A World of Possibility

by ASMSG Authors

Chapter One

  “I’m finally going to get the guy of my dreams,” Lexy Anderson said, talking into her pink Swarovski accented cell phone, as the cab driver eyed her in the rearview mirror.

  “Yeah, well, that’s what you said about Jack,” said the high-pitched girly voice of Jenny, on the other end of the line. “You’ve said that every time you’ve dated a new guy.”

  “Well this time it’s going to be different. The dating service I joined guaranteed to match me with the perfect guy.”

  “Hey Lex, that’s great. Just don’t get your hopes up, okay?”

  Lexy blew out a breath of frustration, as she squinted out the cab window toward the harsh sunlight. The casinos, a blur as the cab traveled down Las Vegas Boulevard. “Why would you say that?” she snapped.

  There was a pause. “Um…”

  “Look, Jenny, I have a plan. I’m twenty-eight years old, and I don’t want to stay in this town forever. I want to meet someone who’ll take me away from the freakiness of seeing a bunch of Elvis impersonators in white jumpsuits. I want to do something worthy in journalism, like be another Katie Couric, or write for the New Yorker. Writing for Las Vegas Magazine is great, but I hate that I have to work third shift at The Chapel of Love to make a little extra for my mounting bills. And I just can’t do one more Rocky Horror wedding playing Minister Frankenfurter singing ‘I’m Just a Sweet Transvestite.’ There’s another world waiting for me, along with a man who’ll love me unconditionally.”

  “I know Lexy, but what about Jack? Can’t you give him another chance? I know you still love him.”

  Lexy gazed out the window at the lofty tower of the Stratosphere, as the cab whizzed down the Strip past the Luxor Pyramid and the skyline of the New York New York Hotel & Casino. “Yeah, well, sometimes love just isn’t enough.”

  “Hey, not to get down on you, because God knows the man was a psychological mess, but come on now, telling Jack you joined a dating service?”

  “Jen, surely you’ve heard of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Besides—”

  “Yeah, but tell me you didn’t have an ulterior motive for rubbing it in his face,” Jenny interjected. The pitch of her voice so screechy, Lexy held the phone away from her ear.

  “Okay, fine. I thought he’d come to his senses and stop being so damn possessive. Besides, it’s been six months. I’m over him.”

  “Hmm…if you say so. Anyway, I called about your car breaking down. Sorry I couldn’t get out of my meeting to give you a ride downtown to the dating agency.”

  “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine with taking a cab.”

  “Okay, well call me later and let me know if any of the guys they profiled for you are hotties.”

  Lexy slipped her phone in her purse, when suddenly her body jerked forward. She automatically held on to the back of the front seat to brace herself, as the cab came to a screeching halt at the intersection, across the street from a swanky new downtown office building. The cab driver chuckled to himself, as he eyed her in the rearview mirror.

  Men! She handed the cabbie the fare, subtracted from his tip the cost of almost catapulting her over into the front seat, and climbed out of the cab. Waiting at the corner to cross the street, a gust of polluted warm air from a passing Sun Bus fanned out her long flaxen hair. She dashed across the intersection and slipped into the cool, air-conditioned building.

  Lexy took a seat in the reception area of Anonymous Dates Inc., where the marble floors were a luminous black with stylish black and white furniture. She looked around at the roomful of hopeful people. All of them there for the sole purpose of finding love.

  She nervously tucked her fingers into her uncooperative hair to loosen the waves. Nothing could possibly go wrong now, she told herself. They were a reputable dating service that carefully screened each client. No more dating losers, although Jack was different. He was actually a great catch, but his jealousy turned him into a total freakazoid, thinking she was rendezvousing with a lover each time she went to the grocery store. She swore she’d rather die than date another control freak.

  “Lexy Anderson?”

  Lexy looked up at the Armani clad, barge-like woman standing behind the sleek, contemporary reception desk. The spiraling metal base and kidney-shaped glass top desk looked futuristic, while the woman’s hairstyle looked like something out of the nineties. Her fiery red hair ballooned into loopy curls on top of her head, her fingers weighted down with glittery bling. Her white pearl necklace almost lost under the pink folds of her chin. She motioned for Lexy to come forward.

