A Beautiful Wedding

Travis put his arm around my shoulders. I leaned against him, trying not to look at my watch for the tenth time.

The taxi pulled into the circle drive of the Bellagio, and Travis leaned forward with bills to pay the driver. He then pulled out our roller carry-on, and waited for me. I scooted out, taking his hand and stepping out onto the concrete. As if it weren’t in the early AM, people were standing in the taxi line to go to a different casino, and others were returning, weaving and laughing after a long night of drinking.

Travis squeezed my hand. “We’re really here.”

“Yep!” I said, pulling him inside. The ceiling was distractingly ornate. Everybody in the lobby was standing around with their noses in the air.

“What are you—?” I said, turning to Travis. He was letting me pull him while he took in the ceiling.

“Look, Pidge! It’s . . . wow,” he said, in awe of the huge, multicolored flowers kissing the ceiling.

“Yep!” I said, tugging him to the front desk.

“Checking in,” I said. “And we need to schedule a wedding at a local chapel.”

“Which one?” the man asked.

“Any one. A nice one. A twenty-four-hour one.”

“We can arrange that. I’ll just get you checked in here, and then the concierge can help you with a wedding chapel, shows, anything you’d like.”

“Great,” I said, turning to Travis with a triumphant grin. He was still staring at the ceiling.

“Travis!” I said, pulling on his arm.

He turned, snapping out of his hypnotic state. “Yeah?”

“Can you go over to the concierge and get the wedding scheduled?”

“Yeah? I mean yeah. I can do that. Which one?”

I laughed once. “Close. Open all night. Classy.”

“Got it,” he said. He pecked my cheek before pulling the carry-on to the concierge desk.

“We’re under Maddox,” I said, pulling out a piece of paper. “This is our confirmation number.”

“Ah, yes. I have a honeymoon suite available if you’d like to upgrade?”

I shook my head. “We’re good.” Travis was across the room, talking with a man behind the desk. They were looking at a brochure together, and he had a huge smile on his face while the man pointed out the different venues.

“Please let this work,” I said under my breath.

“What was that, ma’am?”

“Oh. Nothing,” I said as he returned to clicking away on his computer.


Travis

Abby leaned in with a smile when I kissed her cheek, and then continued with check-in while I popped over to the concierge to nail down a chapel. I glanced over at my soon-to-be wife, her long legs propped up by those wedge heel shoes that make a nice pair of legs look even nicer. Her flow-y, thin shirt was just see-through enough that I felt disappointed to see a tank top under it. Her favorite sunglasses were perched on the front of her favorite fedora, and just a few long locks of her caramel hair, a little wavy from drying naturally after her shower, were cascading out from under the hat. My God, that woman was fucking sexy. She didn’t even have to try, and all I wanted was to be all up in her business. Now that we were engaged that didn’t sound like such a bastard thing to think.

“Sir?” the concierge said.

“Oh, yeah. Hey,” I said, taking a last glance at Abby before giving the guy my full attention. “I need a chapel. Open all night. Classy.”

He smiled. “Of course, sir. We have several for you right here at the Bellagio. They are absolutely beautiful and—”

“You don’t happen to have Elvis at a chapel here, do you? I figure if we’re going to get married in Vegas, we should either get married by Elvis, or at least invite him, ya know?”

“No, sir, I apologize, the Bellagio chapels do not offer an Elvis impersonator. However, I can find a few numbers for you to call and request that one appear at your wedding. There is also, of course, the world famous Graceland Chapel, if you prefer. They have packages that include an Elvis impersonator.”

“Classy?”

“I’m sure you’ll be very pleased.”

“Okay, that one. As quickly as possible.”

The concierge smiled. “In a hurry, are we?”

I started to grin, but I realized I was already smiling, and probably had been, like an idiot, since I arrived at his desk. “Do you see that girl over there?”

He glanced at her. Quickly. Respectfully. I liked him. “Yes, sir. You’re a lucky man.”

“I sure as shit am. Schedule the wedding for two . . . maybe three hours from now? She’ll need time to pick up a few things and get ready.”

“Very thoughtful of you, sir.” He clicked a few buttons on his keyboard and then grabbed the mouse, moving it around and clicking it a few times. His smile faded as he concentrated, and then it lit up his face again when he finished. The printer buzzed, and then he handed me a piece of paper. “There you are, sir. Congratulations.” He held up his fist, and I bumped it, feeling like he’d just handed me a winning lottery ticket.





CHAPTER FOUR


Three Hours


Travis