I would have slowed down with Tiffany. The thought enters my mind before I can stop it, and it hits me in the gut. I’m usually in better control of myself than that, but being close to a couple who are obviously so in love is eating away at me. My jealousy is palpable, and I have the urge to go throw up.
For years I searched for her. Do you know how many Tiffany Smiths are in the world? Fifty-two thousand, seven hundred and fifty-nine. And that’s assuming she didn’t change her name. I’ve gone through countless private detectives and more money than a normal man could make in a lifetime trying to find her. False hope and women pretending to be her have broken me over the years. I’ve built my empire in the hopes that one day she might find me. Hell, I even named my casino after her. I’ll never forget her bright blue eyes. I see them every time I close my own. Somewhere in my heart, I always thought we would find one another, but maybe she’s with someone else, moved on. The thought makes me clench my fists and grit my teeth. I only have myself to blame. I should have found her by now.
“You doing okay, Ethan?” Charles’s words snap me out of my angry guessing game, and I just nod, following him through the casino lobby.
“Have you seen Foxy’s new show?” Mandy asks, obviously trying to bring us back to business.
“No, I’m afraid I haven’t had the time. But I’ve heard great things.” We pass one of her posters for the old show, and I get a funny feeling in my stomach. It happens every time I see something that reminds me of my Tiffany. The poster is of a woman, turned away from the camera with only her head and shoulders visible. Her hair is white blonde with a pink bow pinned in it. The words Foxy Bow are emblazoned across the bottom in glitter. The picture doesn’t show her face, but the blonde hair makes me think of my girl. This is Vegas, though, and a bottle of bleach is on every street corner.
“Oh, we need to have these changed out. They are the old promotional banners. Come around the front and see the new one. I think they installed it just this morning.”
“Sure, sounds great.” I don’t know why I’m melancholy all of a sudden, but I think it’s because Tiffany is on my mind so much lately.
As we walk through the casino, I try to pay attention to the conversation. Charles and Mandy are discussing plans for the casinos and what they want as far as the future of our partnership is concerned. I spend most of my life working to get noticed by someone I haven’t seen in ten years. Someone who may or may not want to see me. Someone who may or may not even be alive.
I stop that train of thought as soon as it enters my mind. I would know if my soul was gone. I would feel it in my bones if she wasn’t still breathing. I’d know it.
The day I was pulled apart from her was the worst day of my life. When I was put in the back of that cop car by DCP, I begged them to take me back. I knew that if I was separated from her, something bad would happen. If I didn’t have my eyes on her at all times, he would get to her. I just knew her father was waiting for his chance.
When we got down to the police station, it turned out that they had found a relative of mine. I’d gone into foster care after my mother died. I was placed with the Mark family, who just happened to live next to my Tiffany. When I was at the darkest point in my life, it was like God sent her to me. To shine light on my dark world.
They found my grandfather, but he had recently passed, leaving everything he had to me. A pile of money and a casino that wasn’t turning a profit. As soon as the cops let me go, I raced back to Tiffany, only to find her gone. I beat the shit out of her father but later realized he didn't know where she went either. So I started looking for her and building a life for us. Taking what my grandfather left me and increasing it tenfold. For her. For us.
“There she is. Our star.” Mandy waves her hand up, and I follow her line of sight.
I look up, seeing a huge banner stretched across the front entrance of the hotel, and as her ice blue eyes stare back at me, my knees go weak. It’s her. It’s my Tiffany. Clutching my chest, I nearly collapse to the floor, and Charles and Mandy rush to help me.
“Where?” I manage to choke out, but they don’t respond. They look at one another as if they’re confused. Like my whole world isn’t about to explode.
“Where is Tiffany?!” I bellow, and it echoes off the black marble walls.
“She’s about to go on stage. What the fuck is wrong, Ethan?” Charles is still holding my arm to steady me, but I break free and run as fast as I can to the other side of the casino. My legs burn and my chest aches. It can’t be possible. It can’t be true. Please God, let it be true.
I don’t know what happens, or who I knock over to get there, but when I get to the entrance, security is there to try to stop me. I feel a sudden rage come over me and I turn, punching someone who puts a hand on me.
I see Charles out of the corner of my eye. He’s holding up his hands and telling people to let me pass. He must see that I’m in a fury that won’t be stopped.