A different city

They were going out onto the street. They would hold hands and just stroll. They didn’t care that they’d have to walk half a mile on an unseasonably hot day to the nearest hotel to catch a cab — the sky cloudless. They were in a strange city — different from where they currently lived. So what if all they’d see along the way was a few bus stops, a strip club here and there — not yet open — and various business facilities in an area zoned for light industrial. All and all, sights, sounds and smells — the choky odor of diesel exhaust — that would be otherwise dull and tiresome — even sickening — back home. This was Vegas.