Page 46 of The Truths We Find

“Go for it! We could use a little luck this trip,” Gavin chimes in.

I roll my eyes at him. “Enabler.”

Alexa puts the quarter in the slot and pulls the handle. The jingle music gets even louder, and Alexa anxiously watches the spinning reels. As soon as I look down to check my phone, I hear beeps and chimes blaring from the machine. My head shoots up to see two and a half of the three reels stopped on cherries.

Holy shit.

“I won!” Alexa screams over and over again.

What the hell just happened?

The machine seems like it just keeps getting louder and louder, with the red light on top flashing and spinning. Eventually, everyone is staring at Alexa jumping up and down. She is so distracted, she doesn’t even see the voucher print out. I grab it and see how much she actually won.

“Holy fuck!” I yell. My jaw falls.

Gavin looks over my shoulder.

“She won eight grand?” he stutters.

Alexa yanks the voucher from my hand and runs over to the cash-out machine. She comes back stuffing a stack of hundreds into her wallet.

“Drinks are on me tonight after we take home our Emmy,” she giggles.

“Alexa, just because you won at slots doesn’t mean we’re winning tonight,” I remind her.

She just shrugs and starts walking towards baggage claim. Gavin and I quickly follow behind her.

Once we have our bags, we make our way to the taxi area and see a man holding a sign with Gavin’s name on it.

“Surprise!” Gavin says, holding out his arms. “I got us a limo for the weekend. Figured we should travel in style.”

Alexa screams and runs over to the driver to hand him her bags.

“You didn’t have to do this,” I say.

“I wanted to. You deserve it… both of you.” He shrugs with a small smile.

“Well, thank you. This is very sweet, and obviously Alexa is thrilled.”

“Shall we?” Gavin says, holding out his elbow for me to take.

We link arms and walk over to meet Alexa and the driver. The limo is waiting right outside for us. We crawl into the back and help ourselves to the free champagne waiting on ice. As the car starts to move, Gavin clears his throat.

“I have another surprise for you two.”

“Tickets to Cirque?” Alexa jokes.

Gavin laughs. “The station is paying for you two to have a spa day to get ready for tonight. It’s one of the reasons we booked such an early flight. Wanted to give you plenty of time to relax. Once we get to the hotel, you’ll have about an hour to settle in your rooms and then head down to the spa.”

“This is the best day of my life!” Alexa shrieks.

“Gavin, that’s amazing! And Mr. White approved this?” I question.

“I convinced him you guys were worth the cost.”

“Thank you.” I press my lips together, holding the moment in.

The ride to the hotel is a blur. I just remember enjoying the free booze and laughing a lot. I take that as a sign I need to slow down.