Saturday, March 14, 2020

Larry the Billionaire Episode 50 Vegas; where there's no yesterday or tomorrow


                Larry is in Vegas, which is far from his home in Naples, Florida.  Although it seems that being in the desert would be good because it appears the recent pandemic Wuhan Virus doesn’t do as well in warm temperatures, Naples also serves that purpose.  Few people understand that there is a certain mystique to Vegas.  Casual observers realize that the flight to Vegas sees people happy and anticipating a few nights of debauchery and dreams of hitting it big.  The mood on the flight back, however, is much more reserved and depressed.  Larry often wonders if people confuse exhaustion for disappointment or depression. To him, Vegas was a great equalizer.  When you’re on the strip and you run your hand on the felts of any table whether it be poker, blackjack, or craps, it’s as if the world doesn’t exist.  Your senses are consumed by many noises.  It truly is a place of no memory where, more than anywhere he’s been, people truly lived in the moment.  It was as if there were no consequences.  He reasoned that’s where the expression, ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ originated but frequent Vegas visitors, like Larry, knew that wasn’t true.  Your body will revolt against you and although in the moment the oxygen pumping through the casinos to keep you awake and the constant sensory stimulation will make you think you’re there to unwind, there will be a massive crash.  It is that crash that Larry sees in the return flight.  Many vacations are a place to recharge but Vegas is not one of those places.  For Vegas is a place to let go and be carefree and forget the problems of the world; even if it’s only for 2-4 days, which is the amount of time someone should spend in Vegas at one time.

                With the constant hysteria over the Wuhan Virus, Larry knew that Vegas was the one place to be where the whole world wouldn’t believe that everyone is a germaphobe.  He would be able to walk into a store and use a pen to sign the receipt and not be asked if he wanted them to disinfect first.  The minute he walked into a casino and heard the familiar sounds of the slot machines, his shoulders slumped.  The TV was on and they were preparing for President Donald Trump to give a speech.  Larry put his name down at a limit poker table for he wanted to watch the speech but felt odd paying for drinks when the casino will give it to you for free if you merely sit down at a table.  Even when you’re a billionaire like Larry, spending money on something that would be given to you for free seems odd.  Poker is the best place to be if you want to be distracted by a TV.  During poker, people try to pick up on tells and one of the most telling signs that someone has a good hand is when they’re not paying attention to the next card being flipped.  If he’s watching TV, he’s giving that impression, which will help against his opponents.  As he sits at a table with his trey of chips, President Trump walks to the podium and begins his speech.  He has Larry’s full attention as he casually focuses on the table only to determine if it’s his turn to act.  The topic is the Wuhan Virus and the markets have been panicking about this topic for a week now.  It’s only a matter of time if the president’s speech will exacerbate or aid in the problem.  Either way, Larry is in the best place for good news or bad news for it will be forgotten in Vegas, which is always in the present. 

                When the president announces he’s going to cancel all travel from Europe except the United Kingdom, Larry protrudes his lip and nods.  It is a bold move and to mimic it, he raises in the hand he’s in despite not having a very good hand.  Just as a pile of chips is being shoved over to Larry, as his opponents folded, a rarity in limit poker, the president is announcing that insurance companies will waive all co-pays on the Wuhan Virus and he urges congress to help small businesses with low-interest loans.  He doesn’t know this yet but, in the end, congress will pass more general paid sick leave and family leave instead.  

                The speech ends and Larry focuses his attention back on the table.  He is surprised to find that his chip stack is higher as he wasn’t really paying attention.  Apparently his plan worked, people always thought his hand was good because he showed no interest in the cards being flipped over.  Larry believed it to be a good speech and apparently the market agreed because it surged upon the announcement.  It would end up down almost 10% for the day so not enough to write home about but it did have a positive effect.  Right after the speech, the inevitable mainstream media spoke of their reaction and Larry knew what was coming.  No matter what, they would attack the president and call the speech a complete failure in the hope to keep the market down.  There was no cost or means that was too high if the result was hurting President Trump.  Since they were on CNN, it was Jim Acosta commenting.  After everything the president said about steps he wants to take to combat the virus, all Acosta can talk about is that he referred to it as a ‘foreign virus’ so attacked the president with the ‘xenophobic’ label.  Larry shook his head but said nothing.  Although he frequently found himself defending the president, sometimes he just wasn’t in the mood for the fight.  Luckily for him, a woman who looked Hispanic with long straight black hair and extremely petite features wearing a hoodie despite the desert temperatures burst out, “That’s all you have to say?  4,000 people are dying and all you can talk about is what people are calling it?”

                Larry smiles and responds, “I’m glad that there are still some sane people left in this republic.”

                An older grisly looking man who looked like he had worked a blue collar job his whole life and had an unshaven look to him uttered, “Yea, I guess he finally figured out it wasn’t a hoax.”

                “That’s not what he said!” Larry yelled a little too loud for his liking.  It looks like he’d have to go back into defense of the president mode, “He called the hysteria and the way the media blames him for the outbreak a hoax.”

