Agree on a budget

Once inside the rush of excitement washed back over them. The sounds of life coming from electrifying card games, the ring of the slot machines and the movement of chips, cards, drinks and people injected them both with all the energy they had lost over the past twenty minutes and some to spare. A waiter offered them both champagne and they partook gladly. With a cheers they downed the two glasses and searched the velvet room for their first attraction.

As responsible young professionals they first agreed to their budget for the evening. Daniel offered to supply them both with fifty dollars to gamble with. She made some initial noises to pay her own way but eventually acquiesced to his offer. Daniel’s high flying corporate world was far more lucrative that the government grants Roslyn was subsisting on. He joked politely ‘What’s mine is yours’ as he handed her the money. A surge of electricity tingled through her as she poked at the diamond on her finger. It might not have been much money, but Roslyn’s outfit was a testament to how far a fifty could take you.

However, it seemed her skills in thrift shopping did not translate to luck at dice. Within 15 minutes she had lost half her money to roulette. Meanwhile Daniel had bee-lined it straight for the card games. He had always loved to play, and had poker nights with his high school friends once every few months. Roslyn joined in semi-regularly, and while she had a decent understanding of the rules and could keep a decent mental map of the unplayed deck, her inability to lie, and read lies in return prevented her from every really excelling. Daniel on the other hand was a maestro with his words and expressions but mixed up the value of a flush and a straight half as often as he remembered it.

While Daniel warmed up with some small Blackjack success, Roslyn reclaimed some lost funds from the slot machines. With about thirty dollars to spend she joined Daniel in the cards section for some more Blackjack. She gave away another ten on more cocktails to share with Daniel. Daniel had made twenty on top of his original fifty, and sought out a table full of distinguished men and women playing poker. Before he joined in, he winked at Roslyn and whispered in her ear. “With any luck I might be able to earn us a honeymoon from these types” before taking a seat at the table.

Newly tipsy from the latest round of drinks, Roslyn went into a game of BlackJack with an unearned confidence that came free with her sunny disposition. Within another fifteen minutes she was all out of money. She found Daniel again, and found him embroiled in a fiercely serious table. Around him sat four other that would not have felt out of place in a painting from the 1920s. An older woman in a purple dress, a fur coat and white feathered hat sat to Daniel’s left. To his right was the dealer, a young south-asian woman, likely still under 20 years old, wearing the stripped Casino uniform that revealed more of her skin than might have been expected from an establishment this distinguished. Her sleevelessness could be justified as an anti-tampering measure, but the rest of the tight fitting leotard could not so easily be explained. Despite her outfit, she was deathly serious of her role, giving absolutely nothing away. Her focus on the deck of cards in her hand was absolute. She shuffled them efficiently, thoroughly and without flair, dealing out cards with such **** Roslyn was half intimidated. Opposite Daniel were two men. One of them was in his fifties, wearing a beige three piece suit, and a bushy grey handlebar mustache of the same caliber as the eyebrows framing his face. The other man held her attention after she first took note of Daniel’s opponents. Likely only a few years older than herself and Daniel, his presence commanded the table as might be expected of a more seasoned patron. While everyone in the Casino was in formal wear, the younger man opposite Daniel seemed almost overdressed. Unlike Daniel the man was clean shaven, with dark black sweeping over his head like tidal wave. A sharp jaw punctured the air around him and he looked up from the cards with an intensity that stole Roslyn’s breath. His eyes blazed a deep green that reminded any caught in its grasp of untamed wilderness and dark forests. His suit shared this shade of green, that would have looked out of place on anyone but him. Beneath his jacket, he wore a cool brown vest that enhanced his forested aura, and a scarlet tie that put his features into stark contrast. Upon his wrist he wore a brass watch that she could guess cost more than her degree. He caught Roslyn’s gaze lingering upon him and she quickly looked away. Without needing any explanation she knew the wealth at this table was indeed enough to pay for her and Daniel’s honeymoon many times over.

“Does anyone mind if my fiancé pulls up a chair” Daniel asked around the table.

“I’m out of money,” she whispered to Daniel.

“…To watch,” he added.

The dealer stared at her with a neutral ferocity that she could not interpret. The older gentleman grumbled acquiescence while the older woman in the fur coat smiled politely. The green-eyed man held her eyes for a breathless moment that felt both devoid and brimming with meaning. She pulled up a chair to Daniel’s left, between himself and the older woman. She tried to put as much space between herself and the dealer as she could. Behind the green-eyed man lay the velvety walls of the casino, as they played in a corner away from the commotion of less serious games. Behind Rosalyn and Daniel lay the commotion of waiters and waitresses moving back and forth with drinks, and drunken patrons moving between games. Despite the noise, all their attention was absorbed by the game, and Roslyn sat down she felt herself too become enmeshed in consuming pull of the table. A chill ran across her arms and she missed her cardigan for a moment. While it might only be fifty dollars at stake for Daniel, she understood that much more could be gained (or lost) depending on how he played his cards.