I gazed out upon the casino floor from my seat at the bar. My eyes were immediately drawn to the attractive and stylishly dressed Asian woman making her way through the crowd. She seemed to carry herself with a mature confidence that stood out from the stream of younger party goers.
I followed her with my eyes as she made her way toward the area where I was sitting. When she got closer, I noted how well her dress emphasized her older, more womanly curves. I tried not to stare as she took a seat at the table next to me. A few moments later, she turned to me and began speaking, "Hi. Are you here with anyone?"
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That Asian woman is actually Michelle, my wife of 15 years. We had been enjoying drinks at the bar together when she suggested we roleplay meeting each other. She had always enjoyed acting out various scenarios in bed together. And she was good at it. Unfortunately, I was terrible at it. Anything beyond the most basic improvising from me typically ended in awkward embarrassment. However, tonight felt different. Something about Vegas does that to people. Instead of fearing failure, I felt excited at the possibilities. If there was ever a perfect time, this was it. I collected my thoughts, took a deep breath, and agreed.
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Don't break character. Don't break character, I silently repeated to myself as I turned toward her. "No, I'm here alone. Work flew me out for the weekend to meet some clients here." I intentionally spoke slowly, hoping I'd have more time to think if I drew out my words.
"Do you have a southern accent!?" Michelle gasped. This wasn't off to a good start. The slowing down of my speech had made my words come out awkwardly and now Michelle was poking fun at me. Forcing myself to stay in character, I laughed and shook my head. "No, ma'am, that's just how I talk," I attempted to joke back using my best impersonation of a southern accent.
Despite having known this woman for so many years, my stomach felt full of butterflies. Sensing my nervousness, she gave my joke a courtesy laugh and then took control of the conversation. "Don't worry, I'm not hitting on you. I'm married," she said pointing to the ring on her finger.
"Good. Because I'm married too," I said, also pointing to my own wedding ring. "And judging by the size of your ring, your husband must love you very much."
"Oh, this thing?" She downplayed my compliment. "Thank you. Well, at least he did appreciate me when he got it for me."
"Ah, I see." I said, giving her an understanding look. "So, tell me, what brings you to Vegas?"
"I'm here for a healthcare conference. I work as a nurse recruiter and my hospital sent me out here to attend a recruiting event."
"And how was the event?" I thought I was doing a good job keeping the conversation flowing.
However, she offered me a look of boredom indicating she didn't want to talk about work. "It was... fine. I've been doing recruiting for so long now that once you've been to a few of these events they all end up the same. And what about you? What do you do for work?"
"Finance," I said, my turn now to improvise. "Corporate finance, mergers, and acquisitions. My firm sent me down here to meet with a client for a potential leveraged buyout. It might sound important but in the real world the work you do hiring nurses is much more important." I didn't believe that last part, of course, but I was looking for an excuse to give her a compliment.
She thanked me for showing appreciation for her line of work. The conversation again lagged as if we really were two strangers attempting to strike up a conversation. This time I took the opportunity to change the direction of the conversation. "Hey so, can I ask you an odd question?" When she agreed, I continued, "So, tell me, what's your ethnicity?"