                “Joy Reid said it yesterday.”

                “Joy Reid is a notorious conspiracy blogger.  We have Youtube now; look at the speech itself.  He says that first it was the Russian collusion hoax, then the impeachment hoax and now they have Coronavirus.  Trust me, he knows he was impeached but he used the same word for it.”

                The woman at the table smiled and offered, “If you use the same word to describe two different things, it may get a little confusing.  Just calm down, we’re all here to just play some cards.”

                This disarmed the tension in a way that only women can do to men.  It, however, didn’t distract Larry from his point.  His tone, however, was much more accommodating as he stated, “I judge actions not words.  President Trump has sidelined everything to focus on the Coronavirus.  He called a travel ban from Iran and China a month ago and the same people attacking him now for not doing enough, said he overreacted then.  If you want to talk about not being clear, look at that 180.  Looking at his actions, I just think you have to be a retard not to think that he’s taking it seriously.”

                The scruffy man seemed uninterested in debating further but the woman had an intrigued look on her face.  She had tanned skin that Larry thought was either olive skinned or Hispanic though that was namely because he couldn’t really tell the difference between those two shades of skin color.  He asked the woman, “What’s your name?”

                “Katie”

                “Hi Katie, I’m Larry.”

                “Nice to meet you.  I’m thinking about what you just said.  Do you have anything specific backing it up?”

                Even poker tables had conceded to the need for people to be on their phones and allowed texting at the table but still there were no phone calls.  That is why Larry knew he was allowed to take out his cell phone and pull up articles.  He shows Katie one from Politico about how President Trump mismanaged the Coronavirus response and then flips to another by the same author entitled, ‘White House dramatically scaled up US response to Coronavirus in an unprecedented manner.  Larry explains, “They are both written by Dan Diamond and both written a month apart for the same company.”

                “How do you explain that?”

                “He wrote the first article a month ago honestly then, Politico being a propaganda arm for the Democratic Party, scolded him for writing something that was pro-Trump so he had to write another article attacking him.”

                “Or, he liked the original response but not the subsequent actions.”

                “Then he would’ve mentioned that.  At least, he is supposed to.  Otherwise, it sends a mixed message to his readers.  Joy Reid may accuse the president of sending mixed messages but this is much more blatant.”

                “I have to admit, I didn’t think you’d have such a quick response to my question.  I almost think you prepared for this.”

                “Well, we are playing poker so I need to be prepared for perfect strangers to call my bluff.” Larry rejoined with a charming grin.

                Just to go with the point, he raised the next time he had a chance on a bluff to see if anyone would call his.  It was called and he lost the hand.  He announces, “I’m hungry.  I’m going to get some food.  Would you like to join me Katie?”

                “That depends where we’re eating.”

                “Chef Ramsey’s burger place.”

                “I do like burgers.”

                “Is that a yes?”

                “Yes, it is.”

                They sit down at the restaurant and despite her small stature; Katie proved she was not bashful about eating.  Katie poses, “It’s pretty crazy with this Coronavirus thing.”

                “I think the threat is exaggerated.  If you’re under 60, it’s very mild and it’s only deadly if you’re over 70; I’m neither.”

                “Neither am I.”

                “Then we’re good.”

                “Well, China and Italy probably wouldn’t agree with you.”

                “China is much more densely populated, 66% of their men smoke and their air quality makes any city in America seem like an untapped mountain spring.”

                “I’m from New York so that’s a bold statement.”

                “I lived in New York for 17 years so I’m not speaking with forked tongue.”

                “What about Italy?”

                “The average age of death is 81 so that still holds.  As far as everything else, I don’t really know.  I can’t explain that.”

                “Maybe because in Italy they’re always kissing each other.”

                “Well, you’re from New York; you know they do that there too.  It is true in Italy and Greece they do it twice but Greece isn’t hit as bad.  In France, they do it four times.  Oddly, in Poland they do it three.”

                “Why is that odd?”

                “I expect that in a romance language country or one on the Mediterranean but a former Russian block Eastern European county surprises me.”              

                “You seem to know a lot about different countries’ customs.”

                “I travel a lot.”

                “That’s awesome.”

                “Yea, I actually studied abroad in Italy so it’s very surreal to see the pictures of how places I know are always crowded are just abandoned.”

                “Do you think they’re exaggerating the threat?”

                “I think we are.”

                “I didn’t ask that.”

                Larry took a deep breath.  He replied, “Not really, no.  They have stopped treating the elderly.  At first, I was horrified by this but they just don’t have the resources to treat everyone on a first come first serve basis.  It’s like a war zone; you treat the person that has the best probability of surviving.  I don’t envy the hard decisions the medical people in Italy have to make, forget daily, hourly.”

                “They really have no choice.”

                “It’s why socialized medicine doesn’t work.  A doctor’s time is valuable and limited and there’s only two ways to distribute scarce resources, price it or ration it. If it’s free for everyone, you can no longer price it so you have to resort to what you see in Italy now.”

