My Venetian Lotus

"This is Rosa, if you have this number you know better than to call me." then a beep blared in my ear as I got her voice-mail. "I wouldn't have to call you if you'd answer your damn door!" I grumpily said to her inbox. I hung up after that. I knew she wouldn't check it. Today started our 21st birthday celebration. My cousin and my absolute best friend Rosa and I share a birthday. our mother's were pregnant at the same time. They were sisters and also best friends. I wasn't supposed to be born as early as I was, but fate willed Rosa and I to be forever friends. Some friend, I thought to myself. She was making me stand in the mid September sweltering heat as she was probably comfortably sleeping in her stupid California King bed with her stupid split unit air conditioner and her stupid ceiling fan. It was safe to say I was very cranky. My finger continued its assault on the doorbell, hoping to annoy her into consciousness. Finally after what felt like ages I hear the switching of the deadbolt and what sounds like a zombie on the other side of the door. I swing the door open before she has the chance to realize what happened. Giving her a glare I set my suitcase by the front door and slip off my shoes. "Good morning, sunshine." I say, with heavy sarcasm. "f**k off," is her eloquent response. She turns around and shuffles back up her grandiose staircase. For more sleep or to get ready I don't know. I drag myself to her kitchen and decide to make Princess Grumpy a light breakfast. Opening her fridge I see the error of my ways. This woman never has food. I roll my eyes. I should have known better. Instead I opt for ordering us some smoothies and spinach wraps from a local shop. A half hour later the food is here and she is somehow making walking down a staircase look like a runway photoshoot. She's wearing darkwash designer jeans, a low dip dark red top with spaghetti straps that nicely showed off her chest, and red bottom black stilettos. Herwheat colored hair was expertly curled so it framed her face and bounced as she walked. She sits down at the kitchen island across from me and rolls her eyes at the food. "What?" I quip. offended by her judgement. "We turn 21 today and you're eating old person food." She challenged. I decided to take a page out of her book. "f**k off, " is all I say in response. Despite her comments I could tell she really enjoyed breakfast. At one point she stopped drinking her orange colored smoothie and peered over at my pink one. "What's in that one?" she'd ask and instead of playing her coy game I offered her a sip. She tried to look disinterested but her icy blue eyes gave her away. "Pomegranate, cranberry, strawberry, and banana." I said with a teasing smile. She kicked my shin. Why is friendship so painful? I glanced down at my phone and winced. "Dude we gotta go. Now." Our flight was in an hour and a half. We still had to go through security and all the lines. I showed her the time and suddenly the rushing and excitement began. Before long we were coming up to our terminal and I heard"Now boarding for flight 51 to Las Vegas" over the intercom. "B! That's us!" Rosa panted, her heels clicking furiously to the linoleum floor as she chased behind me. No s**t, I thought, irritated. We made it to the visibly irate Stewardess who took our tickets and let us through the gate. It seemed we weren't the last passengers as we heard some loud voices screaming "WAIT!" Not my business. I scurried to our seats in First class and breathed a sigh of relief. Rosa, hot on my heels, was vibrating with her excitement. I pull out a romance novel and I could hear Rosa huff in disgust. "What now?" I whine. "Could you BE anymore boring? We are on a trip, for our birthday, to VEGAS and you're reading a book." She said pointedly. "Why don't you do something spontaneous? Who knows what could happen?" I could die...or hurt myself...or more importantly I could die. I didn't answer her, instead choosing to purse my lips and raise an eyebrow. I'm sure my disapproving look was encouraging more "old person" comments but not taking unnecessary risks has gotten me this far in life. I wouldn't regret it. Her eyes suddenly flashed and I knew then I was in for trouble. "Come on!" She said excitedly before pulling me to my feet, my book forgotten in my seat. "What? Rosa what are we doing? The plane hasn't even taken off yet. We need to be sitting." I protested. She snorted and continued to drag me behind her. Finally we stopped in front of the bathrooms. She looked expectant, I just stared at her confused. She rolled her eyes and pushed me into the miniscule bathroom. "You just need to let loose." She said with a smile. I looked at myself in the mirror. My dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, my thick glasses helping to tuck fly aways. I wore black high top adidas sneakers, black cargo pants, and a black and white plaid shirt buttoned up. I wore an across body purse. I'd always heard its safer if your belongings were not on display. Her words and underlying connotations were not lost on me. My quick mind hard already made the stark contrast between her and I. She looked ready for fun. I looked like I was going to a funeral. I sighed. I felt safe like this. Why was safety so wrong? My anxiety flared as I felt her c******g away my armor. She let my hair down and wet it with water from the sink so it would curl. She had me remove my flannel so it just showed my black tank top underneath. Then she pulled out a small accessory bag and fastened some jewelry to my wrists and ears. She applied some makeup and told me to give her my glasses. "How will I see?" I whined. She glowered. "Bambi Sparrow I know damn well you have contacts." I shrunk back and quickly dug through my purse for the lens case. Moments later with my contacts in I look in the mirror and see two pretty hot girls ready to celebrate their 21st birthday. She pulls out her phone and snaps a picture of us together in the mirror. Just then an abrupt knock on the door interrupts us. "You need to take your seats, we are preparing to lift off." A Stewardess trilled with forced politeness. We opened the door with apologetic smiles and returned to our seats. As we were walking I looked up from my feet to accidentally make contact with the deepest pair of brown eyes I'd ever seen. They even had a little green fleck in them. I stumbled slightly and my cheeks colored and I quickly looked back down and scurried to my seat. Somehow trouble always finds me. We land some time later and hail cabs to Venetian Lotus hotel and casino. This place was supposed to be FANTASTIC! The reviews were all 5 stars for the casino especially, but what I was looking forward to was the extravagant spa houses they had for deep tissue massages. I still couldn't believe Rosa was just gifted all inclusive stay vouchers for this paradise! Rosa of course thought I was boring for wanting a spa day. So I inquired what she might want to do and to no one's surprise at all she said "strip malls and clubs!" We met at least a dozen Elvis's on the street and I finally tried street corn. Day slowly seeped into the night and we found ourselves walking to a club called Calla Lily. Rosa immediately ordered us 6 shots of tequila. One shot, we both were laughing and dancing. 2 shots, everything around me was fuzzy and warm. 3 shots, we were talking to someone...who were we talking to? Suddenly everything went dark.