The cheapest beer on tap does not make a pleasing addition to the surface of the dark table. Despite the hastily applied napkin, the puddle grows and spills over the edge like a waterfall until it reaches the casino floor.

"I'm so sorry, Bianca! I don't know what happened. It just jumped out of my hand. Can I help you clean your dress?"

I have to push her hand away to stop her from sticking the already beer-soaked napkin onto the tiniest spot of liquid on my skirt. "No, Divya, it's fine. I'll just go get something to clean this up with, okay?"

Her lip protrudes so far I wonder if she'll injure herself. "Are you sure? I don't want you to miss the fun!"

"I'm the designated driver, remember?"

"We don't need a designated driver when no one has to drive, silly." The giggle grates on my ear like a fork scratching porcelain.

Well, they might not need a driver, but someone has to keep the group in line. And calling myself the designated driver means I get free soda all night, so I'm sticking with it.

The room is packed with muscly men and suave women dressed in something that would probably cover a two year old, but they somehow all seem to be having fun. Dealers call out for bets and lights flash from slot machines as I squeeze through a few tight spots only to narrowly avoid being hit by a fierce blow intended for a man much larger than I.

It's no quieter once I reach the bar, so I have to shout to be heard. "Excuse me? Can I get a towel or a few hundred napkins to clean up my friends' mess?"

The bartender turns around, draping a towel over his shoulder and setting a cup down on the counter. "You with the bachelorette party?"

"Which one?"

He doesn't laugh. "You are then."

The fact that we are 'that bachelorette party' brings a heat to my face and makes me want to shrink into the floor, so I just nod, rather than attempting to speak.

"I'll come over with some water. I'll clean it up for you."

"Oh, you really don't have to do that, I can—"

"Really, I do have to. It's my job."

"Well, okay then." He calls out to the other bartender and then presses past me, knocking me off balance and causing me to stumble into the party behind me, resulting in yet another drink down my back.

"Oh this night is just wonderful." I can't stop the words from coming out of my mouth.

"Look, you ran into me, lady," the guy from behind me slurs.

"Sorry. I didn't mean you. I'm sorry for spilling your drink. Umm, can I replace it for you?"

The woman he's with steps up beside him, threading her arm around his shoulder and standing on her toes to seem taller. "No. No, you may not." She sizes me up like a wild animal at the watering hole, so I do what any self-preserving prey would do. I turn and run.

Past the table filled with my laughing friends and the plastered on smile of the clearly-irritated bartender. Past the other bachelorette party all dressed in orange, and past the group of guys near the door who are apparently auditioning for a Bond film.

I'll have to make sure to steer clear of them.

My sky-high heels click against the sparkling floor of the lobby as soon as I exit the carpeted casino, sending reverberations all through the vaulted ceilings of the empty open space. The clicking only gets louder as I run for the elevator and slip inside, fumbling around in my purse for the room key.

But it isn't where I left it. And I don't know how I'm supposed to change if I can't get into the room.

My purse doesn't want to reveal its secrets, so I have to shove my whole face into it, trying to find the card that will allow me entry into my sparse closet and ill kept bedroom. The dulcet trumpet tones cut in and out as the elevator ascends until a bell alerts me to my floor.

"Damnit!"

"Are you alright?" One of the Bond men apparently rode the elevator up with me. His foot props against the wall of the elevator and the rest of his body gently rests against the doors to keep them from closing.

"I'm fine, thanks," I mumble, pushing past him into the ugly blue patterned carpet of the hallway.

I might have gotten away without any further interaction, had one of my shoes not slipped off my foot at that precise moment. Someone is testing me.

By the time I turn around to grab it, the smiling man is down on one knee, holding my shoe up for me like I'm Cinderella. "My lady," he smiles, charm oozing off his deep brown hair and charming crooked smile.

"Thanks." I rip my shoe from his hand and hobble down the hallway until I reach my door. I still don't have my key. Maybe if I stare at the door hard enough it will open. Or at least it will convince Mr. Overly Chivalrous not to try to help me again.

If I have to stand here all night to avoid that, it's a price I'm willing to pay. I shove my hands into the deep pockets of my off-white dress to keep them from shaking. I can't even get them all the way inside before my left hand crashes into the hard edges of my room card.

A quick brush against the door and I shove the door closed behind me, the soft-close features drastically reducing the effect of the slam I had intended.

The bed calls out to me. A nice tea from the in room coffee maker and a book I know I have hidden in the bedside table sound like the perfect cure to this already horrible evening. But Divya is only going to have one bachelorette party, and I owe it to her to go back down.

Since I don't have another off white outfit to match the group, I throw on my comfiest dress and slip my heels back on, freshening my lipstick and hair in the bathroom before making my way back downstairs. The front lobby proves a challenge, as I have to duck behind a pair of Dolly Parton impersonators to avoid another encounter with the smiling Bond man from the elevator.

One deep breath later, I'm immersed in the cologne and perfume cloud that encircles the slot machines. It isn't hard to find my way through the growing crowd and back to the table with my friends.

I'm pushing through the last group of bystanders when Bond man catches my attention again, his eyes following me for a second longer than they should before returning to his friends. Even in a new dress he knows who I am.

Maybe I'm flattered. Is this what flattered feels like?

Lorena waves at me and calls out, pulling me back to the reason I'm even in this place. All three of the girls flip their phones over on the table and Divya shouts, "Oh My God! Bianca! I thought we lost you forever!"

"I was just getting changed, remember? What's going on?"

Divya is already too drunk to realize what's happening, but the others are staring at the bowl of peanuts like it's about to perform a magic trick.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing. We were just waiting for you."

Their whole plan falls apart in a second when Divya slips and grabs onto me for support, the notification on her phone flashing before my face.

"He's getting married?"

"I'm so sorry, Bianca. We didn't want to ruin your night."

"No. It's okay. It's not your fault. Let's just get back to celebrating Divya."

"Biana, I—"

"No. Tonight isn't about me, okay?"

Tonight is absolutely not about me. Or the fact that he's getting married. Or the fact that I'm decidedly not.

Without any thought for my actions, I reach across the table and pick up the shot clearly meant for Divya and down it, coughing slightly as it burns its way down.

"Another." I reach across the table and take Carla's drink, downing it as well.

"Bianca, maybe we should just go?"

"No! We're here to celebrate!" And the drinks are doing absolutely nothing for me. So I raise my arm and beckon a server for more. "Another round on me."

My eyes wander until they find the deep brown eyes of the Bond man from before. Somehow he isn't as sharp as he seemed earlier, and even from a distance his eyes glisten under the harsh lights of the casino floor.

I pull up the corner of my mouth and flip my hair over my right shoulder. I must be doing alright because he excuses himself from his friends and pushes through the crowd toward me.

Well hello, Prince Charming. I'm Cinderella.

♤ ♥ ♤

Author's Note: First chapter is in the books! Bianca is very clearly the life of this party, so let's see where it goes, shall we? 

I'll be back with the next chapter sometime this week :)