A Life Less Ordinary

by Bernadine, Victoria

  “Very!” Angeline said, grinning.

  “She screamed again,” Reuben said, deadpan. “Even louder.”

  “And that’s why Reuben and I decided to get married. Not because I screamed again but because we figured luck like that had to be a sign that our marriage would also be lucky.” She smiled fondly at Reuben before saying viciously, “Plus we’ll now be able to tell our kids to like our marriage – or lump it.”

  Reuben nodded vigorously while Zeke raised a quizzical eyebrow.

  “And that’s when I came into the picture,” Lionel said.

  “To make arrangements for the wedding?” Zeke asked.

  “Oh, sorry – no. To hand over the money. I own this casino.”

  Alicia gasped, her hand flying to cover her mouth.

  Lionel grinned as he eyed her curiously. “You’re new here, aren’t you?”

  “Ye-yes, sir,” she replied, her eyes huge. “I started three weeks ago.”

  Lionel nodded. “I thought so. Anyway, I met Angeline, Reuben and Manny when we were doing the paperwork and the photos, etc., etc., etc.” He waved his hand airily. “I was so charmed by their excitement and impulsive decision to get married that of course I offered the chapel to them free of charge. And Angeline was so excited because she could do so many more things while they were here, if she only knew what else there was to do, and Manny -”

  Lionel looked at Manny and laughed affectionately. Manny squirmed a little uncomfortably under his grin.

  “I rattled off about a dozen sights to see and activities to do that didn’t involve gambling,” she muttered ruefully, her eyes on the drink in her hands. “You know me and my sightseeing.”

  Zeke nodded numbly. “Do I ever,” he agreed but he didn’t have the energy to say it with his usual sarcasm.

  “Well,” Lionel continued, “her enthusiasm was contagious and before I knew it, I committed Jack and I to trying out the Fremont Street zipline, and going on a bus trip to the Grand Canyon.”

  “A bus trip,” Jack sighed, rolling his eyes. “With tourists! I couldn’t believe it when he told me!” He gave Lionel an affectionately exasperated look. “If I didn’t love him so much, I’d have told him to jump in the Bellagio fountain!”

  “Anyway,” Manny continued, “I met Simon-Simone while I was standing in line that evening to buy the tickets to the Grand Canyon.”

  Zeke turned to look at the woman in question.

  “And that’s a story all on its own,” Simon-Simone told him with an apologetic glance at Manny. “I was overly sensitive and thought she was offended by me. We ended up bonding over my shoes. And then...” Simon-Simone’s smile became slightly embarrassed. “Poor Manny! I sobbed my whole sad story out on her shoulder, right there in line. I told her all about how I’d finally decided to stop living a lie and how I’d hoped Vegas would be the best place for me to, well, practice being a woman, but it had all been a dismal failure, and how confused I still felt about – well, everything.”

  She shook her head. “I must have broken her heart because she brought me here, to Angeline and Reuben and Lionel and Jack. They all took me under their wings, gave me my new name, and took me with them to the Grand Canyon.”

  They smiled fondly at each other while Zeke simply stared, his eyes wide and disbelieving.

  “This is some elaborate prank, isn’t it?” he said finally, turning to Manny. “You’re playing with my head because I left you alone for the last few days.”

  Manny laughed and shook her head. “Trust me – I’m not that bright.”

  Zeke shook his head. “Okay, fine. So tell me, how did you meet those three over there?”

  They looked over at two young women and a young man who were standing close together while they avidly watched a table full of poker players.

  Manny said, “That’s Cordelia, Alphonse and An-Li. We met them on the UFO watching tour.”

  “Total Area 51 geeks,” Simon-Simone said confided.

  Lionel laughed his big booming laugh and said, “I thought they were going to get us shot!”

  “I almost fainted when they started talking about disabling the cameras and making a run for the compound,” Angeline said.

  “Good thing Simon-Simone managed to talk them out of it,” Jack added.

  Simon-Simone nodded sagely, “Yeah, by pointing out that we were surrounded by soldiers with guns and they’d never make it past the fence.”

