“How do you know?”
“Because we didn’t go to McDonalds because any of you believed me about the restaurant being a tourist trap. We ended up there because the restaurant told us we were too loud and Sebastian got into an argument with the waiter. Matt said we should leave because he wasn’t going to be the one to tell Kimberley why Sebastian had a black eye or something at their wedding.”
“Right, so it must have been quite late when we went for food then. I remember us drinking in the hotel bar. I think we ended up staying here later than we planned. And I vaguely remember us going to a casino and playing blackjack.”
Sierra stands up and goes and gets her handbag. She opens it, peers in and laughs. “Yup. I still have chips in my bag,” she says. “Wait. I have a receipt here as well.” She studies the receipt for a moment and then her cheeks go pink.
“What is it?” I ask.
She doesn’t speak, she just hands me the slip of paper.
It’s a ticket for entry to what I assume is a bar. It’s called The Curious Cat.
“Why are you blushing?” I ask. “What is this place? It’s just a bar isn’t it?”
“Not exactly,” she says. “It’s a strip club.”
I feel myself blushing as well. I mean it’s a stag night. It was going to happen. But when I pictured us going to a strip club, I didn’t picture Sierra being with us.
“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas right?” She smiles.
I nod. Damn right. Except I can’t really leave my actual fucking wife behind.
“Is there a time on it?” Sierra asks.
I check the receipt again and nod. “Yeah. According to this, we went there at 10.17,” I say.
“So it wasn’t that late then and we must have already been smashed. Otherwise, I don’t think you’d have been up for taking your assistant to a strip club.” Sierra laughs as she says it, blushing again.
The blush suits her. It makes her look sweet and innocent, like she needs looking after and protecting from the seedier side of the world. I shake my head. Where the hell did that come from?
“And that’s it,” Sierra says. “After that, it’s all just a total blur.”
I nod in agreement. “I remember us drinking some vile pink concoction in the strip club, but I don’t remember much else about being there. Or what happened after.”
We go quiet for a moment, both of us wracking our brains, trying to bring the rest of the night back to our memories. I sigh after a few minutes. It’s hopeless. Even the parts that have come back to me are patchy at best, and they’re in no logical order.
There’s one thought that keeps coming back to me though; the elephant in the room, and I decide to just say it, “Sierra, we can’t stay married. It’s just a ridiculous mistake that we have to fix.” I don’t want to hurt her, but God, we can’t stay married.
Sierra looks at me for a minute. Her bottom lip is quivering.
Oh God, she’s going to cry. How the hell am I meant to fix this without Sierra ending up feeling used or hating me?
Sierra bursts into laughter.
I relax a little. I don’t know what I’ve said that’s so funny, but at least her lip wasn’t wobbling because she was upset. She was trying to hold back her laughter rather than tears.
“No shit Sherlock!” she says through her laughter.
My jaw drops open. She’s never said anything like that to me before, but then again, she’s never been my wife before. The ridiculousness of the situation hits me and I find myself laughing with her.
After a couple of minutes, Sierra gets herself back under control. She wipes tears of laughter from her cheeks. “I’m sorry Mr. Hunter. I didn’t mean to say that. But oh my God, your face. You were looking at me like you were worried I was going to pitch a fit and demand we stay married.”
I can’t help but laugh. “Sorry. I just—I have no idea how to handle this situation. And it’s Chance.”
“Yeah, me neither. It’s not something you encounter every day is it? I thought the whole Vegas wedding thing only happened in really bad movies.”
“Yeah. The ones everyone eye rolls at because it’s ridiculous that two normal people could find themselves in that situation,” I agree.
“Exactly,” Sierra agrees. “But just to put your mind at rest, I agree that we have to find a way out of this. Of course, it was a mistake. You know, I’m starting to think they pump something into the air in this place.”
“Maybe they do.” I nod. “It would explain a lot wouldn’t it? And it’s a much better story than we got blind drunk and thought why not?”
“Definitely,” Sierra says. “So I think the easiest way to deal with this will be to get the marriage annulled Mr. Hun—Chance. It feels so weird calling you Chance.”
“Weirder than being married to me?” I grin.
“Maybe not that weird.” She smiles. “So any idea how to get a marriage annulled?”
“Nope.” I shrug.
“Me either,” she says. “But I do know my way around Google better than anyone. Give me an hour to shower and change. Then find out what we need to do and I’ll come back to you.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I say.
Chapter Seven
Chance
I wait until Sierra leaves. Then I go shower and get changed myself. The pain in my head is almost gone, but my memory doesn’t seem to be working any better. Maybe it’s better I don’t remember. I mean at this point, what could remembering the whole night do except make this whole situation even more cringey and awkward?
Exactly an hour later, there’s a knock at my door. I can’t help but smile to myself at Sierra’s punctual arrival. I wonder if she’s been standing in the corridor looking at her watch, waiting for the exact
