Chapter Four
Becca
The second Chance left the suite the girls flooded into the room. I knew they had been listening. They couldn’t help themselves, watching the drama of my life unfold in front of them like some sort of soap opera or the trashy romance books that I read.
“Who is she? Did he tell you?” Melissa was the first to pepper me with questions.
“I didn't bring it up.”
“Why not?” Melissa prodded again.
“I just . . . I don’t know. I didn’t know how to bring it up…and then I thought about what you said, it is Vegas, why should I really care?” Deep down I didn’t really believe what I was telling them. I did care, more than I wanted to admit. “He gave us a limo for the day, so let’s make use of it.”
“Seriously? …so what’s wrong with this guy?” Courtney giggled.
“I don’t want to think about it. I feel wrong about this, but for some reason I’m going to listen to you girls again, even after all of the bad advice and dates you’ve set me up on.” I couldn’t help but laugh at how chaotic and amusing my dating and social life must be to my friends, especially since they were all happily coupled up.
By noon we were ready to go and headed downstairs to the limo. The concierge had everything waiting for us include a small envelope from Chance. I quickly opened it and read the card. Enjoy the day, can’t wait to see you tonight.
I smiled at the thought of seeing him again and pushed back the dark thoughts of some other woman being in his life. We followed the concierge to the waiting black limousine and met the driver. “Good afternoon ladies, I’m Cole.” The tall, slim driver looked as if he couldn’t have been older than his mid twenties. He was dressed in a jet-black suit and had just a bit of scruff on his face. He was cute, but didn’t hold a candle to the rugged good looks of Chance. He opened the door to the limo as we slid into the deep, black leather seats.
“Holy shit! This thing has a fully stocked bar!” Katie gushed as she moved toward the front of the limo.
Cole laughed at our excitement. “There’s also some snacks in the small fridge to the side. Please help yourself to anything in the limo. It’s all at your disposal.” I was the last one to slide into the limo as Cole peeked his head inside. “Just let me know where you’d like to go. I have a few suggestions from Mr. Vaughn and if you’d like, I can just work down that list.”
“Sounds perfect, thank you.” I smiled back at him as the door closed gently. A few minutes later we pulled away from The Viridian and were on our way to someplace.
“Melissa, do you remember the last time we were in a limo? Wasn’t it in college at the formal we went to?”
Melissa was wrestling with the top to the champagne bottle as she started laughing. “Yeah, that was when that girl in our group was standing up through the sunroof and got sick all over the top of the limo.”
“I remember that formal.” Courtney chimed in. “That’s the one I didn’t get invited to and ended up sitting at home.”
“Hey, don’t blame us you didn’t like any of those guys in Theta.” Melissa quickly quipped back.
Melissa, Courtney and I always seemed to find just the right amount of trouble in college together. It only got worse when Katie came to visit us. We were definitely a diverse, but fun group. One of the few groups of girls that didn’t have the normal cattiness the other groups of friends had. Katie, Melissa and I had known each other all through high school, but Katie decided to stay near home and near her boyfriend at the time. That seemed to work out well for her since they were now married.
“Anyone up for flying out of the sunroof?”
Courtney pushed the button to open the roof and started to stand as Melissa pulled her back down. “We do not need a repeat of that night Court.”
Melissa passed around the bottle of champagne as we all took turns taking swigs of the cold, bubbly liquid and reminisced about our much wilder college days. We had decided to hit the some of the fancy casinos so we could feel important showing up in a limo. After blowing a whopping twenty dollars on slots and taking in our share of shooters we decided to move on to the next venue that Cole had on his list.
“Oh shit! Keep it down for sec.” I rolled my eyes at the girls as I fumbled with my phone.
“Is it him? Is it Chance?” Katie, who had seemed so put off by what had happened with him, now seemed more interested since she had a bit of alcohol in her system.
“I wish.” I grumbled. “It’s work.”
“Don't answer it! He knows you're here on vacation.”
“Melissa, I have to answer it. I'll only be a minute.” I leaned over against the door.
“Hello, Matthew. How are you this morning? You received the presentation I sent yesterday, right?”
“I did. I actually expected you to call and follow up. I had sent you an email. I needed some additional questions answered.” Matthew’s voices resonated over the phone. “I tried calling, but didn’t get an answer. I had to wing it.”
