Chapter Eight: Playing with Fire
Jaz
The decadence of the high roller room made me feel in good company, where I really belonged. After my date with Ink, which gave me unexpected feelings for the man, I felt unsettled. I wanted to not like him, so I could play with him more, but my heart told me otherwise.
I diverted my attention back to the room and looked around. The Mahogany room was quieter, more chill, and with more classy people in it. A stark contrast to the squawking of the common folk downstairs on the ground floor. To match the mood of the room, I wore a floor length dress. If you didn’t know me any better, you would think I was a lounge singer in Vegas. I slunk around the room, making my way to the bar. My chips were ready and I wanted to throw down the gauntlet. As I swirled the liquor in my hand I thought about how my drinking had increased since I’d been in Holbeck.
Part of it had been for the benefit of relaxation, the other for dodging old memories trying to gain air. I pushed them back down only to be triggered at a later date. I hadn’t lied when I said to Ink that I spoke to my parents every day, even though they were dead. I was communicating with the dead, not the living.
I swanned around to find a table that intrigued me. On it sat a large man with a handlebar moustache, a large belly, a big belt buckle his fingers were looped into, and a double chin. His laugh just big and burly like him. He was entertaining people at the roulette table and they were laughing with him, and at him. There were about six people and no Ink. This felt like my time to shine.
I slunk over to the table.
He immediately noticed me and he sniffed dramatically. “What’s that beautiful smell, darlin’? Wait a minute, is that jasmine?”
“Yes, it is. How did you know?”
The others at the table were watching the interaction as the dealer nodded.
I slid my chips into place. My gut told me to put all the chips in the latter squares. 30 red, 20 black, and one on the line 28 red.
“My late wife used to wear that scent.” He sounded like a Texan, his drawl heavy.
“I’m so sorry to hear that. You seem to be doing well tonight.” I zoomed my eyes to the three tall stacks of chips in front of him.
“I haven’t even got started yet. This is a little warm-up.” When the man grinned, his belly vibrated with him.
“Ahh. Righhhtt.” It killed me when these cocky players thought they could run the show. My competitive juices were fired up as I placed my drink in front of me and tapped the glass with my false nails.
The little ball jumped around.
The croupiers in the high roller room were a lot more diligent than the others down on the floor. Being here required full attention to the task at hand and I felt more than up for the challenge. The Texan watched me through the corner of his eye, so to get him off me, I decided to play it straight and take the burden of losing and not cheating.
I won straight up with no wrangling the system.
The man’s eyes were unsmiling; greed shone through them as his lips curled up. His eyes were cold and dark.
I knew this was a silent battle to be won between us. I picked a mixture of numbers and waited for the croupier to do her thing.
“You’ve been up here before? I haven’t seen you around. I would remember a pretty woman like you.” The man was showing a fake-friendly face, but his smile was more like a hyena baring its teeth.
“I would remember you too, but it appears we haven’t met before.”
He chuckled as the game kept going. I’d made the man uneasy.
I picked my spots again, and this time, I picked all low numbers on the board, and all black. I observed what the man was selecting; he’d picked the opposite of me with all high numbers and the color red.
The croupier spun the roulette wheel as the little ball bounced around.
I waited for it to land.
By some stroke of magic, I won the first three numbers that the ball came out with. I was on some sort of winning streak.
The large Texan man appeared to be rather upset by it all. “How did you know that? All black too? What is going on?” The man’s face turned a different color.
Inside, I was laughing, but I didn’t dare show it on the outside. I collected my money and my stack grew taller. I couldn’t cheat if I wanted to, because the large man kept staring at me. I looked at the door and didn’t see a security guard that I knew. Still, no Ink. He hadn’t come looking for me which was a shame.
The next game started and I received a reprieve as an elegant couple parked themselves between me and the Texan man. This would be my opportunity to put on a show. I knew where all the cameras were in the room, I didn’t dare look up at them. If I did, it would lead the casino to know I was cheating. I played with my colors this time. One on the black diamond, three large stacks of chips on the red 25, two stacks of chips on 18 black and two chips on the line of 15 black.