  Zeke shook his head in disbelief. “And those two?” he asked, indicating a man and a woman with matching bright green mohawks.

  “Oh, God,” Manny groaned, “that’s Vic and Viki – they almost fell into the Grand Canyon!”

  Angeline shuddered, “I was never so scared in my life – well, until the UFO tour.” She turned to Zeke and Alicia and explained, “They started slipping off the donkeys on the way down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon.”

  “Good God!” Zeke blurted.

  “That’s what we said!” Jack agreed. “On the other hand, they’ve vowed they’re never going to ride donkeys ever again.”

  “We met Perry when we went ziplining on Fremont Street,” Simon-Simone said, pointing out the man in question. He was the dapper sixty-something man Zeke had noticed in the chapel.

  Lionel nodded towards one purple-haired man, “Arturo was from the midnight helicopter ride.”

  Manny laughed, shaking her head, “He blew almost his entire budget just so he could say he’d flown in a helicopter.”

  Reuben said, pointing out each person as he named them, “Josh, Blonde-Josh and Ali were from the trip to Death Valley.”

  Lionel nodded and said, “Valeria, Ed and Tamara were gathered up at various casinos when we cruised the strip. And the rest,” he looked around and shrugged.

  “They’re friends, or someone met them here in Vegas and brought them along,” Manny explained. She shook her head and met Zeke’s eyes with a small, slightly confused frown. “To tell the truth, I’m just as surprised and confused as you are,” she assured him.

  Zeke shook his head in silent amazement. A few minutes later, after Simon-Simone spirited Alicia away to the bar for refills, and Lionel and Jack went with Angeline and Reuben to one of the poker tables, Zeke stared around the room one more time then looked again at Manny.

  “And here I’ve been feeling guilty for leaving you all alone and lonely,” he said with a rueful grin.

  Manny laughed. “No, you weren’t.”

  Zeke gave her a wolfish grin. “No, I wasn’t. I had other things on my mind.”

  Manny rolled her eyes and laughed again. “I’m sure. Well, I didn’t come to Vegas to sit around.”

  “You’ve certainly proved that,” Zeke agreed, and smiled, his eyes warm as he looked at her.

  He could see Simon-Simone and Alicia returning, so he leaned closer and said, softly and quickly, “You’ve definitely surprised me.”

  Manny looked around the room and shook her head with a puzzled air. “I’ve definitely surprised myself,” she admitted, and turned to take her drink from Simon-Simone with a smile.

  * * * * *

  Day 54

  Rebecca bustled around the kitchen making breakfast while she spoke to Manny, the phone tucked between her shoulder and her ear. “It sounds like it was a great time,” she said with a grin as she stirred the hash browns.

  “It was awesome,” Manny agreed with a huge yawn. “Sorry, Rebecca – it was a late night.”

  “What did Daisy think of it?”

  “She wished she could have been there, if for no other reason than to see Zeke’s face.”

  Rebecca laughed. “I have to admit – that must have been priceless.”

  “It really was – I didn’t think anyone’s eyes could get that big!”

  Rebecca took a couple of eggs out of the fridge as she listened to Manny and exclaimed, “Damn!” as one of the eggs slipped out of her hand and smashed on the floor on her way back to the stove.

  “What happened?” Manny asked, sudde
nly alert.

  “Oh, nothing – I just dropped an egg. I’m making breakfast for me and Tris.”

  “Hmmm. How’s that going? Have you talked to Jaime lately?”

  “No,” Rebecca sighed. “She’s been calling Tris, but she hasn’t spoken to me at all. And Tris isn’t sharing. I have no idea if -”

  Rebecca stopped abruptly as Tris shuffled into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

  “Whoops – and here’s Tris, looking for breakfast,” she recovered quickly. She nodded at the broken egg on the floor and said, “Tris, could you please wipe up the mess I made? Thanks.”

  Tris shot Rebecca a dirty look, but dug out the paper towels to do as she’d been asked.

  Rebecca frowned at Tris’ back as she said to Manny, “I’ve got to go – talk to you tomorrow?”

