Chapter 5: Too Many Drinks
1639 Words
"Ten million dollars?"
I couldn't stop myself from saying the words.
For a moment, the poker room was strangely quiet.
Everyone at the table looked at me.
"Please tell me that's fake money," Lara said in a low voice.
I took a deep breath.
"It doesn't look fake."
Adrian, on the other hand, didn't seem to care at all.
Like stacks of chips worth millions were just another normal Tuesday.
One of the men at the table laughed.
He leaned back in his chair and said, "Well, Adrian, your guests look surprised."
Adrian looked back at me.
He looked calm. Almost funny.
"Is this your first time in a high-stakes room?" he asked.
I crossed my arms.
"First time I've seen ten million dollars on a table like it's pocket change."
Lara raised her hand in a dramatic way.
"Same."
The guys at the table laughed.
The person who had spoken before stood up and held out a hand to Adrian.
He said to the others, "Gentlemen, the night just got more interesting."
Adrian shook his hand for a short time.
"You began without me."
"You were late."
"I had other things to do."
The man looked at me for a second.
"I can see that."
I moved around uncomfortably because of the attention.
Adrian pointed to the empty chair in front of him.
"You saved me a seat."
"Yes," the man said. "You always bring fun."
Adrian sat down slowly, fixing his jacket as if he were getting ready for something very normal.
Then he pointed at Lara and me in a casual way.
"Women, you can sit behind me if you want."
Lara's eyes got bigger.
"Oh my God."
Before I could say anything, she grabbed my arm and pulled me to the back of Adrian's chair.
"That's crazy," she said quietly.
"Completely crazy."
A server came up to us with a tray of drinks right away.
Glasses made of crystal.
Bottles that cost a lot.
The kind of alcohol that probably cost more than my rent for a month.
Adrian didn't even look up from the table.
He said, "Two more glasses."
"To them."
The server nodded.
Lara and I got drinks within seconds.
I looked at the glass with the golden liquid in it.
"What's this?"
Lara said, "Whisky," and she sniffed hers. "The nice kind."
Adrian glanced back for a moment.
"Twenty-five years."
I almost choked.
"Of course it is."
The dealer shuffled the cards with smooth, practiced moves.
The soft sound filled the space.
The man across from Adrian then spoke again.
"Let's get started."
The cards were dealt.
Stacks of chips moved across the table easily.
I tried to keep up with what was going on, but the numbers were too much.
50,000.
Two hundred thousand.
Five hundred thousand.
They said the amounts like someone would talk about getting coffee.
Lara leaned in closer.
"Are we really watching people bet on houses?"
"Houses?" I said quietly. "That's whole neighbourhoods."
Without thinking, Adrian put a stack of chips in front of him.
His face never changed.
Be calm.
Concentrated.
Too sure of themselves.
A player laughed.
"You always play like you know how it will end."
Adrian looked up.
"Maybe I do."
I drank some of my whisky.
The burn was both sharp and warm.
More powerful than the margaritas we had before.
Lara held her glass up to me.
"To bad choices in life."
I hit mine against hers.
"To Vegas."
The game went on.
Stacks got bigger.
Stacks went away.
At one point, Adrian pushed almost two million chips into the middle of the table.
My heart almost stopped.
"Is he crazy?" I said it in a whisper.
Lara looked on in awe.
"I think he might be."
The cards were shown.
Adrian was the winner.
Like that.
A huge pile of chips slid toward him.
The other players groaned.
"Unbelievable," one of them said under their breath.
Adrian hardly reacted.
He just put the chips in a neat pile.
The server filled our glasses again.
And once more.
The room's tension started to fade at some point.
The drinks kept coming.
Lara started talking to one of the players behind us.
I laughed more than I thought I would.
Adrian even smiled from time to time.
A real smile that changed his whole face.
I didn't notice that hours had passed.
There was a faint sound of music coming from somewhere below.
The tall windows let in light from the casino.
And somehow we were still drinking.
Still laughing.
Still seeing millions move across a table like a weird, scary dance.
Adrian got up from the table at some point.
"I'm going to take a break."
The other players nodded their heads.
One of them said, "You're up anyway."
Adrian got up from the table and walked to the bar in the corner of the room.
Without thinking, I followed him.
The room turned a little as I walked.
"Okay," I said as I sat on a barstool. "Maybe that last drink wasn't needed."
Adrian poured two glasses of water and pushed one toward me.