                “Do they have socialized medicine?”

                “Not completely but this is a crisis that highlights what happens in a non-crisis with universal healthcare.  Everyone goes to the hospital for a small thing and it takes time away from serious cases.”

                “Then you don’t think what’s happening in Italy is because they have socialized medicine?”

                “No, but the results happen in the same way.  In Italy, it’s a health crisis that they weren’t prepared for but I’m pretty sure no country really was.”

                “Tom Hanks got it.”

                “I know.  I think he’s the most famous contractor of it.”

                “Him or Rudy Gobbert.”

                “I love the NBA but Rudy Gobbert is not as famous as Tom Hanks”

                “Oh, I agree.  I’m also an NBA fan but I’m more a Spurs fan.”

                “I like the Cavs”

                “Not too good this year.”

                “No, but I grew up in Cleveland and I can’t help to love them no matter how bad they are.”

                “That’s the mark of a true fan.  I never lived in Texas; I just really like Parker, Ginobli and Duncan.”

                “All of them have retired.”

                “I know that but I’m still a Spurs fan.”

                “Then it seems you’re also a true fan.”

                “The New York Times says that Australia rolled out the testing in a snap so it was good Hanks got the virus in Australia.”

                “I can’t defend the CDC and their roll out of the test but I still think we have the best healthcare in the world.  As bad as it sounds, I’m kind of glad that Tom Hanks got it.”

                “Why?  I don’t think he’s very controversial of a figure.  Even if he was, that’s an awful thing to say about someone.”

                “It puts a face to the disease.  Part of the reason people are freaking out is because they don’t know anything about it.  People fear what they don’t know.  There is so much mixed messaging and contradictory information on the internet, nobody knows what to believe.  By having a celebrity and a face to it, people can track the progression through him.  Here’s a guy in the high risk group since he’s over 60 and he’s telling the world that he thought it was a cold.  Now, people know that even if you’re over 60, you’re symptoms can be minor.  It looks like he’s going to make a quick easy recovery, which may put people at ease because they know someone that got better.”

                “It would have the opposite effect if he dies.”

                “It doesn’t look like that’ll be the case.”

                “You said earlier that you can’t defend the CDC in rolling out the test kits.  I don’t know about this.”

                “It’s another indication that the government can’t do anything right.  They were so afraid of false positives that they overcompensated and people deemed healthy were not.  Personally, I think it’s better to err on the side of preventing false negatives than false positives but with the amount of hysteria increasing exponentially for each new case, I sort of understand it but it was still a bad call.  They have since fixed the error but it’s a pretty big fuck up.”

                “What’s your solution?”

                “Exactly what the president did.  He cut FDA regulations that prohibited labs and schools from developing their own tests.  It’s all hands on deck; private and public sector competing for the same goal.  I’m rooting for the private sector but, in reality, there needs to be a winner.  I mean, imagine if that Obama law wasn’t cut, then the CDC would be our only hope and they just fucked it up.”

                Katie laughed.  “I can see you’re pretty conservative.”

                “Yes, I am.”

                “A little odd for a New Yorker.”

                “I don’t know what I am.  Three years in North Carolina, 15 in Cleveland, 16 in New York and now one in Florida.”

                “22 years in New York, 13 years in Florida for me.”

                “What part?”

                “Fort Myers”

                Larry laughed, “Wow, we’re neighbors.  I live in Naples.”

                “So we both lived in New York and moved to the Fort Myers area but we met in Vegas.”

                “That’s just the way it goes sometimes.”

                As they finish dinner, Larry stares at Katie.  She still has the hoodie on and is wearing jeans and this fascinates Larry because she is showing the least amount of skin possible.  It’s almost as if she doesn’t want guys to hit on her.  This innocent look is irresistible to Larry as he wants to see what’s under all that baggy clothing knowing that this girl probably doesn’t let too many people see it.  He sighs even though he’s given this offer many times. He has a feeling this time he’ll get more resistance.  “I have an inappropriate question for you.”

                “Okay, but keep in mind, I hate chauvinists. “

                “That is up to you to decide if it’s a chauvinistic comment.”

                “My bar is pretty low.”

                “Unlike many girls here that wear short shorts and halter tops with spaghetti straps, you make it a point for people not to be able to see your figure based on your clothing.  It makes me wonder if there is any big ticket item that you couldn’t justify spending that I could take care of in exchange for one night to get you out of all that long sleeved baggy clothes in the desert and see what’s underneath.”

                “You want me to strip for you?”

                “Oh no, given the offer of a very expensive thing that seems unattainable for you, I want to feel myself inside you too.”

                “Even if my bar was normal, that would misogynistic.”

                “You didn’t answer the question.”

                “You couldn’t afford it”

                “Try me.”

                “Well, if you’re that rich, you probably got fleeced by the stock market this week so I’d want to pour on to the problem.”

