Well Hung Over in Vegas: A Standalone Romantic Comedy

by Kimberly Fox

The dry crappy cake is threatening to come back up, so I sneak out of the room, tossing it into the garbage as I leave. I loosen my tie as I walk through the empty floor to my office.

  Everything got all fucked up.

  My future, my job, my dreams—but what hurts the most more than anything is losing Dahlia. I still can’t believe that she suggested we go through with the annulment. Yes, the video was embarrassing, but was it bad enough to throw away everything between us? Apparently, it was.

  I lock the door when I’m back in my office and slump down in the chair behind my desk. My chest aches as I open my bottom drawer and pull out the cheap plastic mug from our wedding night. My heart is broken, but I still manage to smile when I look at the ridiculous picture of me and Dahlia.

  After a minute of regrets, I reach for my phone with a heaviness in my heart. I want to call her. I want to talk to her and tell her that the past few weeks with her have been the best of my life. I want to tell her that I love her, and I’ve never felt this way about anyone, ever. I want to tell her I miss her, and I don’t care about having the company as long as I have her.

  I dial nine numbers before I hang up the phone and sigh. She always wanted to get the annulment, and after this humiliating experience, she probably wants it more than ever.

  I’m slumped over in my chair, staring down at my empty hands when the door of my office unlocks and the door swings open.

  “You left my party so early,” Nick says, walking in with a triumphant smile on his face. “It’s almost as if you’re not happy for me.”

  “Why do you have the key to my office?” I ask, glaring at him.

  “Your office?” he says with a chuckle. “That’s cute. Didn’t you hear your father back there? This whole building and every office in it is mine now. You’re only here because I’m allowing you to be here. That is, until the papers are signed and the company is officially mine. Then you and your paid wife will be out on the streets.”

  “You’re going to fire us?” I ask, feeling my body tense up.

  Nick laughs as he walks over and sits in the chair in front of my desk. “I’m going to do more than that,” he says, grinning as he puts his feet on my desk. “I’m going to ban you two from the building, tell every CEO, manager, and HR department in the country that you two are toxic, and then I’m going to take that factory that your wife loves so much and turn it into an abandoned building.”

  Heat flushes through my body as I listen to him. I don’t care about what he plans for me—I can take care of myself—but it kills me to know that he plans to close the Hospitech factory. I spent five amazing days there making friends with the wholesome employees and their families, seeing the good work they accomplish by manufacturing hospital equipment that saves lives, and living the small-town life, which felt more like home than Las Vegas ever did.

  “Nick,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady despite the anger surging through my veins. “Don’t punish an entire town over our childhood grudge. They never did anything to you.”

  “But you did,” he says, glaring at me. “All my life I tried to live up to you. Do you know what it was like living in your shadow? The girls would only talk to me to get to you.”

  “You had a thick unibrow, Nick,” I say, trying not to laugh when I remember how crazy his eyebrows were. “I told you to pluck it.”

  “You were the good looking, athletic, charming one,” he says, ignoring me, “and I was nothing.”

  “Oh, get over it,” I say, rolling my eyes. “You get girls now, your eyebrows only look slightly ridiculous, and you’re rich. I know because you’ve been stealing money from the company.”

  “I’ve been taking what’s rightfully mine,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest as his eyes harden.

  “Stolen money from the company is rightfully yours?” I ask with a disbelieving laugh.

  “Yes,” he says firmly. “I deserve it. This company would be nothing without me.”

  “How much did you take?” I ask, leaning forward.

  He grins. “Millions,” he says, clearly proud of himself. “And I deserve every last penny of it.”

  “You don’t deserve any of it,” I say, shaking my head. “And you don’t deserve this promotion. You deserve to go to jail.”

  “I’m not the one who’s going to be going to jail,” he says. His face turns dark as his mouth twists up in an evil smirk. “The money I stole was deposited into an account that is registered to you. And when I show your father what I’ve found, you’ll be off to jail, and I’ll be left alone to run the company the way I want to.”

