I arrived at the pool at the MGM around noon. As I showed my room card to the guard to get in I noticed that for three hundred dollars you could rent a private cabana for the day there. I had more than a thousand dollars in my wallet and another twenty five thousand in the safe in the room, but I still couldn’t bring myself to spend that much money just to rent a tiny tent. I did however spring for twelve dollars to rent a floaty tube for the day so I could relax on the lazy river. <READMORE>

I stuck my wallet into the pocket of my polo shirt, climbed into my tube and let the gentle current take me away. I closed my eyes, relaxed my mind and left all thoughts of poker far behind. All the throbbing was gone and my head felt light as I floated in the warm water, and there was something else. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but I felt so different than I had just an hour ago. I felt as if I was unworried, free, … drowning.

I came up for air after my sudden dunking and found myself in the arms of a beautiful Chinese girl. I couldn’t help myself and looked into her mind. I was stunned and had to shake myself, and not just to help dry my hair – she tipped me over on purpose to meet me! She just liked the way I looked and wanted to meet me. I gave a silent “woohoo” and introduced myself.

To a “normal” person the gift of reading minds probably looks like a ticket to all sorts of free love. I can see how they might get that impression. After all, the hardest thing for most guys to face is the thought that a girl may say no. It’s true that I don’t have that problem since I know in advance what a girl will say. But the trade off is terrible. I will take the unknown over knowing too much any day.

Imagine knowing exactly why a girl wants to kiss you. Or who she’s really thinking of when she’s doing it. Or how you compare to all the other guys who’ve kissed her. Believe me, there are some things that are better left unknown. For the most part I had shied away from romance altogether.

We had lunch together by the pool and got to know each other. Her name was Susan Chan and she was a 21 year old senior at UNLV where her father was a professor. Her mother worked at the MGM so she and her three younger sisters often hung around the pool there. It turned out both our families were originally from Canton, China and that neither one of us lived up to our father’s expectations. It’s funny how disappointing a parent can bring two people so much closer together – soon we were chatting like old friends.

Her sisters came over and joined us and as we ate I was amazed how comfortable I was with all the girls. They were utterly charming and silly and fun and they all accepted me without hesitation. Unfortunately little Lisa, already a knockout at 13, had a piano lesson to go to and Susie had to drive them home so I reluctantly took out my bankroll to pay for lunch and let them leave.

When she saw the big roll of bills I felt the first tinge of disapproval from Susie. “Please tell me you’re not some kind of big gambler,” she said with a sad despair in her eyes.

I assured her that I was only in vegas because I had won a seat into the wsop and that normally I did not even play mah jhong. She gave a small giggle and seemed to brighten a bit at that so I pressed my luck. “I’d really love to see you again, and since I don’t want to gamble I don’t know what to do with myself tonight. There’s a nice looking Chinese restaurant here at the hotel. Would you like to have dinner with me?”

“Siwwy wabbit,” she said affecting a bad Chinese accent. “That pwace fow touwists.” Then she kissed my cheek and told me to meet her by the Lions at 6:00 and she would take me someplace good. As she walked away in her teeny black bikini I was glad she couldn’t read MY mind as I definitely had a few thoughts I wanted to keep to myself for now.

6:00 rolled around as I prowled the lion habitat like one of the caged beasts and Susie was right on time. She looked incredible in a short black dress with a simple strand of pearls. I hadn’t brought any nice clothes at all so I had gone to one of the ridiculous boutique shops in the MGM and paid way too much for a simple pair of black pants and a white dress shirt, but now I was glad I did.

She kissed my cheek and took my arm and led me back through the hotel and as we walked and talked we passed by a huge wall of mirrors. I looked at us and laughed out loud at the thought that popped into my head.

We stopped walking for a moment and together we looked into the mirror. Suzie tilted her head just a little and I kissed her softly and tenderly. She gazed into my eyes and said, “What were you laughing at, tiger?”

I could tell she felt the same way I did and the feeling made me giddy. “It’s just that when we walked by the mirror I thought we looked like we fell off of a Chinese wedding cake.”

She held me so nicely as we continued walking and she had no idea that I could hear her silent thought as we walked, “Me too.”
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