Las Vegas

by Sheila Horgan

  The girls allowed themselves to be herded into consultation rooms, where each would be given the hard sell, gently.

  The consultations were thorough, quick, and painless.

  The girls learned that the spa was full-service, and by the Berman definition, that meant they would address your whole life — mind, body, spirit, and fashion.

  There was an area of the spa dedicated to fitness, both physical and emotional, including everything from yoga to nutrition. There was an area for classes, from meditation to makeup. There was an area of the spa for hairstyles and another for on-trend clothing.

  The brochures the girls had perused on the kitchen table were meant for local folks, but the spa actually had arrangements with a nearby five-star hotel where clients could stay, and many of the services provided were available at the hotel upon request.

  The treatment rooms were decorated with an Asian flair. Bamboo mats decorated the wall on one side; a water wall made relaxing sounds on the other. There was a shoji screen for privacy when dressing or undressing. The treatment table was positioned in the middle of the room, with a glass table and display placed in front of the bamboo wall. Products were artfully exhibited, and candles perfumed the air, providing soft lighting.

  Anna followed the technician in, and the door closed gently.

  It was lunchtime before the girls saw each other again. Anna had scheduled them for a two-hour break so that they could enjoy a light lunch away from the spa.

  “So, how’s it going so far?”

  Adeline stretched. “So far I’ve done a salt scrub, which was done competently, an essential oils massage, and a scalp treatment. You?”

  Anna looked excited. “I did a salt scrub, which was uncomfortable at first, but when I told her it was, she added something to the mix and toned down the pressure, and it was much better. Then I did a full body wrap. I’m doing hands, feet, and facial when I get back.”

  Carolyn smiled. “Skipped the salt scrub so I could do the waxing. Ouch. The young woman was surprised I’d decided to do so much in one day. When I explained we were on our way to Hawaii, she said she spent years over there with her husband, a military man. She’s very familiar with the area and suggested a couple of restaurants for us to try on Maui. She said that the flight back to Honolulu to see Pearl Harbor is an easy one. She suggested we take one of the helicopter tours of the volcanoes. She said if we want to take the bus from the hotel to the harbor, it will take us through most of town. The ride could take at least an hour, but we’d definitely get to see the local sights.”

  Anna shrugged. “I think that’s a decision we can make when we get there. We can always rent a car or take a taxi; they might even have a tour service or a shuttle. I’m not worried about that part of it at all. They cater to tourists there. We won’t have any problems at all.”

  The girls left their cars in the parking lot and walked across the street to a bistro they’d decided to try. Each of their technicians had reiterated the importance of eating light and staying hydrated.

  “What happened to being thirsty? We used to get thirsty. Kids today get dehydrated. When we had kids playing outside and they got thirsty, everybody drank out of the hose. Let it run a minute, and you had nice cold water in endless supply. Now it’s all bottled water. Then they complain that our generation didn’t conserve and polluted everything. Don’t even get me started on the fact that you can’t let a child go out and play anymore. Either they’re going to be abducted by some lunatic, or they’re going to run off on their own. I just don’t know what has happened to this country.”

  “Something wrong, Anna? You seem a little frustrated.”

  “Well, that’s a polite way of putting it. What’s the female version of a curmudgeon?”

  Adeline’s eyebrows met in the middle. “I’m not sure a curmudgeon has a gender. Why would they need one? Would you be inclined to be amorous with a curmudgeon?”

  Carolyn laughed. “I’m sure they don’t have sex. You should probably keep that in mind, Anna.”

  The girls were still laughing when they arrived at their destination.

  It was a cute little bistro with tables just tall enough to be special but not so tall that one had to climb to reach their seat.

  The tablecloths were bright white. The stemware was quite plain but of good quality. The wood was dark and polished to a high shine.

  Their server arrived with ice water with a beautiful flower peaking out of the top of the glass, and menus. He introduced himself and left them to decide on their food choices.

  Anna leaned in. “I’ll bet our server knows we were at the spa and that’s why we got our water so fast. So now that nobody from over there is listening to us, how’s it really going over at the spa?”

  Adeline laughed. “Just what are you suggesting? Are your treatments not what you expected them to be?”

  “Oh, the treatments are all good, but I gotta tell you, I’m not used to bein’ buck naked in front of strangers.”

  Carolyn winked. “No curmudgeon is.”

  “Now, let’s not plague me with that title. I have my grumpy moments, but for the most part, I’m a pleasant person.”

  “True enough.”

  “How are you doing with your treatments, Carolyn?”

  “I must say that things have changed in my lifetime. There was a time when modesty was not only expected but respected. When I went into the treatment room, the young lady told me that she would step out of the room, that I could disrobe and arrange myself on the table, or I could put on their supplied robe and wait for her, and she would be happy to help me onto the table. I may be old, but I can certainly get up onto a treatment table, and I told her so.”

  Anna confided, “Mine said about the same thing. It’s probably just an insurance thing. They don’t want to be responsible if you fall and break your neck.”

