It didn’t take Eve long to realize that not all of Las Vegas was as bright and beautiful as the section of town where they were staying. Once Daniel turned the car in the direction of Dorisanne’s address, the shine of the famous desert city quickly faded.
“Wow, I can actually see that it’s night,” Eve commented as they drove into the darkness. “I was thinking I needed to get out my sunglasses driving down that street. It’s like Hollywood Boulevard or something.” She turned to Daniel, who was suddenly grinning. “What?” she asked.
“What do you know about Hollywood Boulevard?”
“I went to L.A.,” she told him, a bit offended at his question. “The cabdriver took me to some of the famous places before I left town.”
“Well, Hollywood Boulevard doesn’t have anything on the Strip,” he commented.
“Yeah, that’s true,” she agreed.
There was a pause.
“You didn’t really ask a cabdriver to take you to Hollywood Boulevard, did you?” he questioned her.
She glanced away. “Well, maybe I just happened to see the famous road while I was on my way somewhere else.”
Daniel grinned. “The cathedral?”
“Harley-Davidson store,” she replied.
Daniel laughed. “Should have known. You didn’t happen to buy a helmet, did you?”
“No. I looked at them, though.”
Daniel eyed her. “Are you telling the truth?”
“Yeah, I saw them on a shelf when I walked in.” She smiled. “Anyway, enough about that. Vegas is one lit-up city, that’s for sure,” she said, having had all of that conversation she wanted. “It’s like they don’t want you to know it’s night. It’s as if they don’t want you to be able to tell what time it is.”
“That’s the strategy in the casinos,” he noted.
“Why?” Eve wanted to know.
“So you won’t realize how long you’ve been standing at the tables or sitting at a slot machine,” Daniel answered. “No clocks, no reality,” he added. “The whole town is an illusion, a place to think you’re somewhere that you’re not.”
“Or somebody you’re not,” she added, wondering if that was part of the draw for her sister.
“Yeah, I guess we all have our little escape fantasies,” Daniel responded.
“You talking about our boy from the 1800s again?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I’m talking about anybody. Aren’t most people looking for a way out of the life they’ve made for themselves?”
Eve was surprised. “I don’t think so,” she answered. “I figured most people liked their lives.”
Daniel turned to look at her. “You actually think that?”
“Yeah, I guess,” she responded. “Why? Don’t you?”
“Don’t I what?” he asked. “What are you wanting to know? Don’t I think that most people like their lives, or don’t I like mine?”
She thought about the question he was asking. “I don’t know, how about both?”
There was a pause.
“I think most people like their lives okay, but if they had an out, if they could escape even just for a weekend or if they were allowed out for a month, they would take the opportunity. They do.” He reached up and rubbed his chin, then placed his arm on the side of the door. “That’s why this town is so popular,” he added. “That’s exactly what most of those people walking down the Strip are doing.”
“Escaping?”
He nodded. “Exactly. They’re trying to imagine what their lives might look like if they were in a totally free zone.”
“Only nothing about that place looks free,” she commented. “I saw the price of our hotel rooms. Speaking of which, I want to help pay for this trip.”
“It’s not a problem,” he said, waving away her offer. “But I’m not talking about this place being financially free.”
“Then what?”
“I’m talking about being judgment-free. No consequences, no rules.”
“But that’s not real life,” she argued. “Nobody can live without consequences, without rules. Even Vegas has rules.”
“Well, let’s just say they’re a little more lax than the kind of rules and consequences that most people are used to and expect.”
“That explains why people come here for a weekend or a bachelor’s party, but why would somebody want to live here? Why does Dorisanne like it here so much?”
“She’s a dancer,” Daniel answered.
“Yeah, that part I know.” Eve sighed and studied the scenery outside her window. There were a few houses, a strip of run-down motels, and a few pawnshops. She turned back to Daniel. “And she loves the bright lights and the drama of a place like this. I get that. But I don’t think of my sister as being so hedonistic that she doesn’t want rules and boundaries. She did get married, after all. That’s a relationship with certain rules and boundaries, right?”
“Yes, I suppose it is.” He paused a moment and then continued. “I think she likes the allure of a fantasy life too. I think she likes the thought of being away from reality as much as the next person. You know, if you think about it, it’s not very different from the choice you made.”
“What?” This comparison surprised Eve. “How can Las Vegas be anything like taking vows and living in a religious community?”
He didn’t reply right away. She waited as he signaled and made a right turn.
“Oh, I get it,” she answered herself. “You think that choosing to join an order is a kind of escape just like coming to Vegas can be. You think I did it to get away from reality?”
He lifted his shoulders slightly. “In that long view, they are both paths different from most people’s realities. You two are very different women, but in some ways, you have both done the same thing.”
“We both left Madrid,” she said. “We both left the small town where we were born and raised.”
“And you both landed in places where most everyone else just visits once in a while.”
“Except more people visit Dorisanne’s place than visit mine.” She looked ahead and noticed they were coming to an area with several apartment complexes. There were names like Desert Sun Apartments, Desert Wind Luxury Townhomes, and Desert Sky Condos. She wondered if they were getting close to where Dorisanne lived.
“When are you expected back to your place?” he asked, raising the issue she had avoided for the entire trip.
“Three weeks,” she answered.
“You want to talk about it?” He started slowing as he made a turn onto a small side street.
She shook her head and he didn’t push.
The two were quiet as he pulled into an apartment complex parking lot and stopped. She noticed the sign as they entered, “Desert Home Place,” and she looked around at the mostly nondescript large brick buildings in front of them, thinking that the complex looked nothing like the desert home she and her sister had grown up in. The parking lot was well-lit but mostly empty, and Eve wondered if everyone who lived there worked late hours.
“This is it,” he said as he put the engine in Park. “Welcome to your sister’s world.”