Valerie sat on her, well not her bed, and tried to figure out what was going on. The last thing she remembered was going out to a bar but she didnt remember drinking anything. She rarely drank, she never really liked alcohol. Her former boss at the thrift store liked to show up at work "still wasted" the day after whatever party he'd been at. Thats probably one of the reasons why she didnt drink. It was a big influence on her.
She rubbed her eyes then closed them then opened them again. Nope she was still in the strange pink room. She took a deep breath.
"Okay whats going on here? I dont know how I got here or even where I am." She got off the bed and went to the window. She moved the light pink curtain that covered the window aside and looked out it. After one brief glance she could tell she was on about the fifth or six floor of a hotel casino. She could see the other casinos and what was around them but no farther than that. She could also see that the fleabag hotel she was at was nowhere near where she was now.
Chris! She could call Chris. She never went back to the hotel last night so she had to be worried by now. At least she hoped so.
"I better call her now." Valerie muttered as she looked around the phone on the bureau. "I hope she doesnt think I played hotel ditch on her." After a minute or searching she found the phonebook which was also pink. "God, I like pink ok but this is really ridiculous." She thumbed through the book till she found the hotel section. "Okay whats the name of that place? I doubt 'crappy squirrel infested heckhole' is a viable hotel name." She looked through the names listed before one sparked her memory. "The Pacifica!" She quickly dialed the number and got patched through to her room.
Chris answered the phone after two rings. She very sleepily sat up and yawned.
"Hello?" She muttered.
"Wow you really arent a morning person." Valerie said.
"Val? Is that you? Where are you?" Chris asked becoming more awake. "You didnt come back last night."
"Dont I know it." Valerie said. "I don't know where I am. Some hotel with an obnoxious pink room."
"Hmm pink room." Chris racked her brain. "Is there stationary there?"
"I don't see any. There wasnt even a name of the hotel on the phone book." Valerie said. "Let me look in here a second." She opened up a drawer and found a pad and paper. "Its the Mirage."
"Wow, ritzy." Chris said standing up. "Its like a mile from here. What happened?"
"Wish I could tell you." Valerie said. "Can you come get me?"
"Sure." Chris said. "Sounds like you got a honeymoon suite."
"What?"
"A honeymoon suite. The kind of room you get after you get married...did you get married?" Chris asked. "Hang on a second." She put the phone down. Three minutes later she picked it up. "I'm back."
"Where did you go?" Valerie asked.
"Changed into clothes." Chris said. "You'll have to tell me all about it when I get there. Are you married?"
"I don't know. There is a real official looking certificate on the bureau." She picked it up and looked at it. "You want me to describe it to you?"
"I'll be coming up there." Chris said. "Let me look at in person."
"All right. I'll be here...in the Pepto Bismal room." Valerie said before hanging up.
It took about fifteen minutes but there was finally a knock on the door of Valeries hotel suite. Valerie left the bedroom and noticed the room was bigger than she thought it was, there was a small kitchenette and a living room with a tv set. She bet it had more than one spanish channel on it. There was also a small radio in the corner of the room. She quickly glanced at it all as she made her way to the door. She opened it as Chris was about to knock on it again.
"Hey I got a bone to pick with you." Chris said.
"Hi and how are you?" Valerie said waving. She backed up as Chris made her way into the room.
"You got married and I never got to be the matron of honor." Chris said with a very phony sniff. "You are such a meany."
"Believe me, the wedding was very forgettable." Valerie said. "Why do you have our luggage?"
"If you managed to score a much better hotel room than the room we have we would be nuts to not take advantage of it. I even got a refund from the hotel people for the nights we didnt use." Chris said setting Valeries bags on the floor. "I love the nightie. Whens the slumber party?"
"Hey." Valerie moaned. "No fair being funnier than me today."
"I'm sorry." Chris said. "You are too cute in that you know that?"
"Chris..."
"Okay okay. So tell me a story. What happened?" Chris said as Valerie ran into the bedroom. "And change out of that thing too."
"Don't start." Valerie said coming out with a change of clothes. She had a turtlenneck and a pair of slacks. She changed while Chris looked at the marriage certificate.
"This would be great if we could only read your husbands name. Its very hard to read." Chris said. She had an epiphany. "Hes a doctor!"
"I don't think so." Valerie said. "Its more smudged than anything else."
"What is the last thing you remember?" Chris asked as she passed over the certificate to Valerie.
"I went down this street here and was looking around. I guess I wandered into this bar. I remember having a tea and thats about it. I woke up here in the pink nightmare room."
"Tea?" Chris made a face. "You don't like tea."
"It was Long Island Iced tea." Valerie said. Chris gave her a look. "What?"
