' Start spreading the news'.........

It was our last night in Vegas. Our last chance to bolster up our flagging fortunes. Our last chance ....for whatever Vegas had in mind.

So ,after our Parisian feast, we headed for NYNY for one last blast. .. ....

As we walked down The Strip , I picked up a random porn card....
I had been teasing E by casually leaving the odd one I'd found in his room ...This had caused him great consternation, as he didn't want to sully his glowing reputation with the housekeeping maid (or with The Signature for that matter !)
'But you said, before we came, you wanted to get 'down and dirty in Vegas' ......
'Yes, but there is a limit'... ...he'd replied ........
Anyway, we'd noticed that whoever or whatever was offered ....the cards all said ' Direct to your room in 15 minutes.'
'What? even if they come on the Deuce bus?' said E.. ...

The card I was now holding promised that you could 'Party like a Rock Star with Amy' .....I laughed out loud ...the thought of E partying like a Rock Star with anyone was too much ...
E looked askance ; a 'what are you prattling on about when there is gambling to do?' expression on his face .....and I continued to laugh all the way to Times Square.

So, NYNY - and our usual routine ...E disappears, heading for the tables while I was a heat seeking missile, homing in on the slots.

I found the Wolf Run and started feeding it with abandon...and, deep joy! - it wasn't just the machine that was howling at the moon ... this was more like it!
Cashed out around 50 dollars up and moved to the next which I had been keeping an eye on. The man before me had hit the bonus round and gone, so I grabbed it while it was free. I just had a feeling .......about The Frog Princess....

And it was while I was having my feeling about The Frog Princess, that I also started to feel something else...
The slot was hyperactive. Whatever I put in, just kept on doubling and I was Woman and Machine ...as one.
But one - suddenly turned into two...... as an arm slithered round my shoulders and hooked itself round my neck.
Now, we Brits are not given to overt displays of affection...so I knew it wasn't E.

I twisted my neck round to see what was attached to the arm.

A young, 20 something face topped with a shock of blond hair looked back at me.
'I love you' said the face, looming in on mine.
'Yes I am sure you do', I said,as The Frog Princess hit the bonus round....
'No I really DO' said the face 'I want to make love to you'....his arm clinging on for all it was worth.
Picture the scene: a 50+ female hypnotised by a machine that is on the verge of paying out big, trying to shake off a 20 something stranger, wailing at the top of his voice protestations of undying love.
I've hit the bonus on max - the lights are flashing - and I've got an octopus hanging round my neck.
'Come away with me' beseeched my admirer.....as I tried to shrug him off
'Look' I said out of the corner of my mouth ..'I'm twice your age ..and you're drunk'...as the slot went into bonus overdrive...
'I don't care ' wailed the octopus, clinging on, ...'you look like a cool chick' ....
I stopped ...poised half way through my bonus round ..caught between the Frog Princess and my very own frog prince. ....
Now, I've been called a few things in my time ...but never a 'cool chick' ...especially a cool chick who happens to be 50+.....
For a split second I was flattered - but then reason kicked in. Vegas may have found me a toyboy, but the toy boy was regarding me through 'beer goggles' ...and .....I was about to win BIG!
I knew where my priorities lay.

'Run along now, sonny, ...there's a good boy ' I said,as soothingly as I could muster ...and sonny, looking blearily into my eyes and realising he wasn't going to 'hit the bonus round' with me ,...gave up and sloped off. .....

Meanwhile the machine racked up the dollars and ofcourse,- late on cue ...E appeared.....looking flush with a dice win of a $100..
'I don't know', he said, when I told him the story...'I can't take you anywhere....'

So...as the minutes of our last Vegas night ticked away ...we stayed side by side playing the Frog Princess and Wolf Run - E exploring his new fascination for slots, the cocktail waitress keeping us well supplied .....the machines paying out at last.

And then, like Cinderella , in the small hours of the morning - it was time to leave the ball........
But unlike Cinders, we were leaving a few dollars richer ....before Vegas turned into a pumpkin.........

...and finally, coming up next... ..No Fear, No Loathing ..just a wistful Farewell ....