What Did Happen in Vegas? Ch. 01

Lisa walked over to the table and kissed Brad on the cheek as she sat down.

"Thanks for coming Brad. I just need someone to talk to while I kill some time."

"I was glad you called. I would much rather keep you company than sit at home watching television."

"If you weren't with me you would have been out with one of your girlfriends tonight. I know you would not have stayed home on a Friday night."

"You got me there but the simple fact is I want to help you. I care about you."

"Thanks. That means a lot to me right now."

"So, you really plan to go through with this tonight?"

"Yes. I'll stay out till around three o'clock in the morning, then I'll go home," Lisa said.

"Tom will be worried sick."

"That's the point. I want him to think that I am planning to cheat on him tonight. I want him to see what it feels like to think about the person you love having sex with someone else."

"When will you tell him what you really did?"

"That will depend on him. If he keeps on the way he is, I may never tell him."

*****

10:30 PM

Tom stopped in a shopping center parking lot a few miles from home to think. Then he remembered the phone conversation he overheard. Lisa had said that she would meet someone at Ben's at ten o'clock. Tom had never heard of a place called Ben's.

Tom spotted a coffee shop in the shopping center so he went in and ordered a cup and asked the waitress if they had a phone directory he could use.

"I think so, let me check," the waitress said.

"Before you go, have you ever heard of a bar called Ben's anywhere around here?"

"You mean Ben's Lounge? That's on 44th Avenue just west of McIntyre. It's only a few miles from here."

Tom thanked her and pulled a bill out of his pocket to pay for the coffee. Tom took his coffee and walked out to his bike and thought about what he should do next. Should he go to Ben's Lounge and see if Lisa was there and if she was force her to come home with him? He decided that would be a bad idea. He thought about just going back home and waiting for her but he was afraid of what she might do if he didn't at least try to stop her. In the end he decided to just go to Ben's Lounge and try to reason with Lisa. He threw the coffee in a trashcan and got back on his bike.

*****

10:45 PM

By the time Tom arrived at Ben's, Lisa had already had three drinks. Brad suggested that she take it easy if she was going to make it till three o'clock.

"I plan to get good and drunk and then take a cab home. It will upset Tom even more."

Brad just happened to be looking toward the entrance when Tom walked in.

"Tom is here." Brad said.

"He's here? Oh, shit. How did he find me?"

"Maybe I should leave," Brad suggested.

"You stay here. I'll go talk to him."

Tom was looking around trying to find Lisa when he suddenly spotted her walking across the room toward him.

"Lisa, this is not the way to solve anything. Come home now before you make things worse," Tom said.

"I am not coming home."

"Who are you with?"

"No one yet but I have to do this or I will never be able to get passed what you did to me."

"Lisa, I did not have an affair," Tom said. "I was afraid it would come to this and I am tired of this bull shit. I am not going to ask you to forgive me for something I didn't do. I'm going home and if you want to save this marriage I suggest you follow me now. I'll expect you to be home within a half hour of when I get there," Tom said.

"And if I don't come?"

"If you don't make it, I will not be there when you do come home. Is that a clear enough choice for you?"

"Are you giving me an ultimatum?"

"Call it whatever you want but if you don't come home now we are through."

Lisa could feel her eyes filling with tears but she didn't want Tom to see so she turned her back on him. She knew that she was letting her anger get the better of her but she couldn't help herself.

"Good night, Tom," she said and walked back toward the table.

"I'll wait 30 minutes, then I am gone."

Lisa was more worried that Tom would follow her back to the table than she was about him actually leaving her.

*****

11:10 PM

Tom paced around the parking lot at Ben's trying to decide what to do next. He was hoping that Lisa would come out after him. He waited ten minutes but she didn't show. He thought about waiting until she did come out to see whom she was with but decided to do what he had told Lisa he was going to do. What ever happened after that would be up to Lisa.

Lisa returned to the table and told Brad what Tom had said.

"Do you think he will really leave?" Brad asked.

"I don't think so. I just can't believe that he gave me an ultimatum. Who the hell does he think he is? This is entirely his fault and now he gives me an ultimatum. Well, screw him. I won't go home at all tonight."

"Come on, Lisa, you're letting the alcohol make decisions for you. You can't stay here all night," Brad said. "Where will you go?"

"I don't know. I guess I can go to a motel," Lisa said.

"This may not be a good idea but I have an extra bedroom in my apartment. You're welcome to stay there tonight if you want," Brad offered.

"Really? That would be great Bard," Lisa said. " I really don't like the idea of spending the night in a motel room by myself."

Lisa excused herself to go to the ladies room and asked Brad to order her another drink while she was gone. While he waited for the waitress to come to the table Brad wondered what he was getting himself into. He had always had a thing for Lisa and it was beginning to look like he might get a chance to get her into his bed but just how hard should he try. If he did manage to get Lisa into bed what would happen then? He certainly wouldn't be able to remain friends with Tom. By the time the waitress had made it to the table Brad had made his decision. He wouldn't force the action but he wouldn't turn down a chance to get between Lisa's legs either.

*****

11:20 PM

Tom started his bike and took one last look toward the door of Ben's Lounge before he pulled out of the parking lot and turned east on 44th Avenue. It had started to rain and Tom felt that it fit his mood and the way the night was going. Tom bent low behind the handlebars to get out of the wind and rain as much as he could.

*****

11:25 PM

Lisa returned from the ladies' room and quickly finished the drink the waitress had just brought her and then asked Brad to dance. As they walk out to the dance floor a slow dance started and Lisa put her arms around Brad's neck and leaned her head against his chest as they begin to move slowly with the music. Lisa could feel the affect the drinks were having on her. Her face felt almost numb and she was having trouble focusing her eyes enough to see the faces of the other dancers.

To be continued...