  “You bet. Say hi to Tris.”

  “I will.”

  Rebecca clicked the phone off and focused her attention on making omelets for breakfast. She continued to frown slightly as she watched Tris clean up the dropped egg then pour herself a glass of orange juice, all without quite looking her grandmother in the eye.

  Rebecca said, carefully casual, “Morning, Tris. Manny says hi.”

  Tris shrugged carelessly as she sat down at the table.

  “How’d you sleep?” Rebecca continued.

  “Okay,” Tris said without enthusiasm.

  Rebecca sighed. “I know you’re not thrilled to still be here, but I wish you’d at least pretend to be a little happier.”

  Tris slumped down in her chair, her arms crossed tightly across her chest, her bottom lip pouting out. “So you want me to lie?”

  “No, but I do want you to make the best of a – a not-so-bad situation.”

  Tris snorted. “Oh, please! Since when have you ever sugar-coated anything for me?”

  Rebecca paused, turning from the stove, the spatula still in her hand.

  “I’m not sugar-coating anything. This isn’t a bad situation -”

  “Except both of my parents have dumped me here on your doorstep with barely a word.”

  “All right,” Rebecca acknowledged calmly, “that is a bad situation, but not you staying here. And that still doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be trying to make the best of it.”

  “Why?” Tris demanded petulantly. “Mom and Dad just left everything, including me, behind. Why should I have to be the only one who needs to stick things out?”

  Rebecca dished up their breakfasts, placed the plates on the table and took a seat across from Tris, all in thoughtful silence. Tris stared with distaste at the omelet and hash browns in front of her.

  “Because somebody has to be the grown-up,” Rebecca said finally. “And until your parents are ready to be that again, you’re going to have to.”

  “What about you? Why aren’t you being the grown-up?”

  Rebecca raised one warning eyebrow. “And how am I not being a grown-up?”

  “You complain about Mom and Dad and me all the time. Just because I’m in a different room doesn’t mean I can’t hear you!”

  Rebecca blinked, suddenly scrambling to remember all the conversations she’d had on the phone or in person since Tris had arrived. She sincerely hoped Tris couldn’t hear everything, especially some of the calls she’d had with Jackson.

  She awkwardly cleared her throat.

  “All right. That’s a fair comment,” she replied, pleased with how calm she sounded. “I’ll try not to complain anymore. But other than that, am I treating you like it’s your fault?”

  “Isn’t it?” Tris asked. She was trying for defiant but she instead sounded like the vulnerable ten-year-old she was.

  “Are you nuts?” Rebecca blurted. “This situation is your parents’ fault – and only your parents’ fault. What they’re going through and doing has absolutely nothing to do with you, or anything you have or haven’t done.”

  Tris slammed her hands on the table, and yelled, “How can you say that? They left me! I must have done something to deserve it! Especially since you don’t want me either!”

  She violently pushed her chair away from the table and ran out of the room, leaving Rebecca staring disconsolately at the table.

  * * * * *

  Day 57

  “Hey, Zeke,” TJ said, putting the call on speaker.

  “Hey, TJ. How’re things?”

  “Great,” TJ said. “Never been better. You guys hitting the road again today?” Nothing in his tone revealed he was going to the hospital later in the day to undergo the last of the tests the doctor had ordered.

  “Yeah. Manny and I are just standing here, waiting for somebody to pick up our luggage before we head out to some place in Nebraska.”

  “Nebraska?”

  “Don’t ask me – Manny’s in charge of the itinerary. And she still hasn’t learned the value of planning ahead. We have to be back in Los Angeles in a few weeks for some movie premiere thing she managed to score tickets for.” Zeke deliberately raised his voice, “All this driving and being stuck in a van together is bound to make one of us homicidal sooner or later!”

  TJ laughed as he heard Manny’s faint reply of ‘wimp’ in the background, and he waited patiently while Zeke made arrangements to meet her at the van.

  “What’s in Nebraska?” TJ asked once Zeke was back on the line with him.

  “Manny isn’t saying. I think she just likes keeping me in the dark.”

