When Worlds Collide
Chapter 4
By: Bella
Casey wandered out of his bunk and followed the smell of coffee out to the table on the other end of the bus. At the table sat Tristen and Matt drinking coffee and chatting. On the table were newspapers, cups of coffee, and muffins.
"Good morning, sunshine," Tristen said as Casey sat down next to her.
"What the hell are you doing up? It's not even past noon and we don't have a show today. Are you feeling okay?" Casey asked Tristen, jokingly.
"Ha-ha. Very cute," she responded.
"Where the fuck are we anyway?" Casey wondered out loud.
"Las Vegas!" Matt answered. "Oh baby, a whole day to kill in Vegas ... we could get into some trouble."
"Correction," objected Tristen. "YOU could get into some trouble. I could lose a lot of money. And speaking of that, I'm gonna hit the casinos in a bit, anyone wanna come with?"
"I'm too broke," complained Matt.
"Same here," said Casey.
"Okay then, I guess I'll just go and blow my money by myself. I even won't bother asking Trevor or Will if they wanna come ... it'll be hours before they wake up, and I can't say that I blame them," Tristen commented with a laugh.
"I don't know when I'll be back, but maybe I'll see you guys around later. I'll bring my cell in case you guys wanna meet up somewhere later," Tristen said, and with that she grabbed her purse and headed out the door of the bus.
---
"Where are you going?" Joel asked his brother as he watched him get ready to leave the bus.
"We're in Vegas, where the fuck do you think I'm going?" Benji replied with a look that said "I can't believe you even had to ask."
"Oh, gonna waste your money? Are you sure you don't wanna cruise the strip with Billy, Paul, Sandy and I?" Joel asked, already knowing what his brother's reply would be.
"Been there, done that. There are casinos calling my name."
"Suit yourself," Joel said as he watched Benji leave.
---
"You know, for years I've been the one to send flowers to girls, but actually being the one to receive flowers today was definitely a first," Tristen heard an unfamiliar voice say from behind her, followed by the feeling that someone was standing very closely behind her. She spun around in the seat she was sitting and playing video poker in and saw Benji looking down at her, smiling. She immediately felt embarrassed, and, to make matters worse, the first thing that came to mind when she saw him was him standing directly in front of her completely naked the day before.
"Oh, and the cookies were good too. Thanks, you really didn't have to do all of that," he added.
"It was the least I could do. I really am sorry," she replied. There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds. Benji decided to break the uncomfortable moment.
"Having any luck?" he said, sitting down in the empty seat next to her and trying his luck.
"No, not at all. I'm never lucky, which is why I play nickels," she said, smiling.
He laughed at her comment and continued playing.
"So, how did you know it was me?" Tristen asked, surprised that he had been able to spot her in a busy casino after having only, to her knowledge, seen her once before during that embarrassing first encounter.
"Well, first I noticed your hair. It's really beautiful, by the way," he started.
"Thanks," she said shyly.
"Then I noticed your tattoo," he said. Her shirt had come up while she was sitting hunched over the video poker game, once again revealing the tattoo on her back. "I had seen you when I got to the first venue and remembered those things. When I saw you I figured it had to be the same person."
"Oh," she said, instinctively pulling the back of her shirt down.
"What is your tattoo of?" he asked. He still hadn't gotten a good look at it.
"It's just a rose and it has my grandmother's name, Rose, also my middle name above it," she said, looking behind her at her back and lifting her shirt up a little so that he could look at it more closely. He looked and saw one long-stemmed rose laying sideways, outlined in black with some color and the name "Rose" written in fancy writing right above it.
"It's neat. As you can tell, I'm into tattoos as well," he laughed, looking down at his arms. She looked at them and smiled.
---
Before either of them had realized it, hours had gone by in the casino. It was the early evening and the two had spent all afternoon sitting at the same video poker games chatting and playing. They talked about random things, like music, hobbies, and shared embarrassing things about their bandmates. It turned out that although they didn't have much in common in those areas, their differences provided long and interesting conversations. They were really taking a liking to one another. Benji hadn't won a whole lot, but hadn't really lost very much either. What he played he would win back, but then lose again. The same had gone for Tristen until she finally won $250.
"I won! I won! Look! I won!" she shouted, jumping up and down in her seat with a huge grin on her face. Benji couldn't help but laugh at her excitement.
"You must be good luck!" she told him. "I've never won this much before."
"Well, you better go cash your nickels before you play them all and lose them," he suggested.
"Good idea," she said as she looked at her watch. "Oh my god! It's already 6:30! I had no idea we had been here so long," she said, surprised.
"Really?" he asked, also surprised at how quickly time had passed. They then went up to a counter and got her money. After that was done, neither knew what to do or say. Luckily, Tristen's stomach groaned loudly and Benji got an idea.
"Hungry?" he asked.