Dominic set up reservations for them ahead of time since it was often booked up. None of the girls had ever been to anything like it and it had been the center of conversation at dinner, along with how Katarina was thrown out of the Monte Carlo the night before.
“This is so amazing,” Katarina said as they walked through the entrance. Everything around them had a chilly cool blue color. Once they checked in with their reservations the girls were fitted with arctic gear including gloves, hats, and faux fur coats—ordered by Dominic, of course. They were then escorted into the winter wonderland.
“Oh my God, look at that,” Darby said, pointing to the bar. It was entirely made of ice. She made her way to the bartender as LED lights flashed and changed color to the beat of the playing music. The other girls followed her pointing at huge magnificent ice sculptures of dolphins, a polar bear and penguins.
They took their seats and were presented with their ordered drinks in glasses made of Canadian Ice.
People danced around them while they sat on stools at a table of sculpted ice. Alyssa and Sally were asked to dance before they barely got comfortable at the table.
Katarina couldn’t get over how breathtaking and fabulous every little thing was. Rowan popped vitamin C in her mouth in between sips of her dirty martini. Melanie and Darby got up to see what the other rooms looked like since the waitress told them each room had a different theme.
“How are you feeling?” Julianna asked Rowan.
“Perfect,” she said with a slightly stuffy sounding nose.
“Liar,” Alyssa said. Rowan smiled.
“How did your meeting go with the director, or whatever he was, this morning,” Katarina asked Alyssa as she sat down with Sally after returning from dancing.
“I guess fine since they put me right to work on learning a couple of routines and handing me some detailed layouts scripts for the scenes,” Alyssa explained.
“Was it fun?” Rowan asked.
“Hard work, but yeah. It was fun. Though I might not be saying that tomorrow morning when I have to get up at the break of dawn and go through the dress rehearsal over and over again until the evening. You don’t realize how out of shape or how little you use certain muscles until you do something like this,” Alyssa said.
“I can imagine,” Sally said. “We were hoping we could come to the performance, but weren’t sure how you would feel about that.”
“I was planning on you all coming. Anthony’s already got your tickets waiting for you at the desk. One thing nobody has ever accused me of, is being shy!” Alyssa declared. They all laughed.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing you perform,” Sally said.
“Chances are you won’t know which one is me. The make-up and costumes are phenomenal, but completely disguise any trace of uniqueness. Some of the performers spend upwards of three hours getting dressed and having their makeup applied. It’s quite a process. Considering I am one of the shortest performers in the cast, you can look for me that way,” Alyssa said taking a gulp of her drink.
Sally seemed distracted as she stared over the crowd seeming to focus on someone or something when Rowan sneezed. A large puff of steam made the table invisible for a moment. The girls were stunned. Rowan waved her hands, trying to dissipate the foggy cloud. Alyssa waived her arms, helping with the fog. Then Sally took off like a shot across the room and disappeared into the dancing crowd.
A sudden gasp came from Darby and Rowan as a large melted hole in the table emerged into view. Katarina was sure the crowd would notice the girls, the cloud and the panicked waving of their hands, but surprisingly the people in the bar must have thought it was all part of Minus 5’s show. She was thankful for that much at least.
“Oh my God. There’s a hole in the table. Did I do that?” Rowan said noting what was obvious. Katarina noticed not only was there a hole but all the ice glasses were oddly malformed and leaning at strange angles.
“Uh. Rowan, you just melted the table. Your cold must be messing with your pyrokenesis,” Darby said in amazement.
“What do we do?” Melanie asked. A bunch of blank faces stared back at her. Katarina, completely stumped, found herself staring at the hole trying to think of something viable to say or do.
It was then that Katarina understood what Dominic had meant when he referred to Darby as the glue that kept this crowd together and why they depended on her so.
“We dance,” she said flailing her arms around to the beat of the music and knocking her chair down shattering it to pieces. It didn’t take long before all at the table realized what and how incredibly smart the idea was. They say one shouldn’t throw rocks in glass houses.
