Rosyln's Casino Royale

Their train home would leave in 10 minutes but neither of them were ready to end the evening. They were too alight with excitement to give up their night on the town, and too tipsy to see any wisdom in an early night‘s sleep. As they each scanned their surroundings for an excuse to continue their festivities, their eyes converged on the flashing lights of the Casino. The warm light over the red carpet beckoned them inside with the promise of thrill and perhaps some riches. Near the entrance several large screens portrayed the inside of the establishment, showing several large rooms filled with slot machines, pool tables, and tables of blackjack, roulette and poker.

The patrons of the casino were all wealthy (or keeping up appearances). Most of the men (who made up the majority of the crowd) were dressed in three piece suits. The women wore fine silk gowns, up-market cocktail dresses, and fur coats. Roslyn looked at Daniel as he looked at her. Daniel had worn a grey two-piece suit for their engagement dinner but much to her chagrin he hadn’t bothered to shave. A thin line of stubble, coupled with a shaggy mess of curly hair (she ordinarily adored) threatened to bar them from the venue. Roslyn on the other hand was pulling her weight.

As a PhD student, Roslyn made very little money, and what she did make was largely eaten up by food and rent. Despite these limitations, adorning her this evening was a shoulder-less navy bow-trim satin dress with a red ribbon wrapping around her waist. Roslyn’s auburn hair rolled in waves past her rosy cheeks and scarlet red lipstick (a shade chosen to match her ribbon) into the deep blue of her dress. Her neckline plunged between her breasts. They usually needed some encouragement to come together, which was provided by several lace knots tying up her cleavage. As a result she’d decided against a bra. Her side set breasts, which often relied on some infrastructure to prop them up, sunk slightly into the bust of the dress. The material around her nipples was thick enough that she wasn’t concerned about taking someone’s eye out. The fabric reached to just above her knees with a slit climbing up her left thigh. Completing the look was a light open cashmere cardigan to cover her arms and shoulders if the night grew cold, and red thigh-high boots to match the ribbon. Only a small sliver of her thighs were visible between the bottom of the dress and the top of her boots.

Earlier in the evening, her boyfriend (while he was not yet a fiancée) drank her up with his eyes. He could hardly believe such an outfit was possible with her salary. Her secret, which Roslyn happily shared to anyone who asked, was an enviable knack for thrift shopping. Her whole ensemble cost her under fifty, yet she felt like a million dollars.

It wasn’t a perfect fit, as is almost always the case with thrifting. The zip at her back clipped tightly into her, causing some skin near the center of her back to fold in. The dress also clung a little tightly around her midsection, highlighting a small belly bulge her mum teased her about but Daniel claimed to adore. Her cheeks often burned a bright pink, causing many a friend, relative, or patronizing male superior to give her the nickname rosy Roslyn. Tonight she had chosen to lean into this look, and had blended in a light blush into her foundation.

Two security guards flanked the entrance into the inner sanctum of the Casino. A line of would-be patrons accumulated in the foyer, forming a haphazard queue in front of the large screens. Fluttering with excitement, and blinded by feel-good endorphins that only imagined success in their future, they joined the crowd and waited optimistically to be admitted.

By the time the line had thinned out, some of the tipsy excitement was wearing off. Thoughts of thrilling encounters with Lady Luck, and the butterflies of engagement gave way to more mundane realities. Roslyn would need to wake up early in the morning to help some of her masters students run experiments in the lab. Daniel also had a business trip to pack for, and a flight in the early afternoon of the following day.

As the minutes ticked on the zebrafish embryos Roslyn was studying swam through her minds eye, crowding out thoughts of high stakes poker, and daring roulette. She could talk for hours about zebrafish genetics and how important (and applicable!) it was to human physiology. But with her thesis due in only a couple of months, the beautiful striped fish had become a harbinger of stress more than a curiosity in her thoughts. Before her anxieties about unfinished experiments and incomplete data threw her into a tailspin, the herd thinned out and they were standing in front of two burly security guards in sharp black suits and ties.

The guard on the left displayed a long elegant beard that had been neatly woven into braids almost long enough to touch his belly button. On the right stood a guard who was completely bald without out a hair to be seen. While both were intimidating from a distance, their quirky juxtaposition and not unfriendly gaze made them much less scary up close. The bearded guard sorted through Roslyn and Daniel’s appearance, while the bald guard remained silent. After a few seconds the bearded man broke the tension.

“You can go in,” gesturing to Roslyn.

“You’re out,” he pointed a wayward thumb to Daniel. For a second Roslyn was relieved. The stresses of the morrow had gradually sunken into her, and the world of fish, experiments and lab coats had drowned out any possibilities the Casino presented. But Daniel chose instead to put up a fight.

“Please mate, we just got engaged,” Daniel grabbed her hand and waved the large diamond ring in front of the bearded man’s face.

The man looked back at him incredulous. For a second Daniel shrunk back under the searching gaze of the security guard.

“You didn’t shave for your engagement?”

“She likes it like this,” Daniel shot back, tripping over the first syllable.

This was partially true. She had on occasion appreciated his more rugged appearance and the scratch of his stubble on her soft cheeks. But on this occasion she agreed with the bouncer. A proposal is a pretty significant event. They had already taken nearly three dozen photos of each other. Though she had not voiced any complaint, she had wished Daniel had made a bit more effort in his appearance today of all days. Especially since she suspected her appreciation of Daniel’s stubble was less decisive than his own laziness in how he chose to present himself.

Roslyn looked up at the security guard, swallowed her small truth, and gently agreed with Daniel’s claim.

The bearded guard gave her a look that bordered between apologetic and disappointment.

“Alright, you lovebirds enjoy,” he sighed and stood to the side allowing both Daniel and Roslyn into the Casino. As she walked past Roslyn heard the bald guard mutter to her or himself it was not clear.

“If was this I wouldn’t settle for that”. Roslyn gulped and hoped Daniel hadn’t heard, even though she quietly blushed from the compliment.

Roslyn took pride in her appearance, though her path to body positivity was not always an easy one. She wasn’t as thin as the women in commercials, but she felt lucky with the skin she was born into. Over the years she’s obsessed over whether her face was symmetrical, if her nipples were the right width apart, if the skin around her vulva was the right color, and 500 other things the girls and women around her constantly discussed or lamented. She did not pass every beauty test she found in magazines, but she felt beautiful more often than not. With a small spring in her step, she hopped forward into the Casino grabbing Daniel’s hand.

“No handbags in the Casino,” the bearded guard cut in once more.

“But I haven’t got any pockets,” Roslyn patted down her waist to better demonstrate the dilemma.

“Sorry, it’s policy, all bags, umbrellas and accessories must be left in the lockers. I can give you a ticket so you can get your stuff back upon exit.”

Roslyn shook her head. “Fine,” she muttered. She pulled off her cardigan and stuffed it inside her handbag. The bag was the weakest part of her overall look so she was happy enough to part with it, but without the bag she felt naked. She had nowhere to keep her purse, or her phone. She decided the lesser evil would be to go without for a just a little while. God knew she spent enough time on her phone as is. She handed over her bag to guard her took it into the cloakroom before returning with a ticket. Roslyn passed the ticket from the guard along to Daniel who tucked it away in his wallet.