Ever Enough

Bittersweet.

That was the best way to describe this moment.

It was the last time.
It was the end of this chapter, and the start of the next.

The sun was setting over Vegas, and every little light made its presence known- the strip illuminating the desert. Sophie had her arms crossed over her chest, rolling her bottom lip between her teeth. She had seen the lights a million times but tonight would be her last, at least, for awhile.

And truthfully, she would miss it.

Vegas had given her her first real taste of freedom.

Vegas had welcomed the innocent twenty-something into there city with open arms, teaching her things about life she had never imagined, and now she was leaving it all behind.

The buzz in the pocket of her hoodie pulled her from her thoughts.

You better be getting ready!

Kasey had been her best friend since she had arrived in Vegas, she had taken on the older sister role and she had spent the past two years protecting Sophie.



It took all of three seconds for Kacey to respond.

Only the finest send-off for the finest show-girl Vegas has ever seen!

Sophie couldn't help but roll her eyes. She had insisted on more than one occasion that a "send-off" wasn't necessary. She was exhausted- she had worked up until yesterday, and tomorrow she would catch a flight to London.

All she really wanted was a good nights sleep, but Kasey just wouldn't take no for an answer.



Once again, she texted right back.

I can't let my best friend go without a party, Soph. I just can't. Now go get your fine ass ready!

Sophie trudged into her bedroom, feet heavy with defeat as she pulled a dress and a pair of heels from her perfectly packed suitcase.

There wasn't much of anything left in the the 26th floor Nobu Penthouse suite that belonged to Sophie -aside from the a handful of outfits and a suitcase- Everything else had been carefully packed up in boxes and wrapped in bubble wrap to ensure a safe trip to it's newest destination- London, and for the first time in three years, the room looked exactly like what it was- a hotel room. A temporary residence. A place to come and stay for a few days. A vacation spot.

Not the home it had been to Sophie for the past three and a half years.

But once again her life was moving at what could only be described as warped speed.

Simon Cowell marched into her life a few months back when he caught a Peep Show performance, one of the few where she stood in when Coco had fallen ill with the flu. It was just last week when she had gotten the call -he was looking for a new choreographer and he wanted her- or better yet, needed her, as he had chosen to put it.

This was an opportunity that she just couldn't turn down, no matter how far from home it would take her.

Sophie sat on the granite counter top, her legs in the sink covered in shaving cream as she washed the blade of her razor under the tap before striking at the final bit of the foamy white cream.

"Mom! I need the bathroom to do my make-up!"

"Almost done!" her voice was muffled behind the door.

Her mom and her sisters had all flown out to help finish packing.

They had all been to Vegas before to see her perform, but they had never stayed with her in the lavish hotel suite that had been given to her courtesy of Caesar's Palace, and her older sisters were enamored.

"I don't know how you're leaving this place!" Lola gushed, "I mean have you been in that tub? It's amazing! And your fridge! It's not even a mini-fridge! And it's all free!"

"Did you see the paparazzi on the way in?" Darcy howled from her spot in the couch, "They cared who we were! I gave one my autograph!"

"Darcy-" Sophie scolded, rubbing at her throbbing temples, "you are a vegan chef why in God's name did you give them your autograph?"

"Because I'm your sister, and apparently you're a big deal in Sin City!" she minded.

Lola grabbed a bottle of wine from the fridge.

"The glasses are in that top cabinet, Lo." Sophie instructed as she pulled her legs from the sink, patting them dry.

"We're living it up, so we're going to drink from the bottle!" she proclaimed proudly before collapsing on the couch, throwing her feet into Darcy's lap wiggling her toes as Darcy readied the nail polish.

Sophie couldn't help but laugh- because that was Lola's definition of "living it up", drinking from the bottle.

Sophie was so different then her sisters it was almost unfathomable.

Her life had been on the fast track since she could remember- at nine her parents had pulled her from the public school system, instead hiring a private tutor ensuring that she could continue to dance at competitions without the worry of missing school. She graduated high school at sixteen after being offered early acceptance to Juilliard. She studied for four years at the prestigious university before graduating with a Dance Bachelors of Fine Arts degree, her training based in ballet and modern dance.

Sophie had a handful of offers before graduation- most of them for Broadway parts, but there was one in particular that caught her eye. A letter from Robin Antin- the founder of The (original) Pussycat Dolls, the modern burlesque show that had taken Vegas by storm about ten years prior.

Much to her parents dismay- she took the offer, leaving for Vegas just eight days after graduation.

Darcy was the oldest of the Tate clan- she was a vegan chef at a restaurant dubbed one of the newest "hot-spots" in New York City, Darcy was also once divorced and back in the dating pool for the first time in almost fifteen years.

Then there was Lola- the middle child. Lola was the perfect little house wife. She had married her college sweetheart -Charlie- and she had two perfect little girls, Daisy and Violet. She even ran a mommy-blog called Life as Lola which centered around raising two little ones in the heart of an upper-class suburb, the fun little recipes she wanted to share and all of life's updates. Lola had gained her own little following in the blog-sphere and was somewhat of a rock star mommy. Lola and Charlie lived just down the street from her parents, nestled comfortably in the picture-perfect suburbia of Scarsdale.

Her sisters had spent their whole lives yammering on about how they wanted her life -her exciting, non-stop, independent, adventure of a life- but what she didn't have the heart to tell them was that eventually, she wanted a life just like theirs- a house, a husband and a bundle of babies- that was the dream, eventually, anyways.

But right now her career was her life.

