“I’m coming! Why do you care about some pool game?” I ask as I hurry out of the hotel bathroom in my new black strapless mini-dress I bought especially for this vacation. “So, how do I look?”
Twirling around, I wait for him to compliment me on my new dress. Since he’s never seen it, I expect a few ooohs and ahhhs, at least.
“You can’t wear that to this. Go back in and change, but hurry because we’re missing everything.”
I stand there in shock staring at him. “Why? It’s a gorgeous dress.”
He winces and leans back on his hands on the bed. “It’s too slutty. There are going to be a ton of guys at this tournament. Go change, and hurry because I’m not going to wait around.”
“I’m not changing, Justin. I bought this dress specifically for this trip. It’s not slutty, and even if it is, who cares? We’re in Vegas. Have you seen the people here? Just coming up in the elevator we saw two women I’m sure were hookers. I thought you’d like this dress.”
That last comment is an afterthought, especially since by the time I say that, he’s watching TV and ignoring me. This trip was supposed to be a way for us to put the spice back in our relationship since after a few months together, we’ve gotten a little stale. Every date is the same. Same topics to talk about. Same places to eat.
The same sex time after time.
I thought a short trip to Las Vegas would liven things up between us. Since he has no interest in my new, sexy dress, that plan seems to have failed miserably.
When I don’t make a move to go back into the bathroom to change, he turns to look at me like he can’t understand what’s going on. “Why are you still wearing that? We’re missing everything, Eden. Come on. Let’s go!”
“No, I’m not changing. Either I go like this, or you can go alone.”
Rarely do I like to issue ultimatums, but this is a hill I die on. I just hope Justin doesn’t let that happen.
I wait, holding my breath and silently praying to God he’s going to realize he’s making a mountain out of a molehill. Why can’t he just be proud to have me on his arm in this dress? I look great in it. Why can’t he see that?
Justin stands from the bed and glares at me. “Fine. Then I’ll go alone because you aren’t leaving this room in that dress. Over my dead body.”
With that, he walks out, leaving me standing in our hotel room stunned and hurt. What has happened to the man I met four months ago who loved showing me off when we went out? He never even said a nice word about how I look in this dress.
As tears burn at the back of my eyes, I steel my emotions because there’s no way in hell I’m going to break down and cry. I’m in Las Vegas looking great. He can go to that stupid tournament. I’ll just go down to the casino and gamble.
Screw him!
I take a final look at myself in the bathroom mirror and force myself to smile. It’s going to be okay. I don’t need to be attached to Justin’s hip to have a good time.
“You look great,” I tell my reflection. “Now go have fun!”
Ten minutes later after a ride down to the main floor with a woman who couldn’t gush enough about how gorgeous I look in my dress, I emerge from the elevator with my confidence renewed. Justin doesn’t want to be seen with me? Fine. Then I’ll make my own good time.
Just as I reach the enormous double doors to the casino, Justin calls out, “Eden! You came down anyway?”
For a moment, I debate whether or not I should even bother to respond to him. It’s not in my nature to ignore people, though, so I turn my head and look down the hallway to see him rushing toward me.
“I’m going to gamble, Justin. Go to your tournament.”
He grabs me by the arm just as I take a step toward the doors. “It was over by the time I got there. Maybe if you didn’t take forever to get dressed, although I can’t imagine why it took you so long since there’s barely anything to this getup.”
Stunned, I stare at him, but he practically drags me toward the front doors of the hotel. At first, I don’t fight him because I can’t believe he’s acting like this. When my brain finally catches up with my body, I yank my arm from his hold.
“Where are we going? If you didn’t want me to be seen wearing this at your all-too-important tournament, I can’t imagine you want everyone on the strip to see me walking down the street in this, what did you call it? Oh, yeah. A getup.”
He glares at me and grabs hold of my arm again. “I’m not having this discussion with you here, Eden. I think we need to leave.”
“Leave? We just got here. We’re scheduled to stay here for three nights. I’m not going anywhere.”
What the hell is he thinking? Leave? To go where? Does he actually think we should leave because of this dress?
Justin gets in my face, something he’s never done before, and I swear I see pure rage in his eyes when he says through gritted teeth, “I will not have my girlfriend seen looking like a fucking whore. Get upstairs to that room and change, or I swear to God, Eden, you’re going to be walking the streets to find another hotel room.”
