Mortal Agent of a Vampire - Chapter 18

Then we went to Las Vegas.
I stood in front of the giant dressing mirror, adjusting my bow tie, the omnipresent spotlight made the store look like a stage, and the marble beneath me was so polished you could skate on it.
“How was it?” I ask nervously. A pink and green shirt and white pants weren’t my style, but it couldn’t hurt to try.
Vince crosses his legs and lounges on the center couch, a group of dimpled hotties flanking him as if he’s the designer of some high-end brand and the babe supermodels he could form the United Nations with. He tilted down his sunglasses, “Yuppie, that’s what I’d say if I were nice enough.”
“But?” I talk to him through the mirror.
He shakes his head, “Stand-up comedy performer.”
“Oh well, at least now the security guards won’t stop me at the door.” The white-gloved waiter came to me with a tray on which I placed my card (was that necessary?). That card didn’t even weigh five grams) and he left, the whole thing was like a pantomime. I walked over to Vince.
“Worse, they’ll wonder where you stole the suit from.” He stood up.
The waiter returns and I retrieve my card. Walking outside with Vince. It’s the two of us now, surrounded by the supermodel United Nations, and the feeling, it’s unparalleled.
A stretch Rolls Royce loaded us all in. A couple of Land Rovers drove ahead of us and we followed at the end.
Vegas at night had to be the best place in the world to drive a luxury car across the country.
I sat near the driver’s seat, past the chirping girls, and watched Vince from afar. He’d just cranked up the car stereo another notch, ‘Sleepwalking’, one of my favorites. We must be as cocky as sprinklers now.
“I thought,” I pressed over Adam Lambert’s magnetic voice and shouted at him, “we were in seclusion!”
“Great seclusion.” Vince replied, winking at me, “Besides, I want to experience what it’s like to be a lamplighter.” He didn’t intentionally raise his volume, but it sounded like he was whispering in my ear.
It was definitely the most beautiful thing he had ever said to me.
I breathed heavily, “I’ll make sure I let you know that: I’m blushing.” I said honestly, touching my heart.
The girls let out a burst of laughter, maybe I could consider a career change into stand-up comedy.
The car slows down and stops in front of the casino. The driver opened the door and we descended onto the red carpet, strutting in like damn …… rich people. We were escorted by two teams of men, uniformly dressed in black suits, carrying metal cases – which, unsurprisingly, were full of banknotes. I felt a bit dazzled, I must have walked into a movie like Black Gold Seduction or something.
After a moment, the cash turned into chips as flowery as the building in front of me.
Vince came out of the lounge, all fresh, and the girls who went in with him, didn’t. I could imagine what was going on in there. It’s a good thing he never …… uh, enjoyed dinner in front of me again. That’s very kind.
“Let’s get started.” He said as I pulled out a chair and he took his seat beside me.
The dealer nodded and began to deal the cards.The battle in the VIP room started silently.
You know where mind reading is best used? Texas Hold’em.
We won and won and won until I felt like I could swim inside the chips. A gold one was fifty thousand dollars, so now I had like …… more than I could count.
During intermission, a young man quietly approached us from behind.
“Hello, my name is Remy and I run this place.” He said with a smile and no handshake of goodwill, “Gentlemen, I think it’s time for you to take a break.” He said in a judge-like tone.
“But we haven’t had our fun yet!” I rocked in my chair like a child.
A tall blonde man came up from behind him and didn’t say a word, just flexed his arms, muscles bulging, and I started to worry about his shirt.
“Where should we look?” Vince asked, pretending not to know what he meant.
“I don’t know, maybe we should give him a dumbbell, and a bottle of baby oil.” I replied. Silent agreement, ah, let’s give a high five.
“There you go, dumbass.” Remy swatted him away, “Don’t threaten the guests.”
Oh, so that was a threat. Scared to death.
Remy turned to us again, “Take the money and go, or ……” He didn’t go on, just smiled. A smile that would be reminiscent of a knife commercial. That one was the threat.
I don’t want any trouble, “Now am I considered rich?” I asked Vince for his opinion.
“Rank one.” He affirmed reluctantly.
We got the hell out of there.
There were few pedestrians in Vegas in the wee hours of the morning, and we walked under the lights. The money was for the helicopter to bring back to the penthouse suite at the Cloud Tower. It was safe that way. God can’t save me. I’m sleeping on money tonight.
I’ve always thought it was cool to sit in a limousine, but now I know what’s even cooler than that: you walk down the road with a whole fleet of cars following you silently like pet dogs.
We passed fountains, replicas of the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty, and at the chapel, couples were coming out of the arches arm-in-arm, smiling, with friends and family, or hired ones, showering them with confetti cut out of hearts.
Without realizing it, I stop in my tracks and watch the groom pick up his bride and kiss her. So passionate, it seemed like they were the only two people in the world.
We watched from the side of the road until they drove away to a better tomorrow.
It’s strange, even though I don’t hold on to Mina anymore, I still can’t help but feel sorry for myself when I see scenes like this. It’s probably because people are always attracted to what they might have had but didn’t, and regrets are full of all sorts of unknown possibilities.If then ……
Vince must have read my thoughts, and in a rare move he didn’t make any condescending remarks, “Fancy a bit of a shocker?”
He managed to divert my interest, “I thought ransacking a casino with a mind-reading vampire would be shocking enough.”
“Maybe I’m keeping my hand in.” Vince laughed a little and lifted his cell phone, dialing a number, “Rain.”
“Are you talking to God?” I joked.
Shhh, he put up his index finger to his lips and then pointed to the sky.
I looked up and the roar of engines came from the night sky. A line of helicopters cut through the field of vision, and something, poured down, floating around, filling the entire street.
It was banknotes. Dazzling, uncountable bills. Come and witness the moment of wonder!
My heart beat violently. Just like when I first saw snow.I looked up to the sky and raised my arms:
“Oh my God!”
A shower of money, it was definitely the most painful shower of my life.
Hundred dollar bills kept landing in my hair and on my shoulders and I wanted to dance.
“Hey, do you think this will hold up until I finish singing in the rain?” I asked, scampering off and pulling the streetlight post in circles.
Vince looks away from me, “Should try it.”
I literally hum it. Helicopter searchlights, headlights, streetlights, and neon lights intertwine and change, and I feel as if the world is a kaleidoscope, full of bright confetti, swirling around me.
As the song reaches the line “ready to love,” a thought slips through and I stop.
“Vince.”
“Hmm?”
I adjusted my breathing, “I was wrong when I said I hadn’t won the lottery before.”
He waited and I continued,
“Meeting you has …… already been winning the jackpot.”
I said this sentence is not a moment by the money to the mind, but, absolutely, from the heart. He has changed my life, and when I’m with him, I don’t think about flying through time. I don’t know how he influenced me, but he just has this magic about him.
I wish I could tell him this in person because, I have a feeling the good times won’t last much longer. I didn’t want to wait until the parting to have any regrets.
The last wave of bills slowly descended, piling up around our feet as we stood across the empty street, and he looked at me deeply, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something.
Maybe he would have said something, if the sparse applause hadn’t interrupted him.
“That was touching.” A shrill voice rang out.
Vince and I looked toward the far end of the street at the same time, and Ruiz appeared in the middle of the road, dressed as out of place as ever.
“Really, you can go into the church, I’ll be your witness, no tip.” He raised his arm and a silver dagger shot out, straight at Vince.
Vince’s expression cooled down, he waved his hand lightly, the ray changed direction, and in the center of the notice board at the entrance of the j□j church, the red love light shattered in response.
Then, about a dozen of Ruiz’s associates surrounded us from both sides.

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