Katarina quickly learned that you might not want to have a bunch of drunk dancing girls in a bar made of ice. The all started spinning and dancing knocking the table over with its hole and screwy looking glasses shattering all evidence of the incident. When all was disintegrated, Darby escorted Rowan out of the bar, while most of the girls made their faux slurred apologies, to the staff and went on partying—that is after Katarina and Julianna handed the manager a thick stack of bills to pay for the damages.
* * *
With the incident of the table behind them, Melanie and Alyssa drudged through the crowd looking for Sally. They perused all the rooms, the restrooms and bartenders, looking for her, but no one knew where she was.
They made their way to the new table the girls had acquired.
“Did you find Sally?” Katarina asked.
“No,” Melanie said with concern.
“Why are you so worried about her?” Julianna asked.
“She’s been acting weird,” Melanie said.
“In what way?” Alyssa asked.
“She looked as if she’d seen a ghost earlier today, and I’ve noticed several times since we’ve been here that she seems distracted or is maybe seeing something, I can’t see,” Melanie explained.
“She has seemed a little jumpy, but she does see the dead from time to time,” Alyssa replied.
“She told me she sees them all the time now, but whatever this was, it seemed different,” Melanie said.
“Why don’t you just text her?” Julianna suggested.
“She dropped her phone at the airport here in Las Vegas. It hasn’t worked since,” Alyssa said.
“And you couldn’t find her here? Do you think she might have gone back to the room?” Katarina asked.
“We searched the bathrooms and all the rooms we came across and there was no sign of her. I suppose she could have gone back, but you’d think she would have said something,” Melanie noted.
“True, unless she wasn’t feeling well,” Katarina said.
“I’ll check the hotel rooms. I’ve got to get sleep for the performance tomorrow anyway. I’ll call you if I find her,” Alyssa said.
“What is it they say to circus performers to wish them luck—you know like they say ‘break a leg’ to an actor?” Melanie asked.
“Most likely they’d say something with a bunch of profanity, but I suppose if you’re looking for something a little less objectionable you could say, ‘bump a nose’, or ‘merde,’” Alyssa declared.
“But doesn’t ‘merde’ mean ‘shit,’” Julianna asked.
“Yup. I told you performers are a strange lot,” Alyssa answered.
They laughed as she headed back to the hotel for the evening.
* * *
“Maybe we should look around for Sally,” Melanie proposed.
“I think that’s a good idea. Besides I think my nose is frozen,” Katarina said. Julianna agreed and they took their leave from Minus 5.
They opted to not go into the casino area for fear someone would mistake Katarina for Felicity Gold and kick them all out for being friends of hers, but there were plenty of places to check out in the hotels. It also gave them an opportunity to do a little bar hopping.
After perusing most of the shops, bars, and sights to see in the Mandalay Place Hotel, Melanie and Ju
lianna did a quick pass through the casino while Katarina remained outside.
While waiting, she received a call from Alyssa.
“Hey. Any word from Sally?” Katarina asked?
“No. I checked all three suites even talked with Rowan and Darby to see if maybe they had bumped into her and neither one of them have heard or seen her,” Alyssa relayed.
“I’m starting to get worried,” Katarina told her.
“She’s a big girl. She knows where we are if she needs us and she’s a very gifted witch. I think she could hold her own if she got into trouble,” Alyssa tried to ease her worries.
“I suppose. Get some sleep, Alyssa. We’ll keep our eyes open for her as we make our way back that direction,” Katarina said.
“Sounds good. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know,” Alyssa reassured her.
“Thanks. Sleep good,” Katarina said spying Julianna and Melanie coming out of the casino.
“Jules, Lanie…anything?” Katarina asked.
“No,” Julianna said and Melanie shook her head to relay the same. “Who were you talking to?” Julianna asked.
“Alyssa. She said she talked to Darby and Rowan and checked the suites, but no sign of Sally,” Katarina told them.