                “You have a lot of threats but you are still at the table.  Tell you what, sleep on it.  Let me have your number and I’ll call you tomorrow night to see if you’ve made a decision.”

                “I already know the answer.”

                “Would you care to reveal it to me?”

                “No, you gotta call me.  516-555-8218”

                “So you’re from Long Island”

                “I grew up there but then we moved to Greenpoint.”

                “Brooklyn, I lived in Bay Ridge for a time.”

                “Not sure where that is.”

                “The other side of Brooklyn, near the Verrazano Bridge.”

                “Oh, alright”

                “Well, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

                “Till tomorrow”

                Instinctively, Larry went in for a hug forgetting that there was a pandemic going on.  Though, he had seen people felt shaking hands was more unsanitary than a hug so he had no idea what people were actually afraid of.  Still, given that Katie seemed to imply she was offended, this was a risk.  He was surprised when she returned it.  He didn’t want to read too much into it, but he believed that meant the answer would be ‘yes.’  Katie declared, “Thank you for dinner.”

                “My pleasure.”

                After dinner, Larry went to the high stakes room to play craps.  There were a couple Asians playing as well and Larry thought nothing of it.  As the dice made its way around the table, Larry watches his chips expand and contract as the swings in craps are probably larger than any other game, which is why it’s usually the loudest and most fun.  A man next to him who looked to be Middle Eastern asks, “Are you nervous playing with all these Asians.”

                “Not in the slightest.”

                “Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not racist or anything.  I get pissed every time someone calls the Coronavirus, the ‘Wuhan Virus’”

                “Why should that upset you?  That’s just Chinese Pravda-like disinformation propaganda.  Of course the ‘Wuhan Virus’ is an appropriate name.  We name diseases after their locations all the time from Zika to Ebola to West Nile.  Why should ‘Wuhan Virus’ be any different?”

                The man looks uncomfortably around the table at the Asians who are more focused on what the dice says than what they are talking about. He cautioned, “You may want to keep your voice down.”

                “Why?  Chinese people know what their government does and how their politicians are not to be trusted.  Non-Chinese Asians aren’t very defensive over Chinese people. Most of which actually hate them.  They hate more that everyone assumes all Asians are Chinese.  The only people that really have a problem with ‘Wuhan Virus’ are white liberals.”

                “That’s a lot of generalizing in one speech.”

                “There’s a reason for stereotypes and generalizations.  It is also how our mind processes information; it’s called ‘schemas.’”

                “I’m not talking about what some Chinese government official or newspaper said, I’m talking about the New York Times.  I read it in there.”

                “Where do you think they got it from?  The New York Times hates President Trump.  China isn’t too fond of the president because he’s the only one that has stood up to them in quite some time.  The enemy of my enemy is my friend so the New York Times will do and print whatever China wants them to say.”

                “I can’t even begin to respond to how ridiculous that statement is.”

                “It’s not hard to figure out.  Look at the reports a couple weeks ago when the virus was first being reported internationally.  Look specifically when it spread to the Philippines.”

                The Middle Eastern man looked it up and frowned seeing a headline, “The Wuhan Virus makes its way to the Philippines.”  He concedes, “You don’t seem as crazy anymore.  How did you know that?”

                “I track fake news and love exposing the libelous, scandalous, treacherous liberals for their hypocrisy.”

                “You criticize but do you have any answers?  Our economy is in shambles.”

                “I think there needs to be a long term Middle Class tax cut as well as a corporate tax cuts.  People need to not feel the burden of government in order to avoid laying people off for the dip in the economy, which I believe will reverse itself when the crisis is over.”

                “When will that be?”

                “We don’t know but that’s why the cut needs to be long term and not temporary.  You can’t add to people’s fear that their newfound money is going to be taken away from them soon.  Some say till the end of the year but I’d make it a full year.”

                “It’s March, that’s only a three month difference.”

                “Ah, but it sounds better.  When it comes to the mob, image is everything.”

                “I do believe that private citizen consumption drives the economy more than anything.  The government, though, shouldn’t be idle.”

                “I disagree.  For all intents and purposes it should be idle.  We need to cut all unnecessary government spending and focus all our resources on the virus.  This is the threat.  This is what we need to come together to take out.”

                “I see your point about the tax cuts but I just think it’s too indirect.”

                “You challenged me to make alternatives to my criticisms now I urge you to do the same.”

                “Waive the Capital Gains tax.”

                Larry’s body tensed as the implications rushed through his head.  He spoke slowly as he was still processing, “It would encourage people to sell because they won’t be punished for it through taxes but…”

                “People who are hesitant to sell their land at a loss or at all will jump at the chance because it will minimize their losses or maximize their profit not having to give some of it back.”

                “That’s exactly what I was thinking.  Then it’s bought by people who think they can actually do something with it and that will aid the economy.  In the early days of the Republic, the founders funded the government not through income tax but selling land.  They ran surpluses because of it.  Even Thomas Jefferson who spent an obscene amount of money on the Louisiana Purchase only had that money to spend because of the massive selling of land.  Even Jefferson had a surplus.  I know back then we weren’t even close to the best economy in the world like we are now but if we were making profits without taking an income tax, I don’t see what that can’t work now.”

