By the time I reached the airport, drenched in sweat, the news hit me like a punch to the ribs.
The flight to Las Vegas had taken off early.
I’d missed them.
Fuck.
I stood in the middle of the terminal, scanning the crowd, hoping–no, begging—for a miracle. Some sign of her. A familiar dress.
A little girl’s laughter.
But the terminal was empty.
Sabrina was gone, back to Las Vegas. Back to the world she came from. Back to her home.
How could she?
My sadness quickly twisted into something hotter. Sharper. Anger burned through me, wild and irrational.
How could she just leave me? Hasn’t she promised- promised to always stay by my side?
Then came the denial. This wasn’t real. Sabrina hadn’t left me. She was just going home for the holidays. Just needed space. That
was all.
Except… in all the years we were together, she never once left me alone. Never without a word.
And now? I had lost contact with her.
I hailed a cab, still breathless, my brain spinning.
“Where to, sir?” the driver asked.
I couldn’t answer.
Home? No. The Valez mansion wasn’t an option. Not after I’d walked out of my own wedding. My mother was probably tearing through the marble halls like a banshee by now.
Sabrina’s apartment? No. That would kill me. Seeing it empty. Seeing her gone.
So I said the first place I could think of. “The Valez Casino.”
My office. The only place I could sit in silence and try to make sense of the storm I’d created.
1/3
7
The phone rang.
I already knew who it was.
Betty.
I let it ring once before I answered.
+15 Bonus
“Where are you, Archie?” Her voice was sharp, frantic. “The wedding can’t happen without a groom! You’d better come back now, or I swear, I’ll tell Sally you-”
God. The sweetness she used to fake had vanished. She sounded shrill now. Hysterical.
If Betty was the type of girl who needed a spotlight just to breathe, Sabrina was the one who handed you her umbrella in the rain
-even if it meant getting soaked herself.
And only now did I realize how much I missed that. How much I missed her.
Betty kept talking, whining, threatening.
I let it settle. Let her voice fade into the background. Then I cut in, cold and final. “Tell Sally whatever the hell you want. But the wedding is off.”
She screamed something–words I couldn’t hear, didn’t want to.
I hung up.
The casino was buzzing as usual–slot machines humming, high rollers gathered at the tables, and staff flashing polite smiles I
couldn’t bring myself to return. I didn’t stop to shake hands or greet familiar faces. Didn’t bother to throw on the mask.
