Casino Girl
"Crown and Coke," Free drinks come faster at the ten dollar slots.
"Sure," god what an ass I thought as her heels clicked away on the marble floor, from behind you couldn't even tell she was pregnant.
So young and pretty, 19 or 20, no, she had to be at least 21 to work in a casino.
My phone buzzed, the text said something about a stripper and the VIP room at the The Spearmint Rhino. I guess the IBM boys were going to be busy for a while, so much for dinner reservations at Emeril's.
Apparently this place thought that the hostess outfits should be tight black tights with black hose and 4 inch heels. Who am I to argue, but god this poor girl was pregnant, like 6 or 7 months pregnant.
The engagement ring was small, the wedding band was still very shiny. Her tray was empty now that I had my drink, she looked tired, the twenty dollar chip made her smile. I'm not sure how big they were before she got knocked up, but god she sure had cleavage now.
She was pretty in that cheerful girl next door sort of way. Gently cradling the baby bump she leaned back against a slot machine, looking down, she smiled as if she felt the baby move.
"Tough way to make a living...sit."
"Can't...god is always watching", she arched her eyebrows up pointing to the security cameras.
"They give you a hard time...really?"
"Yea...sometimes....depends on who's up there." She moved her hand up and to the side, the thin black material was stretched tight under her painted nails.
"Can you feel it," none of my business but, what to hell, she was pretty.
"Yea...when I stop walking I think he wakes up...sometimes he kicks," her name tag said Misty.
Over the next few hours she hovered, I got a little drunk and hungry. Her shift was over at eight, she said.
"What's to eat here....walking distance."
"It's all expensive and you have to have a reservation."
"Really, reservations, even here in the casino." I was down a hundred.
"Yea...that computer show thing...they tell us every place is booked," well that was why I was there after all.
"I have reservations...but my friends bailed...Spearment Rhino," Misty rolled her eyes.
"I'm not going to Emeril's alone...you know," a twinkle flashed...it was so fast I couldn't even be sure I had seen it. .
"I'm having leftover kung pao chicken...alone...yea," a bit of sarcasm I believe.
"Alone...why...husband working, " her ring glittered in the flashing lights of the slot machines.
"Air Force...Germany...Lundsburg...or something like that," it's Landsbery Air Force base in Germany I thought, but that's close enough I guess.
"Really how long?"
"Six months...so far," she must have figured I was counting the months. .
"Yea...I think I got pregnant the night before he left."
"The baby will be here before he gets back." she said with a sigh, loneliness is something even a half drunk stranger can sense.
"Have dinner...with me...I've always seen that Emeril guy on TV... I want to try it," I figured she would say no.
"Can't...broke...rents due."
"I didn't ask you to pay...I asked you to have dinner."
"Like a date...nooo...I'm married," I'm sure these girls get hit on a lot.
"No...like dinner."
"I'd have to go home and change." she waved dismissively at her outfit.
Persuasion is a gentle art.
"That's my phone." It's morning over there". She reached for her purse, her car was old but clean, we were headed to a part of Vegas I had never seen.
"Hi honey...I love you too." Misty sounded excited...I felt like I was intruding. I tried to ignore the small talk, looking out window helped, it seemed like the only green spots here were the golf courses.
"Noooo...NO...No...No...you can't tell me your doing that...that's so gross," I had tried to ignore the small talk, but squealing is hard to ignore.
"Me too...but still honey...no...I'm driving." This was getting pretty personal.