Chapter 37

I was sleeping soundly, and Kristen shaking me awake telling me it was time to get ready was the next thing that I knew. She said that the place we were going to was very nice and that I should wear my suit. She also said that I should shave for the first time in several days. I had never let my beard grow before and I was kind of getting used to it, but it felt good when I removed it. She had been in the bathroom putting finishing touches on, and I was in the bedroom putting my shoes on. She had started getting ready ahead of me, and we both finished about the same time. She walked in just as I stood up.

We were both surprised to see each other formally dressed. It had been a while. She was wearing the dress that I first saw her in at the Gilroys’ football party and she looked fabulous. I was about to say something when she strangely looked at me and said, “My God, you’re handsome.”

I smiled and said, “And you’re beautiful, but why do you act surprised?” She smiled back and said, “I’m a little jealous! I’m not used to going out with guys who are prettier than I am.” I laughed and picked her up in my arms. She smiled back and said, “Put me down before you mess up my makeup.”

She put her hand on the front of my pants when I set her down, and said, “I’m going to wear this thing out when we get back tonight,” then she ran out of the room before I had a chance to grab her. We went next door to Mom’s suite and she was on the phone. She said, “There will be a car here for us in a half hour. We have to meet it at the front entrance,” when she hung up, then she called out, “Are you almost ready, Amy?”

Amy came out wearing a dress that I hadn’t seen before. It was just a simple thing with spaghetti straps and a pleated skirt, but she looked gorgeous. Her hair was pulled back, and she was wearing heels. She moved with the same flowing walk that she had used on stage last night when she came into the room, and the effect was startling. I was about to say something when the door opened, and Ben and Kate came in.

We talked a little, then there was a knock on the door with about ten minutes to go. I was closest and went to open it, but Mom said, “Let me!” and stepped in front of me. She opened it just enough to step through, and pulled it closed behind her instead of opening it wide. She came back in, followed by a very handsome young guy carrying a rose, a few seconds later. He was dressed in a black tux and looked to be in his mid-twenties. Something about him was familiar, but he went to Amy, handed her the rose, and said, “Nice to see you again,” before I had a chance to think about it.

Amy was staring with a blank look on her face, and Mom said, “This is Earl, Everybody. Kristen’s dad and I decided that Amy needed an escort tonight. Earl was one of the dancers on stage last night, and he agreed to come along.”

Earl gestured to Amy and said, “I didn’t just agree to come along. I leaped at the chance when I found out that I would be with this breathtaking creature,” then he smiled at her. I spent maybe half a second, if that, in deciding that he had way too many teeth and they were entirely too white.

We went to the lobby entrance and Tomaso was waiting there. He was with one of the most beautiful Asian girls that I’d ever seen. Resplendent in a long white dress, she was tall, very slender, and her jet-black hair was hanging past her waist. He introduced her as ‘Lu’ and said that they were coming with us. I happened to glance at Mom, and I thought that I saw a hint of disappointment, but it quickly went away.

The ‘car’ turned out to be a stretch limousine, and we all piled in. Nobody but Kristen had been to where we were going, so she regaled us with tales of how ‘anybody who was anybody’ always went there when they were in Las Vegas. I could see why when we got there. The place was typical Las Vegas in that everything was overstated. It had tall parapets on each corner, and twin concrete Roman soldiers guarded the entry. Each was twenty feet high and had arms as big as trees. Satin ropes lined the walkway into the place, and a small crowd of people was standing outside them. Flashbulbs went off, and some girls started chanting, “Tomaso, Tomaso,” when we got out of the car. He smiled and waved at them, and we hurried inside, to many more flashbulbs. The inside reminded me of Herb’s restaurant in Mexico, except that it was fancier and lots bigger. The walls appeared to be natural concrete and hanging tapestries were everywhere.

Kristen led us past a maze of small, exquisitely furnished rooms packed with people to the back of the place. I saw at least three major movie stars on the way, including one who was mostly famous for her giant tits and her rock-star husband. We ended up in a beautifully appointed room. The walls were draped, and a huge round table and a bunch of high-backed chairs was sitting in the middle of the room. The table looked like it was carved out of solid wood, and the chair backs were at least six feet high. There was a man in a tuxedo at the door, and Mr. Mariani was seated facing us. He stood up and welcomed us as we came in, then immediately went to Mom, kissed her hand, and seated her to the right of his chair. Each setting had a place card except the one next to Mom. Kristen sat to his left, then me, Amy, Earl, Kate, Ben, Tomaso, and Lu.