  “Well, since the young woman left the room and it is a bit of a squeeze behind the shoji screen, I began to disrobe in the room proper. How long does it take to remove clothing?”

  “Having been married a number of times to a number of rather lusty men, I can assure you it takes virtually no time at all.” Adeline’s throaty laugh got the attention of two men sitting at a nearby table.

  “Exactly. I was bent over the bench adjacent to the shoji screen, folding my unmentionables…”

  “Not only are they mentionable now, but for half the younger generation they are worn on the outside.”

  The men looked over again when Adeline laughed.

  “As I was bending over, the door pops open, the young women allows it to swing wide, encouraging anyone in the hall to witness my bare bottom displayed for the world to see.”

  “Was there anyone in the hall?”

  “I didn’t hear any screaming or laughter, so I’m assuming not.”

  Anna smiled. “Well, one butt is about the same as the next. Some of us are more blessed than others. On the blessed scale, you don’t rate high marks.”

  “I’ve never had a large bottom. Not even when I was pregnant with my children. Now, it is nonexistent. The technician said that if I started doing certain exercises I could build muscle in that area.”

  Anna’s smile broadened. “They have padded jeans now that might be easier.”

  “Actually, she said the advantage of doing exercise is not only my appearance but also my mobility and freedom of movement. She said that it is imperative to do weight-bearing exercise for strength of bones and for health.”

  “I’m sure they have a class that will teach us all about what we need to do and buy. Just hand them a credit card.” Adeline didn’t even try to hide her cynicism.

  “Actually, she said there’s no reason to pay for a gym membership just yet. She said that we can go to virtually any store that carries sporting equipment, buy some large resistance bands, and get started that way. I’m going to purchase some on the way home this evening.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. Easy to pack for our trip as
well. Perhaps we should each get a band.”

  Carolyn sighed. “Once I started thinking about it, it has been a long time since I carried a baby around. When I first babysat the grandkids, it about killed me. You get out of the habit of using those muscles. It will only be worse this time around, and I want to be a very active part of Suzi’s little one’s life.”

  Anna sounded enthusiastic. “I think that sounds great. Maybe we should all get into better physical health. I don’t have any babies in my near future, but I could use a little toning, and you never know what the future holds.”

  “Why, Anna, that almost sounds like you’re on the prowl.” Adeline leaned in.

  “I’m not. But you never know what the future holds.” She winked.

  Carolyn shrugged. “I’m just hoping there’s no security footage of my hind end. I looked for cameras in that hallway as we were walking out but didn’t see any. There’s probably a website out there — gruesome granny glutes.”

  Anna laughed. “Nothing to worry about. After we get you those rubber bands, no one will recognize your granny butt anyway.

  Lunch was probably a little more food than the spa would have preferred. The girls skipped the bread and pâté and started with a salad of caramelized walnuts, pears, and soft cheese arranged artfully on endive. That was followed by a variety of crepes, and they ended the meal with pot au crème chocolat.

  By the end of the day, Carolyn had whiter teeth and had tinted both her brows and eyelashes. The only hair left on her body was on the top of her head and her newly shaped eyebrows. She felt no need to share with the other girls the positions in which she posed for some of the more difficult waxing. On a whim she decided in for a penny, in for a pound and went for it. A full Brazilian wax! At her age! Maybe you can teach an old dog new tricks.

  Anna had lost measurable inches with her body wrap and, after a long discussion with a very attractive master stylist, decided on a closely cropped hairdo that would be much easier to manage on her trips away from her usual salon.

  She also invested in a silk wrap skirt. The skirt was reversible and had two layers of heavy silk. It could be arranged in any number of ways, many of which no woman over the age thirty should wear, but some of which are very age appropriate.

  Depending on how the skirt and ties are arranged, the garment could be used as a casual skirt or a formal dress as well as a hundred options in between. The salesgirl reminded Anna that she had lovely upper arms therefore she should have no concern about going sleeveless.

  Anna walked away with the skirt and a YouTube address for lessons in the proper draping and tying to create the most flattering styles for her particular body type. She had to admit her body had held up pretty well, perhaps a positive side effect of a childless life. She hadn’t carried a child, and as a result she could afford a healthier life than many of her contemporaries. She still had a trim waist, good arms, her legs weren’t bad, if a little shorter than she would prefer, but all things being equal, she had the body of a fortunate woman half her age.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE CAR ARRIVED a few minutes early. Anna hadn’t yet gotten to the condo. There was a change in plans just yesterday. Anna had decided to leave her car at Carolyn’s. Her reasoning was simple enough, but it threw off her schedule. Anna was concerned that a car sitting in her driveway for days at a time would bring more attention to her empty house than a stack of newspapers, and she’d stopped delivery on those. She still hadn’t decided if she would just end her newspaper subscription. You can read the news online these days, save a few trees, and not have to stop delivery every time you decided to go out of town.

  She’d also stopped the mail, turned down the hot water heater, turned the water supply to the washer completely off, just in case a pipe were to burst. It had never happened, but the house was getting older, and there was no good reason to take a chance.

