Chapter 10

I walked tall in my tuxedo. I had laughed aloud when I had first seen it. A tuxedo? What kind of preppy, self indulgent, cartoon had I become? I was surprised, and then angry with myself, that I knew how to tie a bowtie by muscle memory. I clipped on the cufflinks without thinking. Larry and I, getting ready for his wedding, had been confounded trying to get on the pair that had come with our rented suits to close without stabbing ourselves in the ulnar arteries. I picked up the shoes, making a face that Shani couldn’t help but mock. There was one bright light at the end of the tunnel. I was much richer than I used to be. Dress shoes that were thick enough for a grown man’s foot apparently did exist for billionaires.

“How do I look?” I had asked, giving the girls a twirl and James Bond pose. Did I own a gun? Better yet, did I own any swords?

“I prefer you naked.” Ellie had purred with a jungle cat’s hunger in her eyes.

“I’d fuck you.” Rena the lesbian said. I didn’t know if that translated as complimentary. I mean I wanted to look like a good looking man, not ... I didn’t even know what Rena found hot in a chick. I turned back to the girls at Bethany’s workstation. Bethany murmured something inaudible, blushing and looking away, as Shani scrunched her nose and tilted her hand side to side.

“Thirteen out of twenty eight.” She was doing a piss poor job of holding back her laughter.

“And you’re looking like a ten.” I ratcheted up my smirk. I hooked out my arm and Rena took me on my right. She was a in a deep maroon gown with her hair done up and falling in gorgeous curls down to her neck. Ellie yanked out my left arm and hooked hers through it. She wore white and showed off nearly all of her black stockinged legs. Her strawberry waves were held out of her face by a gold tiara glittering with rubies. She seemed to like rubies as they dangled from her ears and sat in net of gold over her chest.

“C’mon, it’ll be forever if we wait for Shani to get ready,” Ellie tugged. “Don’t you want to see Olivia?”

I didn’t. I wanted to run. I all but literally shook in my ostentatious shoes. I grinned, turned, and stepped forward. Rena managed to hang on, smile supportively, and lead the way, all at once. Our golf cart had been summoned away. A dark black limousine waited for us. The Valkyrie, from the wave pool in The Castle, a blonde as tall as she was striking, stood outside the opened back door. She was dressed in a dark leggings, a short skirt, and a chauffeur’s jacket and coat. Chauffeuse? I wondered. It’s masseur and masseuse, right? For man and woman. But do you say, for example, saboteur and saboteuse, amateur and amateuse? I think it comes from French. It’s an interesting--

“We’re here, get out of the damned vehicle.” Ellie kicked me for the second time. The Strip was basically the size of a small city intersection. The limousine was more than overkill. The door was open. Valkyrie was lending Rena a hand to step out. I was about to follow. I turned back. Ellie excelled at making impatience look adorable.

“Is she expecting a tip?” I think I had left my key card, lanyard and the rest up in Bethany’s studio.

“I don’t think there’s any cash on the island.” Ellie flicked the meat of my neck. “I want to eat the ass of a cow. Go.”

I took Valkyrie’s offered hand. I stood up, there were several well dressed ladies coming, going, crossing, and looking pretty. The men had claimed one, two, six, or were trading girls amongst the available ones and each other. I felt curious and I saw one man, awkward in an autistic tech teenaged millionaire kind of way, examining my driver. I wasn’t having that. I grabbed the back of The Valkyrie’s neck and kissed her deeply. I hardly had to lift my heels of the ground to reach her mouth. It was a bit unsettling. She looked starry eyed and goofy when I pulled back. That surprised me. I imagined I had that look on my face after my first kiss.

“Nice lipstick, Brian,” Rena edged me aside so Valkyrie could help Ellie out. Rena wiped a handkerchief across my mouth.

“Is she working a double shift?” I asked Rena. The Valkyrie was leaning down for Ellie to whisper in her ear. The tall woman blushed.

“No, she’s got a niche as one of the drivers or a stewardess, if we’re sending the island plane to pick you up.” The island plane. The modifier told me I had multiple planes.

“I saw her at The Castle today,” I recalled her fit body and bikini and the little Asian girl she had swung around and dunked.

“Oh, yeah, well, there’s nothing against the girls going anywhere on their off time. There’s always the risk that they’ll get fucked. That having fun would become,” Rena turned her voice all spooky and disgusted, “customer service! I get the Globe. But the Castle? Waterslides wouldn’t do it for me.”

“I like the wave pool and the shooting games,” The Valkyrie waved and blew a kiss. She stopped at the driver’s door. “Send for me at the end of your meal. You know my number.”

I was certain I did not. I outsourced that datum to Rena.

Ellie cleared her throat. I looked down and she pulled my arm out again to take it. I offered my other side for Rena. She smirked and rested her palm down on my elbow. We climbed the front steps into the northwest tower.

The lobby was a small room with four glass elevators and large doors under a silver Chez Shan-Marie sign that matched the one outside. Two girls, neither I had seen today, rushed forward to open the doors for the three of us. Rena and Ellie stood more imperious. I made sure to smile at both door holders.

Chez Shan-Marie opened with luxurious bar. In addition to the amazing setpieces of beautiful women was elegance in pristine mahogany, purple velvet, and silver trimming. Olivia sat at the bar. She was in excellent shape. She stood out with a comfort and regality that none of the teenagers and twenty-somethings hoped to pull off. A tall man, nearing sixty, eschewed the younger flesh for her company. She saw me over his shoulder and whispered to him a good night with her hand on his elbow. He followed her ass as she came for a genuine heartfelt hug.

“Hello Prince Dashing.” She whispered.

“Seems you just broke a heart.” I nodded to the toasted glass of the business man. Soon young women filled the stools next to him and he was healed.

“It happens often.” She pulled back and cocked a conspiratorious grin. “Do I have you back for good?”

“I’m told I’m out of the black out. Woken up as Rena said. To know for sure, it looks like you’d need to ask Amanda.” I replied. Olivia smiled so hard that I wasn’t aware I was about to be kissed. She was heat and home. She pulled me down and I felt myself impaled on a tongue. There was something young, innocent, and excited by the action. I almost kept my smile and my laugh when we pulled apart.

“Mr Tanner!” The maitre d’ called us. Maitresse d’? I wondered--

“Get your heads out of the clouds, Brian,” Olivia snapped me back. Her voice was stern but welcoming. “Am I sharing you with more than these two lovely creatures tonight?”

“Shani’s still getting ready.” Ellie interjected. Olivia nodded.

“And your sister?” Olivia didn’t need an answer seeing it plain as day on Ellie and my faces. We hadn’t talked to Mel since I left Casa de Tanner with Ellie. Olivia turned. “For eight,” she called over to the girl.