"Abbie, why did you send me this ad," the woman cradles her cell phone between her shoulder and her head as she stares at her monitor. She's about to click away from the fake ad promising to let her see movie stars at the hotel they stay at. And not only that but the price is cheap, too cheap. It's bogus. It's gotta be, she tells herself.

"Why not," asks Abbie's voice, "Doncha wanna see Jaaaason Siiiiilverstein?" The woman at the computer flinches at her friend's emphasis of her favorite musician. "Maybe hear him sing? He's featured all through the ad."

She dodges the question by attacking the ad and twirling her hair with her keyboard hand. Hearing her friend's comments she's tempted to click the ad just to see him again. "It's obviously fake. We can't even get a hotel room here for the price on the advertisement. There's got to be something wrong with it. I mean it's too good to be true."

"I think the lady doth protest too much," Abbie teases over the phone.

Still in denial, trying to make her case, she charges on, "Listen." She counts a finger despite Abbie not being able to see it. "They advertise going to an exclusive resort that only the elite and famous go to." She lifts a second finger, "they have vacation packages from a day to a month at the same exclusive club for a price that's affordable and less expensive than it should be." She counts on a third finger, "and they promise a celebrity sighting while you're there--"

"Like Jason Silverstein?"

With a sigh, her defense breaks, "Yes, like Jason Silverstein."

"So, what's the big deal?"

"Doesn't something seem a little fishy?" Both hands are in the air flailing.

"Well, yeah, but it's not anything we can't look into."

"What do you mean?"

"Bree, didn't you see the brick and mortar address at the end of the video?" BreeAnn remembers the afterglow and haze, and with a blush she realizes that she hadn't seen the location. Video ads don't usually have that, she reasons. "No."

"Not only that, it's here in our city. We should check it out. Today? After work?"

Stuck by all of the information all at once, she answers without thinking, "Sure."

"Great! See you there." Click

It's then, after the phone has hung up, that BreeAnn's brain catches up to speed. It's real? I'm checking it out? Where is it? A smile starts spreading on her face. I guess I'll have to watch the ad again. She leans back in her chair to look ensure that no one is coming either direction past the cubicles, and then ducks back in to look at Jason again.

Lunch comes and goes and at last quitting time arrives. Just before leaving, BreeAnn does an internet search for the address she doesn't recognize. It shows a dot on a street near the ocean. That location, she knows. Hopping in her vehicle, she heads in the direction indicated. She wanders up and down the street where it's supposed to be until she spots Abbie on the sidewalk.

Bree parks her car in the parking structure and hurries to her friend's side. Together, they walk up and down the street, unable to find it. They spot the numbers above and below it, but not the number itself.

That is, until they look down at metal A-frame sign that had fallen on its side. "Vacations with the Stars: This way!" And it points down a dim alley that they have passed a dozen times already.

Following the directions they head that way. To their left and right, they see back exits to the store fronts in the buildings on either side of them. At last, they find a fresh painted door with neon sign that flashes and says "Open". The lettering on the door tells them they don't need to search any longer.

Abbie knocks on the door since there is no way to see in. They hear a muffled reply before the door flings open, nearly hitting them, and slams into the wall. There in the doorway is almost a silhouette. The only things not dark are edges of a blond ponytail and touches of dark blue on the business suit.

The woman in the suit looks over at the door lodged in the wall and shrugs with a very feminine, "Oopsie." She steps back and they see her face. She is smiling and welcomes them in, "Come in. Come in!"

BreeAnn looks to her friend nervous, "Are you sure?"

"What's the big deal? We're just checking it out. Come on." Abbie heads in.

As BreeAnn approaches, the woman in front of them calls into the room, "Niiiick? I accidentally slammed the door open again. Could you close it?"

A male reaches the door right as BreeAnn gets there. He pushes through, and she steps in after he passes. "Accidentally, my left foot," he mumbles. She watches him tug on the knob as she finishes entering.

