Almost Easy

Liz’s POV

Night one went off without incident. We had gotten drunk enough that we stumbled back to our hotel and barely made it to our room before Drea threw up and Martha passed out, leaving Bethany and I to drag her the rest of the way in to the room.

It was nine in the morning, we had gotten in after midnight, which I'm assuming was late for them. I was awake, had already ordered my room service breakfast, and was sitting on the enclosed balcony of our suite. What this was costing I could only imagine, but I hadn’t seen numbers for Vegas in so long I barely flinched. I had a mimosa in hand and a bite of eggs in my mouth when I heard a knock on the suite door. I wrapped my bathrobe tighter around me and walked over to look through the peephole, a hotel employee standing on the other side.

“Hello?” I opened it up and stared at the young-ish looking boy staring back at me.

“Miss Baker?” He asked, I sighed but nodded, “I have a note for you from the front desk.”

“Thanks.” I smiled and took it, closing the door behind me.

“You’re going to have to explain the Baker thing before everyone else wakes up.”

I turned, midway opening the note, to face Martha as she stood in the middle of the room staring at me, “Oh.”

“Yeah.” She nodded, “VIP last night? You know the club owner? And notes from undisclosed people at the front desk? Elizabeth-”

“It’s nothing.” I laughed and flipped the note open, my heart dropping slightly, “It’s not me, it’s my family.”

“Let’s go sit on the balcony and drink a little bit hm?” SHe smiled and held up a flask. I nodded and followed her, “Miss Baker, you have the floor.”

“You get five direct questions.” I took a sip of my mimosa.

“Where are you from, originally?” She sat on the chair across from me, snuggling her robe around her body.

“California.” I smiled, “Huntington to be exact.”

“What was your... job before you moved to Indy?” Her eyes narrowed.

“Oh if you think I was a prostitute you’re wrong, dead wrong. I was a graphic designer, for a massive Colorado based company. I lived in Boulder for years. That’s two, go on.”

She bit the inside of her lip, obviously not as juice of a past so far as she expected, but I was choosing my answers wisely, “Do you have siblings? What are their names?”

“A brother, Zachary. That’s three and four. One left.” I smirked.

“It was worth it.” She pondered, “Is Danny Colton’s real dad?”

My hesitation was her answer as I heard the other two women rummaging in the suite, awake and not welcome to our little truth sessions currently evolving, “No.” I laughed as Bethany stumbled out in to the bright sunlit area, “No way in hell are we going to go to the pool at a hotel, that’s so gross. We may as well bathe in the sewer.”

Martha was blinking rapidly as Bethany stared at me, “You don’t do hotel pools? They’re so clean!”

“No, they’re not. If you knew what happened after hours in those pools you’d think otherwise.” I shivered and gave Martha silent shut up look.

“Gross... Well how about we go get brunch soon? I need to eat something or I’m going to get drunk on my own stomach fluid.” Bethany mumbled and walked back in the house then paused, “Wait, Liz, are you already showered? And... drinking?” She pointed at my mimosa.

I sighed deeply and looked at Martha, “Catch up ladies, we have a packed day in Vegas ahead of us. Last night was just the beginning. Get ready for a day out, we’ll be back before going to the bar this time.”

.:.:.:.:.

Night two. We were at a different club this time, I had refrained from name dropping myself to give us a more normal final night, tomorrow was our last full day before we endured an over night flight back home to lamesville, USA.

This small taste of Vegas was growing something in my soul I had forgot existed. Every drink, every light, every song, it all brought a small piece of me back to the surface. One where I wished instead of turning to see Martha dancing beside me, my mind had a high hope of another brunette smiling back telling me they’re getting jealous. I wanted so badly at some point in the night to be whisked away back to the VIP section for being too drunk and getting hit on too much.

But instead I was glancing up to the VIP section with a slightly sinking feeling at any moment I would be whisked away but for a somewhat more daunting reason.

“Liz!”

I turned as Martha handed me my fifth drink of the night, “Thanks! Are you having fun?!”

“Almost too much!” She laughed and gestured towards Drea who was shmoozing up some young guy at the bar with her ring at the hotel room once again. I laughed a little and threw my hands in the air, “Get it girl!”

“I’m so glad we didn’t opt for name dropping in to VIP again, this is great!” I laughed somewhat quietly to Martha as she nodded, “I haven’t had this much fun in ages!”

“Since you were a Baker, right?” She eyed me, I flipped her off as she chugged her drink down and screamed, “Let’s fucking dance Lizzy Baker!” She joked and I threw her visual daggers.

“Knock it off!” I laughed loudly and looked around, checking that no ones neck broke at the outburst.

Marth dragged me on to the dance floor where there were a few groups of younger guys watching on, I rolled my eyes and with a new pair of heels on tonight, finished my drink while channeling the old Liz for the second night in a row.

It felt amazing. My hair was down, my dress was almost a second skin, watching my lipstick leave marks on my glass, my feet keeping rhythm with every beat the DJ dropped. My heart lifted from my chest and I ignored Martha continuing to shout and bring drinks over. Her loud voice was bound to draw attention but the longer the drinks came the less I gave a fuck. The fucks I gave about being closer to home than I had been in five years, gone. The fucks I gave about anyone seeing me; gone.

“Wait, Baker? Elizabeth Baker?”

The drunk fog I was enveloped in slowly dropped from my body, leaving me feeling cold and naked in the center of the dance floor. A voice unfamiliar to my intoxicated ears caused me to turn around, my eyes lifting to meet his. My drink fell from my hand, catching Martha’s attention now as it shattered at our feet. His almost black brown eyes widened as if he’d seen a ghost, one bearing the same name as me that he must have never been expecting to see again.

“Oh... Fuck.” I stammered and pushed at Marth until she ran from the dance floor to find Drea and Bethany, “Jason... Berry.” My feet couldn’t move fast enough from the now vodka-saturated floor, but I managed to get footing and quickly threw my credit card at the bar tender, “I need to cash out, please, quickly. Heely, Elizabeth-”

“I don’t have a Heely-”

“Baker, sorry. Elizabeth Baker.” I blinked in an attempt to sober up as I could hear my name being called behind me, my stomach leapt to my throat as the guy handed me my card back and a pen to sign, giving me a concerned look, “Thanks.” I signed quickly but not quick enough.

I hand on my shoulder spun me around, “Lizzy?”

“I’m sorry, no.” I shook my head and rushed away from him, his voice fading in to the distance as the girls came in to view, my eyes were watering slightly and I bumped in to Martha.

“Jesus Liz, what-”

“We should get back, it’s almost midnight.” I cut Drea off and wiped my eyes, cursing under my breath as I called for a car, “Fuck... I’m going to walk the car should be here soon.”

I took my shoes off, ignoring the girls telling me to stop and wait, and began jogging down the main strip towards our hotel. Memories of the last time I was running down these streets flashing back quickly but no one was following me now.

No Zack. No Michelle. No Brian. No Jacky.

No Matt.