I arrived in Las Vegas at 10:20 am on Friday, which gave me 10 minutes to kill before the In-and-Out Burger opened. I asked my driver to show me the sights, so he drove down Tropicana to the Thunder from Down Under billboard. “Some of my Best Work” I said, having worked as a pelvis-double for the Aussie second from left, “Makes you want to duck, doesn’t it?”.
“I thought I recognized you”, replied the driver, “Ready for that burger now?”
Checked in at the VIP lounge around 11. They tried to give me a suite, but I thought double beds were less presumptuous. It had been over three years since I had seen Gina.
“Not this time Jimmy, just give me a standard room with doubles.” I suggested.
“Going to see how the other half lives Mr. P?”
“Something like that….. Something like that”
The room had a great garden bath and view of the Casino roof. No matter, I was here for the pool. I put my Speedo on and headed downstairs. A quick stop by the poolside convenience for some sun block yielded me a free pair of rimless sunglasses.
“You must have left these last time you were here, Sweets”, offered Ruth, the Cashier.
Who am I to argue? So I slathered on some Fifty, donned the shades, ordered a longneck, and tried to relax a bit before the festivities started.
An hour or so later I found myself back in my room, trying steal a catnap. The previous night had been a long one. I had met Justin at Toronado for a beer and a few Sausages. Then we headed over to the Independent to catch Bob Schneider. The crew seemed to enjoy themselves, but I was a bit disappointed by the off speed set list. I ended up only getting a few hours sleep, but I had the all afternoon to catch up.
Fast-forward a couple of hours. Gina’s not here yet and the cash machine just chuffed at me when I put the touch on it for the second time this hour. I was sitting the $200 dollar table betting twenty-five a hand and trying to tell a Michael Jackson joke between each one. “What did woody Allen say to MJ? Give me two tens for my twenty”
“Heh, I hadn’t heard that one before Mr P. No need to keep looking over your shoulder, you said she would be here for another hour at least. Have a drink”
“Thanks. Do you know how you tell the time at MJ’s House? When the big hand is over the little hand”
“Yeah, that’s a good one. Maybe you should just sit out a few hands”
And so it went. I thought I saw her once and sprung from the table. Two dealers and a pit boss yelled after me, “Sit down! And quit acting so eager”
“Yeah, let her come to you”, suggested Mike, the Round Mound of Double Down. This is the four hundred pound Casanova who was responsible for upping the minimum to $200 and the graciously asking the dealers to grandfather my $25 betting into the table.
Finally I lost my nerve and called again, It turns out she was taking a nap in the room. My cell phone screwed me again. I ran upstairs, and gave her a hug. We met Dolorous Ed for Dinner at Mesa, on my suggestion. Excellent food, but I knew that since I had had a few snacks there before I started gambling. We caught up a bit, ate some cheesecake, and headed over to Barbary Coast to play some more cards.
The night ended shortly after that, because of Jet Lag. We all broke even.
It was great to see her again, but I couldn’t get a read on how things were going to play out, because like I said, over the last few years the sum of our relationship has been a bunch of awkward phone conversations and I had no idea how to break the pattern. It had been five ears since Holland, which was our only good date and since then every year seemed to go better than the next. . It had been over three years since the elections, which was the last time we had seen each other. I was willing to call this weekend a success as long we ended up better friends than we had been lately. We bid each other a very friendly goodnight, and crashed into our own dreams. And Beds.