  “You’re sick,” I say, staring at him in disgust. He’s even worse than I thought. I seriously underestimated him, and I’ll probably be going to jail because of it.

  “No,” he says as he gets up with a proud look on his face. “I’m in charge. Of everything. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m a very busy man. I have a factory to close and a town to devastate.”

  A coldness grips my core as he struts to the door and leaves. This is worse than I thought.

  Not only is my job and the town of Summerland on the line, but now my very freedom is on the line too. There is no way my father will believe me over Nick, especially with all of the lies I got caught telling lately.

  The factory will close, Dahlia will lose her job and the town she loves, and I’ll probably be headed to jail for stealing millions from my father.

  “Shit,” I mutter under my breath as I stare at the wall.

  “I’m so fucked.”

  28

  Dahlia

  Emily is sitting on my front stoop with a plastic bag in her hands when I get home from work. Her eyes are red and splotchy like mine have been way too often in the past few days.

  “That’s funny,” I say as I hop off my bike and place it on my porch, “I don’t remember ordering a sarcastic coworker off the Internet.”

  “How about a sad one?” she asks, looking up at me with puffy eyes.

  I give her a smile as I sit down beside her. “If you’re sad, then you came to the right place. What’s in the bag?”

  She grins as she opens it. “We both have broken hearts. So tonight is our wallowing night.”

  “Wallowing night?” I repeat.

  “Wallowing night,” she says, nodding her head firmly. “We’re doing everything wallow.”

  I laugh as she starts pulling stuff out of the bag. “I rented Willow, I got walnut ice cream from Walmart, and we’re drinking Walla Walla Wine. We’re going balls to the walls wallowing.”

  “Are we allowed to sit on the couch, or do we have to lean against the wall?” I ask with a laugh.

  Emily scrunches her face up. “I haven’t thought about that.”

  “Let’s do the couch,” I say, grabbing the red wine from her hands. I unscrew the cap and take a big gulp, already feeling a bit better.

  I’ve been so sad for the past few days since I got back home, and I could really use a night like this where I can just be sad and teary eyed with a close friend.

  Emily feels really bad about telling Nick about our drunken wedding, so I’ve decided to forgive her since she’s heartbroken too. And Tyler’s parents would have gotten the video in the mail anyway so it didn’t make that much of a difference in the long run. Plus, we’re all going to have to go our separate ways once the factory is closed, so I’ve let it go, and I’m just trying to enjoy what little time we do have left together.

  We head inside and curl up under blankets as we watch the movie. I haven’t seen Willow in years, and it’s not nearly as scary or mind blowing or good as when I watched it as a kid.

  “Wow, Val Kilmer was so hot back then,” Emily says as she shoves a heaping spoonful of walnut ice cream into her mouth. “I wonder what happened?”

  “He probably ate too much walnut ice cream,” I say with a smirk. She turns to me with a glare as ice cream drips from her chin onto her shirt.

  “It’s wallowing night,” she says, frowning at me. “Anyt
hing goes on wallowing night.”

  I laugh as I turn back to the bad movie, trying to focus on it, but my mind keeps wandering back to Tyler. I wonder what he’s doing, if he’s happy or sad, if he’s thinking of me.

  “Stop it,” Emily says, pointing her finger at me. “I can see the longing in your eyes. Tonight is a night of wallowing, not longing. Keep that shit tucked away until tomorrow.”

  She refills my glass of wine as someone turns onto my street. I turn and look through the window behind me to the headlights driving up the dark road. I hold my breath as the lights slow to a stop in front of my house.

  “Who is that?” Emily asks, turning.

  My heart is pounding and my mouth is dry despite all the wine I’ve been consuming. Could it be him?

  “Ah,” I say, dropping my shoulders in disappointment. I’d recognize that van anywhere. “It’s my parents. What the heck are they doing here?”

