like a product of her past—eternally scarred and fearful, always waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Even after Vivienne had saved her, and they were scraping by in a small studio apartment, Noelle always worried that her parents might come for her and try to take her back to the awful place she'd known as home. But that would've meant her parents had actually cared about her, and even at twelve years old, Noelle had known her parents didn’t care at all.

“Hey! Earth to Noelle!” Hearing her name, Noelle turned toward a smiling Liz.

“Daydreaming?”

“Something like that,” Noelle said, unable to hide the bitter tone in her voice.

Liz shrugged. “Let’s get our suits on and go to the pool. We need to stay busy all day so we don’t get jet lagged.”

Noelle agreed, and she rifled through her bag until she pulled out one of the new bikinis she had purchased for Aruba. Screw Todd. Everyone at the Caesar’s pool in Vegas could admire her bikini instead. Yet, Noelle wanted to scream when she thought of how she'd practically starved herself for the past few weeks so she would look amazing on the white sand beaches of an island.

Just as Quinn and Liz had promised, the pool at the resort did not disappoint. The girls found three empty lounge chairs on the west side of the pool, and Quinn ordered three mojitos.

Noelle closed her eyes, sipping her minty drink, and for a moment she almost forgot that her boyfriend had just left her for another woman. She could almost forget that right now her boyfriend, or should she say
ex
-boyfriend, and his new girlfriend were now relaxing on a beautiful beach in Aruba, enjoying the vacation that was supposed to celebrate her engagement.

“You’re wallowing aren't you?”

Noelle blinked, and lifted her glasses to look at Quinn. Quinn’s sunglasses were also on top of her head, and she gave Noelle a stern look.

“I didn’t say anything!” Noelle exclaimed.

“You didn’t have to. It’s all over your face.” Quinn sighed. “Isn’t a small part of you relieved that you learned what an epic douchebag Todd was
before
you got engaged and married him?”

Noelle frowned. She hadn’t thought of it that way.

“Yes, I guess so,” she said finally. “That doesn’t make it any easier.”

“No one said it would be easy. But I feel bad for that poor girl he’s taken to Aruba. Does she really think that Todd won’t do it again? You were just spared a hell of a lot of heartache and trouble, even if you don’t see it now.”

Noelle slid her sunglasses back down her nose. “I suppose so.”

Quinn exchanged looks with Liz, and then let the subject drop.

“I’m going for a dip! Who’s coming with me?” Liz asked, changing the subject and popping up.

Noelle looked over to see that she'd already drained her glass. Typical Liz.

“Me!” Quinn chimed in, sitting up.

Quinn and Liz looked expectantly at Noelle.

“I think I’ll hang for a few minutes first. I’ll join you ladies in a bit.”

Noelle watched as her two friends sauntered away in their tiny bikinis, catching the stares of many people nearby. Noelle chuckled to herself. The three of them made quite the trio.

First, there was Quinn with her long chestnut hair and caramel-colored skin; striking in that dark and beautiful kind of way. Then there was Liz who looked like she stepped off a Malibu beach with her honey-kissed blonde hair and blue eyes. And then there was Noelle with her strawberry blonde locks, heart-shaped face and bright green eyes.

When Noelle first went to college in the sleepy town of Aston, Pennsylvania, she'd wanted to be an elementary school teacher. She had envisioned herself creating meaningful lesson plans for bright-eyed first graders, and teaching the little ones how to read and spell their names. Liz and Quinn were in her first class, one that fortunately placed the college freshmen in elementary classrooms so they could observe and get a feel for the career. And thank goodness for that, because Noelle quickly learned that teaching small children was not for her. Of course, the kids were adorable, but the neediness and runny noses, and the sheer task of trying to get twenty-some children to listen to you was more than enough to make Noelle change career choices by her sophomore year.

But the friendship she had established with Quinn and Liz held fast all four years of school, even as Noelle pursued the grueling career of nursing. She still wanted to help children, but nursing seemed better suited for her. There was more structure, more hard science, and in some strange way, Noelle saw herself in the sick children who came through her unit.

While Quinn and Liz became teachers in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia, Noelle became a pediatric nurse at a prominent children’s hospital nearby. She loved her job, and she was happy to have something that no one—not Todd, not her parents—could ever take from her.

“Screw Todd,” she muttered to herself, tossing her magazine on the ground and sitting up. She carefully adjusted her black bikini, and then stood up to find her friends. After a few seconds of searching, she located Quinn and Liz floating in one end of the pool and joined them.

“Hey!” Quinn cried, waving to her. Noelle slipped into the refreshingly cool waters and moved towards her friends.

“We were just talking about tonight,” Liz explained, dipping her head back to wet her hair. “We thought we’d have a little fun and go gambling!” Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

Noelle groaned. “I
suck
at gambling...”

“Whatever.” Quinn waved her off, “It will be fun! Then tomorrow we can go see a show or check out all the hotels on the strip. We should keep it simple tonight since we just got in today.” She grinned, twirling her ponytail. “Besides, you get free drinks if you gamble.”

