Poker Players Arrive (Marcus)

Finding something to wear was difficult. As the day went on she was starting to feel resentful of the man. He had managed to exploit the free use concept to turn her into a rent-a-wife. When this all started she expected someone who would maybe come over four or five times. They’d have sex and leave. She didn’t plan to have a group of men over playing poker and smoking cigars in her apartment. He didn’t deserve her prettiest dress. He didn’t deserve her sexiest lingerie.

In the end, that’s what she bitterly wore. Nicole had put on a little bit of weight since she last wore the lingerie. Putting on the panties under the garter would have been more comfortable, but she was starting to understand him. “Easy access,” she whispered as she committed to wearing her panties on the outside. Plus, she hoped it meant they could have a quickie after his poker friends left and she could get to sleep. She wanted to bring her A game to Kennedy and Tabitha’s PowerPoint Party.

The man arrives 20 minutes before the other men are set to arrive. Nicole is starting the sloppy joe meat on the stove. He steps behind her and wraps an arm around her waist. Kissing her on the top of her head he says “hey, slut, you cleaned up nice. You wearing something sexy for me under that pretty dress?”

“Yes,” she says, stirring the meat. The moment felt very weird to Nicole. Domestic. Like a husband coming home to his wife. She was pretty sure she hated it.

His hands grope her breasts. “Your tits look great tonight. Love the v-cut of the dress,” he says “but you need to go put on some heels. Those shoes won’t do.”

Nicole had selected practical flats. She didn’t like wearing heels around the apartment. “I need to keep preparing dinner,” she says.

He squeezes her breasts harder. “I’ll finish this. You need to look 100 percent while taking care of my buds.” He releases her breast and slaps her ass to send her on her way. “And for tonight, call me cute pet names like ‘honey,’ okay?”

Nicole can’t help but groan and roll her eyes. “Yes...honey,” she replies and stomps upstairs to find a suitable pair of heels.

She returns wearing a pair of pumps she’d purchased one week before the first pandemic lockdown. Nicole was so focused on her new job that she wasn’t dating much. When she finally decided to get back into the game the first thing she did was buy these heels - and then the world stopped. He certainly didn’t deserve how good the heels made her legs look, but safer slipping them on she was happy to finally put them to use. Although she almost immediately wished she’d taken the time to break them in.

Nicole is surprised to find the man had already moved the sloppy joe serving bowl, placed burger buns on a plate, and put out condiments, plates, napkins, and silverware. There were five places set.

“Did you eat?” he asks when she comes into the room. His eyes roam up and down her body. She hated that she felt flattered by his ogling.

“No, not yet. I was waiting for all of you.”

He shakes his head. “You should grab something now. I did this work for you, but you’ll be on call standing in the corner for the rest of the night.”

Nicole clenches her fists. She wants to yell that she isn’t a maid but keeps it inside. Whatever, a couple of hours. It would be fine. She goes to help herself to the food on the table and he stops her. “Woah, woah. You made this for us.”

She looks at him with daggers. That bushy beer grins.

There are only 10 minutes before his friends are supposed to arrive, so she opens the fridge and grabs a three-day-old box of Chinese takeout and eats it cold. No grown woman has ever so clearly expressed resentful petulance while chewing food. The man seems to relish it as he sets up the deck of cards while chuckling to himself.

The doorbell rings.

“Showtime,” the man says and leans back in one of the five chairs at her round dining table. “Politely greet my guests, but remember this is a guy’s night, so I expect you to behave, do what you’re told, and speak only when spoken to.” The daggers shooting from her eyes turn into swords, but she understands there’s no turning back now. Composing herself, she looks in the mirror of the compact she keeps on the kitchen table and makes sure nothing is stuck in her teeth. That’s followed by an annoyed huff while brushing at her dress to make sure it looks nice. And she forces a bright welcoming smile.

The Poker Players

Kevin

The first man she greets she’d later come to know as Kevin. He wasn’t what she was expecting of the man’s friends. He’s likely also in his 40s but in much better shape. His head is shaven bald and he wears what look like an expensive pair of Oliver Peoples frames. He wears a sports jacket over a handsome shirt that’s unbuttoned at the top. A scent of lavender precedes him into the room. Nicole tries to shake his hand and introduce herself. He ignores the outstretched hand and simply sucks air in through his teeth. Coldly, he says “I know who you are” He walks straight past her to the table.

Ralph

The second man to arrive is in line with what Nicole expected of the guests. His hair is unkempt and a little greasy looking. He wears well-worn acid-washed jeans and a black denim jacket. The back is covered with symbolic patches of which the only one she recognizes is an Iron Cross. He has chunky work boots which are caked in mud. Unlike the previous man, he accepts Nicole’s greeting and holds her hand tightly with both hands. “Ralph,” he says with a raspy voice. “So you’re the piece of ass Huck won’t shut up about.” His eyes never meet Nicole’s eyes. Like his hands clutching her hand they linger much too long on her chest. Nicole doesn’t know what’s more unsettling, him calling her a piece of ass to her face, the revelation that the man’s name might be ‘Huck,’ or the way he licks his lips.

“Ralph!” The man, Huck, bellows from the dining table. “Remember the agreement.”

Nicole is thankful when the creepy man releases her hand and goes to the table. The entire time his head turned, staring at her. She shudders. He whispers something to the two other men at the table.