  Anna had also turned the air conditioner up to eighty-three, unplugged virtually everything that could be plugged into a regular outlet, and had flipped the lever on her garage door to keep it locked even if the garage door opener was used.

  People in the area would assume that her car was simply in the garage where it should be. Unfortunately, she couldn’t park there currently because her grandnephew, Bobby, moved all his junk in there for a couple of weeks, a couple of months ago.

  Anna had given him a thirty-day notice only three days before. She explained to him that he’s to move his stuff within thirty days of her return or she would take care of it for him. Her plan was simple. If he didn’t get his stuff out of her garage, she would hire two kids down the street to move it to a storage facility on the other side of the freeway. She would pay that storage facility for the first month. If the facility manager ended up selling all Bobby’s stuff to one of those new entrepreneurial types that you see on late-night cable — the ones that buy the contents of a storage locker and pray it is full of treasure not trash — so be it.

  Her ultimatum seems to have lit a fire under the young man. At least now he was talking about becoming an entrepreneur instead of sitting on the couch, waiting for his ship to come in.

  Florida has a higher unemployment rate than most states, but there’s always work for the enterprising, or at least that’s the lecture Bobby gets multiple times a week.

  Anna put a little sticker on the front door before she left. Right over the dead bolt lock. It read ALARM ON — just in case Bobby got any ideas about letting himself into her house while she was gone.

  The boy wouldn’t steal anything, but the child could leave a trail of dirty clothes and fast food boxes worthy of a three-day cleaning crew.

  The driver had just placed Carolyn and Adeline’s bags in the trunk when Anna drove up. Without thought, Anna started to fight her bags out of her car. The young driver interceded before the bags won.

  Adeline informed the driver they would be ready to leave for the restaurant, and then the airport, in just a few minutes and herded the girls into the condo.

  Anna, ever organized, had a checklist. They reviewed it quickly. When they were sure they had everything they would need, they locked up the condo and headed for the car.

  As they giggled their way down the hall, they had to stop quickly not to jostle Belinda as she balanced several bags of groceries. They wished her a good day as they passed her, but — out of character for Carolyn — they didn’t offer Belinda any help.

  Carolyn made a mental note that Belinda, the granddaughter of the condo owner two doors down from Carolyn, seemed to be spending more and more time with her grandparents. It was technically against the rules for anyone under the age of fifty-five to stay in a condo more than a couple of weeks a year, but Carolyn didn’t mind and would never complain about such things. Hadn’t she just invited Suzi and Barry to stay as long as they wanted? It’s good to have rules. It’s good to be able to bend them when appropriate. Carolyn was more concerned with the health of Belinda’s grandmother than she was the bending of rules. By the time they got to the limo, Carolyn had all but forgotten her concern.

  When planning their vacation, the girls decided to leave a little early and to enjoy a relaxing brunch at one of the better-known steak houses not far from the airport.

  The brunch was a new service meant to introduce the uninitiated to the establishment and encourage patrons to return for a proper dinner. None of the girls had eaten there before and were pleased to see that it was a popular place. Equally pleased that they had reservations.

  Brunch would be a good beginning to a wonderful adventure. It also gave them a great excuse not to have family bring them to the airport. While rides from family can be lovely, they wanted a nice relaxed start to their trip, and meeting up at the airport with three different families bouncing about could be stressful.

  Before exiting the car, Carolyn insisted the driver take the car and find himself food instead of waiting in the parking lot. While Adeline might be accustomed to the “better life” as most would phrase i
t, it made Carolyn and Anna just a little uncomfortable. The thought of this young man sitting in a warm car, while they were inside eating, didn’t do anything good for their appetites.

  They were both aware Adeline was compromising her usual high standards in an attempt not to burden them with too much expense. Anna and Carolyn were careful not to push the limits too hard in the other direction. They weren’t insisting that Adeline accept a sleeping bag on a hotel room floor for goodness’ sake.

  It would be a matter of balance.

  After some discussion, the driver supplied Anna with his phone number and headed down the road in search of nourishment.

  Adeline, Anna, and Carolyn were seated in a high-backed booth, where they each ordered a Pink Lady at Adeline’s suggestion and started their vacation by sharing stories of raising kids and the wonder of how much time had passed when they were each busy doing other things.

  The ride to the airport was a short one. The driver deposited the bags with a skycap at the curb. Anna noticed that the driver even took care of the skycap’s tip.

  Security was painless. Each of the girls only had a small carry-on.

  Adeline was less than amused that she had to take off her shoes.

  Carolyn stopped to help a young mother balancing her baby, her toddler, and all the accouterments that are necessary when traveling with short people.

  Anna took up the rear of the pack, making sure that all items were collected and that the group made it to the gate on time.

  Touchdown was a bit choppy, but deplaning was quick, and once in the main area of the airport, the slot machines and advertisements made the girls laugh out loud. One thing about Vegas, you can’t spit without hitting something that you can wager on.