Noelle laughed, feeling almost like herself for a brief moment. “Well, I will definitely need alcohol on this trip, so count me in if the drinks are free.”

“Perfect,” Liz slipped under water, than emerged a few feet away near a group of guys who were smiling appreciatively at her. Liz merely winked at them before paddling back to the women.

“There are plenty of hot guys here...” she whispered.

“Mmm-hmm,” Quinn agreed, tilting her sunglasses down to check out a tall, tanned man passing by one of the cabanas.

“That’s the last thing I need,” Noelle moaned.

“Oh no, sweetie,” Liz corrected. “That is
exactly
what you need.”

L
ater that evening, Noelle found herself dressed to perfection and ready to hit the casino with her friends. Quinn, the most fashion forward of the women, had made sure that everyone was dressed appropriately. Hence, the tight black and magenta color block dress that Noelle was now wearing. Noelle had to admit that it showed off her great figure and hugged her curves in all the right places. Her hair was shiny and sleek, swinging smoothly around her shoulders and her makeup was skillfully dramatic.

Quinn looked stunning in a short white peplum dress, and a sleek ponytail high on her head, while Liz showed off her mile-long legs in teeny black shorts and a sleeveless silver blouse. All three of them rocked high, strappy heels.

“Damn, we look good!” Quinn grinned as she looked over at the other women.

“This is ridiculous,” Noelle grumbled, though she had to admit that they all looked amazing.

“So,” Quinn said happily, ignoring Noelle’s comment, “since we can gamble at Caesar’s any night I thought it would be more fun to head next door to the Mirage.”

“Fine by me,” piped Liz. “And let’s take a cab because I am not walking over there in these three inch heels.”

The cab ride was quick and inexpensive, and Noelle looked around in wonder as they entered the casino. She had never been to Vegas before, and honestly, she had never considered going to Vegas. She knew Quinn and Liz had gone before, and she remembered a lot of people in college going when they turned twenty-one, but once Noelle became involved with Todd, she was perfectly content to settle down with him and live a quiet, domestic life. It was something she had always craved as a child growing up in a dysfunctional home.

Something about the pulsing energy of Vegas invigorated Noelle, while frightening her at the same time. Something about its undercurrent reminded her of her tumultuous childhood in Hoboken.

Well, those days were behind her now.

She was thinking far too much about her childhood, and she blamed Todd for that, too. Clearly, Todd's leaving had dredged up some memories from her past that she had no wish to revisit.

Instead, she focused on Liz’s voice.

“What should we do first?”

“Let’s do a lap,” Quinn said matter-of-factly, “We can check out the scene, see what games are going on, and admire the eye candy.”

Noelle snorted. Only someone as beautiful as Quinn could get away with such ridiculous language. Nonetheless, Liz and Noelle followed Quinn, checking out the slots and ringing machines, and then cruising by the table games conducted by gorgeous dealers.

Liz spoke up first. “I think we should start with slots. Actually, I think we should start with a drink, then with slots. We can work our way over to the table games.”

“I don’t think I can do table games,” Noelle said fearfully, “I’m clueless.”

“They’re really not that bad,” Quinn assured her. “You’ll see once you get the hang of it. And you can sit back at first and watch Liz and me. If we can do it, you can do it.”

“Yeah, but you guys are teachers. You know math.”

Liz burst out laughing. “Yeah, first grade math has really prepared me for blackjack odds.”

Noelle bit her lip and smiled. “Okay, you might have a point.”

Quinn grabbed the women by their elbows, and led them toward the bar. Once they all had drinks in their hands, they made their way to the slots.

Noelle was much more comfortable here, and after she finished her cranberry and vodka, she felt slightly better. However, she definitely needed more alcohol. Not just to help her relax, but also to forget about why she was in Vegas in the first place.

The second cranberry and vodka went down even more smoothly than the first, and Noelle didn’t even put up a fight when Liz led them towards the table games. Of course, Noelle wanted to stop for another drink.

“Once we get to the tables, we’ll get free drinks,” Liz whispered, guiding her forward. Noelle hung back and watched as Liz and Quinn played craps and roulette.

“Come on!” Quinn cried, “Let’s find the blackjack tables!”

“You can totally do this one,” Liz promised Noelle, who nodded quietly, hanging back and watching her friends play a few rounds. Once she felt comfortable enough, she took a seat next to Liz when it opened up.

She was hesitant at first, but then the cocktail waitresses began coming around, and two more vodka and cranberries later, she was feeling pretty confident.

“Don’t drink too much,” Liz whispered, “You’ll lose more money that way.”

Noelle nodded, thinking it was too late for that. Surprisingly, she was doing pretty well for a novice, and she was beginning to think that maybe gambling was more fun than she’d first believed.

Noelle became so immersed in the game that she didn’t notice the seat open up next to her and was oblivious to the new man who filled it.

“You’re doing well,” a deep, rich voice said next to her.