Mr. Mariani nodded to the man in the tuxedo. The fellow walked to the doorway and pulled a curtain across it as he left. Kristen looked at the empty chair and started to say something to her dad, but he saw her and held his finger to his lips. A curtain on the other side of the room opened and two girls dressed in harem outfits came in. Each was carrying a huge carafe of wine and they began filling our glasses. The girls were barefoot and both were gorgeous. The outfits they had on were filmy, but you couldn’t quite see anything. Kristen leaned to me and whispered, “Their outfits are for you, me, and Amy; they come in topless if it’s an older crowd.”

I whispered back, “What about the wine? They must know we’re underage?”

“My father has some pull here, and promised he’d keep his eye on us.” I suddenly heard a gasp, and Mom stood up. I was wondering what had happened, then I followed her eyes. Standing in the doorway, looking great in his dark blue pilot’s uniform, was Dad! Mom went to him and gave him a big kiss and hug, and he walked with her to Mr. Mariani, shook his hand, and said, “It’s good to finally meet you in person after all the conversations we’ve had. Thank you very much for the way you’re watching over things.”

Mr. Mariani said, “My pleasure, Sir. I was glad that I could help. Let me introduce you to my friends,” and he took him to Lu and Tomaso. Tomaso stood up when he walked over to them. Mr. Mariani introduced them and they shook hands, then he held his hand to Lu out. Her eyes had been lowered, and I watched in surprise as she slowly raised her hand and eyes to him. It was the sultriest look that I ever saw, and I think it startled Dad because I saw his body tense as she fully looked into his eyes.

I glanced at Kristen and she was smiling. I said, “Did you see that?” She nodded, and whispered, “Look at your mom.” Mom had pulled herself up to her full height and was intently looking at Lu. She had a thin smile on her lips, but I knew her well enough to tell the smile was strictly for show. Lu had put out her hand in the ‘palm down’ position so that Dad could kiss it, but he took it, turned it up, and shook it instead after a quick side-glance at Mom. He then went to Kate, hugged and kissed her, and said a few words, then he moved to Ben. He wrapped his arms around him and they began banging each other on the back.

Kristen poked me in the side, and said, “Look at Lu.” All through their greeting, the woman had never once looked at Mom. Her eyes were still staring at Dad’s face. Kristen grinned and said, “It looks like the Baker charm is present in your dad, as well. Maybe we should throw a glass of cold water on Lu before your mom takes her outside and kicks her ass.” I was laughing as Dad stepped to Amy, hugged her, and talked to her for a moment, then hugged her again as she introduced him to Earl. I heard her say, “This is my dad, Earl,” and it made me feel good.

He finally came to Kristen and me. He hugged her and me, then he kissed me on the cheek. Dad has always kissed me. He’s done it for as long as I can remember. He used to kiss me on the mouth until my friends saw him do it one day and teased me about it. Now he just kisses me on the cheek and I have no problem with it at all. He’s my dad and I love him. He stood back, looked at both of us and said, “You two make quite a team. I heard what you did, and I’m proud of both of you.” Kristen was beaming, but I was a little embarrassed, so I thought that I’d change the subject. I said, “How did you hear about what happened?”

“I was peacefully sleeping in Chicago when the phone rang. It was our night dispatcher from the main office and he patched the call from Kristen’s dad to me. He told me what happened, and assured me that you were both okay, then he suggested that I come out and check for myself. So I deadheaded here on the first flight that was open.”

“I thought that you weren’t able to get away for another week or so, Dad.” He grinned and said, “So did I, but it’s amazing what a call from a US Senator can do, especially one who’s the Chairman of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee.”

“So, how long can you stay?” “There’s a flight out at five PM day after tomorrow, so I have two days. Do you think that you can stay out of trouble till then?” We agreed that we would do our best, and the staff started bringing in food just then, so we all sat down.

