Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas

Faith - Part 5

Brandon and I were waiting for the third Fountains of Bellagio show to begin when Carmen showed up. We had already sat through their choreography to Carol of the Bells and Sleigh Ride, but when she finally rejoined us, we stayed for It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas before heading back up the Strip to her car.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen the fountains,” said Carmen, slipping her phone out of her purse. “Actually, I haven’t been this far south on the Strip since…wow, since before I left Sirens of TI.”

“Why is that? Free show rivalry between hotels?” teased Brandon.

“Yeah right,” she scoffed playfully, swiping quickly at her screen. “Those fountains are nice, but we were a musical with pyrotechnics and sword fighting. There is no comparison.”

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it out and wasn’t surprised to see a text from Carmen.

So what’s the plan w/ him?  

I rolled my eyes and wrote back to her.

Still the same.

“Did you do a Christmas themed show?” he challenged, his eyebrows raised.

Carmen scrunched her nose. “I don’t think there is anything less sexy than that.”

“How much do you want to bet that there is a drag or burlesque show that does a sexy Christmas theme?” I mused out loud. Catching the look on Brandon’s face, I barely held back a snort. “Come on, you can’t tell me you’ve forgotten this part of Las Vegas.”

“Oh, I can totally see it!” Carmen exclaimed, looking up from her screen. “With a fabulous version of The Twelve Days of Christmas or a striptease to Baby It’s Cold Outside.”

Brandon squirmed. “Ew, that’s just weird. It’s my favorite Christmas song.”

Creepy. I thought with a shiver.

I didn’t realize I had said it out loud until Carmen and Brandon turned to stare at me. My face turned red hot.

“It doesn’t have the best lyrics, I know,” he continued, flustered. “As a kid, I just thought of it as this fun and playful duet. I still hear it that way.”

“I didn’t mean to sound judgmental,” I muttered, my face still burning. I felt my phone go off again.

Still just a hotel?

“Way to beat a guy when he’s down,” Carmen scolded playfully. “Do you know what he’s been through tonight?”

“It’s fine,” Brandon said quickly. We walked in silence for a moment, the conversation between us throttled. I texted Carmen back.

Yes, and it’s obvious as hell we’re talking about him right now.

We were across from The Venetian before he spoke up again. “Carmen,” he said, snapping the delicate tension, “how was your gondola ride?”

She smiled wickedly. “Oh, definitely fun. Sorry to say this, but I’m really happy you two didn’t come along – I had the cutest gondolier, and he gave me his number. I really wasn’t about to meet someone on Christmas Eve, but…I don’t know, New Year’s is always an option, right?”

Carmen chattered about her ride all the way to the parking garage. She was going on about the Dean Martin song the gondolier sang to her when we got off the elevator. The floor where we had parked was now surprisingly empty – I had a clear view of her grey Corolla to the far right – except for a group of four men in the left corner of the garage. The click click click of Carmen’s heels on the concrete had attracted their attention, and they turned their heads to get a good look at us.