Choices: Chapter 3

“That laser light show was amazing,” Neil said.

I found myself pulled back into reality at the Vegas nightclub. Had they seen what I’d seen? How long had I been off in my own little fantasy world?

I could feel my heart pounding and sweat was starting to accumulate on my forehead. I excused myself and headed off to the washroom to try to regain my composure.
When I got there, I took off the 3D glasses and splashed cold water on my face.

That was the weirdest experience I’d ever had in my whole life. Sure, I’d had strange visions and dreams before, but not while I was awake. I looked in the mirror and talked to myself trying to make sense of it all. Fortunately, there was no one else in the bathroom to witness my meltdown.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, I scanned the room looking for the exit. There was no way I could head back to join Neil and Barb in my confused condition. Was I starting to go senile?

I headed toward the entrance but came to an abrupt halt when I saw Judy standing there. She was all dressed up and greeting people as they entered the club – her club. There was no way I could see her again in my current condition. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle it even if I was at my best.

I did a quick U-turn and headed toward the other side of the club. Surely, there was another way out of here. I saw a red light hanging over the top of a door at the back of the club and headed toward it. There was a huge man standing in front of it with his arms folded across his chest that seemed to accentuate the size of his biceps. He looked surprisingly similar to the bouncer that I’d encountered at the main entrance.

“Is this the exit?” I asked.

“Nope. This is the entrance to the next club, but once you leave here, you can’t come back.”

“I have no intention of coming back,” I said.

The man continued to block the doorway. “Where’s your glasses? I can’t let you past without your glasses.”

I could tell he was not a man you could negotiate with. I frantically searched my pockets. Then I remembered that I’d left them in the bathroom and raced back to get them. I was pleased to see they were still there sitting on the counter.

I put them on and looked at myself in the mirror. I suddenly looked ten years younger. I pulled the glasses down on my nose and peered over top of them. I looked like the wrinkly seventy-three year old man that I was. But when I slid the glasses back up and peered through them again, I looked like I did when I was sixty. These were no ordinary glasses.

I headed out of the bathroom and approached the bouncer again. He unfolded his arms and started to step aside, but then put his hand on my chest to stop me.

“Are you sure you’re up for this, old man?”

“Up for what?” I asked.

“Some people think they want to go down a different path, but then learn they should have stayed on the road they were on after all. You strike me as a guy who has some doubts about where he’s going.”

He was right. I was spinning and out of control.

“Why don’t you take a few minutes to think it through,” he said. He pointed to a bench a few feet away.

I sat down and tried to get my heart to stop racing. A group of women were standing in line outside of the ladies’ washroom. The line continued to grow until they were only a few feet from where I was sitting. They were all buzzing about the laser light show. Had they seen what I’d seen? Based on the snippets of their conversations that I could overhear, they were describing something completely different.

I sat back on the bench, took a few more deep breaths, and started to feel a little better. When I stood up, I looked back toward the entrance to see if Judy was still blocking my escape route. She was. And to make matters worse, she seemed to be looking in my direction. I couldn’t tell if she saw me or not, but she suddenly started walking toward me.

I turned in the other direction and headed back toward the bouncer. “I’m ready to move on to the next club,” I said.

He studied my face. “You sure?”

I glared at him. “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we.”