“You’re getting worried, aren’t you, Kat?” Julianna asked.
“I am, but Alyssa reminded me that Sally is a pretty talented witch. She seems to think she could hold her own if she were in trouble,” Katarina said.
“I wish that made me feel better, but it doesn’t,” Melanie said.
“I know. I feel the same,” Katarina admitted. “I say we still keep an eye out, but let’s hit the Cosmopolitan. There’s two places there I’d like to see: The Chandelier—I heard it’s really beautiful, and I’d like to try some ice-cream concoction at the Neapolitoan,” Katarina said.
“Yum. I could go for something sweet about now,” Melanie said. “Of course if I keep this up, I’ll never fit into my wedding gown,” Melanie admitted.
“You’ll be fine. After all, how often does one go to Las Vegas for a girls weekend?” Julianna said.
“True. Not very often at all,” Melanie smiled.
“Cosmopolitan, here we come,” Katarina said locking arms with Melanie and Julianna on each side of her like they were heading for the yellow brick road and Oz beyond.
Chapter Seven
As she anticipated, Katarina found the Chandelier bar remarkable. The chandelier itself was several stories high and was the focus of the bar. There was a bar within it, below it and above it. Lights danced among the crystals twinkling and projecting prisms everywhere. The bar within was literally surrounded by curtains of draped crystals. They had a drink or two at the inner bar after they admired and took in all the beauty from the enormous piece of art.
Katarina, Melanie, and Julianna were ready for a sweet treat when they left the Chandelier and mapped out the route to the Neapolitan. As they walked, still eyeing the crowd for any signs of Sally, they walked by a very interesting chapel.
They had seen many chapels since they had been in Las Vegas. Each hotel had at least one if not more and even the airport had a chapel for those who procrastinated to the last moment before leaving, or those who had just arrived and couldn’t wait to be married under the neon lights of Las Vegas. However, this chapel was different.
It was named appropriately ‘The Pop-up Chapel’ since it housed many one dimensional cardboard cutouts of wedding guests seated in chairs like paper dolls you might find in your favorite pop-up book. A flyer on the window advertised, “Wedding on a Whim” Packages including vows, two giant eraser rings, party favors, a photo booth token to remember your special day and the option for a silk flower bouquet rental.
A couple was presently at the altar exchanging vows as Julianna, Katarina, and Melanie peered in the glass walls
`. Julianna and Katarina clapped and cheered as the couple kissed and the music commenced. Melanie was adoring all the posted pictures of past patrons of the pop-up chapels dating back several years.
Without any warning Melanie put her hand to her mouth and ran off. Julianna turned in time to see her pass through the doors leaving the hotel.
* * *
“What happened?” Katarina asked.
“I’m not sure. Last I saw she was checking out the happy couples on the wall,” Julianna said.
Katarina and Julianna moved to where Melanie had been standing moments ago to see if they could find what might have upset her.
Katarina was distracted as she skimmed over the smiling faces not really seeing them and said, “Do you think I should go after her?”
“Isn’t that…Josh?” Julianna suddenly said.
Katarina turned her attention to the extended hand and pointing finger Julianna held towards a picture.
“Oh my God,” Katarina said and then moved in closer squinting to make sure of the identity. There was Josh with a cute little blonde slung over his shoulder, both grinning like little kids showing the camera their matching eraser rings.
“It is, isn’t it?” Julianna said.
“It is,” Katarina said.
“You might want to give your boy a call and give him a heads-up to the shit that’s about to hit the fan,” Julianna said.
Though Katarina felt she should call Josh first, it was Melanie’s breaking heart that needed attention right now. Thankfully Melanie had cause to stop once she was outside the casino instead of running on to an unknown destination.
Katarina found her weeping quietly sitting on a planter partially obscured from people entering the casino. She said nothing but sat beside Melanie and wrapped her arms around her letting her have a good cry for a moment. She kissed the top of Melanie’s head and stroked her hair.