                “Capital Gains also affect the stock market more than land sales.”

                “Like you said, it most directly affects the problem.”’

                “You know, I think you’re right.”

                “Not bad for a traitor right?”

                “With analysis like that, something tells me you’re a fiscal conservative and a social Democrat.”

                “That would be accurate.  I call it ‘libertarian.’

                “That label has so many definitions.  It’s true that that’s the typical one but most of the libertarians I know are just pot-smoking conservatives.”

                “You mean legalizing drugs is their only liberal view.”

                “Yes”

                “Well, I do want drugs to be legal.”

                “But you also get involved in language police and identity politics.”

                “Clearly”

                During this conversation, Larry’s chips had dwindled considerably.  Now that the conversation was no longer contentious, he noticed the table pick up again.  By the time he left, he was still down but he had made a comeback from the end of the conversation.  He went back to his room and went to sleep. 

                The next day was spent at the pool at Caesars where he was staying and playing blackjack, poker and Pai Gow.  When evening came, he called Katie who picked up hesitantly, “Hello” she answered timidly.”

                “Hey Katie, it’s Larry, we met last night.”

                “Trust me, I remember.  You’re the asshole rich guy that thinks he can buy women.”

                “It’s not too expensive to buy a woman.  There are trucks and people on the strip passing out invitations to do that all night long.  If it was so exclusive, they wouldn’t be out there.”

                “Then why don’t you take them up on that?”

                “I don’t want to.  I’ve sat and had a conversation with you. I enjoyed it.  I don’t want to play games so I got right to the point.  I’m a very blunt person.  I did leave one thing out.”

                “Ah, there’s always a catch.”

                “You have to be tested for STD’s first”

                “I would want the same report.”

                “Obviously”

                “Are you paying for the test?”

                “Naturally”

                “Alright, that’s not a big deal.  I know I’m clean.”

                “As do I.”

                “I always wanted to be in the VIP section of a Vegas club.  That way you don’t have to wait in line with the other skanks”

                “Ah, so you also like exclusivity”

                “I think most people do.”

                “I would agree but few admit it.  Which club do you want to go to?”

                “In honor of the struggle Italy is having, I think we should go to Omnia”

                “Perfect, I’m staying at Caesar’s so that’s easiest for me.”

                Despite its convenience, Omnia was currently rated the best night club in Vegas.  Katie was surprised at how quickly he agreed.  She stammered, “Ummm, okay, so umm, like what happens first?  Do I come through or do you?”

                “I’m not a trusting man so I think you should come through first.”

                “Well, why would I trust someone that doesn’t trust anybody?”

                “You shouldn’t.  How about this; you get ready in my hotel room so I can see what you look like naked.  Then, we’ll go to the club and I’ll fuck you afterwards?”

                “How do I know once you have me in your hotel room, you’re not just going to rape me?”

                “The same way you would with any other guy.  It’s a risk you have to take.  Maybe you can tell someone about me so they know who to look for if I’m not being completely honest here.”

                “You’re saying it’s a risk I have to take?”

                “It’s the same risk I’m taking that you won’t consensually have sex with me, feel dirty tomorrow and then accuse me of rape.”

                “Way to turn that around.”

                “I’m just saying everything in life is a risk/reward decision.”

                “I have a counter-proposal”

                “Shoot”

                “I’m not like this.  I didn’t tease you at all as I covered myself up and you still came after me.  Since I’m not a slut, you have to pay more.”

                “I agree, which is why bottle service at the Omnia costs more than if I went over to the Playboy ranch and took care of my urge there.”

                “I’m not comparing myself to prostitutes.  I’m above normal girls too who, like you said, show a lot more skin for free.”

                “This back and forth is exhausting. What do you want?”

                “I meet you at Omnia.  We get a table, have a couple bottles.  I’ll invite some people to help since I don’t want you to have whiskey dick and I can’t handle a full bottle.  After a couple hours, we leave and go back to your room and I’ll fulfill my end of the bargain.  Then, we go to Tao to complete our homage to both Italian style casinos in Vegas.”

                “Are you finished?”

                “Yes”

                “So long as you don’t punish me for snap calling, we have a deal.  I’m going to text you the name of a doctor and the address to see him.”

                “How did you know I’d say ‘yes’”

                “I didn’t but I prepared for it.”

                “Alright Alright”

                Katie hung up the phone and called the doctor.  She got checked out and the tests came back negative.  She was also handed a report for Larry’s that were also negative.  After the update, Larry texted Katie to meet him at Omnia at midnight. 