  “Don’t we all,” TJ said drily. He glanced up as the door opened and Leah walked in. “Look I have to go,” he said. “Leah’s here to take me to – to another doctor’s appointment.”

  “What – are you getting a third opinion?”

  Leah raised an eyebrow at TJ as he hesitated for a split second before saying, “Yeah, a third opinion. Who knows? Maybe third time’s the charm.”

  Zeke chuckled, then said, “Well, I hope this one turns out better than the last ones.”

  “Yeah, me too,” TJ replied quietly.

  “Is everything okay?” Zeke asked after a slight hesitation. “Between you and Leah, I mean.”

  Leah leaned forward. “Everything’s just fine with us, Zeke.”

  “Whoops.”

  Leah laughed. “Sorry, I guess I should have said something when I walked in.”

  “Well, no harm done so long as you didn’t overhear us talking about that hot blonde TJ met last night,” Zeke teased.

  “No worries. TJ and I will just have a little chat later; he’ll tell me everything then.”

  TJ rolled his eyes. “Zeke, how is it you can still get me into trouble even when you’re thousands of kilometres away?”

  “It’s a gift.”

  They laughed, then Leah said, “Thanks again for getting those articles done for me on such short notice. Especially when you were in Vegas! I feel bad about cutting into your partying time.”

  “Hey, considering you’re bankrolling this trip, it was the least I could do.”

  “What story did you tell Manny?”

  “Manny thinks I was tucked away with the hot blonde I really did meet the night we arrived. As far as she’s concerned, I was far too distracted to bum around with her.”

  “She already knows your priorities well,” TJ said drily.

  “Was that a slam?” Zeke asked curiously.

  “Just an observation.”

  “Anyway, wait until you get my next set of blogs. You’re not going to believe what happened while I was busy getting that work done for you, Leah. I almost don’t believe it myself. My readers are going to have a field day with this one.”

  “They’ve been having field days with all of your blogs so far, and traffic’s increasing,” Leah replied.

  “Great! That’s the whole reason behind this trip, after all – to help put What Women Want on the Internet map.”

  “What?” Leah gasped. “You mean it’s not for you to maybe learn something?”

  “How can I possibly learn anything when I already know it all? Hey, I’ve
gotta go. Listen, TJ – good luck at the doc’s. I hope third time really is the charm and you guys get better news this time around.”

  TJ grinned a little sadly, “Thanks, man. Drive carefully.”

  “Will do.”

  TJ stared at the phone in silence after he ended the call. He was very conscious of the weight of Leah’s gaze on his bowed head.

  “Why didn’t you tell him what tests you’re really having done?” she asked quietly.

  TJ shrugged. “What can he do? Besides, these are just tests – we don’t know anything yet. I’ll tell him everything once we have some idea of what – if anything – we’re dealing with.” He lifted his eyes to Leah’s. “Zeke may seem like a guy who doesn’t give a shit about anything, but if he knew there was the slightest possibility of – of something being seriously wrong with me, he’d be back here in a shot.”

  Leah squeezed his shoulder. “I know he would. That’s why I think you should tell him.”

  TJ covered her hand with his and shook his head. “Besides the fact that his blog is the most popular blog on your site, you know he’d just sit here, worrying and getting in your way. Which would drive you crazy. More importantly, he’d also be driving me crazy.”

  Leah lifted TJ’s hand and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. “That’s what I love about you the most, TJ. You’re always thinking of me.”

  TJ stood with a weak imitation of his usual smile and took her in his arms. “I have my priorities,” he agreed, “and my own sanity is number one on the list.”

  They kissed then he wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tight, his face buried in her hair.

  “Ready to go?” she asked, her voice muffled against his shoulder.

  “No. But let’s go anyway.”

  ~~~~~

  Manny and Zeke drove out of Vegas in relaxed, companionable silence. Manny sat behind the wheel with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

  “How many of the Misfit Toys were still in town today?” Zeke asked casually.

  “None. I deliberately chose this morning because everyone would be on their way to their respective homes. Well, except Lionel and Jack, of course.”