Finally Melanie said, “I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I, dear, but I’m sure there is an explanation.”
“But wouldn’t you think he’d have mentioned being married. I mean that’s pretty big stuff,” Melanie said through her sniffles.
“It is, which makes me think we’re not seeing the whole picture. You need to speak to Josh, Lanie, so he can explain. After all, it could be nothing,” Katarina pointed out.
“Nothing? How can finding your fiancé has been married already and never bothered to tell you, be nothing?” Melanie exclaimed.
“Well…Julianna was reading through some of the different things they do at the chapel and one of packages was a faux wedding, where there’s nothing legally binding, it’s just for kicks,” Katarina tried to explain.
“A mock wedding?” Melanie said with hope as she wiped her eyes.
“Yes, dear. Completely fake, so see. This could be nothing but a silly photo on a wall,” Katarina said hoping in her own heart that was true.
“Yeah. It could be just that. Nothing more than a dare, or just a corny picture,” Melanie said to Katarina with a little smile, though Katarina got the impression it was more like a pep talk convincing herself it was all a ruse.
“You don’t suppose he loved this girl, do you?” Melanie suddenly asked as if her confidence was suddenly faltering.
“I couldn’t say, Lanie. That’s something you’ll have to ask Josh. What I will say is that whether he truly loved her or not, what he feels for you is far more powerful,” Katarina said.
“Why do you think that?” Melanie asked.
“Because, dear, unlike a wedding in Vegas which is sudden and unplanned, he’s gone through all the traditional steps with you. That’s got to mean something. He even sang his proposal to you in front of tons of people. That in itself is pretty amazing for a man who has been an introvert most his life,” Katarina explained.
“True,” Melanie admitted with a forced smile. “Of course he didn’t look like an introvert in that picture,” Melanie countered.
“No. You’re right, but I have a feeling a lot of alcohol was consumed before that picture was taken. After all let’s compare your gorgeous diamond ring to the eraser ring in the
photo,” Katarina pointed out.
Melanie couldn’t help but burst out laughing at Katarina’s comment as she glanced at the pretty sparkling ring on her finger.
“I’m sorry I ran out on you. I guess I over reacted,” Melanie said to Katarina.
“Aw, sweetie,” Katarina said hugging Melanie. “I’m not sure I would have reacted any differently if it had been Dominic in that picture with some woman slung over his shoulder like a behemoth caveman.”
They both laughed heartily as Julianna came out of the hotel spotting them and heading towards them.
“Hey, Lanie. How are you doing?” Julianna said as she approached.
“Better than I was, thanks to Katarina,” she said with a thankful glance at Katarina as she wiped the last remnants of tears from her face.
“Good,” Julianna said with a smile.
Melanie said to Katarina “If it had been Dominic instead of Josh, I’d like to think I would have been there for you the way you were here for me.”
“I’m sure you would,” Katarina assured.
Julianna had a package in her hand and raised it to their attention, “I had them take down the picture.”
“You did? That’s so sweet of you, Jules. Is that it?” Melanie said referring to the package.
“Yes,” Julianna said.
“May I have it?” Melanie asked.
Katarina and Julianna both were shocked by her request. “Why would you want it, dear”? Katarina asked.
“For one thing I’d like to have it to remind me of this moment with you and Jules—a family moment I’ve not had a lot of in the past,” Melanie said. Julianna and Katarina gave her a ‘how sweet’ aw. Melanie continued, “And just in case they really did get married however brief, it will remind me that all she got from him was a lousy eraser ring.” They all had a hardy laugh at her comment as Julianna handed over the eight by ten package to Melanie.
* * *
Later that night, when Melanie came back to the hotel, she checked in Sally’s room to find her sleeping peacefully within. She was relieved to see she was safe, but she also wanted to wake her to find out where she had been and if something might be wrong. It was late though and she opted to close the door quietly and let her sleep in hopes of meeting up with her in the morning. Hopefully she’d clarify her odd behavior and her running off without telling anyone where she’d gone.