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.Other than a white SUV that insisted on tail gating us for a short stretch before I finally pulled off the road and let him pass, the ride was uneventful.We pulled up in front of the massive rock and glass exterior of the Royal Tahoe Resort a few minutes before noon.Although the mini turrets at both ends of the grandiose building made the resort look less like Camelot and more like the Victorian folly in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, every aspect of the resort was meant to be impressive, and it was.Stan jumped out of the passenger side of the car, grabbed his suitcase and garment bag, and was wheeling his way through the revolving door before anyone even noticed my tiny car surrounded by massive SUV's.I hate to be a pill, but when the valets continued to ignore me, I climbed out of the driver's seat and stopped one of the guys unloading the canary yellow Hummer behind me.I tapped on the epaulet of his royal blue regalia.It wasn't your standard Tahoe mountain attire but it did have a certain sense of cache.“Hi, Tim,” I said, assuming the name typed on his badge was his.“Did you miss me?” I pointed to my Prius, whose top half was periwinkle, but whose bottom half was now coated in gray slush from our drive.He sniffed then extracted a numbered ticket from his pocket.“Sorry, I didn't notice you.Are you here for the competition?”“No, I'm a member of the Kendall/Daley wedding party.”He jumped back a few inches and practically saluted me.Either the DA's office or my gal pal had some royal pull around here.“Sorry, ma'am.Of course, I'll have your bags taken in immediately.It's too early for check-in, so we'll store everything until your room is ready.”Tim directed me toward the lobby.I stopped at the ornate registration desk and confirmed my room would not be ready until four.I punched my mother's cell number but there was no answer.A call to Jenna's phone went directly into voicemail.It was almost twelve-thirty so they could be dining in one of the many restaurants in the resort.Or using other hotel facilities the desk clerk had spelled out for me, such as the underground grotto, waterfall and swimming pool with swim-up bar.Darn, I should have packed a swimsuit instead of all that thermal underwear.I dialed Liz's cell but again went directly to voicemail.There was no point roaming the massive hotel in search of my family or my friend.They would call when they received my messages.The lobby bustled with people attired in fur-trimmed parkas, tight black ski pants and pastel Ugg boots.Interspersed with the skiers were a few snowboarders dressed in loose-fitting jackets and cargo-style pants.What made this mountain resort even more entertaining were the glamorous high-heeled peacocks stalking through the lobby headed in the direction of the ballroom.I followed a woman attired in violet satin, the slit of her skirt rising almost to her belly button.Her decolletage, on the other hand, plummeted to her waist.She was a wardrobe malfunction just waiting to happen.Between the elegantly curled, moussed, and sprayed coiffures of the dancers, both men and women, the intensity of their makeup, including false eyelashes and bright red lipstick, and the rainbow-hued costumes, I felt like I'd been transported to a circus.I was grateful to be a bystander and not performing myself.The pressure of competing against other dancers in appearance as well as technique would be overwhelming.With little else to do until my room was ready for check-in, I followed the stream of dancers to an enormous ballroom.An attendant at the door stopped me and asked for my ticket.Five minutes and twenty dollars later, I entered the room.Rectangular tables with chairs for eight were placed along the perimeter of the glossy wooden floor.Men dressed in tuxedos or shirts, vests and black trousers, wore numbered signs on their back.They whirled and twirled their colorful partners around the floor.How would I locate Stan in this crowd?“Yoo-hoo.Laurel, over here,” yelled a familiar voice.One of the things I like best about Stan is that he never suffers from shyness.A couple of the bystanders frowned, but I was thrilled he'd found me among the crowd.I squeezed past a couple of female dancers whose waists were as big as mine—when I was ten.The expression of relief on Stan's face reinforced my decision to stop in and support him.“What time are you competing?”“We're on in four more dances.” He looked at his watch.“Which will be in approximately six minutes.”“That's not very long.” I was surprised the dances lasted slightly over a minute each.How could the judges ascertain the winners in that short amount of time? It gave them less than ten seconds per couple to mark their scores in at least five different categories.“Trust me, it's enough time to screw up and not place.But performing poorly is the least of my worries.”I directed a questioning look at my pal.That was when I realized one significant part of his dance equation was missing.“Where's Anya?”Stan shrugged, his facial expression bleak.He was obviously upset about his missing partner.Was there a reason to be even more concerned about her absence?Someone tapped me on my shoulder.I jumped high enough to make a rim shot if a basketball hoop had graced the gigantic ballroom.“Sorry, Laurel, I didn't mean to startle you,” said a beautiful woman attired in a hot pink rhinestone-covered satin gown.I examined the unfamiliar face with its thick makeup, inch-long eyelashes and elegant French twist and discovered Paula Mason.“Wow, I almost didn't recognize you,” I said, before realizing she might not take my comment as a compliment.“I mean.”Paula laughed.“It's okay.I can barely see out of this fringe of false lashes but if this is what it takes to come in first then I'll do it.I'm glad you found time to watch the competition.”“Stan's supposed to dance with Anya in a few minutes so I stopped by to support him but she hasn't shown up.”Stan pointed at his watch.“Two minutes now.” His thin shoulders drooped and I sensed his exhilaration evaporate as his dream of winning a competition also evaporated.Suddenly a slender bronze arm reached out and grabbed Stan's right hand.He disappeared into the throng of dancers.Seconds later, Stan and Anya strolled onto the floor as he presented her to the audience.The strains of a familiar tango emanated over the sound system.As the couple swept past us, I was impressed that Stan had mastered the look of a tango dancer, in ability and appearance
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