9.
“Not long out of law school, I was in court for a case against an opposing counsel with whom I had gone to law school, and her paralegal. I had met the paralegal once just in passing. I lost and exchanged pleasantries with both women, then headed to the airport for a family member’s Vegas wedding. That night, we finished the rehearsal dinner at the Venetian, and I went walking around, just people watching, doing a little gambling, and drinking. I headed back to my room at the Bellagio and heard my name sort of screeched. I spun, and it was the opposing counsel’s paralegal, and she was sprinting at me. She threw her arms around me. She, too, was in Vegas for her sister’s wedding and left court for the airport. We chatted, then I headed up to my room as she and her bridesmaid friends were going out. At 3 a.m., there was a knock. I opened the door and it was her.”
“She walked in, kicked off her heels, and just crawled into my bed, curled up, and was out. I covered her up and took the other bed. At 7 a.m. or so, I woke up to the sound of my shower. There was a black dress, thigh highs, and underwear in a pile on my floor. I picked them up, folded them, and lay back down. She came out in a towel a few minutes later and sat on the bed. I asked her if she remembered how she got there, and she said yes. She had gone out and they got drunk as fuck, and she doesn’t drink nearly at all. She was beyond incoherent. They got to some bar, and the girls took off without her. One had her phone because she was checking something. She had no idea where she was and couldn’t even remember her hotel, as she was rooming with her cousin, who booked it. But she remembered seeing me at Bellagio. She took off walking, followed the fountains, and ended up there. She talked the front desk lady into giving her my room number, and there she was. She thanked me for letting her crash and not asking questions. Then she asked for a favor — if she could borrow a shirt, shorts, and pool shoes and bum an Uber back to her hotel. So I got her downstairs, with some coffee, and in her car.
I got home several days later and back to work. On my desk in a FedEx box with my shirt, shorts, shoes, was a $50 bill and a ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas’ cheesey shirt with a note that said she appreciated everything along with info on reservations at a restaurant and her number.
And that dinner was my ex-wife and my first date.
We were together 15 years, married for 11. Handling my early career work and stress, and us managing her early life trauma and mental illness issues wrong just didn’t work. But she’s since remarried, healthy, and happy. And I couldn’t wish for anything more for her.”