"Okay- seriously!" Sophie huffed as she stumbled in the direction she was being shoved. "This is not funny!"

She was blindfolded (not a good idea considering she had chosen a pair of five inch heels) and while Kacey had a firm hold on one arm, Lola had a grasp on the other.

"Oh would you calm down?!" Kacey scolded, "We're here!"

Sophie stopped for a moment taking in what she could just before the blindfold would certainly come off- it was hot, almost uncomfortably so, and the room reeked of sex, the room was filled with a desperately quiet shuffle that told her Kacey had not kept her "keep it small" promise and just to her right she could feel a radiating heat- maybe candles?

But she didn't have to wonder long, because she felt Kacey's hands messing at the back of her hair, untying the knot that held the bandana closed and as it dropped and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Chippendales?"

Kacey's green eyes twinkled under the lights, tears forming in the corners of her eyes as the sparklers sitting at the top of the three-tiered cake spit tiny glowing embers in every direction, the crowd clapping as a line of eight well-oiled and built men waited to usher her to the front of the theater. All of the girls Sophie had ever danced with during her time in Vegas composing the large crowd.

"Didn't I tell you? Only the best for Vegas' finest show-girl!"

"Oh, Kace-" Sophie had to bite her lip, fighting the tears as she pulled her best friend into a tight embrace. "I'm going to miss you so much."

Kacey let out a quiet sob, "Me too Soph, me too..." Kacey let go as she swiped at her eyes, doing her best not to disturb the mascara. "No more tears-" she spoke, but this time, it was to the anxious crowd. "Let's get this party started!"

Sophie flinched as the hollow pop of a champagne cork sounded through the room.

One of the men poured a glass before offering it out to Sophie, as she thanked him he held out his arm for her to grab.

He escorted Sophie to the very front of the theater, helping her to sit.

Truth be told, Sophie had avoided Chippendale's since the moment she arrived in Vegas- she blushed far too easy to let a man (seductively) take his clothes off on purpose in front of a room full of other people.

But tonight she decided she would push all her inhibitions aside.
After all, it was her last night in Sin City.



Sophie silently cursed herself as the kick-drum beat deep inside her skull intensified.

She shuffled a few steps forward, dropping her purse, her backpack, and her sandals into the plastic gray container, letting it run up the conveyer belt and into the scanner. She walked through the scanner, silently thanking every deity above that she didn't set off any alarms as the man let her collect her things and put her shoes back on.

Lola and Darcy weren't so lucky- both of them setting off the scanners.

Lola was so hungover that she nearly cried when the man asked her to remove her wedding rings.

Darcy just growled at the guard as she pulled a set of car keys from her pocket.

Sophie sat on her hard shell suitcase waiting for them to make it through the security checkpoint, but Sophie got her first dose of sanity when she saw her mother -who had made it through security about ten minutes before she and her sister did- approaching with a carrier full of steaming Starbucks cups.

"One very large hazelnut macchiato." her mother mocked, pulling it from the carrier. "Your sisters still haven't made it through security?"

Sophie shook her head as she sipped at the scalding drink. "Lo wouldn't take off her wedding ring and Darc threatened to shove her size nine up his ass so I kind of look for her to be randomly selected for a full body cavity search."

her mother laughed, pulling her own coffee from the drink carrier. "Well, Darcy has never dealt well with being hungover."

Last night Sophie had all intentions of controlling her alcohol intake. But as she finished her first glass of the expensive champagne, Kacey appeared with a tray full of Booty Call's (Hpnotiq, Peach Schnaps and pineapple juice) and all of Sophie's good intentions went down the drain.

All Sophie could really remember after that was vomiting herself awake this morning.

"You know-" her mother began, laying a soft hand on Sophie's jittery leg. "I just want you to know how proud I am of you..." Sophie offer a weak smile, "aside from last night, of course."

Sophie let out a deep laugh before rubbing at her temples. "Can we please just forget that ever happened?"

"If you don't tell your father I did a body shot off of a Chippendale dancer, I can forget all about it."

Sophie let out a dry-heave at the idea of her mother drinking off a strange man's oiled body.

"Oh Jesus Christ, mom."

"What? Because I'm old I can't have fun?" she scolded her youngest daughter, "It's nothing to be ashamed of Sophie, it's healthy sexual behavior."

"We're in the middle of an airport, can you not go full sex therapist on me?" Sophie pleaded as she shielded her crimson face.

Sometimes it was hard for her to leave her work at home, Sophie understood that- but Sophie didn't go full show girl in the middle of an airport, so why did her mother have to play therapist? Especially when she knew how it embarrassed her.

"Ready?" Lola growled as Darcy trudged up behind her.

"So ready!" Sophie sang, nearly leaping from the suitcase.

Goodbyes were never easy- the next time Sophie would likely see her family would be Thanksgiving and as much as they wanted to see her off, their gates were at opposite ends of the airport- her mom and sisters would be flying into LaGuardia while she would be flying into JFK.

With one last tear filled goodbye, Sophie grabbed her suitcase and headed for her gate.

As she arrived at the gate she caught a glance of the enormous 747 as it sat, waiting for her to board and she couldn't help but think about the life waiting for her on the other side of globe.

But she couldn't turn back now, so with a deep breath she offered a smile to the woman, handing her the boarding pass. "Have a safe flight, Miss. Tate, and thank you for flying with Southwest."

Sophie swallowed hard as butterflies seemed to erupt in her stomach because as cliche as it all seemed, the next chapter of her life, started right now.