One week later . . .
Beverly walked out of the coffee shop. She had to get a jolt of writer’s juice and a bagel before she passed out. She had skipped breakfast. Now she was on her way to Manhattan to interview NFL football player, Nate Fellows of the Philadelphia Eagles. They were going to meet at a restaurant.
Her SUV was in the shop. It had started making a weird sound. She left it with the mechanic for a few hours for him to sort out what it was.
She saw a yellow cab parked across the street. She quickly jaywalked to the waiting vehicle that had its sign on. Opening the back door, she started telling the driver where she wanted to go the same time some guy was getting in on the other side talking over her.
“Hey,”
The next day . . . Bruce and Beverly were on the Hudson jet heading back to New York. Beverly had disappeared to use the restroom. Bruce checked his messages as he waited for her. Jim, Katie, and Eddie wanted to stay in Las Vegas for another few days. Bruce had told them sure and kept the rooms on his credit card. He had told them to put anything they wanted at The Palms on the rooms account. He would take care of the bill.It looked like cell reception had been restored in New York early that morning. His brothers had sent him several texts around eight a.m., asking where he was and was he all right.“Oh, Mr. Hudson,” Beverly sang. “I have some champagne here.”“In a second, Mrs. Hudson,” Bruce said as he
Chapel of Flowers Las Vegas, NevadaIt had all been relatively easy to arrange. Bruce and Beverly got a marriage license, which only took twenty minutes. Beverly had seen a wedding chapel online and loved the pictures on the website. She had called the Chapel of Flowers and asked if they could do a wedding that afternoon. The woman had said yes. Beverly had gone to a boutique at the mall and bought a white dress. Bruce had suits in his suitcase. Eddie had gotten a suit at a men’s store at the same mall Beverly had purchased her dress.The chapel had marble mosaic floors, oversized crystal chandeliers, and light gray shimmering wallpaper. The crystal beaded curtains with dual glass mirrored silver pillars created a romantic ambience.When the wedding march played, Jim and Katie stood fro
The night was warm, but not humid – perfect night for a swim. The above ground pool was slightly illuminated with soft white light. Rich had lit two tiki torches to keep the bugs away.Beverly’s red bikini had thick straps and V-shaped cut cleavage. The bottoms showed the slight curve of her butt cheeks. The color looked good on her. Rich wore black swim trunks that were a little loose on him. His sandy-blondish hair looked good wet. Actually, his entire body looked good – and sexy wet. They swam around for a few minutes and met back at the edge of the pool to sip their beers. Rich had carried the cooler to the pool and sat it on the deck. “This is nice,” Beverly
Tonight, Rich had invited Beverly to his place for dinner. He had fried crocodile meat and grilled corn on the cob on the gas grill on his back deck. There was a cooler full of beer and the radio played rock tunes. Rich like rock music. Beverly liked it, too, but she mostly preferred R&B and Hip Hop. She listened to country music once in a while. “Mmm,” Beverly groaned as she chewed the last piece of meat. “I don’t know if crocodile taste better than I thought it would or you’re just a good cook.” Rich chuckled. “The latter.” Beverly smiled. “Such a modest man.” R
The day of the wedding . . . Croc Land was full of tourists by ten o’clock. Eddie was helping Jim give tours of the farm. Melanie was running the shop and collecting people’s money for the tour. Joey had opened the mini café in the back of the shop. Their cousin, Mark, was helping him. Beverly walked out to the pin next to the swamp. She stood with the tourists who were watching Rich bait a crocodile out of the water. He quickly turned to Beverly like he had sensed her there. He winked at her and quickly turned his attention back to the approaching crocodile. She grinned. Rich was a pretty cool guy. He had made her laugh most of the day yesterday
Most of the traffic had cleared up, to Bruce’s relief. He made it to Beverly’s apartment in reasonable time. He carried his gift for her in a medium size shopping bag with wood paper handles. It was after midnight when he approached her door. He could hear the muffled sounds of music through the door. He rang the doorbell and then banged on it several times. “Beverly!” he called desperately. Bruce beat on the door again. The door swung open. It was a guy with blond hair and blue eyes. He was wearing tight jeans and a red shirt with a collar. “Who the hell are you?” he asked with a frown. “The man who owns the fucking building,” Bruce sneered at t