The serving girls brought in a bunch of appetizers, and four big guys dressed in loincloths came in a little later. Two were carrying a whole suckling pig, and the other two had a platter big enough to sleep in filled with sweet potatoes, candied yams, and a bunch of things that I couldn’t even identify. Two of them left, and the two who stayed carved the pig and served everyone. The serving girls stayed and made sure that everything was just right, then sat cross-legged on pillows watching and making sure that all the wine and water glasses were kept full.

Dessert was a huge cake shaped like the building we were in and covered with fresh fruit. The girls cut it and served us, and each piece was at least eight inches high. The guy in the tux returned and led us to a large room after two cups of the best coffee I’d ever tasted. There was a dance floor, and several couples were moving around to a five-piece band that was softly playing in the background. We all sat down and let our dinner settle a little.

There were maybe twenty tables in the room. Over half were full, and more people were coming in. The people there were very handsome and very well-dressed. This was definitely a place for high rollers. I could only guess what the dinner must have cost. Sitting at the table next to us were two women and a young girl in a wheelchair who appeared to be around thirteen. It was difficult not to stare at her, because she had the face of an angel. She seemed to be enthralled by the people on the dance floor, and was following their every move.

Earl took Amy to the dance floor, and I watched as they smoothly moved around. He was a good dancer. His movements were a little exaggerated because of his stage training, but Amy was obviously having a good time. I kept looking at the little girl. She had watched Amy and Earl go to the dance floor, and it was amazing to see the look in her eyes as she followed their every move.

Kristen was busy talking with Tomaso, so I couldn’t resist an impulse when one of the ladies with the little girl got up and headed for the powder room. I caught up with her and said, “Pardon me, I couldn’t help seeing the little girl with you. I never saw anyone so enthralled with people dancing. Is there a reason?” She got a rather sober look on her face and said, “She started taking dance lessons when she was five, and it became her whole life. That’s all she thought about until a year ago, when she was involved in an auto accident that left her paralyzed.”

“Is it permanent?”

“It’s too soon to tell. They make huge strides in spinal cord repairs all the time, so we have hopes. Why are you asking?” “Would you mind if I danced with her?”

“How would you do that?” “It doesn’t look like she weighs very much; I could carry her in my arms.” She said, “I’ll tell you what. She has leg braces; if we lock them and put her feet on top of yours, you can dance with her that way. I know that she’d get a big kick out of it, but you’d have to be careful.”

I said, “Great, let’s give it a try.” Her eyes got big as she put her hand on my shoulder and said, “Oh my gosh, that would be wonderful. Let me talk to her mother.” She rushed back, and she stopped and motioned for the other lady at the table to join us when she got about ten feet from their table. She did, and the first lady explained what we wanted to do.

The other lady looked me up and down, and said, “Will you be careful?”

“Absolutely.”

“What’s your name?”

“Pete Baker. What’s her name?”

“Sarah.”

She turned and we followed her to the table. Her mother said, “This young man would like to speak with you, Sarah.” I got a serious look on my face and said, “I saw you watching my sister dance. I’d like to be able to dance that well, but I have trouble with some of the steps. Would you help me?” The prettiest eyes I ever saw looked up at me, and said, “Gee, I don’t know how I could hel...”

I reached down, put my hands under her arms and lifted her up before she had a chance to complete the sentence. I held her that way while her mother locked her braces, then we placed her feet on top of mine. Her eyes were big as saucers as we started to move to the music. I kept the serious look on my face, and said, “Here’s where I have the problem,” and I deliberately shuffled a little as I made a turn. I thought that she would try to tell me where I went wrong. She smiled and said, “They put you up to this, didn’t they?” instead. “No! Why would you say that?”

“Because I saw you dancing on stage last night. You don’t need lessons from me.” I grinned and said, “Okay, but they didn’t put me up to it. I made myself a promise I would dance with the prettiest girl in the room and that is most definitely you. So would you mind if we danced for a while?” She said, “Okay, but I have to be back in school in about a week, so we’ll have to cut it short,” with a big grin.