Chet

The third guest looks like he went to a Motley Crue concert 20 years ago and hasn’t changed out of those clothes since. “Oh hey, I’m Chet,” he says ignoring Nicole’s clear attempt to give her a handshake and instead gives her back an awkward fistbump. He has shoulder-length, clearly dyed black hair. He doesn’t take off his sunglasses even though the sun has set. “Damn,” he says, tipping his glasses down and looking over the tops. He laughs, “damn, damn. Hell yeah,” and he proceeds to head to the table. He says to the group “Huck, man, she ain’t homely at all you dog.”

Vincent

The fourth and final man to arrive is surprisingly around Nicole’s age. If you were to somehow combine all of the other men into one person he would somehow be the opposite of all those traits. He’s scrawny and pale. His hair was hidden under a ball cap with an old-school Nintendo controller on it. He’s dressed in a t-shirt with Japanese writing on it. When Nicole reaches out her hand it’s almost as if he’s scared of her. “Oh, um, h-hi, my name’s Vincent,” he takes her hand and barely grips it. “I, um, my Uncle invited me. He thought...”

“VINCENT!” Huck yells cutting him off. “Get over here and stop harassing the girl. We’re waiting for you to start.”

Of all the men to walk through her door tonight he was the least harassing of the bunch.

“Oh god, you invited Vincent again? Can I fold now?” Chet says clearly not caring if Vincent can hear.

Huck laughs. “Yeah, yeah. Kyle’s still in the hospital and it sucks playing with four people. Besides, tonight’s a good night for Vince to join us.” He then looks up. “Baby, frosty round of beers to start things off. And one for yourself.”

“Yes...honey,” Nicole says. She fills the new beer steins she purchased just for him with the beers she purchased just for him.

Not so Great for Huck

Nicole quickly understands her role. Much of the game she spends standing in the corner behind Huck. She’s supposed to clear the table of empty plates, keep snacks coming, light cigars, and fill the empty beer steins. The only horrible thing about the first hour is she’s in the line of sight of Ralph. When he isn’t looking at his cards his eyes are fixed squarely on her breasts. It stops her from ever being able to completely fade away into the background, so she spends much of her time staring into her beer mug and drinking it faster than she normally would.

From the banter around the table, she pieces together most of the relationship. Ralph is one of Huck’s oldest high school friends. She’s surprised to learn he owns Dan’s Adult World on the other side of town. She never would have figured him out as an entrepreneur of any sort. A frequent sex shop customer, maybe, but not an owner.

Chet and Huck work for the same construction company. Huck, she’s surprised to ascertain, is a construction foreman, but due to recent labor shortages, he’s been putting in more labor than usual. Chet is one of the team’s crane operators.

Vincent, as she already learned, is Huck’s nephew. He hates being called Vinnie, which Huck makes sure to call him every chance he gets. Vincent is a year out of college and in programming. He talks a big game about crypto. It sounds like he was originally invited because Huck thought he’d be bad at cards, but he ended up being better than expected. He cleaned Chet out during the previous game he attended. Huck keeps making jokes about “Vinnie the Virgin.” It clearly irritates Vincent.

Kevin, however, is a puzzle. He barely speaks. He’s only finished his first beer when the rest of the men are getting to the bottom of their second round. Twice Nicole catches him staring at her. Both times his mouth twitches like he has a tick when she makes eye contact. Somehow it makes her even more uncomfortable than Ralph’s eyes trying to bore through her dress.

Nicole doesn’t know poker well, but as the game goes on she can tell Huck isn’t doing well. He folds more often than all of the other players. On the other hand, the other four men seem to be performing equally well.

After the first hour, they take a break. Nicole uses the opportunity to use the upstairs bathroom and freshen up. She takes a moment to sit on the edge of the bed and rest her feet. It was a lot of work standing in brand new heels for that long. As she sits on the bed she hears voices outside. It’s Huck and Kevin. She sits closer to the window and listens in.

“You didn’t have to lose that much money,” Kevin says.

Huck laughs. “Eh, there was a point when it looked like Vinnie might be on a winning streak so I had to start messing up the flow to give an advantage to Ralph and Chet. I wasn’t worried about you.”

“Hm. If the rest of the night goes as you suggested you’re going to make six times as much at the warehouse in two weeks.”

“I’ll be shocked if I’m wrong, but I don’t think I am. Do you think the other guys figured out I was working the table in their favor?”

Kevin laughs. “Fuck no. Inviting Vincent was a brilliant move. It kept Chet too on edge to worry about anyone else.”

“That’s only part of the reason I brought the kid. I think the rest of the night is going to be good for him.” He pauses and takes a drag of his cigarette. “And if it isn’t good for him it’s going to be freakin’ hilarious for us.” He slaps Kevin on the arm. “Either way, you’re not going to be disappointed. Now let’s get inside and up the ante.”

Nicole whispers “holy shit, they’re scamming the other guys at the table!” Although she can’t figure out how Huck losing to them equally would be a benefit. And what was that about a warehouse? Nicole, two beers into the night, finds herself feeling curious about this mystery. While she was previously a little resentful about being a fly-on-the-wall servant she was now eager to get back downstairs to see if she could figure out the plan. Finally, the night was going to be moderately entertaining for her.