The room she steps into is tiny. It is only as wide as the desk is long plus a little to walk around. Abbie is sitting on a padded chair facing the blond pony-tailed woman behind the desk. Near her friend is another chair, with a couple more folded against the wall.

"Welcome to Vacations with the Stars. Thank you for stopping by." The woman in the navy business suit stands and offers her hand, "I'm Penny." The guests copy and shake hands, introducing themselves. She sits back down and they mirror her. Penny finishes, "What can I do for you ladies?"

Remembering what Abbie just said, Bree starts with, "We're just check--"

"She just wants to see Jason Silverstein," her friend interrupts.

Penny's eyebrows shoot up, but she covers them quick with a huge smile, "Well, you have come to the right place. And you are in luck. We are having a grand opening special. For any one bill in your pocket, we will give you a one day, two night stay at a luxury hotel where celebrities of the big and small screen spend their time."

Hearing the stream of words similar to those on the advertisement, BreeAnn bursts, "What's the catch?"

Penny's smile doesn't falter, "It's simple. For one, we have found a way to reduce the cost of transportation. We pass that savings on to you."

This is not what BreeAnn was expecting. Flabbergasted, she sputters, "But. But."

Abbie chimes in, more calm than her friend, "Is that all?"

"Oh no. We have also found a way to reduce the cost of food and rooms. That also lets us bring the cost down and pass the savings on to you." The two friends look to each other before looking back. “Now, normally, it’ll cost more for a weekend trip like this, but we are happy to give you a discount on this fabulous opportunity because we are sure you are going to love this so much, that you’ll tell all your friends about us.”

Unsatisfied with the answer, BreeAnn tries again, “What are you leaving out?”

Penny continues to smile, “Listen. This week has a three day weekend. Why doncha stop by early Saturday and we’ll have you back all rested for work on Tuesday. Plus it will only cost you one bill from your pocket, so you won’t hurt your budget. And iffFFFFfff for some reason, you are not content or relaxed at the end of your stay, you have a short week before your next weekend. So, what do you think?”

BreeAnn is not good with this. She wants answers that she’s not getting. She’s about to launch another sharply worded attack when the guy outside comes in and closes the door behind him, “Really,” he says with a shrug, “It’s a good deal. You should go for it.”

BreeAnn readies another attempt when she is interrupted by Abbie, “Bree, it’s Wednesday. Think about it. I, on the other hand, think it might be fun and interesting.” She fishes money out of her pocket and hands it to Penny. The saleslady’s eyes light up for the briefest of seconds before returning to the ever-present smile.

“I. I guess I’ll give it some time and see what I think.”

-====-

Friday night arrives and BreeAnn realizes that she hasn’t given a thought since leaving the shop. Crap. Why couldn’t Abbie have bothered me this past couple of days so I could go against it. Indecisive, she decides on one thing though.

The phone rings once before her friend answers, “Yeah Bree. What’s up?”

She bites her lip not wanting to answer, “Abbie? Are you still going through with tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Abbie answers confused.

Hearing that solidifies her resolve, “Okay, see you there.”

The next morning, BreeAnn heads to the office, if the tiny room can be called that. There she finds her friend and a new decoration. On the wall is a frame containing some money. “Hey, that’s cool,” Abbie says, “That’s the money I paid you yesterday.” Then she notices her friend and continues, “See. I told you she was coming.”

“Perfect,” declares Penny after collecting Bree’s money, “Now if you’ll follow Nick, here,” she gestures to the guy who repaired the wall the other day, “he’ll get you ready for your vacation.” They start to leave when she speaks again, “Oh yes, I almost forgot. Once you get done with your vacation, if you’d be so kind as to stop by and tell us what you thought.”

With that they are finally on their way, the brown haired, nothing noteworthy Nick leading the women pulling their suitcases. They follow the sidewalk for a couple of blocks until they arrive at a box with interlocking rings and people lined up near it.

“Is that a Venn machine,” Abbie asks.

Nick nods, “Yeah, West Makerel just got it a couple of weeks ago.”

Bree turns to Abbie, “What’s a Venn machine?”