"You don't know what Long Island Iced Tea is?" Chris asked.
Valerie shook her head.
"Its got a little alcohol in it." Chris said. "Not enough to make you drunk but enough to make an little impact if you're not a regular drinker."
"Oh great." Valerie rubbed her eyes. "So I got trashed on one drink and married a complete stranger." Chris nodded. "What do I do?"
"I have no idea. Maybe we can find this guy. I can make out an M on this name...hey is that a radio?" She ran over to one corner and turned it on. A Loving Spoonful song came on the radio and she started to dance to it. Valerie rolled her eyes as she watched her friend dance. She then turned as she heard a faint door knock.
"Yeah you get on with your bad self, I'm gonna get the door." Valerie said as she quickly finished dressing. A man with a bellboy uniform pushed in a tray. There were two large covered dishes, and they had a unmistakable odor coming from them.
"Room service!" He called out. Valerie cupped her ear cause she didnt hear him. "Room service!"
"Oooh food." Chris said as she turned the radio off.
"I didn't order food." Valerie said.
"You didnt, your husband did." The bellboy said referring to her finger. It had a twisty tie on it. "Mr..."
"Oooh breakfast!" Chris said taking off one of covers and looked. She inhaled the aroma of the breakfast meal. "Scrambled eggs, belgian waffles, some toast and some home fries. Someone loves me." Valerie glanced in her direction. "I mean whoever loves you loves me as well." She said grabbing a plate. "Ok I'm starving so sue me."
"I'm glad a dead squirrel no longer has an effect on your appetite." Valerie said as she tipped the bellboy. He left the room, slamming the door on his way out. "He almost gave out my supposed husbands name."
"I'm sorry." Chris said. "That would have been a quick mystery solved."
"Thats ok."
"Maybe hes belgian. The waffles are good." Chris said.
"Unless I married the hotel chef, I doubt the food is any big clue." Valerie lifted the lid on her own plate. "It does look good. Lets eat, and then go find Mr Valerie. I'd hate to find my newlywed husband on an empty stomach."
"The bellboy noticed you don't have a ring, but a twisty tie." Chris said in the elevator ride down. "You married the glad man!" She smiled. "I bet hes even gladder now."
"Chris...I don't think I married the glad man." Valerie said.
"Maybe the hotel janitor?" Chris asked. Valerie shook her head. "This oughta be interesting."
"Why?" Valerie asked.
"We have to find out who you are married to before a certain someone comes to town." Chris said. "Then maybe it can all be undone and a distant memory." She said. "But what if you found out who he is and like him? What then?"
"I'm still getting rid of him. I have a boyfriend I love very much." Valerie said as they stepped outside. "I would rather have that than anyone else."
"Thats good to hear." Valerie heard a voice behind her. She quickly slipped off the twisty tie and stowed it into her pants pocket. "Cause I sure don't want anyone rlse either." Valerie turned and saw Mike staring her in the face, his mouth in a crooked smile.
"Mike!" She said with a wide goofy smile on her face. She rubbed her hand over her face, in case he caught her stupid looking grin. "What a big surprise."
"What big surprise? I told you I would meet you two here in Vegas, and here you are. What I don't know is how you found out what hotel we are playing at." He said giving her a big squeeze.
"Huh?" Chris asked.
"We're playing here tonight for two nights." Micky said from her behind her. She was slightly startled.
"Don't do that." She said punching his arm.
"Sorry." Micky said.
"Where are the others?" Valerie asked.
"In the band suite." Mike said.
"He means the small room behind the kitchen. Someone ordered belgian waffles today. It almost drove us nuts." Micky said. "I almost grabbed a room service tray on the way out here."
"Hmmm." Chris said as she wiped a little syrup off of her face. "I wonder who the lucky people were."
"So how did you know to be here?" Mike asked Valerie.
"Lucky fate?" Valerie shrugged.
"We were looking around and we stumbled onto you." Chris said. "No big mystery. Plus there is that sign out front." There was a large sigh showing the headliners out near the street, but if you squinted you could see the smaller "The Monkees" sign at the bottom, by the shrub.
"Oh yeah." Mike said. "So what are you too up to? Breakfast?"
"We already had some." Chris said. Valerie nodded. For some reason, even as long as theyd known each other, sometimes Valerie really couldnt think of something to say to Mike at times.
"Cool. You can watch us eat." Mike said grabbing Valeries hand.
"Is this a good idea?" Valerie asked Chris in a low whisper.
"Maybe." Chris said. "Maybe you can find your usbandhay in the meanwhile."
"I hope its not too soon. I'd have some explaining to do." Valerie said as they went into the Mirages's eating area. "Man I hope its not the glad man."
