Maybe Never (Maybe #2) (18 page)

Our food quickly comes out and is placed in front of us, but suddenly, I’m no longer hungry as I’m faced with more choices and decisions than I ever thought was possible.

“Eat,” Scarlett says when she notices I’m not eating.

I pick up a chip and force it into my mouth, but it doesn’t taste good. It’s not what I want.
 

“Forget this. I’m tired of seeing you mope. We are going out tonight.”
 

I frown. “No, we are not. The last time we went out, I almost made a terrible decision by going home with a random guy when my father died.”
 

“Well, that’s obviously not going to happen again.”
 

My mouth falls open a little.
 

“Oh God! I didn’t mean to be insensitive, Kinsley. I just really think we should have a good time. I think your mind will be clearer after we go out. You’ll be able to decide what you really want to do.”
 

“Maybe.”
 

“I’ll take that as a yes.”
 

A tear falls as I hear her say the words that Killian always says.
 

“Oh, honey,” Scarlett says, getting up from her side of the booth.
 

She quickly climbs into the booth next to me. She wraps her arms around me, and I rest my head on her shoulder. She rubs my back, trying to stop the tears, but they keep coming. I glance around the restaurant because I’m sure the wait staff will notice me crying. A CEO who cries in one of her own restaurants—that’s got to be a first. I don’t care though. I’m tired of caring about what other people think of me. I need to cry, so I do.
 

“I miss him so much.”
 

“I know, sweetie. It’s not fair that you lost your father. It’s okay to miss him.”
 

I sniffle. “Him, too.”
 

A small smile creeps up her lips. “Killian will be back. He would be crazy not to come after a hot, strong woman like you.”
 

“But what if he doesn’t?”
 

“Then, you go after him and don’t take no as an answer.”
 

“He’s in Kansas though. That’s all he told me. I don’t have an address. I don’t even have a city. He could be anywhere in Kansas.”
 

Scarlett laughs. “It’s not like Kansas is that big. I’m sure we could look up his family’s address and find him, but he’ll be back in town for your grandfather’s trial. When does it start?”
 

“I don’t know.”
 

“What do you mean? Have they not set a date yet?”
 

“I’m sure they have. I just haven’t spoken to Granddad since I found out the truth. I’ve been sleeping at the hotel, and I hired extra staff to take care of him at home.”

Scarlett looks at me, confused. “You need to go see him. You’re the only family he has.”
 

“No, I don’t. He did this to me. I’m not his family. Not anymore.”
 

Scarlett nods and holds me tighter.
 

“Let’s go out tonight,” I say.
 

She pulls away from me, so she can look at me in the eyes. “You sure?”
 

I hesitate for just a second. “Yes, I’m sure. I just want to have fun. No guys. No drama. No family. Just drinking and fun.”
 

She nods. “Sounds perfect.”

It does sound perfect. It sounds like exactly what I need.
 

***

I press the button for the elevator and wait for it to make it up to the eleventh floor where I’m staying. I pull some lip gloss out of my purse and apply it to my lips. I feel good in my skintight black dress that is see-through around the stomach, but I’m interested to see what Scarlett thinks of the change I made. After she left, I couldn’t spend the day working on the marketing plan. I needed to spend time on me, on figuring me out. And, while I don’t feel any closer, I do feel more like a woman and less like a girl.
 

The elevator doors open, and I step onto the empty elevator. I press the floor for the lobby where I’m meeting Scarlett before we walk over to a nearby club. The ride is long. The elevator stops on almost every floor as it goes down until it is completely full. It does make me happy to see the hotel running at full capacity and getting so much business, despite my indecisiveness with how I feel about running the company.
 

The doors open to the lobby, and everyone files out. I step off and smile at the passersby as I walk to the center of the lobby where Scarlett is supposed to meet me. She isn’t here yet, not that it surprises me. She’s probably still napping after I made her get up so early to do the commercial.
 

I plan on taking a seat on a bench in the lobby to wait for her when I see a family arguing with one of our managers behind the desk. I sigh. I guess I might as well make use of my time and see how I can help.
 

I walk over to the lobby desk with a smile on my face. In my current apparel, I’m afraid people won’t take me seriously. But I’m not going to let it stop me from doing my job.
 

“Hello, I’m Kinsley Felton, CEO of this hotel and casino. Is there anything I can help with?” I surprise myself by saying CEO although it’s technically true.
I’m the CEO.
 

The man standing with his family doesn’t even question me, like I expected.
 

“Yes, we booked a weeklong stay here over six months ago. We live in Mississippi and came here for a family vacation, but somehow, this man is saying that you lost our reservation and are booked solid.”
 

The manager standing behind the desk frowns. “As I told you before, we didn’t lose your reservation. We don’t lose reservations. You will have to go—”
 

“No, I apologize for losing your reservation. I will get it fixed right away,” I say, moving around the desk so that I can access the computer.
 

I frown at the manager. I’ll need to have a discussion with him later. He has to learn to speak politely to our customers if he wants to continue working for us.
 

“Excuse me,” I say to the manager as I take control of the computer.
 

I scroll through the bookings and realize that the manager is correct. We are completely full. There is one room though that I can give to them.
 

“Okay, so we are almost full, but I do have one suite available.”
 

“We booked a single room with a rollaway bed for the kids. We don’t want to pay for a suite,” the man says.
 

I smile at him. “Not a problem. We will give you the upgrade to the suite for free as a thank-you for being so patient with us after losing your reservation. We will just need an hour to get the room clean. I’ll give you some restaurant vouchers so that you can have a nice dinner while you are waiting in the meantime.” I grab some vouchers for our best restaurant and hand them to the man.
 

“Thank you,” he says in surprise with a smile on his face.
 