  “Hello, I’m Martha,” she said, as she gave Lexy a limp handshake. “I’ll be taking you down the hall to our viewing room.” Her tone was jovial; her smile was like that of a Cheshire cat.

  Lexy settled into a comfy, cushiony lounge chair in a room that looked like someone’s ultra contemporary study with built-in, shiny white acrylic bookshelves. Martha handed her a classy, black leather folder.

  “In the folder you will find information about each of the three gentlemen that matched up with the personality test you took. The same gentlemen you will get to view on video.”

  She handed Lexy a remote control, walked over to the bookshelves, pushed a button, and left the room. The shelves parted like theater curtains to expose a huge flat-screen TV. It reminded Lexy of a bedroom scene from a James Bond movie, which didn’t surprise her knowing everything Las Vegas has to offer is somewhat theatrical.

  Glancing through the folder, she was impressed. One gentleman was a doctor, the other a lawyer, and the third gentleman a magician. Hmm, must be a typo, she thought. Maybe they meant medical technician. She wasn’t a gold-digger, but on her application, she specified the importance of dating someone financially stable. Not that he had to be rich. She just didn’t want to date some restaurant waiter.

  She was equally impressed as she viewed the videos on the fifty-inch screen TV. The doctor, a total McDreamy with added points for being a plastic surgeon, conducted his taped recording session on his forty-foot yacht. She focused on his blue eyes and nice hands as he spoke. The lawyer, just as yummy, had his chauffer videotape his interview. He looked as if he just stepped out of GQ. However, she thought his red vest looked a bit like something suitable for a carnival barker.

  Then there was Victor, the magician. The video began with a close-up shot of his smoldering deep gray eyes. He had a seductive, sexy, look with a high forehead and longish wavy black hair. His penetrating stare into the camera sent tingles throughout her entire body. The camera panned out to reveal that he stood on a stage, a huge spotlight shone down on him. His face was like that of an Adonis. A man so handsome most women would die to have even one date with him. Lexy’s heart strummed like the strings on a guitar.

  With the smoothness of David Copperfield, he waved a black top hat in a circular motion above his head. Snow-white doves fluttered out from inside the hat and flew up toward the stage rafters. Then magically the words, “Lexy, please be my date,” appeared across the screen in what looked like fairy dust and the video ended.

  Lexy was stunned. For a man who had not spoken a single word, he had managed to send lightning bolts through her body with one smoldering look into the camera. He was a man whose luck in the gene pool would far exceed any woman’s expectations.

  A knock at the door broke her concentration. “Come in.”

  “So, have you chosen the date who could turn out to be the man of your dreams?” Martha asked giddily, practically clapping her hands together.

  “Well, surely, I’ll get a chance to talk to these men over the phone or maybe have some kind of e-mail communication before I choose. Correct?”

  “Ms. Anderson, we believe in spontaneity and love at first sight. Your personality, likes, dislikes, family values…everything on your psychological profile matches perfectly with each of the three gentlemen. In addition, each chose you as their first choic
e in the photo lineup. Besides, it’s against company policy to give out contact information, hence the name Anonymous Dates, Inc.”

  Martha clasped her chubby, well-manicured hands together and cocked her head, her eyebrows raised. “If none of these gentlemen interest you, we can always pair you up with another selection.”

  “Oh, no, actually, they all seem perfect. But there was something about Victor that stood out from the other two.”

  “Okay then, I’ll set up the date. A packet will arrive to you within a week with instructions on where and when you and your date will rendezvous. Oh, and Anonymous Dates, Inc. always includes an added complementary surprise to keep the date spontaneous, fun, and romantic.”

  As Lexy walked out of the building, she never dreamt she’d date a magician, but within seconds of laying eyes on him, he completely drew her in, a feeling she’d never experienced. It made her wonder if there really was such a thing as love at first sight.