She put her arms around my neck, held on tight to steady herself, and lay her head on my chest. It felt a little odd, because I was so much taller than she was, but a funny thing happened. She was moving her body a little in time with the music, and it actually became fun. She was obviously having a good time as well, and I felt like I could have danced all night that way. Looking down at this waif of a girl, my heart went out to her. I could see strength in her eyes when she would occasionally look up at me. This girl was going to be okay, no matter what.

We danced all through that tune and another one, but I had to admit that the unusual way I was standing was starting to get uncomfortable as the third one started. There suddenly was a tap on my shoulder, and Earl said, “This girl looks like a great dancer! Could I cut in?”

I said, “Gee, I’m having a good time, but I guess a girl this pretty has to make the rounds,” so I carefully handed her off, and went back to our table. Amy was watching Earl, smiling. I said, “You told him to dance with her, didn’t you?”

“No, it was his idea. He said that it was a nice thing you did, and he saw that you were getting tired.”

“He seems like a nice guy.”

“Yes, he does. What do you think? Shall I marry him and start a family?”

I guess I must have looked startled, because she laughed and said, “Oh, don’t worry, I just met him. We haven’t even had sex yet,” then she looked off in the distance and said, “It’s still early, of course.” I glared at her, and she started laughing again.

Earl returned with Sarah and sat her down when the song was over. I walked over and said to her, “Well, did you give him some pointers?” She was wearing an enormous grin, and she said, “Well, you guys did okay for a couple of amateurs,” then she grabbed each of our hands and said, “Thanks, Guys. I had a wonderful time.”

We went back to our table, and both Kristen and Amy wanted to dance, so we all went to the floor. The song was a slow one, and I noticed that Kristen was dancing especially close. She got even closer as it went on, until she was actually rubbing herself against me. I finally said, “You’re feeling pretty frisky, aren’t you?”

She answered, “That was an amazingly sweet thing you did. That, and what happened this afternoon has got me very horny.” I grinned and said, “Didn’t I hear that we had an appointment later?”

“Yes you did, so save your energy!” The band picked that moment to take a break. There was a man standing a few feet away from the table talking with Tomaso when we got back. We were just sitting down when Tomaso looked over at us and said, “Can I talk to you for a minute, Kristen?” She went to them, and I saw her grin and nod her head after a few seconds. She dashed back to me and said, “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” then she, Tomaso, and the guy left the room. I asked everybody at the table what was going on, but nobody seemed to know.

Mom, Dad, Kate, and Ben were laughing and talking, and Earl was explaining to Amy what being a dancer in Vegas was about, so seeing that Lu was alone, I went over and sat next to her. I said, “Do you live here in Las Vegas?”

“No, I live in Spain.”

“Spain! But your English is perfect!”

“I was born in Los Angeles. I moved to Spain several years ago.”

“Is that where you met Tomaso?”

“Yes, I have a place in Marbella. It’s on the southern coast.”

“I didn’t see you last night. Were you at the show?”

“No, I spent New Year’s Eve at home, then I came here.”

I was amazed, and I said, “At home! You mean you flew all the way from Spain last night?”

“Why yes, is that surprising?”

I was thinking about her having spent all of last night on an airplane, and here she was, looking rested, and like she had been at a spa for the last few days. I blurted out, “Gee, it looks like you just got out of bed!” She raised her eyebrows, and I stammered, “Oh, I-I’m sorry; I meant that you are so pretty that it looks like you’ve been in bed for...” She was laughing now, and she put her hand on my arm to stop me.

She stopped laughing, squeezed my arm, and said, “My, you’re solid as a rock,” then she grinned again and said, “I assume you’re trying to be complimentary?”

“Yes! Please forgive me. It’s just that you don’t look like someone who sat on an airplane all last night.” Her grin was wide now, and she said, “I’m teasing you. I spent from Christmas until last night with my family in Los Angeles. The flight here this morning took less then an hour.”

I realized how pretty she really was now that I had time to look at her. Her skin was as clear as Molly’s was, and her almond eyes were so deep and dark that they were almost hypnotic.

She was doing something with them that was disconcerting. Her eyes don’t dart from one place to another; they slowly move, and you find yourself waiting and hoping that they’ll focus on you. Her gaze is unwavering and she doesn’t even blink if they do.