Las Vegas Cinderella

Drank too much beer last night, a lot more than we wanted to.

I woke up with a pounding headache and an excruciating ache between my legs. Behind my closed lids, I could tell that it was faint light from a window flooding a room. A heavy weight was thrown over my waist, pinning me to the softest bed I’d ever slept on.

And I was warm. I was really, really warm.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and took my surroundings in. I was in a swanky hotel room that had been messed up rather wildly. I gulped as I felt the cool fabric of the Egyptian cotton sheets against my bare skin.

What had happened last night?

I found my answer as I slowly turned my head to the side, only to come face to face with a hockey player with a big nose.

I’d had sex with Paul Bissonnette. I’d slept with him.

Holy…shit.

I had to get out of there. I wasn’t the type to have a lot of one night stands and I sure as hell didn’t know how to deal with him when he woke up.

Carefully peeling his heavy, tattooed arm off of me, I slid out of the bed bracing against the cool air from the AC. I found my dress, discarded underwear, and leather jacket all piled against the wall opposite the bed and said a silent prayer when I saw my suede bag. I’d must have had the sense to grab it from the dressing room before taking off.

In it was a change of clothes, saving me from the walk of shame. Once I was dressed and stuffed the bag full again, I could hear him rustling in the bed behind me.

Not stopping to check if I had everything I’d come with, I all but ran for the door, sprinting out of the suite and to the elevators. Hopefully, Paul Bissonnette wouldn’t remember me in the least.

*~*~*~*~*~*

I yawned loudly, stretching my arms over my head. Slowly, I cracked my eyes open, hoping to find I wasn’t alone.

I wasn’t the type to usually want a lay to stay around, but the girl from last night had been good and I wouldn’t mind another round.

But as I looked around, I found the room empty of any female presence and I couldn’t help but frown a little. I hadn’t heard her leave in the least. But then again, I slept like the dead and probably snored like a truck driver.

I climbed out of the king sized bed and pulled on a pair of boxers before looking around to assess the damage from the night before.

A chair was overturned and a table had been pushed out of the way. A painting on the wall was crooked and a lampshade had been knocked off. I fixed the latter two, picking up and tossing an empty condom wrapper.

I was just about to go out into the living room of the suite when something caught my eye.

A shoe. A ruby red high heel.

It dawned on me then that the girl from last night had been the waitress.

Pairing off together and pretty soon, there wasn’t a sole in sight when we went out last night.

Garnet… she’d never told me her real name. I picked up the shoe and sat down on the edge of the bed, scratching my head. She would probably want this back.

I set it down on the table and sighed. I’d swing my The Ruby later and see if any knew who she was.

*~*~*~*~*~*

After a hot shower and a large cup of coffee, I was doing laundry. I planned on leaving for LA by the end of the week and I wanted to make sure everything was ready long before that.

I was emptying out my bag’s contents to put them into the washer when I realized I was missing something. My left shoe was nowhere to be found.

“Shit,” I groaned. “Just my fucking luck.”

Maybe I had changed my shoes at the club and it was still there. I could check when I went in later than afternoon to pick up my last paycheck. But in the back of my mind, I knew it was probably in a suite at one of Vegas’s premiere hotels.

It wasn’t long before I was in my car and heading out onto the Strip to The Ruby. I parked in the employee lot, handing off my parking pass to the guard. I wouldn’t need it anymore.

“Hey, hot stuff,” Natalie grinned. “Have fun last night?”

I blushed and sat down at the bar. “Why are you here so early?”

“Helping Jason with inventory so I can get the night off,” she explained. “But you didn’t answer. How was your night with Big Nose?”

“It’s not that big,” I said. “And it was… good.” I remembered enough to know that that wasn’t giving it enough credit.

“Puh-lease,” Natalie rolled her eyes. “Scale of one to ten, how mind blowing?”

“At least a ten,” I allowed. I let her squeal for a minute before silencing her. “But that’s not what I’m here for.”

“Oh?”

“I lost my shoe,” I explained. “Did I leave my heel in the dressing room last night?”

“I left around one,” Natalie said. “It was pretty much empty then. Just the table’s with our makeup.”

“Fuck,” I cursed, dropping my head to the bar. “I can’t believe this.”

“Why?” she asked, patting my back. “It’s just shoes.”

“The most expensive thing I’ve ever had on my body!” I protested. “I spent two hundred dollars on those things!”

“Well not after last night,” Natalie began teasing. “I’m sure Paul Bissonnette is pretty expensive…”

“Not funny, Natalie!”

“Sorry, sorry,” she rubbed my arm. “You can borrow a pair of mine until you find them? Yeah? I’ll stop over tonight with some of the girls before we go out?”

I confirmed my plans for that night before trudging out to my car with my check in hand. Mission unaccomplished.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“Sorry,” the bartender apologized. “I’m new. Actually, it’s my first day.”

I sighed. I’d shown up to the The Ruby in the hopes of finding Garnet. But so far, I’d had no such luck. It bugged me that I didn’t know her real name and with only a limited amount of time before the awards were due to start, I had the feeling I wouldn’t be getting much done.

“Did you say you were looking for Va-I mean, Garnet?” a new voice asked. She rounded the bar. “Dark hair and pale skin?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “You know her?”

“Sure,” I knew she was a waitress here. “In fact, we’re all getting together tonight. Probably coming here.” She looked at the object in my hand. “Looks like you have her designer shoe.”

“I do,” I held it up by the heel lamely. “I was hoping to give it back to her and uh, thank her? But I’ve got-,”

“The NHL Awards,” she finished for me. “I grew up a Devils fan. But you should come here after. I can keep her around for a while. She’ll want to say goodbyes to people.”

“She’s leaving?”

“Yup. Heads to LA at the end of the week,” she crossed her arms. “So you’ll be here? To, you know, thank her?”

I could feel some heat on my neck. Why had I said that? “Yeah, sure. VIP lounge? Can you get in?”

“Honey,” she smiled. “I can get in anywhere.” She waved. “See you later then, Biz.”

“Wait!” I called after her. “Who are you?” I wanted to know who to hold responsible if this whole thing went awry.

“Oh,” she smiled to herself. “Just call me Fairy Godmother.”