#3
We planned to meet in Las Vegas, Nevada this summer. Neither of us had ever been there; it's probably not the best place to meet someone to catch up after a couple years due to the hustle and bustle consistently going on throughout the day and the night. It was a struggle to piece my way through the sea of people looking for Ray. We had met four years ago at a mutual friend's party and had reconnected within the last year. We decided on Vegas because there would always be something to do and something to look at; we wouldn't be searching for activities to fill our days catching up. We both lived in different states and decided to take a vacation other than to each others homes. We finally bumped into one another near the spot we had planned to meet, it took us nearly ten minutes to find one another.
“Maria!” I heard someone yell from behind me. “Hi Ray,” I yelled over the drummer on the street corner next to me. He was playing an upbeat rock melody while humming along with what sounded to be the words; I imagine him thinking his voice was not good enough to sing out loud.
“How are you! So good to finally see you again.” Ray was a very sweet man and I tried to respond with a hug before an imitation Michael Jackson moon walked his way between Ray and I. I giggled and made an awkward laughing face at Ray while not losing eye contact so I would not have to search for him again if we became split up. When the moon walker had moved onto the next crowd to provide entertainment for a new audience, I nudged Ray and asked him if he was an MJ fan. I tipped my fedora jokingly like he used to do when dancing, trying to make the situation less awkward. I might have made the situation more awkward but Ray played along and began singing his favorite Michael song as we walked along the strip towards a tall water fountain we saw in the distance.
“Now that we can actually hear each other, how are you? This place is crazy but fantastic, I'm glad we chose Vegas”
“Me too! The city that never sleeps, what should we..” I'm interrupted mid sentence by a blast of music from a portable speaker being held on a man's shoulder and hands being thrown into the air all around me.
“What's happening?!” I look to Ray for an answer.
“I think it's a flash mob, pretend you know what you're doing!”
“Dance!” Ray yells at me while he shimmies his shoulders towards me. Being my awkward self, I dart from the center of the mob but not far enough to where I can't enjoy the dancing. Ray dances along for a minute before finding me.
“What's wrong?” Ray asked. Nothing was wrong, dancing just is not my forte.
“You don't have to be good, just have fun!” I instantly felt more comfortable after Ray said that to me, a lot of pressure was taken off my chest while trying to make a good impression on Ray. I hoped for no more interruptions, at least for a while. We were delighted in each others company and strolled along the strip for hours in the city that never sleeps!