“You are welcome. I will leave you to”—I glance to the manager’s name tag—“Sean, so he can take your information.”
 

I smile at them and then turn to Sean. I lean over so that only he can hear me. “Put them in the room I’m staying in and have it cleaned immediately. Have my stuff packed and put into my office. And we will have a discussion later about how to handle customers.”
 

He nods.
 

I glance back to the young family. “Enjoy your stay.”
 

They smile at me, and I hand the two young kids each a lollipop before I leave. I see Scarlett walk into the lobby just as I make my way back around the desk. I smile at her, but she doesn’t see me. Her eyes continue scanning the room for me.
 

“Scarlett!” I holler.
 

She turns her head in my direction, and when she sees me, she gasps, followed by a squeal that I’m afraid everyone in the hotel hears. She runs to me and grabs my now much shorter blonde hair that stops just above my shoulders.
 

“Oh my God! I can’t believe you cut your hair. I’ve never seen you with anything but flowy long hair.” Scarlett takes a step back and takes in the full picture of me with my new lob hairstyle. “I love it!” she squeals again. “It makes you look so much…”
 

“Older,” I say, finishing her sentence.

I flip my hair back, loving how the lighter locks make me feel.
 

“Yes, and sassy,” she says, smiling. “You look so grown-up now. Maybe I should try a new do.”
 

I widen my eyes. Scarlett’s hair is long and gorgeous. Sure, she could pull off a shorter hairstyle, but why should she when her current hairstyle is so perfect for her?
 

“Really?” I ask.
 

She thinks for a second. “Nah.”
 

I giggle. “So, where are we going?”
 

“A new club just opened two blocks down. It’s supposed to be slammin.’”
 

I laugh at her language. “What’s so slammin’ about this club?”

“It’s on a rooftop.”

***

“Wow,” I say when we make it up to the rooftop. “This is…”
 

“Slammin’,” Scarlett says.
 

“That’s one word for it.”
 

Scarlett and I begin the long journey of pushing our way through the crowd to one of the bars located in three of the corners. The fourth corner contains the stairs we just came up. The rooftop view is incredible. It has lights along the railing. The whole rooftop is just one giant dance floor. A DJ is playing loud music against one side. It’s chaotic and loud, and honestly, it’s exactly what I need to distract myself.
 

I see an opening in the crowd and push through toward the bar closest to us. Scarlett follows as people dance around us. I push my way up to the all glass bar. The bartender sees us and holds up a finger, saying he will be over in a minute. I turn to ask Scarlett what she wants to drink when I notice everyone at the bar has some sort of bright blue-colored drink that looks good. When the bartender comes over, I ask for two of them, and he tells me it’s their specialty drink with vodka and fruit juices.
 

He quickly makes it, and I hand one of the drinks to Scarlett.
 

“Thanks, hon,” she says. “To having fun.” Scarlett raises her glass.
 

I raise mine and clink it with hers before taking a sip of my drink. It’s good.
 

I take another sip and feel better already. I grab Scarlett’s hand. “Let’s dance.”

“I love the new Kinsley,” she says as we begin dancing in the crowd.
 

The music is loud and fun. I enjoy dancing with Scarlett. I enjoy just dancing by myself and feeling free while not having to think or talk. I get to just be a normal woman going out on a Friday night.
 

Two more times, we repeat the process of getting drinks and then dancing with each other, with ourselves, or just with the crowd around us. There are a couple of pee breaks in there as well, but mostly, we’re just relaxing and having fun.
 

“Thanks for this,” I say to Scarlett between songs.
 

She smiles. “Happy to help, friend.”
 

I feel a drop of rain hit my face, and I look up just as rain begins pouring down on top of us. It’s beautiful up here, seeing the rain fall from the sky as the lights from the bar shine up. When the two of them meet, it’s magical.
 

“Wanna get out of here?” Scarlett asks as several of the people dancing begin making their way back inside the hotel.
 

“No, not yet.”
 

I love the feeling of the rain falling on top of us. Scarlett and I keep dancing as the rain falls. Many of the people around stay as well. I love it and hope this never ends because, as long as I’m here, dancing, my world is good. I don’t have to make any decisions here.
 

I hear thunder in the distance, followed by several more lightning and thunder strikes nearby. That’s when they begin shutting down the bar, and they make everyone go back down into the hotel where it’s safe from the lightning.
 

When we make it downstairs, there are several employees waiting with towels, handing one to each of us. I use it to wring out my hair and dry off as best as I can. Scarlett does the same before we give the towels to another employee who is collecting them.
 

“Ready to head home, or should we try another club?” Scarlett asks.
 

The sound of the slot machines in the casino draws me in. “Actually, I want to…”
 

Scarlett sees me eyeing the casino. “Get in on a game of blackjack.”
 

I nod.
 

She sighs. I know casino games are not her thing. Her eyes instead follow a group of frat boys who were dancing up on the rooftop earlier.
 

“Go with them. I just want to get a game or two in, and then I’ll head back.” Although, I don’t know where I’m staying tonight since I gave up my hotel room and I don’t want to stay at home.
 

She glances from the boys and then back to me. “Are you sure?”
 

“Go,” I say, waving her on.
 

She doesn’t hesitate again. She struts up to them, and within seconds, she is welcomed into their group.
 

I run my hand through my short hair to get the wet strands off my face, and then I make my way into the casino. The lights and sounds welcome me into the casino that I haven’t been in before, despite trying out most of the casinos on the strip. It’s smaller and older than the one in our hotel at the Felton Grand. There are only about a fourth of the number of tables and only half of the number of slots. This casino is themed like a beach or ocean. It’s simple and consistent throughout the casino.