“Nick? Come on man, you’re gonna make us late again, hurry up!”
“Give me a few more minutes, man I’m beat, that show killed me,” Nick
mumbled towards the pounding at the door.
“Show? I’m not gonna be late cause you went to some damned strip club,
come on open the door!”
Strip Club? The words echoed in Nick’s head. What was Brian yelling about?
He lazily dragged himself from the bed, the sheets wrapping around his legs,
tripping him up and causing him to fall onto the floor.
“Ooof,” Nick gasped as the wind was knocked out of his lungs. Kicking at the
twisted sheets, he finally freed himself and half crawled half stumbled
towards the door. Nick didn’t notice the change in his surroundings until he
opened the door.
Instead of finding Brian standing out in the hotel hallway, he found Brian
standing on a doorstep, outside, wearing a jean jacket and what looked to
Nick like a royal blue work uniform. He reached out and pulled the jacket
away from Brian’s left shoulder and it revealed a white patch with Brian’s
first name embroidered on it.
“Nick, you’re not even dressed,” Brian huffed as he shoved past Nick. “I
swear Steve is going to have our butts in a sling if we’re late again and I
really can’t afford to get fired, I have bills to pay and Leighanne’s past due
and we really need our health insurance.”
Nick suddenly felt dizzy as he looked around the room. “Brian? What the hell
gives? This isn’t.. this isn’t the Radisson....”
“Radisson? Did you hit your head when you fell?” Brian asked as he picked up a pair of uniform pants and a shirt from a pile of clothes on the floor.
"Okay, this has to be a bad dream," Nick calmly stated as he looked around the room.
"I agree, your housekeeping abilities need some improvement," Brian joked.
"Wait a minute, you said Leighanne was past due? Okay, I get it, you guys are trying to play a joke on me," Nick smiled shaking his head.
"Guys? Nick, get dressed, we're going to be late and we'll get docked," Brian insisted as he tossed the uniform onto the bed.
Nick stared at the crumpled pile laying ontop of the bed. "These aren't mine."
"The hell they aren't. Come on Nicky, please get dressed!"
"Okay, I'll go along with your little game," Nick smirked as he pulled the pants on. He shook his head as he buttoned the navy blue, grease stained uniform shirt. "Okay, nice touch," he stated as he patted the white patch that had the name Nick embroidered on it.
After quickly washing his face and brushing his teeth, Nick followed Brian out the front door. He noticed his surroundings outside weren't any better than what he had just left.
"This looks like a rough neighborhood," he commented as he stood on the front porch.
Brian was impatiently standing next to his car, a banged up red Geo Metro. "Nick, come on!"
"Brian? You gotta be kidding me."
"Get in the damn car or walk!" Brian yelled through gritted teeth.
"Okay, okay," Nick replied as he bounded towards the car. He winced as the car door made a loud creaking noise as he pulled it open. "Oh this sounds safe."
Brian shook his head and got the engine started on the fifth try. A blue haze came out from the rear as he stomped on the gas and the muffler made a loud noise as it echoed down the road.
Settling back in his seat, Nick decided to wait until they arrived to wherever Brian was taking him. He figured this was going to be a good practical joke and he loved practical jokes.
