It Happened in Vegas

Chapter XV

"Yeah, I'm not sure how much of this I can agree to, debauchery amongst the masses, it's not really my thing," Elise confessed, putting the unfinished paperwork down onto her lap.
"Yeah, I didn't know that this was that kind of party," Dalia said, looking at the paperwork with a look of terror.

"This is an event where people meet other people who are 'into' the same things as they are. This event requires a certain amount of privacy, discretion, and a waiver of liability. Any acts committed or performed here are of your own volition. We are not responsible for STI/STD paneling between parties. Consent is also to be established between parties, individually."
"All acts and conversations that go on here are to be handled with discretion and will not be disclosed to authorities, news presses, or anyone outside of this establishment. If this contract is violated, legal action will take place."
"Our private rooms are only to be used for the mutual pleasure of those who attend. We are not responsible for any drug or alcohol overdoses or any injuries that may occur. No cameras allowed in private rooms."
"If you do not wish to participate in any of the after-hour events (After-party), which include any and all activity occurring after midnight, you are free to go at any time. However, all must sign this NDA, regardless of whether you plan to participate in the "After-party".

Dalia put her papers down, "I really don't feel like having sex with strangers, can we just party until midnight?"
"I guess. I mean, we did come all the way over here and I put clothes on, so we might as well 'do as the Romans do'... Y'know, to a certain extent." Elise said, signing the paperwork and marking a box that said, "not interested in After-party".
Dalia did the same thing and handed both of their packets to Jeremy. He looked over both packets and seemed a bit disappointed. "Welp, too bad ladies, you probably would have really enjoyed our After-party."

He signed the pages of the contracts and handed them back to a large muscular topless guy with a bunch of tattoos and short, curly hair. "Kody, collect the rest of the contracts and then take these ladies to the red table. Drop the files off in my office." Jeremy commanded.
"Yes, sir. This way, ladies." Kody directed, leading them to yet another booth with a bubbly redhead covered head to toe in red.
Dalia only recognized one other person at the booth. It was a man, he looked to be about mid-'20s and very uncomfortable. He was standing there stiffly while a different woman dressed in red was painting on his bare skinny chest. "It's kind of cold, but no worries, they let you choose whether or not you want to be painted." Dalia looked up from her curious gaze.

"What? Were you talking to me?" She asked, finally taking a good look at his face. He was wearing a sweet but nervous smile that showed off his braces. He put his hand out as a greeting while simultaneously trying to keep his torso from moving. "Yes, ma'am. I was. My name is Carter, I am here with my girlfriend. She is into this whole scene, but I am just doing this to make her happy," he responded. Dalia took Carter's hand and shook it. He offered it to Elise, she did the same.

"Oh, yeah? Same here. I don't really like parties but my girl here does; although... I wasn't aware of exactly what kind of party it was, y'know?"

"Oh, me either, I made that mistake last year with Stacee, but she loved seeing it. This year she wanted to participate, so here we are." He said, looking over to another table where people were being painted different shades of yellow and gold. Dalia looked over to the table and the polite smile she was holding on her face slipped off and one of terror replaced it.

Elise had noticed the change immediately but Carter was more or less concerned about the red paint dripping onto his white jeans. She looked at Dalia and when the look stayed frozen on her face, Elise knocked her elbow into Dalia's rib. Dalia physically shook herself out of it. "So, what do the colors indicate, exactly?" Elise asked, changing the subject.

"Well, red means that you aren't interested in participating in the Afterparty, those are the people who leave at midnight. Yellow is when you're not actually single but you do wish to participate in the party. That is a 'no later contact' color. So, 'fun' tonight but then, no further contact. Green is for singles who are definitely free to go crazy, they are the Afterparty." Carter answered. Dalia paid little to no attention to the explanation, she kept glancing between Carter and Stacee and hoping to any deity listening that Stacee didn't recognize her.

"Hello ladies, would you guys like to be painted or adorned with red costume-wear?" The woman that was painting Carter had finished and quickly washed and dried her hands, she now stood behind the booth, patiently awaiting Dalia's answer. Dalia was still distracted and Carter had gone over to stand in front of a large fan. "Dalia, what the fuck? Why have you been staring at that guy's girlfriend for so long? Pay attention, this woman was talking to you."

"We should just go, I'm no longer in the mood to party," Dalia said, turning her attention to Elise. The woman was still standing there patiently awaiting an answer. "Can you just give us a second, we haven't decided yet." Elise requested. The woman nodded her head and walked away.

"What are you talking about, it was your idea to come here and you agreed that it was a good idea to stay and you suddenly want to leave now. Now that you saw Carter's girlfriend? Why? Do you know her?" Elise asked, her arms crossing her chest.

"Yeah, kinda," Dalia answered, nervously rubbing the back of her head.

"What does 'kinda' mean?" Elise asked, getting annoyed by Dalia's sudden cryptic behavior.

"Kinda, as in I'm kinda surprised that you didn't recognize her. Like, she's kinda our college professor, that I kinda slept with freshman year, we kinda started dating, I kinda fell in love with her and found out that she was kinda already married. I haven't seen her since she picked up the last of her shit from my parent's house and I kinda wasn't planning on ever seeing her again." Dalia blurted out all at once.