"It's my pleasure," Mindy assured her.
And Jake could see that it really was her pleasure. This little trip was probably going to cost her more than the average person earned in a year, but it was money she was glad to spend. She liked lavishing people with horribly expensive gifts. It was one of the things she lived for. And the more people she could lavish, the better.
Less than fifteen minutes after Pauline's arrival a uniformed stewardess told them their flight was ready. They followed her through the terminal, the reporters all screaming after them, demanding to know where they were going, what they were doing. No one answered or even acknowledged them.
They were led across the tarmac — the reporters were held back at the terminal exit by the security guards — to an idling Lear jet. The inside was cramped but luxurious, with padded leather seats, an entertainment center, and a full service bar. They found seats and the stewardess served a round of drinks while the plane was sealed up and began to taxi.
They roared into the sky, climbing steeply to forty-two thousand feet. As soon as they leveled off the stewardess presented them with a silver tray upon which white lines had been neatly formed.
"Can I offer anyone some cocaine?" she asked in the same tone of voice with which she'd offered the drinks.
They all took her up on the offer, Pauline included. She snorted up two of the lines in a manner that told Jake this was not her first time.
"Oh wow," she said, her eyes shining, a smile on her face. "This is some really good shit."
"Naturally," Mindy said.
They all had two more drinks and destroyed an ounce of Beluga caviar before the plane touched down at the Las Vegas airport. A limousine was standing by waiting for them and they piled in for the short trip to the opulent Caesar's Palace Casino. Instead of going to the main entrance, they were taken around to the side where three nearly identical looking tuxedoed men politely greeted them before escorting them to a small elevator that they rode to the top floor.
Pauline and Bill were each given their own suites. Jake and Mindy were given one to share. All were packed with every luxury that could conceivably be provided and had spectacular views of Las Vegas. Their tuxedoed man — who held the title of 'butler', Jake discovered — pointed out the various features of the room — the hot tub, the wet bar, the projection television set — and then let them know of some of the other services that were available to them.
"If you would care for a massage simply let me know, or, if you're down in the casino level, you can call extension 2976 from any phone and I will make the arrangements for a masseuse to come up to your room. Adult movies are available for your enjoyment as well. There is a menu of the selections inside the bar. If you fancy some intoxicating substances I can arrange for both cocaine and marijuana to be supplied to you. And, if you are desirous of some... uh... adult companionship, I can make those arrangements as well."
"Do you have a menu for that too?" Jake asked.
Mindy giggled. "Thank you, Roberto," she told him. "We'll let you know if we need any of those things. For now, I think we'll go hit the tables. Where might we find them?"
"Take the elevator you used to access this floor down to level seven. Turn right and your assigned casino room will be 703. Gaming and cocktail staff is already on duty."
"Thank you, Roberto," Mindy said, reaching in her purse and passing him a piece of currency. Jake didn't get a good look at it but he was pretty sure he'd seen a picture of Benjamin Franklin on its face.
Bill was suitably impressed with the services being offered. So impressed, in fact, that he wasn't quite ready to leave the room yet. "I'm going to imbibe in some of that adult companionship first," he told them. "Compensation is not required from me, correct?"
"Well, you are expected to tip your... uh... adult companion," Mindy told him. "You can use casino chips for that but you won't have any until you go down to the casino."
"Hmm," Bill said thoughtfully. "That does present a minor quandary. I wouldn't want to commit a breach of etiquette."
"Here," Mindy said, digging in her purse and coming out with another picture of Benjamin Franklin. "Give her this when she's done. That should suffice. You are only having one adult companion come up, right?"
"I can get more than one?"
"Oh yes," Mindy said. "There's plenty of companionship to go around."
"Hmmm," Bill said thoughtfully.
"You better give him another one," Jake told Mindy. "He's too shy to ask for it."
She laughed and dug out another bill. "Enjoy yourself, Bill. We'll see you down in the casino later?"
"Yes," he said, taking the money. "Thank you, Mindy. This is shaping up to be a superior vacation."
"My pleasure," she said, leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek, which made him blush.
If Bill was impressed, Pauline was completely dumbfounded. They found her wandering around her room, looking at everything, trying everything. She had a tall drink in her hand as she turned on the bathtub taps, fired up the hot tub jets, changed channels on the television.
"This is incredible!" she exclaimed, sounding like a child on Christmas morning. "My whole friggin' house isn't this big. And the view! My God! Do you live like this all the time, Mindy?"
"When I come to Vegas I do. It's one of the privileges of being a high roller."
"I need to make myself into a high roller then," she said, more than a hint of determination in her voice.
They went down the elevator, emerging into a wide, spacious hallway on the seventh floor. The section of the building they were in was completely isolated from the rest of the casino, the few entrances guarded by armed security personnel. There were several tinted glass doors on each side of the hallway, spaced every forty or fifty feet. Each one had a number on it. When they reached 703 Jake held the door open for the ladies. Another security guard stood just inside, manning a podium much like a maitre d's in a restaurant. He smiled and greeted them by name, waving them inside.
"Wow," Jake and Pauline said together as they entered, both of them looking around in awe. It was a windowless circular room, about two thousand square feet or so, done up in rich red carpeting that stretched from wall to wall. Standing upon this carpet, arranged symmetrically in a pattern that was pleasing to the eye, was every kind of gambling table the casino offered. There was a blackjack table, a craps table, two roulette wheels, and a pai gow table, all of them staffed and ready for action, all of them empty of players. There were three rows of slot machines, each with a padded leather chair before it. There were another two rows of video poker machines, each of them with the same chairs before them. A bar stood against the far wall, a bartender and two cocktail waitresses on duty. From hidden speakers in the wall soft music was playing.
"All this is for us?" Pauline asked.
"All for us," Mindy confirmed. "Our own private casino."
"Would you care to sign for your chips, Ms. Snow?" asked the security guard.
"You bet your ass," she said, taking a gold-plated pen from his hands and signing a form on his clipboard.
The guard passed out plastic racks to each of them, racks that contained nothing but black, purple, and yellow casino chips, the denominations of which were $100, $500, and $1000 respectively.
"This is fifteen thousand dollars worth," Pauline gasped as her accountant-like mind quickly added up the colors and came to a result.
"Oh, this is just for starters," Mindy said. "When you lose it all there will be more."
Pauline's mouth was agape.
"And what kind of music would you like to hear this evening?" the guard asked Mindy.
"Give us a variety," she told him. "A little hard rock, a little soft rock, a little country. Mix it up."