“I’m not sure,” she shrugs, “I’ve been hearing about people who want to get in them, so it can’t be all bad.”

Bree turns to Nick, a little nervous, “Is this part of our vacation?”

Being at the front of the line seems to put him at ease. He smiles. “Yes. This is my favourite part.”

The doors appear and a practically naked woman scampers to the other side to retrieve a black latex catsuit complete with ears and tail. Her enthusiasm overflows as she talks loud to the article of clothing, “You and I are going to have so much fun this weekend.”

The two women watch the stranger go, and when they look back, Nick’s hand slides down the wall from the controls. “Ladies,” he says motioning to the open door, “I’ll meet you inside.” He spins and steps through a hole that disappears leaving a solid wall instead.

Bree looks to Abbie for reassurance. Abbie shrugs and heads for the door. Remembering the door vanishing after Nick, BreeAnn hurries after her friend. Once she gets in the she spots Nick past the interface or is it in the interface she wonders.

“Don’t touch anything. I’ll take it from here.” His eyes go distant. Then his pointer finger darts around jabbing all around while he says random words. Bree can’t make sense of it all. Then he looks to the two friends again. “Okay, Ladies. See you when you get back.”

And then he disappears.

The door past the interface is open. Bree hears hurried steps before an asian head pops in. “Push the green button, please,” she orders with a sweet but strained voice. Bree finds the button and presses it while the other lady steps in the machine.

The other woman gives a small arcing wave, “Welcome to Carmeloro, BreeAnn. I’m Jen. I’m your contact here.” Apparently, the greetings are done because Jen stops looking at Bree and mutters to herself, “Now. What should I make of you?”

Startled, Bree looks around for Abbie, “What?” She quickly discovers Abbie isn’t in the room with her. What’s going on?

"Um! UM," flustered and frightened Bree tries to get the other woman's attention.

"Relax," Jen says without looking at her, "You are on vacation." She pokes in the direction of Bree, then stops and admires, "Beautiful." She sees another thing that Bree can't see, "Oooo! Better."

Another poke at the screen and Bree finds herself headed for the floor, but at the same time she sees the roof going farther away and the open door. What? Is? Going? On? She sees the woman on the other side gasp and run out of the machine.

Bree hits the floor and bounces a little before landing again. A hand that encompasses around half of herself picks her up. She then gets switched to fingers spinning her and a large eye looking close at her. Then the verdict is given. "Whew. No cracks or scratches. Not that I should expect any from a Venn machine." Then Jen mumbles to herself, "I better remember to have them placed on the floor when they change."

Just before she slips into a pocket, Bree sees a postcard with Abbie's face on it. Then darkness surrounds her. Time distorts. She feels herself being moved and grunts from what she assumes is Jen.

At last, Bree is grasped. She isn't sure how she knows this. Then her darkness changes. Tiny pinpoints of light are out there wherever there is. One last burst of movement and then she is still. Whatever she is loses its last bits of heat, not that she's cold.

Time passes or at least Bree thinks it does, the only thing she can gauge it by is those lights that creep along. At last, the black becomes a dark navy then a lightening gradient of blue. Any last nervousness Bree has, washes away as the sun rises.

Light shines on and through her illuminating her surroundings. Holding her up is a stone hand and below that a pool. Near the pool are rows of lounge chairs. Gentle waters push her up and down in the hand. In the distance, she sees foliage and sliding doors.

Uniformed workers move and swirl around the chairs. Bathing suit clad people trickle out and enjoy the amenities. Bree recognizes a few but can't place their names. Hey, it's that guy from the dinosaur movie. Oh! That's the one in the RomCom that plays opposite Alex Gemstone.

The rest of the day progresses in such a fashion. No stress, no worry, just people watching.

The sun lowers behind the hotel casting a shadow on the last of the sun bathers who file back in at their leisure. Staff return and clean up the place as lights turn on. Bree is left with a happy feeling. Man, I’m glad I let Abbie talk me into this.

Black sky greets her again. Outside lights dim. One by one, windows darken until just a few night owls are left.