  I jump up to go find out while Emily searches for the remote control. “I’ll pause it for you.”

  “Please don’t,” I say as I head outside.

  “Rainbow!” my mother says as she steps out of the van. “I love your house. It’s so cute!”

  “Thanks,” I say, turning around and taking a quick glance at the house I love. “What are you guys doing here?”

  A thick cloud of smoke follows my father as he steps out of the driver’s seat. “Hey, Rainbow,” he says, smiling as he takes my mother’s hand and they walk over.

  I give them a quick hug, and then we’re standing on my front lawn awkwardly. “So, what brings you two to Summerland?” I ask.

  “We were passing through on our way to Hippiefest, and we decided to come say hi,” my mom answers. “We had such a good time seeing you in Vegas, and we want to start doing it more often.”

  “Really?” I ask, jerking my head back in shock. “You guys want to see me more often?”

  “Of course,” my father answers. “You’re our Rainbow. Didn’t you have fun with us in Vegas?”

  “Yeah,” I say, biting my bottom lip. Besides the nude swimming, weed smoking, awkward comments, sex in the hammock, and just about every other time they were around other people, I had fun. Kind of.

  “Is Tyler inside?” my father asks, looking at my house. “I want to apologize to him. I spent all of his t-shirt investment money on weed.”

  “That’s okay,” I say with a shrug. “I don’t think he’s going to mind.”

  “Can we say hi to him?” my mother asks.

  I take a deep breath, wanting to crumple to the ground. “He’s not here. We’re no longer together.”

  They both looked crushed. “Why not?” my mother asks, touching my arm. “You two seemed so perfect together.”

  My body feels so heavy whenever I think about this. “I can’t have it all,” I say, feeling cold and tired as I tell them. “I can’t have a career and love at the same time. I tried, and it didn’t work out. If I wanted to succeed at a career, then I had to let him go. So, I did. It’s better this way.”

  “No, it’s not,” my mother says with a frown. “If anyone can have both, it’s you. You’re the smartest, most capable person I’ve ever known. Why are you selling yourself short?”

  My dad shakes his head, looking disappointed. “The Rainbow I know takes whatever she wants and doesn’t let anything stop her.”

  “But how can I focus on my career when my head is in the clouds with love?” I ask, feeling a tightness in my chest. “You two loved each other fiercely, but there was no energy left to devote to a career. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to end up like that—constantly moving from campsite to campsite, no money to pay bills or buy food. I’d rather have security and a place to live.”

  “You have a place to live,” my mother says, pointing to my house. “But it’s not a home until you have someone you love inside.”

  My heart hurts as I remember how nice and warm my house felt when Tyler was staying with me. It felt like home. It felt better than anything else.

  “There’s a balance to everything in life,” my father says, lifting up one hand then the other. “You have to find a way to have your love life and your work life at peace. It’s the only way you’ll be happy.”

  He’s right. I won’t be happy with only work in my life. Working overtime and weekends to get promotions and raises won’t bring me the kind of happiness I felt when I was wrapped in Tyler’s arms. And I won’t be truly happy either if I just go for love like my parents did and stop striving for a successful career. That’s not me either.

  I never thought I’d say this, but my father actually said something profound that may change my life. I smile as I watch him, looking at him with a new-found respect.

  “Does your house have a shitter?” he asks, starting to squirm. “Or should I go in the bushes?”

  Well, that respect was nice while it lasted.

  “You can go in,” I say, pointing to the front door. “First door on your right.”

  He hurries in as I walk over to sit on the porch with my mom. For the first time in my life, I start to open up to my mother, telling her what happened between me and Tyler.

  “I know we haven’t been the best parents,” she says with a sigh. “But if we’ve taught you anything, I hope that we taught you that love is all you need. I love your father with every breath that I take, and I can see you had that with Tyler.”

  I drop my head as I listen.