"You think?"
I laughed.
"You started it."
"You said yes."
"That's right."
I drank the water slowly.
The coolness helped me think more clearly.
I said, "You play like you don't care if you lose."
Adrian leaned against the counter next to me.
"I lose sometimes."
"But not tonight."
"No."
He looked at me closely with his eyes.
"You're doing surprisingly well with this."
"This?"
"The mess."
I shrugged.
"It's Vegas."
"That's your answer to everything."
"It's tonight."
He laughed softly.
Then his face changed a little.
More serious.
He said, "You trust people too easily."
I blinked.
"That's random."
"Is it bad?"
I gave it some thought.
"Maybe."
He gave a small nod.
"That could be dangerous."
"You keep saying that."
"Because it's true."
I looked at him closely.
"And you?"
"What about me?"
"Do you trust people easily?"
He didn't answer right away.
He instead poured himself another drink.
"No."
The word came out softly.
Firm.
Truthful.
That answer made my chest feel a little tight.
Lara tripped over and came toward us before I could say anything else.
She said in a dramatic voice, "Emilia!"
"Yes?"
"I believe I made a new best friend."
One of the poker players behind her waved slowly.
Adrian let out a sigh.
"How many drinks have you had?"
Lara gave it a lot of thought.
"I stopped counting after five."
"That makes a lot of sense."
She put her weight on the counter next to me.
"You both went away."
"We came for water."
"Boring."
All of a sudden, her eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Hold on."
"Oh no," I said quietly.
Lara looked at Adrian.
"Let's do something wild."
He said, "That's a dangerous sentence."
She pointed to the window that looked out over the Strip.
"Let's get married."
I couldn't breathe because of my water.
"What?!"
Lara started to laugh.
"Just kidding!"
Adrian's eyebrow went up.
"Good."
She waved her hand in a way that said "no."
"But really," she said. "All the time, people get married in Vegas."
I rolled my eyes.
"You're drunk."
"Maybe."
Then she looked at Adrian with a thoughtful squint.
"Actually..."
"No," I said right away.
"Don't worry," she said with a laugh. "I'm not going to marry him."
"Okay."
"But you two could totally do it."
Adrian almost spit out his drink.
I put my hands over my face.
"This talk has to stop."
Lara laughed.
"You can't deny the chemistry."
Adrian looked at me for a second.
For a moment, our eyes met.
And something electric passed between us again.
He was the first to look away.
He said calmly, "Lara, you're drunk."
"That's right."
"Maybe you should sit down."
She pointed at him.
"You're not talking about it."
"What subject?"
"The clear tension between you and Emilia."
My face was hot.
"Lara!"
Adrian seemed to find it funny now.
"Is that what you see?"
"Yes."
She leaned in closer in a big way.
"Also..."
She spoke in a low voice.
"That strange cousin guy?"
Victor.
"What about him?" Adrian asked.
Lara frowned.
"I saw him before."
Adrian's body language changed right away.
"Where?"
"Downstairs."
"When?"
"Like... ten minutes ago?"
My stomach got tight.
"What was he up to?"
Lara shrugged.
"Having a conversation with someone."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
Adrian's jaw got a little tighter.
"What did he say?"
Lara thought for a moment.
"Well..."
"Lara."
She moved around uncomfortably.
"I wasn't trying to listen in."
"But you did," I said.
"Yes."
Adrian leaned forward a little bit.
"What did you hear?"
Lara took a big breath.
"He said..."
Her voice got lower.
"She doesn't know who she married."
My heart skipped a beat.
"What?"
Adrian's eyes got darker.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
The room was quiet.
My heart started to race.
"Wait," I said slowly.
"Married?"
Lara nodded, but she was nervous.
"That's exactly what he said."
I looked at Adrian.
My head is spinning.
"What does that mean?"
He didn't say anything.
He looked at the poker table instead.
To the door.
Like he was doing some maths.
Then he turned back to me.
And for the first time since I met him...
He really seemed worried.
"Emilia," he said in a low voice.
"Yes?"
"I think we should go."
The doors to the poker room suddenly swung open before I could answer.
Victor went inside.
His slow clap could be heard all over the room.
"Well," he said in a smooth voice.
"It seems like the party has finally begun."
My stomach dropped.
Because the second he saw me...
He grinned.
As if he knew something I didn't.
And in some way...
I was scared that my life would never be the same again.
- Writer