Bree spots the motion active doors open again. It’s Jen! What’s she doing here? Bree watches as the one who changed her gets closer.

The doors open again. Bree watches Jen dive into the bushes. A young man ambles out, a frown on his face. With most light behind him, it’s hard to see who it is. As he walks towards the pool, Bree picks up on a repeating melody that he is humming. It takes a few rounds before Bree realizes that the music always stops at the same point.

“Hey mermaid,” he says. Bree sees his eyes looking below her.

The lights in the pool light him up and Bree sees that the person before her is Jason Silverstein! Bree wants to squeal but is unable. Still, she is excited at being able to see her favorite singer. It’s then that she realizes that she doesn’t recognize the song.

Receiving no answer from the statue he continues, “You can’t sleep, either?” He waits. “Well, maybe you can help me with this melody stuck in my head.” He hums it again, and this time another note is added to the end. “Yeah! That could work.” He looks back to the mermaid holding Bree up, “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right back.” He chuckles at his own joke and races inside.

I’m going to hear a new song by Jason Silverstein as he creates it. What other fan can say that? Bree’s elation turns to fear as she sees Jen creep out of the foliage. No, she mentally calls out, Don’t take me now!

She is saved by the doors. Jason returns with guitar in tow, and Jen retreats into the shadows again. He flops on the edge of the pool and dangles his feet in the water. Strumming on his instrument, he gets further and further through the song with each attempt. Bree is sky high in her excitement. It’s all like a dream for her. It’s too good to be true, yet it has to be true.

Lyrics join to the music. Before Bree knows it, the sun is beginning to break the horizon. Jason gets up and bows, “Thank you kind mermaid. You were an amazing muse. I should do this more often.” He leaves back into the hotel.

The sound of rustling gets Bree’s attention. A dirty, dishevelled Jen wipes her eyes as she checks her phone. “Crap. It’s almost time for my next shift.” She plucks Bree out of the mermaid’s hand and returns her to her pocket. I better get this taken care of before the staff notices my absence.”

Bouncing and movement and grunts and groans follow until she is pulled out of the pocket of the pants suit to be placed on the floor of the machine she was in before. Like before she is closed in and then human with the door on the other side open.

Jen sticks her head in again, “Green button.” Bree’s not sure, but Jen looks more messy and nasty than before. When Bree’s door doesn’t open, Jen enters dusting herself off. “Ready to go home?”

Still in the afterglow from practically meet her idol, Bree mumbles out a “Yeah.”

Jen looks at her for a moment before asking her question, “Have you used a Venn machine before?”

“What’s a Venn Machine?”

Jen tilts her head and raises an eyebrow, “What we are standing in.”

“Nope.”

“Well, if you see a cleaner, more awake version of me, touch it.” Bree’s eyes widen at the realization that all the images of Jen do something. She tries her best.

Jen slows her hands gestures until she stops and looks at Bree, “Ready?” She nods. “Good. Press the green button again.” Jen becomes like the one Bree picked. The suits not exactly the same, but it’s pretty close. “Thanks!” And then she disappears.

-======-

Nick pokes his head in, “Red button.” Bree tries but bumps into Abbie. Both move around and manage to push the button. The opening appears and they exit.

Nick smiles and greets them, “Welcome back ladies. I hope you won’t mind stopping back at our office and give us your thoughts on your vacation.”

The girls say as one, “Sure.”

They stop by where a still smiling Penny meets them and hands them comment cards. “Thank you for stopping by. So, what did you think of your vacation.”

“It was amazing,” Bree gushes.

For once, Abbie isn’t more excited than Bree, “I saw famous people and I’m relaxed and ready for work tomorrow.”

Bree grimaces, “Work’s tomorrow?” Abbie nods. “Okay. After this weekend, I can face it.”

“Stop by anytime for another Vacation with the Stars,” Penny calls out after them still trying to make a sale.

Out of earshot as the girls walk to their cars, “So what do you think?”

“It was worth it. We should go back. You?”

“I agree. But you know what this place really needs?”

“A better name,” they agree.