  “You don’t need a fancy career or a big house or clothes from a store when you have someone to love. Love can fulfill you in ways that nothing else can.” She taps my knee and smiles. “You should try it sometime.”

  We sit in silence for a bit and then go into the house to check on my dad. I laugh when I find him under the blanket next to Emily with a glass of wine and a bowl of ice cream in his hands while they watch the end of Willow.

  My mother and I squeeze beside them on the couch, and we watch the rest of the horrible-but-amazing movie together.

  “Do you guys want to stay the night?” I ask after Emily leaves and it’s getting pretty late.

  My father’s hands are all over my mother, and he’s looking pretty frisky.

  “Are we allowed to make love in your house?” he asks.

  “Absolutely not,” I say with my hands on my hips.

  My mother looks at her watch and then frowns. “Then we should really get going. We’ll drive a bit and then sleep in the van.”

  “We’re not going to be sleeping,” my father says before slapping my mother’s ass.

  I smile even though it’s something gross that I never want to see again. After all of these years, they’re still so in love. I envy them.

  That’s why they never needed a permanent home. That’s why they wandered around so much. Their home was each other, and that was permanent.

  “I love you, Mom,” I say, giving her a warm hug. I can’t remember the last time I said those words to her. She looks thrilled when I pull away.

  “I love you too, Dad,” I say, giving him a hug next. They tell me they love me too, and I feel better than I’ve felt in a long time as I stand on my front lawn and wave to them as they drive away.

  In that moment, I forgive them for everything, and it’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

  I finally get it. Love is all they needed. They had that and they didn’t care about anything else.

  I’ve spent my whole life trying to be the opposite of them when what I really needed was to be more like them.

  I’m ready to try and have a balance in my life of love and career, but our annulment is scheduled in two days and I’m afraid that it’s already too late.

  29

  Dahlia

  My stomach is a mess of nerves as I walk into the courthouse on the morning of the annulment. I flew into Vegas to get dumped.

  I’m sure I’m not the first person to leave Vegas with a broken marriage, but the thought doesn’t make me feel any better. I’ve had a tightness in my
chest since I got on the plane, and it just gets worse as I walk up to the reception desk and ask where to go.

  “Down the hall and to the right,” the young woman says after pulling up my file. “You’re with Judge Roth.”

  A heaviness settles over me as I shuffle down the hall, wishing the floor would open up and swallow me whole so I can escape all of this.

  It gets even worse when I look up and see Tyler sitting on the bench outside of the door. His head is down, and he’s fidgeting with the videotape in his hands. He’s wearing a nice suit, but his tie is loose around his thick neck and his coat is a tad wrinkled. It doesn’t look as crisp as normal.

  I hope he’s doing okay.

  His eyes look blank as he stares at the tape in his hands. I can’t help but wonder what he’s thinking.

  I take a deep breath as I walk up to him. “Hello.”

  He jerks his head up like I just yanked him out of a deep thought. “Hi,” he says with his shoulders slumped. “Did you have a good flight?”

  “Yeah,” I answer. There’s an empty seat beside him, but I sit on the bench across the hall instead. He gives me a tight smile as we glance awkwardly at each other.

  It’s the first time we’ve had an awkward moment since our first morning waking up together, and even that wasn’t this awkward. I don’t like it.

  He stares back down at the tape in his hands, and I take the opportunity to study him. This may be the last time I ever see him, and that thought sends a sharp pain jolting through my chest. I don’t want the last time I see the man I married to be like this—sitting awkwardly in a courthouse.

  I take a deep breath, wanting to tell him that I do love him and that I think we’re making a mistake, but I’m scared. I’m terrified of what that might mean.

  “Tyler,” I whisper, not knowing what I’m going to say next.

  His head rises with a hopeful look on his face. “Yeah?”

  “I…” My voice trails away as the door opens and Judge Roth steps out. He’s a large man with light gray hair that matches his gray collared shirt.