Damn it, I knew I should have looked at my phone. “I’m sorry…I just…”
I felt my heart sink as Matthew continued on. “Fortunately, things went well, but I need some changes to the pitch right away. They liked what they saw, but they didn’t love it. Here, let me give you some notes.”
“Actually Matthew, I'm out right now. I don’t really have anything to write on and I’m in the back of this limo going to–”
“I understand, but you assured me you’d be available. This is a big deal for us, Rebecca, I need your full attention.”
Rebecca, I hated when he called me that. “Tell me what you need, maybe I can walk you through it and you can make the changes or have someone–”
Matthew let out a sigh and I heard papers shuffling on the other end. “Listen, if I wanted to work on this myself I wouldn’t need you. This was your opportunity to shine, but apparently it’s more important you have a little girly time than focus on your career.”
I could feel the anger and resentment filling my body as I beckoned for the champagne bottle that was in Katie’s hand. I quickly took a big swig and the foaming liquid overflowed, filling my mouth and running down my chest. I almost spit it out, but gained my composure and swallowed before firing back at my boss, the alcohol already clouding my judgment. “Listen, everyone needs a break. I’m sure you can handle this. Just tell me what you need and I’ll walk you through it. I’m sure it will be fine.”
“Rebecca, what I needed was for you to be a part of this team, but it’s clear you’re not. It’s ok. I’ll have Nigel take it from here. Enjoy your vacation, it’s your last with the firm.”
“Excuse me?” His words hadn’t fully registered in my head.
“When you return I’ll have your things boxed up for you. We aren’t going to need your assistance any longer.” Before I could get out another word the phone went dead. I sat in the limo, speechless as the other girls continued taking swigs from the bottle. When they had finally noticed I was off the phone they sat in silence, staring at me as they realized something was wrong.
“I just got fired,” I said, my voice completely empty. A million thoughts raced through my head. My dream job in New York City, my apartment I shared with Melissa, all of the things that had been my perfect world were left hanging in the balance. I didn’t have a job to pay the bills. What was I going to do?
Melissa slid next to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. “It’ll be alright. What happened?”
“I don’t know. He just…” I fumbled for the words. “He just expected me to go on vacation and then be available whenever he wanted. I offered to help, but that wasn’t enough.”
“Men” Katie grumbled. “You aren’t doing so well with them the last few days Becs.”
It took all of my strength not to reach out and smack her. Instead I grabbed the bottle of champagne and finished it off. “What else do we have in here?”
“You know we have all night, let’s take it easy.”
“Easy? You didn’t just lose your dream job. I think it’s time I let loose a little.” I reached past Melissa and grabbed the clear bottle of vodka pouring some into one of the crystal glasses from the small bar. I put a splash of cranberry into the glass, just slightly changing the color of the liquid to a clear pink and took a long swig, the concoction burning my throat as I swallowed.
“How about we head back to the hotel for a few minutes, get our plans together, maybe grab something to eat. Beside, I need to grab my phone. I left it in the room and I need to call Roger before I’m too drunk.”
Melissa’s attempt at reasoning with me didn’t work, but I was more interested in drowning out the last twenty-four hours. Before I realized where we were headed, the limo pulled into the driveway of The Viridian. “I wanted to gamble. I need to take a chance.” Chance, maybe I should go find him right now.
“I’m going to run upstairs, why don’t you girls stay here with Becca. It probably wouldn’t be good for her to wander the casino right now.” Melissa’s eyes were big as she barked out orders to Katie and Courtney.
Melissa ducked out of the limo and eased back into the seat. As much as I wanted to go into the casino, I found comfort in the cool area and cold drink in my hand. I took another long sip, the burn of the drink much softer now.
“Slow down girl. We have all night, remember?” Courtney reached into the small fridge and pulled out a wrapped cheese plate and crackers. “Here, eat something or you won’t make it past five-thirty.” Courtney nudged the tray towards me and I grabbed a handful of crackers, stuffing them in my face.
“We know you lost your job, Becca.” Katie scooted closer and gave me a hug. “You'll get another one, a better one.”
“You were sick of Matthew anyway, remember?” Courtney added.
“There’s nothing you can do about it now. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but…”
I continued chomping on the crackers as I closed my eyes and leaned back into the leather seats. I listened to the girls attempting to comfort me and I knew they were right. There was nothing I could do. I loved that job, but I did hate my boss. I was good at what I did, but he never appreciated it. I had fought so hard to get this vacation and I wasn’t going to let that asshole ruin for me.