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Brian sighed to himself and aimlessly flipped through the television channels, finding nothing on. Surfing past all the movie channels, he gave the telephone a sideways glance almost willing it to ring. This is ridiculous, he thought as he snatched up the receiver. He dialed the number, hesitating before punching in the last digit, and then gave a defeated sigh. If I call, I’ll just seem desperate, but if I don’t, she might think I don’t want to talk to her.

Silently berating himself, Brian placed the phone back on its cradle and resumed his boring task of channel surfing. He had been contemplating all day about whether he should call Julie or not, and all day he had not been able to get the entire number dialed. What was his deal? It wasn’t like this was someone he was calling for the first time. Damn, why was he suddenly so nervous about talking to her?

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his door. One of the guys had most likely come to bug him until he agreed to go out or play a video game. Begrudgingly, Brian stood up and slowly made his way to the door. Whoever was on the other side had become impatient and decided that he wasn’t coming fast enough.

“Yeah, yeah, hold on. I’m coming,” he called before opening the door.

“Duckie!” Julie cried, throwing her arms around his neck when she saw him.

Immediately, Brian’s mood brightened. “Jules, what are you doing here?”

“Well, if that’s the greeting I get, maybe I should just go back home,” she teased and lightly pushed him out of her way. “I thought you wanted me to come visit.”

“Well, yeah, I did, but I thought you would have to get it cleared with your supervisor.”

“Eh, yeah, I had some vacation days saved up, and Janet said it would be fine if I took a few days off. And hey, I decided I would surprise you.”

Brian smiled in amazement as Julie walked around the gigantic suite. Stopping in front of the French doors that led out to the balcony, she stared in awe of the view. “So, what have you been up to, Duckie?”

Smiling, Brian just shrugged. “Not a lot, really. Kev decided we would take a few days off, so I’ve been going out of my mind being bored.”

“Hmmm,” Julie tapped a finger against her chin. “I guess this is your lucky day, then, huh?”

Brian only cocked his head giving her a curious look.

“You know there’s no WAY you can be bored with me here,” she grinned and plopped down on the sofa.

Shaking his head, Brian laughed and sat down beside her fully prepared to not be bored.



When the large elevator lurched to a stop, Kevin moved forward and waited for the doors to slide open. Stepping back, he let a younger woman step out before him and surprised himself when he caught himself admiring her. Smiling, he straightened his posture a bit and strode through the casino to the hotel restaurant. It was still early in the day, so thankfully there weren’t too many people around to recognize him. Spotting the woman he’d shared the elevator with, Kevin smiled in her direction. His across-the-room flirting was cut short when a waitress walked up.

“Hi, can I get you anything?” her voice was soft and southern and strangely familiar.

Glancing quickly over the menu, Kevin found something that sounded appetizing and looked up. That’s impossible! He thought as he shut his eyes and opened them again. The waitress wasn’t looking at him, but he couldn’t mistake her if he wanted to. Even with short, light brown hair she was as recognizable as ever.

“Do you need a few minutes?” she asked without looking at him. When he didn’t answer, she finally let her eyes meet his, and the surprise on her face was evident.

“Brianna,” he whispered as he stood up.

Brianna’s eyes grew wide as the realization of the situation completely dawned on her. “Kevin…what are you doing here?”

Finally over the initial shock of seeing her, Kevin regained his composure and narrowed his eyes at her. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know what I mean, Bree.”

“Actually, no, I don’t. Look, it was great seeing you, but I really need to get back to work. My shift is actually almost over so I’ll just have another waitress come over. That way you won’t have to wait long,” she said quickly as she tried to get away from Kevin.

“Oh, well, if your shift is almost over, then you could let me see my daughter. I don’t have anything planned for today,” Kevin said blocking Brianna’s path.

“Well, no, I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” she said breezily.

“Why the hell not?”

“She doesn’t know you, Kevin.”

“And whose fucking fault is that? Surely you aren’t blaming me,” he boomed.

“Stop yelling,” Brianna whispered frantically. “Look, I have to go now. I’m sorry.”

Kevin stood there, amazed and furious, watching as Brianna quickly skirted away.



AJ, on his way to relax by the pool, smiled at a passing hotel staff member. As soon as he woke up that morning, taking a swim and just lounging by the pool was all he could think about. Well, that and winning some money, but he didn’t want to risk losing any, so he would settle for the more relaxing of the two activities. Letting out a content sigh, he continued on with his trek.

Just as he was making his way through the lobby (the glorious pool in his sight!), he heard angry voices. Curiosity got the best of him and he turned to find a young woman furiously pointing across the counter at a frantic looking man. A big black man was also standing beside the young woman, gently placing a large hand on her shoulder which she promptly pushed away.

“No, don’t tell me to shush or to calm down. This idiot lost my reservation! And on top of that, he booked my room! This is the fucking Bellagio for hell’s sake!”

The large black man pulled the dark haired woman away from the counter and said something that sounded like “You’re causing a scene; people are starting to stare.”

“Let them stare then,” she replied angrily as she turned her back on them.

“M-miss, I’m very sorry about the mix-up and I’d be happy to accommodate you in any way I can,” the man behind the counter blubbered, but she wasn’t listening anymore.

No, now she was staring at AJ with a sarcastic sneer plastered on her pretty face. “Well, if this day hasn’t just fucked me over for the third time today.”

Recognition setting in, AJ rolled his eyes and tried to turn away, but before he could, Bianca was approaching him. Forcing a smile, AJ made a show of bowing in front of her before dropping his shades to the end of his nose. “Bianca, I didn’t recognize you before.”

Bianca rolled her eyes. “I thought you guys were supposed to be in Los Angeles; I saw Nick this morning.”

AJ only shrugged. “We’re taking a few days off.”

She tried to look bored talking to him, but AJ could tell she was uncomfortable. “If I could get into my room, I would be closer to my day off, but that jackass,” she motioned over her shoulder to the man at the front desk, “lost my information and booked my room to someone else.”

“That’s too bad,” AJ commented. “I actually got a great room. Penthouse suite on the 32nd floor.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“No…” he said slowly.

“You have to be fucking kidding me. They gave YOU my suite!”

AJ had to bite his tongue to stifle a laugh. This was actually quite ironic and funny. Of all the people they could have given Bianca’s room to, they gave it to HIM. Could it get any better? “Well, I hope you get everything straightened out,” he offered a wide smile and nodded to Madd Dawg before heading back toward the pool. He didn’t look behind him, but he would have been willing to bet that Bianca was seething. Yes, it could get better.