I’d given the money to Brooke and decided to take a walk after I had the door slammed in my face. She probably thought I was arrogant. I had to clear my head for my own benefit. I knew what Shona had said was right, but it was still hard to get over that Beau had trusted Brooke over me.

I don’t hold it against her, she is innocent in all of this mess. It’s my fault, and if anyone is to blame, it’s me. It didn’t make it any easier though.

I sit on an old tree stump near the club. I pick up a handful of pebbles and start throwing them at a larger stone to take my mind off things.

“You will have to throw harder than that to make a difference you know,” Beau says from behind me.

I turn around. “Hi, sorry for all the mess I’ve caused,” I reply.

Beau sits on the log next to me. “We all make mistakes, we just have to know how to get over them,” he says.

“I really want to do it this time, I’ve made a real mess of things.”

“Shona has spoken to me about helping. I can bail you out with the guys in Vegas, but you will have to wait until we get back home, I can’t do anything until then,” Beau says.

“I really appreciate that. I told Shona I will go to rehab.”

“You have to really want it though,” Beau says. “It’s no good just saying it.”

“Believe me, I really want it. I feel I have a reason to do it now with Brooke.”

Beau chuckles. “I can see what you mean, she is hot,” he says, adding a wide grin.

I turn to him and shake my head. “It’s not just that though, there is something about her that seems so pure, I don’t know what it is,” I say, truthfully.

“I’m sure you will find out in time,” Beau replies.

“How long are you and Shona staying for anyway?”

“Another four days. Actually, we thought it was a good chance to get away for a quick break, even though the reason was not great,” he says bluntly.

“Well, it’s good to have you both here, anyway. We should go to the club later, the old club that is.”

“We might just do that.”

Beau picks up a stone and throws it at the one I was aiming at. First shot he hits it and the stone goes rolling off into the grass.

“See, I told you to throw harder,” he says, laughing loudly.

I stand up from the tree stump. “Come on, we should be getting back if you want to go clubbing, it gets busy quite early,” I say.

“Well, I could do with a lie down for a while, you know what plane travel is like, even though it is not that far.”

We walk back up the grass to the hotel. I can see the sun has dipped below the level of the buildings.

“How much more work is there to do in this place?”

“Quite a lot, really. I have a load of land I want to develop into a water park for the kids,” Beau says.

“You want kids here?” I ask, confused.

Beau turns to me and smiles. “Our second club has a crèche; the parents come and drop off the kids and go for a couple of hours. For full-on sexy time.”

“Now, who would have thought of that? dump your kids and go and have a quick fuck,” I say, belly laughing.

“The modern world never seems to amaze me,” Beau replies.

We arrive back at the reception. Beau heads off to his room; I start walking to mine. Brooke fills my mind and I can’t stop thinking about her. I walk to her room and knock on the door. I stand and wait. There is no answer, so I turn to walk away. Her door finally opens.

Brooke puts her head around her door. “What do you want?” she asks.

“We are going to the club tonight, I was wondering if you would like to join me,” I say.

“You mean a date?” Brooke asks, quizzically.

I smile and stare into her beautiful blue eyes. “Yeah, something like that.”

“Hmm, and no funny business?”

“No funny business… and I promise, no cards anywhere near us,” I reply.

“What time are you going?”

“About eight thirty or nine,” I reply.

“Come and get me when you’re ready.”

“Okay, I will see you later,” I say as I walk down the hallway.

I look back over my shoulder and see Brooke looking out from her room toward me. I turn the corner and then her head is gone.

I get back to my room and lay on the bed. I think about the day and how things have swung around in my favor. This morning I found I was in a real mess and now I have a date.

I am not the most religious person in the world, but I find myself thanking the Lord that they have chosen to help me. Just a week and I can put all of my Las Vegas nightmare behind me, once and for all.

I put my head on the pillow and fall into a deep slumber. My mind drifts off, back to Vegas… to a scene that could have been in my future…

I see the large black car coming toward me. My back is against the chain-link gate. The lock on the chain digs into my back as the doors open. Ronny and Mikey step from the rear of the car.

The headlights shine brightly in my face. I raise my hand to stop the light. A sharp pain shoots through my arm as Ronny smashes a baseball bat onto it.

“Alex, where the fuck is our money?” Mikey yells.

“I am working on it, trust me,” I reply as I hold my arm.

“Working on it doesn’t help us much,” Mikey says.

Ronny swings the bat, my leg buckles as I feel it crunch against my knee. I fall to the ground. My hand rests in a small puddle of rain water.

Ronny smashes the bat onto the bridge of my knuckles. I scream as I feel my fingers breaking against the pavement.

“How the fuck can I do anything with broken fingers?” I cry out.

“You were smart enough to get yourself into this mess, use your fucking brain to get yourself out of it,” Mikey says.

“Okay, just give me a few weeks, and I will have it for you.”

“Ten grand a week interest, I hope you fucking realize that Alex.”

“I know, I will get it just don’t hurt me anymore, or I won’t be able to do anything,” I say, trying to stand.

I feel a crack in my ribs as Ronny swings the bat for the final time.

“God-damn it, what did I just say? Fuck.”

Mikey laughs hysterically. “I guess Ronny didn’t hear you clearly,” Mikey says. He kicks me in the face for good measure.

I find myself laying in a puddle of water and blood, with dirt spread across one side of my face.

I sit up sharply. I am drenched in sweat.

I look at my watch. I see I have slept longer than I expected to. That dream was just too life-like for my liking. Fuck, if Ronny and Mikey catch up with me, I’m sure that’s what they will do, at the very least. Even if I pay them, I reckon they will give me a bit of a beating just for good measure.

I have to pick Brooke up in about twenty minutes. I turn on the shower and step in. I quickly shower and wrap my body in a towel. I walk back into the room. I open the closet and pick some clothes to wear.

Fifteen minutes to go. “Crap, I’ll be late.”

I drop my towel to the floor and start to pull on my boxers. I hear a knock at the door.

“Hello,” I call.

I look through the security lens. The hallway is empty.

Maybe it was just the wind or something…

I turn to get dressed. Brooke is standing in the room.

“Jesus Christ, you scared the living shit out of me,” I scream.

“I knocked but there was no answer, I tried your other side door, it was unlocked,” Brooke says.

“Sorry, I had a nightmare, and then I was late,” I say.

“You do realize you have your boxers on back to front,” Brooke says.

“I told you I was all messed up.”

“Dreams can be dreams, or they can be a sign of something that is going to happen.”