We step back out into the street.
Sierra groans. “Why do I feel like we’ve somehow let Jane down? And why do I care?” she asks.
“I don’t know but I know what you mean,” I reply. “I feel exactly the same way.” That’s all it is that’s making me a little confused about this. I feel bad for Jane, because she was so sure she was helping a loved up couple, rather than causing a problem for a drunken one.
“What are we like?” Sierra laughs. “We’re the ones having to sort out this whole mess, we’re the ones affected by it, and somehow, we both feel bad for someone else.”
“It’s Vegas!” I laugh. “It’s making us crazy.”
“You’re right about that,” Sierra says as she opens the envelope we were given and pulls out a few papers.
Our marriage certificate and a sheet of paper with the name, addresses and contact numbers of the couple who were apparently our witnesses.
“This is going to be a fun phone call,” Sierra says as she hands me the certificate and envelope. She digs into her handbag and pulls out her phone. She types in the number and puts her phone on loudspeaker.
“Hello?” a man’s voice says.
“Hi. Is this Gary Devon?” Sierra asks.
“Yeah. Who’s this?”
“My name is Sierra Lowe, and …”
“Sierra from last night? Wouldn’t your name be Sierra Hunter now?”
Sierra and I look at each and she visibly winces.
“Yeah, about that,” she says. “The whole wedding thing was a big mistake. We were drunk and stupid and I’m so sorry that you got pulled into this, but basically, we need to get this marriage annulled and I wondered if you would be willing to sign a form to testify that I was intoxicated at the time of getting married.”
“I don’t know,” Gary replies, his tone a little nervous. “I mean I feel bad for you and everything, but I really don’t want to get involved in your domestic life.”
I realize what’s happening. He thinks Sierra wants out of the marriage and is going behind my back to get it annulled. To be honest, until this morning, I would probably have thought the same thing in his position. I thought two people saying they didn’t want to be married to each other should be enough, but apparently, it’s much more complicated than that. “Gary, this is Chance,” I say. “You’re on loudspeaker. Don’t worry, we’re not having a domestic dispute. We’re both in agreement that we want the marriage to be annulled but apparently that’s not enough for the courts and if we don’t have a witness to verify that Sierra was intoxicated at the time of the marriage, we’ll have to go through the whole mess of getting a divorce rather than an annulment.”
“Oh, I get you,” Gary says. “Then sure, yeah, I’ll sign your form.”
“Thank you,” Sierra and I say at the same time.
“I have a notary who can witness us signing the papers today. Can you text us the address of the best place to meet you?” Sierra goes on.
“Yeah, no worries. It’s a shame though. You guys seemed so in love,” Gary says then ends the call.
Sierra and I look at each other again.
She rolls her eyes. “You know the stupidest part of all of this?” Sierra says. “If we’d been married for two years and where getting a divorce, no one would question it or tell us how good we are together.”
“True,” I say. My phone starts to ring. I pull it out of my pocket and check the screen. “It’s Sebastian,” I say.
“Take it,” Sierra says. “They’re going to get suspicious if they go up to your room looking for you and you’re not there. Go back to the hotel and be there for your brother. I can take care of this.”
“Are you sure? I mean I feel kind of bad leaving you to fix this mess on your own,” I say.
“I’m your assistant. Fixing your messes is kind of my job.” She laughs. “Now go, before I change my mind.”
“Thanks, you’re the best.” I start to walk away from her and I take the call. I glance back over my shoulder and see Sierra walking away from me. I watch her as she walks, the way her hips move beneath her clothes. The way she holds her back straight and her head up high, confident in herself but not arrogant.
“Chance? Where the hell are you?” Sebastian asks instead of saying hello.
“Wow, have you missed me that much?” I laugh. “I woke up with the hangover from hell, so I went for a walk to get some air. What are you even doing up?”
“It’s almost twelve Chance,” Sebastian points out.
I go to argue with him – it can’t be that late – but when I check my watch, I see that he’s right.
“Just come back to the hotel and meet us for lunch okay?” Sebastian says.
“On my way,” I tell him. I end the call and look around for a cab. I can’t take the forty-five minutes to arrive that it would take to walk back from here without raising some suspicions. I manage to find a cab and I give the cab driver the address of a hotel two doors up the street from ours. It will also look damned suspicious if any of them see me getting out of a cab too.
Chapter Nine
Sierra
I slip my ring off and push it down deep into the front pocket of my jeans as I make my way to our hotel. I stroll through the doors of the hotel, making sure I appear casual in case I’m spotted. I glance around the lobby. No one is waiting for me.
Of course, they aren’t.
They don’t suspect anything. I’m just being paranoid. They just think I got too drunk and overslept. They’ll tease me about it, I’ll get mad and remind them it was their stupid idea for me to drink so much, and that will be the end of
