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“All right. And I’ll wear that and the waterproof mascara too. Maybe I’ll congratulate myself on a hard night’s work of fortune dealing with a mindless float around the indoor pool.”
“And that’s as much of a plan as you need. I’m gonna take my own advice and go see if I can ride Austin?—”
“Gasp! Vulgar.”
“— I mean, that wave before his first show. ’Kay, love you, byeeeee,” he finished and hung up before I could say anything else.
My best friend just glossed and ran.
The audacity.
When properly prepared, I was fantastic at ignoring things. Especially unpleasant things. Like knowing your ex-best friend-slash-brief-lover and his dad-slash-your-boss were nearby as you performed, but you couldn’t see exactly where they were because you were blindfolded.
Ignoring was a close relative of glossing.
Tonight, I leaned into my role harder than I ever had before, and it’d been easy to do. The crowd’s energy had been electric.
Fortuna offered just about every game imaginable, but the first phase of tonight’s main event was roulette. Six players were gathered around the table I was stationed at, which was the one with the highest minimum bet. They’d quickly established a camaraderie with one another that almost had me breaking character and laughing alongside them.
But I knew better than that.
It was common for good-natured ribbing and smack talk to prevail prior to these kinds of games, and that was one of the discoveries about playing this role that I’d cherished.
Before.
“Okay, finalizing,” the table’s official croupier, Paul, called as my cue.
This part was trickier and had taken hours of practice to learn to do well. And then several weeks to do well while blindfolded. My fingers quickly found the small Teflon ball, and I positioned it between my middle finger and thumb and sent it rolling in the direction opposite to the spinning wheel.
Blindfolded roulette-ball rolling could be listed as one of the top three skills on my non-existent resume.
Even so, I was thankful it was something I only did on special event nights like tonight.
“No more bets,” Paul announced after three rotations, sending a light draft of air over my skin when he waved his hands over the table.
I paid no attention when he announced where the ball landed, knowing that the crowd’s reaction would tell me if the house or the players had been favored.
The crowd cheered, and my Mona Lisa smile stayed firmly in place.
The most successful player from this table, along with ones from several other tables and games, would win a spot to play the Big Wheel later in the evening.
The tides turned during the next several spins, with the house winning more frequently as the game drew to a close. The mood had become a bit more subdued, and I could tell just by the general volume that a lot of the spectators had moved on to watch other games.
“Good night, and may Lady Luck shine her favor upon you,” Paul recited as the game ended.
I held back a cringe as I turned my back and discreetly removed my blindfold, taking a moment to reacclimate to my surroundings. I had years of experience in tuning out the casino floor, but when my sight was restricted, the multitude of sounds were enhanced. I kept my eyes closed for a moment as I willed the cacophony to disperse, all while wondering what had irked me about Paul’s closing remark. I hadn’t thought twice about it before, but as soon as I’d heard it, the urge to flee had taken over.
I peeked an eye open to test my equilibrium and found myself staring down at a pair of gold clogs.
Not unusual for a casino that was filled to the brim with the sixty-five-and-older crowd. In fact, I was pretty sure those exact shoes were sold in the casino gift shop. I narrowed my eyes on them, willed my eyes to focus, and—yep. There it was. The Fortuna logo and icon.
My eyes traveled upward, and I soon discovered that the most unusual thing about the shoes was who they were attached to.
A delighted, embarrassingly loud gasp left my lips. “Liem!”
“Equal parts arch support and fashion. Unbeatable,” he confided preemptively, pointing his toe and moving his foot side to side.
My spirit lifted as I enjoyed the unrestrained smile on his face. He had obviously been having a fun night. “You’re here!” My surroundings and worries all but forgotten, I pulled him into a quick hug. “And hey, Happy Birthday!”
