Siege of Area 51 ✓

19. Chris

August 19th, 2019

I know that Mitch is right (God, I hate admitting that). I should get out of the apartment for a bit. Wallowing in my loneliness isn't healthy, I know that too. But even though all of that is true, it still doesn't stop me from thinking about her. How could it? At best this trip will be a distraction. At worst, it'll just make this place seem emptier once I get back. But what the hell? A few days of moderate happiness is probably better than none at all.

So without deliberating it too much, I packed and got ready to leave. I decided to take my journal with me. Somehow journal — along with the picture she left — made me feel somewhat connected to her. There was some sense to it, I think. The picture let me see her face and the journal spoke about what I love about her. I found myself reading it constantly. Each page I read made it seem like she wasn't so far away. The picture also served as an appropriate bookmark.

I was completely captivated by its contents. So much that I hadn't even noticed the girl sitting beside me on the plane. Her voice broke through the world I was caught up in. To her, it must have seemed like I was just looking at the photo.

"That's a cute picture," her friendly voice said.
I looked up and did my best to smile and managed a "thank you" in response.
"Is she meeting you in Vegas?" My seatmate asked.
"I wish," I thought to myself, but instead I just nodded in reply.
"That's great. I'm Valerie by the way."
"Chris"
"Nice to meet you."
"Ditto."

I tried to be civil and kept up with the small talk as best I could. Though Val (that's what her friends call her) was set on recounting her whole trip to me. Turns out she was headed to Vegas for a bachelorette party thing. That's what I remember from the conversation anyway. Needless to say, I was happy when we finally landed.

Thankfully, Mitch was there to pick me up. Matt came with him as well. He had apparently gotten in the day before. We went to the hotel and dropped off my stuff off. Then we went out for drinks. Mitch's idea. He believes that if you can't fix a problem with beer, then you haven't drunken enough beer. And I'm humble enough to admit that he's partly right about that one.

I had enough to get myself buzzed, which did improve my mood. We spent the rest of that evening in the casino before calling it a night. This morning, bright and too early, I woke up to the sound of someone banging on my door. I went over to see who it was. I opened the door and ran back to my warm bed. Mitch walked in and went over to curtains, then threw them open.

"Wakey, wakey eggs and bakey!"
"How are you awake right now?"
"Coffee, my friend. It's my equivalent to putting on my face."
"That was rhetorical."
"I know, but you still need to get up."
I groaned, "why?"
"We've got a lot of stuff to do today."

When I didn't respond, he pulled the covers off me. At that point, I realised that he wasn't going to give up, so I got up. He told me that he'd be back in about twenty minutes because he had to go wake Matt up too.
"Why didn't you wake him first?"
"Because I thought you'd be easier to wake up."
I sighed, "I'm never going on vacation with you again."
"I love you too, bro. Just be ready when I get back," then he closed the door behind him.

At breakfast, Matt looked just as sleepy as I did if not more so. Mitch, on the other hand, had already eaten and seemed to be hurrying us through our meal. Once we were finally done, we were off. The day consisted of a horseback riding tour and a trip out to the Grand Cayon. We had a stake dinner that evening and then it was back to the casino to cap the night off.

August 20th, 2019

I was relieved that Mitch let me sleep in. Around 11 AM, I heard a knock on the door. When I looked through the peephole, I was surprised to find that Mitch and Matt were now joined by Daisuke. I opened the door and Mitch let me know that they were going to grab a bite to eat, but that they would wait for me in the lobby. After lunch, we were off again. This time it was a helicopter tour and that was followed by a trip to see the Hoover Dam. I think Matt spoke for us all when he said, "I'm a little underwhelmed," referring to the concrete structure. We came back into town and got changed to go see Reba and Brooks & Dunn. All told, it was a good day.

Distractions are a funny thing. At least they are for me. I guess it's normal to not remember you miss someone when you're busy and running around. So it's probably also normal to remember you miss them when you're alone with your thoughts. At least that's how it was for me. Every night before falling asleep, I'd look at our picture ⁠— each time wishing she was here ⁠— each time wishing I could hold her in my arms again.

August 21st, 2019

Today, our itinerary consists of a bus tour and trip on the High Roller at the LINQ. I am looking forward to the latter. Though it has to wait until the evening. Mitch said that Ashley has finally gotten in today and she would be meeting us at the High Roller. Mitch had booked us one of the pods with a bar and for that reason, he said that we had to dress up. There was also a limo booked to drive us around town afterwards; which would end with us hitting up the Bellagio to see the fountains, of course, the casino. So black suits and ties were our uniforms for the evening.

We got to the High Roller and Ashley met us at the pod. Her bright red hair is almost impossible to miss. She looked nice as she normally does. She wore a sparkling, blue dress. I was distracted by the chatter and the bar when the large Ferris wheel started going. It wasn't until the bartender asked a woman standing off alone, admiring the view if she wanted something to drink that I noticed her. She was wearing a long, black dress and her dark hair was in a long ponytail that reached the middle of her back.

"Was I dreaming?" I thought. "I couldn't be." She answered the bartender without turning around, "a mojito, please." I took a sip of my beer as I watched the bartender walk the drink over to her. I decided that it wouldn't be rude to just stand beside her. Getting a better view of the glowing city below was as good an excuse as any. So I walked over and tried to be as nonchalant as possible. Her gaze was still fixed on the view while I took another sip of my beer.

"It's rude to stare at people," she said while still looking forward.
"I'm sorry...I thought you were...somebody else."

I turned and faced the other direction to avoid coming off as a creep. I looked over at my friend having a good time. Then, I nearly spit out my beer when I felt someone hugging me from behind.
"You gave up too easy," she whispered in my ear.
I turned around and couldn't believe my eyes. She hugged me again and I held her close.
"When did you get back?"
"A few days ago. I've been hanging out with Ashley, and getting a few other things sorted out —"
Daisuke yelled, "just kiss already!"

I set my beer down and brought her face up to mine, and kissed those lips I had been missing. Our kiss didn't last as long as I would have liked due to friends cheering us on. They decided to leave us alone for the rest of the ride. Each of us had a hand around the other's waist as Las Vegas shone beneath us. The rest of the evening floated by. At least that's how it felt to me.

We held hands as we got off the ride and made our way over to the limo. A kiss was stolen while we watched the fountain dance in front of us. We held each other while we watched our friends placing bad bets at the roulette table. And eventually, we made our way back to the hotel. There, we stayed up practically the whole night talking.

Rosario told me about her family situation, and how she ended up losing her job as an agent for breaking the rules of the mission. Though she left out the specifics of that last part, and I was content to leave it at that. She also said that the superintendent erased part of her memory so she wouldn't have to worry about divulging any government secrets. And la Señora Laura also brought her back to 2019.
"Wait, was she allowed to do that? You aren't an agent anymore."
She smiled, "technically, no. But she's a big girl. I'm sure she'll be fine."

August 22nd, 2019

This morning, we got dressed and got our stuff. We told Ashley that we were going on a road trip and to pass the message along to the guys. Yellowstone is the first stop on our list. From there, I'm not really sure where we're going, and I don't really care. Having the woman I love by my side is all I need. I hope this road that we're on doesn't end until we're old and grey.

I think it's fitting that this is the last page of my journal. I'll have to buy a new one to record the next chapter of my life. I'm sure they'll be plenty more to write about. So as they say in Sweden: slut.