“Hello again, how was that game for you?” he asked in that deep timber of his.
“Perfectly fine, thank you. I have some chips to add to my collection.” I picked up the pace to see if he would do the same.
Four long steps for me equalled just one for him, so he didn’t have to change pace at all. “What’s next, the roulette table?” he asked.
I slowed my pace down. “Why don’t you just ask me out for a drink? That would probably solve your frustrations a lot easier.”
Another one of the security guards greeted Ink and stopped him.
I used the opportunity to get away from him and do exactly as he thought I would. I moved over to the roulette table in another room.
A decent amount of people were on the table, so I took advantage of the crowd and placed my bet on black seven, red nine and on the line for 30. I never put my chips on the diamonds closest to me as it was easy for me to slide a chip forward without the dealer noticing.
The rolling sound of the ball hit the wheel as all of us watched the turn of our fate in the hands of a silver ball. No luck for me on the first roll. I put my chips forward and the dealer put his hand up. Another person asked for more chips in the middle of my betting request. I discreetly maneuvered a new chip into the mix. The ball whirred around the wheel again and this time landed in my favor legitimately.
No need to cheat. What a bummer.
My eyes dipped out to the sides of the table. No Ink. Maybe he was still caught up with that person who stopped him. I rehoned my focus back onto the table in front of me. The next ball drop wasn’t so kind and I lost it. I went for the post bet and the dealer missed it as another patron attempted to do the same time. When I looked at the woman with blonde hair I could see the confusion in her eyes.
“That lady right there tried to place a bet. You can’t do that?” She had a real southern twang.
“No, ma’am, you cannot. You have to place your bet at the start before I begin spinning the wheel,” the croupier indicated.
The lady with the blonde hair looked at me as if I had no idea about the rule and was passing on something genius. “Did you hear that?” She smiled as she gave me a pitiful look.
“Uh-huh, I heard thank you,” I pressed my lipsticked mouth together.
Hurry up Jaz. He’s going to be coming any minute now.
Little beads of sweat were forming on my upper lip. I just knew it. I could feel them there. I wiped them away with the back of my hand as the ocean of sound in my chest got louder. The ball rolled around again and I won. A fluke. I collected my 300 dollars and felt the pulsating energy of Ink.
“Ah, I knew you wouldn’t be far away. Good for you catching up like that,” I said.
“Jaz, you are full of surprises,” Ink admitted.
“Why do you say that? You seem to have a few surprises up your sleeve yourself.”
Ink was throwing the gas on my competitive spirit and we were locked in a back and forth battle. It would be a run to the finish line to see who would win it.
“I do, and some of them involve you, Jaz.”
“Do you want to talk these plans over at the bar? I love the gin and tonic they make here. We can have a chat about it. What do you think?” I dropped my lashes at him as the heat of his anger radiated at me. He was having a hard time trying to contain the fireball within him and I liked it.
“Are you flirting with me right now? Is that what you’re doing, Jaz?”
Thick tension enveloped the air between us. We were locked in a stalemate, circling one another like vultures.
“Is that what you think I’m doing?” I asked seductively.
“Yes, that is what I think you’re doing. Jaz, where are you from? Why did you come here to Holbeck? I would have thought with your card shark abilities, you’d be suited to Vegas.”
The music of the slot machines played in the background, the tunes forever etched into my brain from the years working casinos all along the eastern seaboard. The crowd flowed all around us.
Ink took his eye off the ball for a moment and checked out the security camera above the next table I desperately wanted to hit. It was a blackjack game with six people at the table. One of them I recognized as the Chinese man from the high roller room.
If I had known I would be under such heavy scrutiny from Ink, I would have played the high roller room for back to back nights. While he quickly looked away I slipped from his eyesight and onto the table. I heard him press the button on the side of his shoulder.
“Yes. I’m at the northern wing, right near the bar… Okay, I’ll be right there.”