Page 111 of Hot Summer Nights

HARPER

Everybody always gets so excited to come to Vegas. Like it was freaking Disneyland or something. They arrive and are just bursting with energy and excitement, thinking that this is going to be the best time of their lives. They arrive on Friday all big spenders, looking to get drunk and gamble, and then they leave Sunday, hungover and usually broke.

This type of attitude makes it easy to spot the tourists from the locals. The locals lack the energy and excitement. Instead, they either have this hard edge or some kind of desperate hope. Hope that this next bet will be their big break and their lives will change for the better. It never pans out.

Me? I’m more of the hard edge type. Born and raised in Las Vegas so all of the shine that people see in this town has long since faded for me.

I grew up in foster care. They say that my parents died in a car accident when I was three but I don’t remember them at all. Instead, I spent my childhood, bouncing around from one group home to the next until I turned 18 two months ago and was kicked out. I’ve been living on the street ever since, living off of money that I swiped from this asshole at my last foster home but that money ran out a couple of days ago.

Lila, a friend of mine from an old foster home tipped me off that this fancy new casino is hiring and that she could get me an interview so here I am. I’m not especially close to Lila and I haven’t seen her since she aged out of the system a couple of months ago. It was just luck that I ran into her outside a diner two days ago. I need a job badly so, here I am.

I wore my only nice outfit, a pair of black skinny jeans, a cranberry v neck t-shirt, and a beat-up pair of converse high tops. I had my worn backpack with all of my belongings on my back and I had pulled my hair back in a low ponytail and put on a single coat of mascara. I was prepared for this interview as much as I could be. Now, if I could just find Lila.

I wandered past yet another section of slot machines and as I rounded the last beeping machine, I saw the table games and Lila serving drinks to some of the players. She was easy to spot. Lila was 5’8” before she put her 5-inch heels on for work so she was almost a whole head above all of the players sitting at the tables. She finished serving another drink and turned my way so I waved and made my way around the tables to meet her by the bar.

“Hey! There you are. All ready for your interview?” Lila asked as she set her tray on the bar and gave me a once over before she began to load more drinks on her tray.

“I guess so. I’ll just be a server like you, right?”

“Yeah, Stacy quit a couple of days ago so there’s an opening. I told HR that you were coming in and once they see what a babe you are, I bet they hire you like that.” she said snapping her fingers.

My cheeks burn as I think about what she said. I know that I’m pretty but I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m a total babe.

“Right. So, I just head down to HR then?”

“Yeah, give me five minutes to pass these drinks out and then I’ll take my break and walk you up.”

“Alright, I’ll just wait here for you then?”

“Yup! See you in a few!”

With that she hefts the loaded down tray and struts off to pass out the drinks. I lean against the bar and look around the rest of the casino. It’s a new one that just opened four months ago in the middle of the strip. It’s been one of the more popular casinos and resorts since it opened and it’s easy to see why.

Brand new everything with ultra-modern décor and fixtures, top of the line electronics in all of the hotel rooms and villas, beautiful white marble floors running throughout the entire place, the hottest chefs cooking in the three restaurants and a pristine spa and salon. I’ll never be able to afford to set foot in any of those features but the pictures on the website made it look like a paradise and who knows, maybe there will be some sweet employee benefits that Lila hasn’t told me about.

Even now at 10 am on a Thursday there are still a ton of people on the casino floor and wandering in and out of the hallways leading to the rooms and spa. Lila walks up at that moment and walks behind the bar to set her tray down and clock out for her break. Then she smiles at me as she comes back around and starts to lead me towards a door labeled employees only.

She pushes the door open and instantly the constant noise from the casino floor quiets down. I desperately need this job but I have a feeling that the noise from the slot machines will be driving me crazy in no time. The employee hallway is white and sterile looking compared to all of the bright lights and colors out in the casino.

“HR is just down this hallway here,” Lila says as we continue to walk down the long hallway. “The employee break room and lockers are down that way”, she says pointing to another hallway that runs to the left “And security and everything else is down that way.” she says pointing to the right.

I don’t pay much attention to that since, hopefully, I’ll never be back there. She stops outside a door labeled Human Resources and knocks twice before poking her head around the door. As soon as she opens the door, I hear a noise from behind me. I figure it’s just another employee going on break but as I glance over my shoulder all I can think is that he doesn’t look like he would take orders from anyone.

Walking towards me is the hottest man that I have ever seen in my entire life. Easily 6 feet tall with dark black hair that’s cut short on the sides but longer on top and pushed back from his face. Strong jaw with high cheekbones and such full lips that I’m sure he makes women everywhere weep with jealousy.

As he gets closer, I notice his eyes. A grey color that is so light that it almost looks silver and framed with such long eyelashes that for a moment I wonder if he’s wearing mascara. It takes me a moment to realize that he’s staring at me too and has been since he walked back here. I also notice that he’s headed straight for me. Before he can reach me though, Lila comes back around the door and drags me into HR.

“This is my friend, Harper Jenkins.” She says as she introduces me to a nice-looking guy that I’d guess was a couple of years older than me.

He’s got dark brown eyes and blond hair that’s trimmed neat and a button-up shirt on with the sleeves rolled up. I step forward to shake his hand but before I can reach him the door behind me swings open and I jump out of the way and spin around to see the man from the hallway standing in the doorway with hard eyes and a tense jaw.

“Leave.” He says and I’m so shocked that I don’t react for a second.

Who does he think he is? I think to myself as I stare at him. It’s then that I notice that the suit he’s wearing looks custom made and the fact that he’s in an employee-only area makes me think that he must be a manager or something higher up and that I should do as he asks. I go to step around him and out the doorway when he looks right at me and speaks again.

“Not you. You two get out.”

I’m confused and I want to snap at this man and tell him to stop being so bossy but the way that both Lila and the HR guy jump to do as this guy bids makes me bite my tongue. I take a step further into the room but off to the side so that if I need to, I can still get out the door. I’m not even an employee here yet so I don’t know what this guy could possibly want from me. As soon as Lila and the HR guy, whose name I never got, cross the threshold the mystery man closes the door and leans back against it.

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