Valerie came out of the spare room she was using as her "mini-apartment" and went downstairs. She was going downstairs because Chris and Andy, her best friends, had some news to tell her.
"I hope its not time for them to boot me out." Valerie thought as she nervously went down the stairs. "I still havent gotten a new job yet. Well a steady one." Valerie had just been canned after one day at a convienance store. It was mostly due to her habit of telling the customers just what she thought of them. Course she chose just about the wrong customer to do that to, one that happened to be the boss's nephew. She was gone before her lunch break was over.
Out of nowhere, something small grabbed Valeries legs. She looked down as she finished ascending the stairs to find a small child grabbing her around the knees.
"Auntie Valerie!" The child cried. It was Tommy, the oldest of Chris's kids. The other one was a baby named Michelle. She hadnt learned how to walk yet.
"Hey there." Valerie said scooping the kid up into her arms. "Whatcha doing? Trying to trip me?"
"Uhuh." Tommy laughed.
"Then I would never leave." Valerie said.
"I know." Tommy smirked.
"Well I gotta put you down, Auntie Valeries getting back spasms." She said as she put the little tot on his feet. He immediately ran into the other room.
Since the last time Valerie lived with her friends, they had moved into a new house. Valerie was shocked they could afford it with the new baby and everything but they had saved their money well. It was a nice two story three bedroom house near Ocean Pacific highway. It was a nice play to live, you could smell the salty ocean air a mile away. Plus it was less than a mile away from where her boyfriend Mike lived.
"Val! We're in the living room." Valerie heard Chris call out her name. She smiled slowly as she went into the living room.
"I'm going to do the laundry, come with me." Chris said as she hefted a laundry basket on her hip.
"You got that?" Valerie asked.
"Sure I do. Grab the soap. I still can't believe the previous owners of our house stole the washer out from underneath us." Chris said as Andy gave her a kiss goodbye. They walked out onto the street and moved toward the laundrymat, the sack of suds.
"So whats so important?" Valerie asked.
"We have something to tell you." Chris said as they walked.
"I'm sorry, I'll get another job. I will be out of your hair soon." Valerie said quickly. She figured if she got it out of the way, Chris would have nothing left to say.
"Oh no, its not that. We love having you there. The kids love you too." Chris said.
"Half of my laundry is from Michelle vomiting on me." Valerie frowned. "I think her big brother taught her some of his tricks."
"Its nothing to do with that." Chris assured her as they entered the laundry. "How are things with Mike?"
"Pretty stable. We arent going forward and we arent going backward." Valerie said. "I don't know if this is going to be like this forever. I've never once thought of marriage, and we've never discussed it." Valerie said putting the laundry soap on a washer. "Never seemed to be a right time."
"It'll come." Chris promised with a hearty smile. "The minute I saw my Andy I knew it would last forever."
"Thats nice, if not really Harlequin romance sappy." Valerie rolled her eyes.
"You'll see what I mean when it happens to you." Chris said loading the washer. "But thats not what I want to talk about."
"What then?" Valerie asked.
"We wanted to do something for you some time ago, to thank you for helping with the kids. There were some times we could not pay you so we want to make up for that." Chris said as she closed the lid. She faced her friends. "Starting tomorrow you will be in Las Vegas for three days, on a partially paid for vacation. A gift from me and Andy."
"A vacation?" Valerie asked. "At a time like this? I need a job and a place to go to." She rubbed her head. "What I got left wouldnt feed an elephant for a day."
"You need a break. We know, we can tell. We see you all the time." Chris said putting quarters into the washer. "You are hard to avoid. We actually had this set up for our vacation, but other things happened. The second baby. The room is already paid for, so all you have to pay for is food and entertainment."
"Hmm." Valerie sighed. "That is every nice..."
"Its not even the whole bit." Chris said with an evil grin. "I will be coming with you."
"What? Why?"
"To make sure you don't get into trouble." Chris informed her. "Where Valerie goes, trouble follows. I really wanted to be with you on that tour last year."
"Trust me, you didn't miss much." Valerie said remembering the details of being on tour with the Monkees and their opening act Riverbend. "Nothing much happened."
"You punched your former fiancee'." Chris pointed out.
"So there was one highlight." Valerie smiled at the memory. "It was more of a sock than a punch."
"Whatever." Chris said. "I would never punch a guy, I'm a mother."
"Trust me, comes to the right circumstances, that fist will fly." Valerie laughed. "So when do we leave?"
"Tomorrow morning. I will drive." Chris said as they sat down. Chris had a romance novel with a guy proudly displaying his bare chest on it. Valerie had a magazine with her, and a want ad page.
"So whos watching the kids?" Valerie asked. "Andy?"
"His three day vacation was set for this time. So he will be at home holding down the fort."
"Sounds groovy. I can't wait to go." Valerie said reading a record store ad.
"You don't sound too psyched." Chris said sounding suddenly saddened.
"Its not that, I oughta call Mike and tell him about it." Valerie said putting the ads down. "Be right back."
Valerie picked Mike up on the first ring.
"Hey." Mike said.
"Hey." Valerie said. "I caught you at the right time huh?"
"We're about to leave this hotel." Mike informed her as she overheard him packing. "Whats up?"
"Chris is taking me to Las Vegas as some kind of thank you gift."
"Wow, I wish I had friends like that." Mike said.
"I know. We're leaving tomorrow. I thought I would let you know." Valerie said.
"Have fun. We might be through there on Wednesday so I will look you up. Where are you staying?" Mike asked getting a pad of paper.
"Where are we staying?" Valerie called out with her hand clamped over the mouthpiece.
"The Pacifica." Chris called out.
"The Pacifica." Valerie said. "Must be french for rat trap." She chuckled. "I laugh but its probably an ok place."
"As long as its got a bed it should be fine." Mike noted. "I'll try to catch up with you."
"Great." Valerie smiled. "See you there then."
"In the meantime, don't get married to nobody, ok?" Mike said jokingly. At least she thought he was kidding.
"Oh no, I'll just wait until the second or third millionaire approaches me." Valerie rolled her eyes.
"Thats my girl. And find out if hes got a sister. Davys single again."
"Sure." Valerie sighed and hung up the phone. She walked over to the seating area where Chris was still reading her novel. "Mike will meet me in Las Vegas."
"Isnt that nice?" Chris said distracted again.
"Hmmm." Valerie said eyeballing her friend. "Do you know something I don't?"
"Me? I'm innocent." Chris said blushing. She must have gotten to a "naughty" part.
"We'll just see." Valerie said getting her ads off the nearby chair. "Anyway, Las Vegas here we come."
