Chapter 18 Vegas, baby! #4
“Oh, my goodness,” she whispered to herself.
She took a deep breath and the dizziness returned.
Nicki turned toward Tiffany to get by her.
“Tonight I’m driving home aloooone! Crying at the radioooo!” Tiffany sang along to the speaker, using her hair brush as a microphone.
Nicki smiled and attempted to walk past her again.
“I’m just going to grab my phone!” Nicki shouted, to no avail. “I just need some air for a minute!”
“Oh woooaaahhh! Remember how you held me oooohhhh!” Tiffany continued her solo singalong performance and Nicki gave up.
She turned to open the door and escaped the loud heat, wobbling down the hall toward the elevators.
She clung to her chest and felt her heart rate rising. The hallway lights suddenly seemed too bright. Nicki lifted her hand up to shield her from the assault of the glare.
The elevator doors opened to the ground floor and Nicki stumbled through the loud blaring casino to the first exit doors of the hotel she could find. The setting sun glaring through the revolving glass doors was like a light at the end of a loud, loopy, ringing tunnel.
She pushed through the doors with all her might and gasped at the desert heat that hit her like a bullet as soon as she stepped outside.
Nicki walked over to the nearest wall and bent forward slightly. The smell of cigarette butts in the dispenser nearby made her gag.
“I can’t breathe,” she whispered.
Nicki turned back to escape the blazing hot cigarette air and into the loud, thick, scent-infused air conditioning; the lesser of two evils.
At the nearby gift shop, Nicki rushed to the fridge for the first bottle of water she could reach.
She chugged it where she stood.
“Hi, I’m so sorry, I’d like to pay for this please,” Nicki said, handing the cashier the crinkly empty water bottle.
“Vegas will do that to ya! Gotta stay hydrated in this desert!” the friendly lady behind the counter said. “You OK, hun?”
“Yeah, I’m fine now, just got a little light headed, or something, for a moment there. Too much sun and sangria,” Nicki replied, handing over her card.
“Wait.”
Nicki’s eyes darted behind the lady, to the pharmaceutical items on the back wall.
“Can I, uh… can I get one of those pregnancy tests?”
Tyler barged into his room, nearly knocking Tiffany over on his way in, ignoring her completely.
“Nicki!” he shouted.
He kept his phone at his ear and headed straight to the bedroom, where Nicki’s phone was charging on the nightstand.
“My Love,” the lit-up phone screen read.
“Fuck!” Tyler shouted. “Tiffany, where is she?”
“I don’t know, I thought she went to your room or something, she just left.”
“Well, where the fuck did she go?! She’s not here!”
“I don’t know, I think she went to go get some air. Relax, Tyler!”
“Why did you just let her leave without her phone?” Tyler demanded.
“Uh, because she’s a full-grown adult woman who can go wherever she wants?” Tiffany quipped and applied her lipstick, continuing to make herself at home at the good mirror.
“Uuugh!” Tyler growled and stormed downstairs.
Tyler’s impatience in the elevator nearly made him explode. He scoured the casino floor looking for Nicki. His head swivelled at every turn.
After several minutes of gut-wrenching panic, he finally spotted her outside of the bathrooms, leaning against the wall, drinking a bottle of water.
“Baby!” he shouted.
Nicki looked up, with wet eyes, surprised to see him, and threw her arms around him.
“Hi,” she said with no energy.
“Baby, did I do something to you? Do you want to intentionally hurt me?” Tyler asked, taking her hand.
“What? No! I’m sorry, I just needed some air, I wasn’t feeling well, that’s all.”
“Baby, you should have come to Tommy’s room. What do you need? Do you need a doctor?”
“No, honey, I’m fine now, I needed some water. I’m sorry, I’m OK, really.”
Tyler hugged her tightly, relieved of the agony.
“You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“Yeah, we really need to work on that.”
They both laughed.
“Look at you in that dress. God, what you do to me. I can have a heart attack just looking at you right now. You know that dress makes me crazy, don’t you?”
“I know, baby.” She reached up to hug him again.
“You know, I thought of some bad, bad, things I wanted to do to you when you wore that dress that night at the casino.”
“Oh, shhh,” Nicki quipped.
“Hey, let’s go somewhere quiet,” Tyler suggested.
“OK,” she replied.
Tyler took her hand and led her to the nearby restaurant that was just setting up for their dinner service. It featured a grand waterfall and had a tropical vibe throughout.
“Uh, Sir, we are not open yet, not till eight o’clock,” a lone waiter said, unfolding a fresh tablecloth.
Tyler slipped him a hundred. “I’m just here to sit in a quiet place with my girl for a few minutes, buddy.”
“You got it, take as much time as you need,” the waiter clarified.
Tyler pulled Nicki in front of him, at the railing overlooking the waterfall. No slot machines, no coins pouring into plastic buckets, no bells ringing, no gamblers cheering, just a peaceful secret hideaway, for just the two of them. The waterfall was lit up in a tranquil blue.
Tyler’s nerves were getting the best of him, and rubbing off on Nicki.
“Baby, please don’t be so upset. I’m sorry I left without my phone, it was just for a few minutes, and I’d come right back up,” she said, turning around to face him.
“It’s not that, honey. Actually, it is that, cause I realize I’m a psycho who is obsessed with you, but it’s not just that.”
“What is it? Is everything OK?” Nicki asked.
Tyler hugged her tightly and dug his face into the side of her neck.
“I love you so much, baby. Like more than you could ever imagine. More than I ever thought I could ever love anybody. And you know why? It’s cause you taught me how to love. You showed me what love is.”
“Baby, you are the sweetest. You know I love you too? So, so, so much,” Nicki replied.
“I know and I’m the luckiest man alive.”
Tyler released his hold and spun her around so that she faced the waterfall again. He held her from behind. His heart rate rose higher.
“I never thought I could ever find my ride or die, baby. I never thought I deserved it, or if that was even in the cards for me. But I found you, baby, and I’m so lucky you’re in my life. But how can I tell you that? How do I make sure you know how much I love you?” Tyler asked.
“Honey, you don’t need to tell me that, I know it! I feel it every day. I’ve never felt more loved. More accepted, more cherished, more protected, more valued. I’m the lucky one, baby.”
“No, it’s not enough. I need to tell you how much you mean to me.
How much I can’t breathe without you. You’re my angel.
I just feel like I can get through anything with you.
Like, you calm me down when I get crazy.
You’re like my compass, my sanity, my heart.
I need you to know how much I love you. How I want you to be mine.
Forever. And not only that. But I want you to be the mother of my children—”
“What?” Nicki whispered, twisting her head back to him.
“Yes, baby, I want that for us. For us to start a family. You’re already my queen. My lioness queen. But... I want you to be… my wife.”
Nicki turned her body around fully.
“What? Are you serious?” she asked, her eyes flooding.
“Yes, baby, that’s all I want in my life.”
He took out the stunning yellow diamond out of his pocket.
Nicki gasped.
“Oh my God, you’re really serious!”
“I am, baby, I am so serious. I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life. So… will you marry me?”
Nicki looked at the glaring ring and then back up at him, releasing the pooled tears from her eyes.
“Of course, baby! Yes!”
“Yes? Did you say yes? For real?” Tyler asked with the biggest grin she’s ever seen on him.
“Yes!” she shouted and jumped to wrap her arms around his neck.
He picked her up and spun her around, his smile stretching wide.
“OK, then put the ring on, quick, before you change your mind!”
“I won’t change my mind! I won’t!” Nicki exclaimed, and held out her left hand.