                Midnight came and Larry told the bouncer he wanted a table and was allowed to skip the line.  Katie did what she said and lured people into the VIP section.  Larry wasn’t too happy that she was bringing guys, so he followed suit and brought women.  It was almost like they had an understanding that they could dance with other people but there was no hooking up.  When someone grabbed Jenn’s ass she pushed them away and kicked them out of the VIP section and Larry never grabbed any girl’s ass or let them kiss him or move his hands to his ass.  He told the girls he was with Katie and Katie did the same.  It was almost as if they were testing each other.  It is unknown if failing the test was a deal breaker but when the bottles were empty, Katie and Larry left and went back to his room.  Larry thought that if she called it off after he already bought the table, it would have been much more culpable than if he did as she hadn’t fulfilled any part of her end.  Katie took off her heels and sat on the couch in the room, “Damn, my feet hurt.  It feels so good to take your heels off.”

                Larry unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it off him and removed the rest of his clothes so he was naked and stood facing Katie.  Katie resisted the urge to laugh as it had nothing to do with what he looked like but it was the speed in which things were progressing that made her want to give out a nervous laugh.  She posed, “Can we at least talk first?  It was too loud in the club.”

                Larry sat on the bed, “What do you want to talk about.”

                “First, cover yourself up.”

                Larry shrugged his shoulders and pulled the covers over his lap.  “Better?”

                “Yes, what do you think about the border issue and the wall?”

                “We need the wall and I’m glad that the Supreme Court stayed the lower court ruling that will force asylum seekers to stay in Mexico.”

                “In case you can’t tell from looking at me, I’m Puerto Rican.”

                “Puerto Rico covers the entire color spectrum.  I admit I’m more familiar with Dominicans.  I know they’re your arch-enemies but it’s the same concept.  There’s Dominicans as light as I am and then you have David Ortiz who is darker than most black people.  You also have everything in between. “

                “Puerto Ricans are the same way.  All three of my siblings are as light as you.”

                “Then how could I tell by looking at you?”

                “I look Hispanic.”

                “Could pass for Southern Italian.  It would make sense since you wanted to have an Italian themed night for your dream night.”

                “Fucking you is not a dream night.”

                “Fucking me is your payment for the dream night.  You chose these clubs not me.  I gave you anything that you couldn’t justify affording.  You chose this.”

                “I guess I never considered it a dream night but I’m okay with that.  Anyway, I don’t actually have a problem with the cases being in Mexico.  I mean, people weren’t showing up to their court cases and using it to break into the country anyway.”

                “Exactly.  Given the Wuhan Virus crisis, I think it’s more important than ever to have strong borders.”

                “Has Mexico and Central America been hit badly with Coronavirus?”

                “No, but it still is important to regulate who comes in with a worldwide pandemic.”

                “In spirit I agree, but you’re not specifically talking about Mexicans?”

                “No, I mean everyone.”

                “I can handle that.  Well, I am a woman of my word so let’s do this.”

                -Katie stripped herself of her clothes and jumped into Larry’s arms wrapping her legs around his legs resting her feet on his hamstrings.  They passionately made out then dropped back to her feet.  Katie bent over putting her hands on the ground and kicking her legs over her shoulders resting them onto Larry’s.  While she balanced upside down against Larry, he put a condom on and positioned Katie so he was penetrating her.  He caressed her legs as he slowly pushed his penis into her vagina.  Larry was supporting most of Katie’s weight so her arms tired slower than she would have in a normal handstand.  Despite how excited Larry was, he realized this wasn’t going to do the trick.  Larry pulled Katie’s legs in front of him and bent down putting her feet on his chest.  He rolled Katie onto her back and pinned her knees against her shoulders as he drove himself into her.  Katie grabbed Larry’s thighs and pulled with him to intensify the pressure.  Larry humped her as they both moaned. 

            After a while, Larry grabbed her legs and turned her onto her stomach.  He lifted her up onto all fours and drilled himself from behind reaching around feeling her breasts.  Larry collapsed her arms in front of her and grabbed the side of her hips as he continued his forward thrusts.  He collapsed her legs so she lay flat and straddled her right leg.  He reached up and grabbed the bottle of tequila pouring a shot for himself.  He then licked her right butt cheek and sprinkled salt on it.  He put the shot glass in her anus and scooped up the salt with his tongue before snapping his jaws on the shot glass and leaning his head back to down the contents.  He repeated the same sequence with the left butt cheek all the while maintaining his erection by rubbing his penis against Katie’s legs. 

