You Better Marry Her

We drove the remainder of the drive in silence and eventually crested a hill, which revealed all the skyscrapers lit up the night sky. The sun was still out, but I became more awake as it dimmed. To get into the valet drop-off, we had to drive over a bridge surrounded by colossal water fountains. Roxanne said, "This hotel has changed significantly since the 70s." I asked, "You never told me you'd been to Las Vegas." She responded, "It has been so long that my visit doesn't count." She was right because all of the hotels were brand new. Everything in Las Vegas has been updated over the last 30 years, and I haven't been there in 10 years. A robot opened my door after I stopped the truck, and a red light scanned my face. The robot said, "Good evening, Mr. Anderson. "You are right on time for the first scheduled excursion. You can wait on the couch in the lobby, and I will bring your belongings to your suite." I told the robot, " We only need you to take the pink suitcase, the black duffel bag, the cooler, and the large backpack. Could you put the duffel bag in the safe in the room and the cooler in the fridge?

The robot said, "Of course, sir." Roxanne exclaimed, "I knew that some big cities had robots but had no idea how functional they are." I said, "I chose this hotel because it advertises itself as the future. I am sick of being stuck in the dark ages, and I wanted to use this hotel to push ourselves toward our new future." Roxanne purred, "That's sweet of you. Your definition of the dark ages differs slightly from mine, but let us do this together." Roxanne looked at me with those expressive eyes, and I leaned in to kiss her, but the robot returned. "Sorry to interrupt you, sir, but your ride is here." Roxanne and I looked outside, and there was a six-wheel-drive Milltary SUV. Roxanne confessed, "You did an excellent job hiding this from me. Where are we going?" I answered, "We are headed to a gun range because I want you to be able to defend yourself. She snickered. "How do you know I don't know how to use a gun?" I stammered, "I...I..assumed." She cut me off by putting her hand on my chest and said, "I appreciate the thought, and I love shooting guns!" We got into the vehicle, and it roared toward the airport. Roxanne asked, "Why would we be going to the airport." I probably should have asked this sooner, "How do you feel about flying?" She confidently said, "I've only been on a plane a handful of times, but I enjoyed it." I decided now was the time to reveal something about myself. "Roxanne, sorry if I make decisions without much forethought, research, or planning. I like to do things sporadically and have a fuck it, what could go wrong attidue, but I forget that everyone isn't like that. I have been on a winning streak with things, but what will happen if I get it wrong and upset you?" I was self-conscious because I always feared that if I led too much with females, they'd pull the rip cord without communicating. Roxanne calmly explained, "Hank, I am not going anywhere. If you like something, I will endeavor to entertain it." I said, "I know, but I don't want to screw it up." She answered my fears by putting her hand on my face and guiding it toward her. She passionately kissed me. Every once and a while, I needed a reminder to stay present and stop catastrophizing.

The truck pulled through a gate, stopping next to a helicopter. A man dressed in a military uniform opened the door and exclaimed, "I am your pilot, Captain Kirk and are you two love birds ready to fly with me?" We both said in unison, "Yes, Sir." We looked at each other and giggled. We got out of the truck and into the helicopter. We put on our headsets, and now it was fully dark. Captain Kirk asked, "For an extra fee, would you two like to fly over the strip?" I did hesitate for a second and remembered what Roxanne had said earlier. I exclaimed, "Let's do it." I looked over at Roxanne, and she leaned in close to me with a huge smile. Captain Kirk nodded, and the helicopter rose off the ground. Captain Kirk piloted the helicopter towards the strip and between some skyscrapers. I looked down at Roxanne, and she had this pig-in-shit smile. All of the lights were gorgeous, and this had been on my bucket list ever since I visited Vegas for the first time, but having Roxanne there made me feel something I'd never felt before.

We kept flying outside of town, and we flew between some mountains. Once we made it, though, we saw this massive compound with an indoor and outdoor shooting range. We landed, and Captain Kirk turned off the helicopter. We all got out, and Kirk took off his night vision goggles. Kirk explained, "We will do the lesson inside first, and then we will come back outside and have some fun in the dark." Roxanne and I nodded, and we followed Captain Kirk inside when Roxanne asked, "Since your money is in the bank, how are you paying for this?" All I could imagine was when my mother scolded me for buying myself an expensive watch for my graduation. Roxanne quickly followed, "I'm only asking because I don't want anyone to be able to find us." I smiled. "I paid with a prepaid card with a fair amount of money on it." She smiled and seductively whispered, "If you compare me to your mother again, you will be grounded." The mind-reading thing got the best of me again. I laughed and said, "You should work on your dirty talk." She laughed and playfully pushed me.

We walked inside, and the place was huge. Captain Kirk said, "Follow me, kids." We walked into a private shooting alley, and there was an assortment of guns I specifically requested. There was a revolver and shotgun similar to the ones we took from the hunters, a semi-automatic pistol identical to the one I always wanted, and for fun, an automatic rifle. Kirk gave us the safety lesson and asked, "Who wants to go first?" Roxanne said, "Hank does." I smiled and picked up a semi-automatic pistol. The targets were about 10, 20, and 30 yards away. The magazine had 20 rounds, and I started off strong by hitting the center of the 10 yards target with five bullets. I did well with the 20-yard target and got 8 out of 10 in the innermost circle. The last five bullets were all within the third ring. Captain Kirk said, "Good shooting, kid." He looked at Roxanne and asked "Do you want me to stand behind you and help you with it?" She said, "I'll give it a try on my own." She picked up the pistol, loaded it, and tactfully shot all 20 rounds within the second ring of the 30-yard target." Captain Kirk and I looked at each other, and he said, "You better marry her." Marriage was another sensitive topic for me, but no one else had I gotten anywhere close to imagining proposing to. Roxanne put the safety on and set the gun down. She turned around, and I said, "You have much explaining to do." Roxanne giggled and said, "Your mom was right about one thing. You and I don't know too much about each other."