Premonition

Chapter #9: A Little Luck...

***15 hours later, 9pm. Saturday night***

Once Keiji and Sarah had exhausted themselves with any and all possible situations of blackjack, they took a quick break. Sarah bought something to eat for the both of them and they happily indulged themselves as a reward for their hard work. Keiji was the first to shower and start getting ready for the gala as he had not showered since his time in the hospital. Sarah had a spare suit in her closet from her previous boyfriend, who she wasn’t currently with anymore. It fit Keiji perfectly, and looked good to. The blue suit accentuated his eyes, and he did up his long hair in a ponytail. Sarah took the que to match her brother with light blue dress as well, and combed her pixie cut. As Keiji put on his shades, he sat on the couch in the living room waiting for his sister. As she came out, she brought up her hands in a thumbs up – questioningly.

“Looks good sis,” Keiji complimented her. “We definitely look like a pair.”

“Awesome,” Sarah said. “Let’s run down the plan again…”

“So, I’ll be choosing a playing table that doesn’t many people,” Keiji said. “This is in effect because I don’t have much practice playing with more than just me and the dealer. Since I can only see 3 cards ahead, playing with more people will decrease my chances at winning.”

“We need a big payout tonight Keiji, so concentrate. Hopefully we can win what we owe in one go,” Sarah said. “And make sure no one sees your eyes…keep those shades on.”

“Sure thing sis,” Keiji said. “Where will you be?”

“I’ll be standing behind you. I can’t do much when you’re playing, but I can make sure no one disturbs us,” Sarah said.

“Ok,” Keiji said. “I’m ready to go whenever you’re ready.”

“Let’s head out,” Sarah said. As the two siblings left the apartment and Sarah locked the door to her cabin, they headed to her car. Many cars were out at this time and it took them almost 45 minutes to arrive at the casino. Once parking, the two exited the car and waited in line outside the casino for another 5 minutes. It was around this time, Sarah started getting nervous. Keiji noticed and addressed this as they were waiting in line.

“You ok sis?” Keiji said. Sarah sighed and responded.

“I am….it’s just I spotted my friend from the 3rd floor. We haven’t talked in a while and if she sees me, she will for sure join us,” Sarah lamented.

“Hopefully she….oh man she’s coming over,” Keiji said. Keiji nudged his sister, and she perked up.

“Sarah! Sarah! It’s me Stacy!” said a short blonde woman.

“Stacy! How are you?” Sarah said.

“Good! I just came tonight to have a bit of fun. Work has been very hectic for us on the 3rd floor. How’s your leave of absence?” Stacy said. Keiji did a double take when he heard leave of absence. ‘When did Sarah take a leave I wonder?’ thought Keiji. Sarah stammered for a bit, then continued talking.

“Ohhh!...yes…well it’s going good. I left work for a bit because I needed to take care of my brother,” Sarah explained. “In actuality, he’s with me tonight.” Sarah gestered to Keiji who gave a quick nod to Stacy and outstretched his hand.

“Very nice to meet you Stacy,” Keiji said.

“You as well,” Stacy said. “I didn’t catch your name?....”

“It’s Keiji,” Keiji said with a small smile.

“Well Keiji, don’t mind me, but I think good old Sarah here might need some help with playing tonight. You know she doesn’t have a good record of playing at the casino, right?” Stacy said. Sarah looked embarrassedly to Stacy.

“Yeah…..I know….that’s why I brought Keiji,” Sarah said. “We’ve actually been practicing blackjack.”

“What a coincidence! I came to play blackjack as well!” Stacy said with delight. “You both don’t mind if I join you do you?” Sarah gave a quick frown to Keiji, who gave a quick nod of confidence to Sarah – indicating it would be alright. Sarah let out a breath, and spoke to Stacy.

“Sure Stacy, you can join us,” Sarah said.

“Awesome,” Stacy said. As soon as the 3 of them entered the casino and had began walking to a table, Keiji and Sarah lagged behind Stacy so they were out of earshot.

“You sure you can handle this bro?” Sarah said concernedly. “This wasn’t part of the plan.”

“I don’t want to be mean and turn down your friend. Plus, I should be fine. It’s just going to take a little luck…” Keiji said.

“Ok,” Sarah said. “It’s all you.” With that the party of 3, Keiji, Sarah, and Stacy looked for a table to play at.