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Well, this was a first for me. My neighbor, Beverly Johnson, had talked me into a 7 day vacation in Las Vegas without our spouses. I was reluctant to even bring it up to my husband Bill since we had never went on a vacation apart in our 10 year marriage. In fact I didn't think he would be very receptive to the idea. I was pleasantly surprised when he didn't object and more amazed when he suggested it may spice up our marriage. Not that anything was really wrong in our relationship. But, in 10 years, we had never been apart.
Beverly and Bob, our best friends, were in a similar situation of sorts. They were together even more than Bill and I. They owned a small business and worked together every day. She jokingly suggested to her husband that if she didn't get away from him for a week she was going to kill him.
So it was all set. We were going to drive to Vegas, leaving on a Friday afternoon and not returning until the following weekend. Seven days to play is the way Beverly put it.
Beverly even went shopping one whole day just to buy a wardrobe of clothes to wear in Vegas. She tried to talk me into doing the same but I thought it was a waste of money. I had plenty of clothes and, unlike Beverly, I dressed pretty conservative. I didn't think I would look any more glamorous in new clothes as she had suggested.
Anyway, the drive to Vegas was pleasant. We talked about everything under the sun and it was relaxing just to be with her.
I had never been to Vegas and the lights amazed me. I never saw such lights in my life. I felt the excitement as we drove down the famous strip to the hotel where we had reservations.
When we arrived at our room I thought a mistake had been made. It was a beautiful suite. Beverly assured me this was what she had reserved. She said we don't do this often so we might as well go first class.
We didn't even unpack our bags. It was 10 pm but, unlike our home town, no one sleeps in Vegas. Or at least not all at the same time. We immediately went downstairs to the Casino and started playing the slot machines. It was something new for me but I quickly got the hang of it.
The waitress continued bringing us free drinks and by 4am we were close to drunk. We were also dead tired. By 4:30 in the morning we were sound asleep.
"Get up sleepy head," I heard someone say. "It's time to get out of this room and party."
"Good god Beverly. What time is it?" I murmured.
"It's 10am, she answered. "Time to get up and out of here."
As I rolled out of bed my head was splitting. I wasn't much of a drinker but the drinks the night before seemed to go down like water. Now I had huge hangover.
"I'm sick," I said to Bev. "I can't go anywhere."
"Your not sick," she said. "I've got just what you need to get you going."
She handed me a large glass that appeared to be tomato juice. My mouth was extremely dry and my body felt dehydrated. Something cold and wet was appealing. I took several big gulps before I realized it was laced with booze.
"That's a Bloody Mary," Bev exclaimed. "The Hair of the Dog as Bob calls it. It should give your body some equilibrium." She laughed at her statement because she knew she didn't know what the hell she was talking about.
Surprisingly it did make me feel better. Bev had ordered a whole pitcher of the drink and I had another as I showered, dressed, preparing for a day on the town.
Was I ever surprised when I walked out of the bathroom. There stood Bev, fully dressed, or sort of dressed, because the skimpy outfit she was wearing didn't leave much to the imagination.
"Jesus," I blurted out. "Are you going out in public dressed like that?"
"Like what?" she asked mockingly. "Your the one that's going to be different from everyone else. With a body like yours it's a sin for you to cover it up the way your dressed. You look like the preacher's wife for christ sakes. I told you you should have bought some new clothes for this trip."
I felt a little hurt by her remarks but shrugged it off. I just knew she would feel out of place in the clothes she was wearing. She looked positively slutty. I had to concede one thing. She had the body to wear those kind of clothes.
Since we, or Bev mostly, had made such a point about clothes I was especially conscious of what everyone in the casino was wearing . I was beginning to think she was right. Not everyone was dressed like her but everyone that had any kind of body was dressed pretty skimpy. And, amazingly, they all appeared to be comfortable with it. Now she had me thinking I was an overdressed fuddy duddy.
We caught a cab for downtown to a restaurant someone had suggested to us. And, to my amazement, we were drinking more Bloody Mary's with our brunch. For feeling so lousy an hour ago I now felt great.
Well, I guess wonders will never cease. After an afternoon of Bloody Marys, a shopping trip for clothes for me that Bev talked me into, here I stand in the most revealing clothes I ever wore in my life. My husband would be utterly amazed if he saw me now, I thought to myself.
Surprisingly, I felt comfortable in them, but I didn't think I would feel comfortable with people looking at me . I took comfort in the fact that no one I knew would see me.
Bev came out of the bathroom. "Now that's a real outfit your wearing," she said. "You look like the sexy bitch I knew was hiding under those clothes of yours. Your going to turn some heads tonight. Now don't it feel good to let go and feel a little slutty?"
I wanted to tell her she was right, it did feel good, but I said nothing. I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of admitting I might have been, oh hell, no might about it, I was wrong.
We had tickets to a Wayne Newton show starting in half an hour. I didn't like Wayne Newton but it's sort of like the thing to do when you go to Vegas.
Surprisingly, the show was good and we both enjoyed it. Afterwards we went to the bar for a drink. Several drunks, no not several, a lot of drunks put the hit on us and I was never so glad to be with Bev. She was extremely adept at putting them off and I felt myself feeling safe with her. I thought that was weird, feeling safe with another woman, the way I felt with my husband.
I heard Bev asking the bartender about places for us to go to have a good time. A band was playing so I couldn't hear most of the conversation. It didn't matter. Our now, unnatural relationship, would dictate her handling our agenda and I would follow along. I was aware of this phenomenon and I could even pinpoint where it started. When she picked out and approved every piece of clothing I bought today, right down to the panties I was wearing. And for the first time, tonight, I ever appeared in public without a bra, a point she was so adamant about.
I shrugged all of this off because I felt comfortable and I liked feeling safe and comfortable.