After he was done, he lifted Katie’s legs and wrapped them around his waist again inserting himself vaginally from behind.  He hoisted Katie’s petite frame up as Katie wrapped her arms around his head.  Larry used his right hand to massage her breasts while the left hand fingered her.  Katie turned her head and they lightly made out.  After a while, Larry switched hands and repeated it.  Katie cried out indicating orgasm after a little bit and Larry dropped her onto the bed.  He grabbed the lubrication and stared down at Katie’s butt and liberally applied the lubrication to her anus.  He hovered over her and snapped his penis down into her rectum repeatedly.  Without pulling out, he slid Katie back and stood at the bed pulling Katie’s legs off as well and placing them on the floor.  He jerked his pelvis back and forth as Katie bent over helplessly.  Larry reached around and played with her breasts as he was doing this.  After a little, he scooped up Katie’s legs and wrapped them around his waist.  He then hoisted Katie up and she instinctively grabbed the back of his head to support herself.   Larry fingered her with one hand and played with her breasts with the other as he kissed her neck.  Katie turned her head and Larry eased his tongue into her mouth against hers.  This completed the triple penetration as his finger penetrated her vagina, his tongue entered her mouth and his penis was lodged in her rectum.  After bouncing Katie with his knee, Larry panted hard as semen hurried out of his penis to be rejected by the condom.  He let her down and both collapsed on the bed simultaneously.  Katie sighed as she felt dirty for what she just did as it was very out of character. 

                They breathed heavily as they lay on their backs.  Larry was the first to speak, “You know, for a feminist, you really allowed yourself to be manhandled.”

                “The way I am outside the bedroom and inside the bedroom is like night and day.  I’d say I’m worth the effort though.”

                “I would wholeheartedly agree.”

                “We keep talking about Coronavirus.  Let’s talk about Russian collusion.  I see reports that the Russians are going to do it again in 2020.”

                “After three years of intense investigations, there was no evidence of it in 2016 and there’s not going to be this time around.  One difference this time is that the 17 agencies that Hillary and Obama kept talking about are now disputing the media’s report about their 2020 interference meeting.”

                “Yea, that’s what I read.”

                “Well, the Director of National Intelligence released a statement that he had found no evidence of Russian involvement in the 2020 election to help Trump or any other candidate.”

                “Oh, so now Trump can’t turn it around and say that Biden colluded with Russia like he did last time.”

                “It’s well documented that Christopher Steele colluded with Russia for his dossier and Hillary was heavily involved in Skolkovo, which was a Russian project.  Bill Clinton was paid $500,000 to give a speech in Russia.  They actually had hard real evidence for Hillary.”

                “Alright, well now they’re saying Biden doesn’t”

                “The clause about ‘any other candidate’ wasn’t for Biden it was for Bernie Sanders because the media accused him of it too in order to take him down so that Biden would win the nomination.”

                “Well, that’s more believable because he’s a communist.”

                “There is no hard evidence of it though.  This is what the Democrat establishment does, they attack people with the Russian collusion label any time they challenge an establishment pick for the presidency.  It’s shocking that people believe it every fucking time.”

                “It’s worth looking into thought right?  You have to investigate the rumors.”

                “No, they get false threats all the time but Steele did trick a lot of people into telling the FBI so I think they had to look into it.  The point is, though, the FBI’s collusion accusation fell apart in the first month that President Trump was president.  This is all according to recent memos.”

                “I don’t know about this.”

                “On January 7, 2017 the FBI interviewed Steels’ sub-sources and according to the summary of the interviews, the sources told the FBI that Steele was lying and all the information was fake.  Yet, they still got a warrant to spy on Trump and a FISA on Carter Page.”

                “Yea, Donald Trump really pissed off a lot of people and made them do some shady things they wouldn’t normally do.”

                “Oh no, this was their modus operandi.  President Trump is just the first person to beat it.  They did this to John McCain, Bernie Sanders and, as far back as 2014, Mike Flynn because he dared question Obama’s Iran deal.”

                “Isn’t that case still going on?”

                “Yes, but it shouldn’t be because on January 30, 2017, after the FBI interviewed Flynn on January 24, the FBI advised that Flynn was not acting as an agent of Russia in a letter they sent to the Department of Justice.  Mueller is the one that wrote the letter, yet he still indicted Flynn.”

                “All this because he was against the Iran deal?”

                “They were about to get exposed.  The same month as all this shit, January 2017, US officials got multiple warnings that Steele’s dossier’s main target had made exculpatory statements denying collusion and undercover sources and that Flynn didn’t collude with the Russians.”

                “Of course they’re going to say that.  Most people don’t confess when accused of a crime.”

                “Yet, the first thing you do is get it on the record that they are pleading not guilty.  The FBI left everything that didn’t support the case out.  That’s highly unethical.  If a normal lawyer did that, they would be disbarred no questions asked.”

                “You said it was all internal FBI memos and DOJ stuff.  If it was classified then we couldn’t have known about it so the media made a decision based on the information they had.”

                “I didn’t mention the media.”

                “By now, I can tell you hate the media.”

                “That is true.  Your premise is wrong anyway.  The media knew all about this because NBC wrote an article that admitted the FBI found nothing amiss in Flynn-Russian eavesdropping.”

                “When is the date of the article?’

                “In January 2017.  They knew then and they continued to gaslight the narrative.”

                “If they’re fake news, then why would they write the article?”

                “You have to remember that the story constantly changes so they are forced to contradict themselves all the time.”

                “Yea, but this is going on at the same time these interviews and memos are being written and kept from the public.”

                “Suppressed by the media.”      

                “Fine, we’ll go with that but why?”

                “Because the FBI knows that the CIA lied to them.  Rather than admit that they got tricked by the CIA and suffer that embarrassment, they ignore it and do everything they can to show they had some justifiable reason to do what they did.”

                “You think pride got in the way?”

                “Yes.  Listen to Comey speak, he thinks he’s God’s gift to the world.  If there’s anyone that is guilty of pride, it’s Comey.  A month after all this, he goes to Trump tower to meet with Trump.  He knows nothing is suspicious about the meeting because everything is a hoax anyway but he wants to set up President Trump so that something seems wrong.  He knows that he attacked his presidency over nothing so now he has to try to force the president not to fire him by threatening to slap him with an obstruction of justice charge if he does.”

                “Which happens”

                “Yes, and since Comey told President Trump that he wasn’t under investigation, Trump didn’t know that an investigation was open when he fired Comey.”

                “Why did he fire Comey.”

                “Rod Rosenstein wrote a memo recommending it.  Remember, Comey was attacked on both sides.  The Republicans for the Russian collusion hoax and the Democrats for looking into Hillary’s e-mail scandal.  He closed the Hillary case before the election to try to minimize the damage but Democrats were still pissed.  Rosenstein wanted to look like the hero so recommended Comey’s firing even though, since Comey was investigating Trump, he was now the liberals’ friend.  After that firestorm, Rosenstein flip flopped again and started talking about the president being mentally unfit to lead so they should invoke the 25th Amendment, which is meant for if he’s in a coma.”

                “Then, Rosenstein can throw Trump under the bus since he was the decision maker and get out of the fact that he recommended it.  To make amends, he can help Comey with his obstruction charge.”

                “Which he does when Rosenstein appoints Mueller to head a special council.”

                “Holy shit”

                “Yea, regardless what you think of the president, it’s fucked up what they did to him.”

                “You ready for Tao”

                “Thank God I don’t dance because you wore me out.”

                Katie smiled.  They put their clothes back on and headed to the Venetian.  Before going inside, Katie asked, “One last question before we go in.”

                “Okay”

                “You talked earlier about rationing and why universal healthcare doesn’t work.  Bernie Sanders keeps bringing up Scandinavia.  You travel a lot.  Do you know anything about that?”

                “None of the Scandinavian countries are socialist or communist number one.  Number two, the prime minister of Denmark keeps writing op-eds attacking Sanders for slurring them with the socialist label. That’s why he’s transitioned to Finland.   The funny thing about Finland is that the government resigned after their healthcare system failed and it collapsed their economy.  The fact that Bernie Sanders thinks this admirable and should be repeated is laughable.”

                “I wonder if he knows that.”

                “The problem is I think he does.  He did visit these places.  That means he’s not stupid, he’s just power hungry and evil and wants to be a dictator.”

                “Good thing the Democrat establishment took him out” Katie replied with a wry smile.

                “Oh no, I’m not like the liberals.  I don’t think the ends justifies the means. Yes, Bernie Sanders needed to be stopped from being president but not by lying about him that he colluded with Russians.  Tell the truth.  It should be good enough or else this country is really is lost.”

                “You don’t have to lie about him but don’t cover for him either.”

                “Yes, basically act like a real journalist.”

                “That’s fair.”

                They go to Tao and again Larry buys a table.  It’s around 3:00AM so he didn’t know if one was available but there was.  Once again, Larry and Katie shared two bottles and, this time, had fewer people pulled into their section.  It appeared that Omnia really was a test or Katie was too tired to be dancing.  They people watched and talked as much as they could and left at 6:00AM highly inebriated.  When they were outside the club, Larry inquired, “Just out of curiosity, what would have happened if I hooked up with those girls at Omnia?”

                “I would have still gone to your room because I made a deal but you would have found me not very responsive and not moving or grinding anything unless you moved me.”

                “Basically you’d act like a sex doll.”

                “Yes, that’s a good comparison.”

                “Good thing I didn’t then.”

                “Yea, I told you I’m worth it.  What if I hooked up with the guys?”

                “I would have called it off.  At that point, you hadn’t done anything with the contract so I did fulfill half of what I said.”

                “I think the agreement was to split it up just in case one of us was lying so I don’t actually think you would have been going back on your word.”

                “That’s the way I saw it too.”

                “I’m glad we’re both honest people.”

                “Me too.”

                “Just so you know, no offense, but I’m going back to my hotel.  No matter how much we tried to cover it up, this was still grimy and I don’t want a relationship.  This was just a crazy night in Vegas with no ramifications.”

                “I couldn’t agree more.  I will delete your number.”

                “I will do the same.”

                “Take care of yourself.”

                “You too”

                They hugged and Katie pulled her head away but still held on with her arms.  Larry leaned in and kissed her and she kissed back.  They made out for a little and then Katie really pulled away.  “That was on the house.”

                “Thanks”

                Katie got into an Uber and went to her hotel while Larry walked back to his.  Despite living in the same city, they never spoke again. 

 

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