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Their first stop was an unpopulated blackjack table. Hannah placed several bills on the velvet surface and was gifted with a tower of chips. She split the stack with Piper as a server approached. “Don’t get the beer,” Hannah warned.
Piper nodded. “Gin and tonic for me and…” She tilted her head toward Hannah.
“Actually, is there some place still open that serves food?”
“Honey,” the server replied. “Everything’s open. But if you want something fast, I suggest the café just past the craps tables. Order the truffle parmesan french fries, and you won’t be sorry.”
Hannah followed her line of sight and thanked her for the suggestion. “Here.” She pushed her chips toward Piper. “I’m starving, so I’m going to grab something to eat. You going to be okay for a bit while I—”
“Hannah?”
A familiar voice caught her attention and she glanced around.
“I thought that was you,” Tegan said as she approached. “Is everything okay? You seemed so upset when you left the bar.”
“Yeah, no…I mean, yes, everything’s okay. In fact, I was just about to…” Hannah trailed off. “Wait…you play cards, right?”
Tegan nodded. “I sure do.”
“Then I’d like to introduce you to my best friend, Piper. Piper, this is Tegan. She works at the TV station I’m temping at.”
“You’re a card player, huh?” Piper asked as she motioned to the seat next to her.
“I am.” Tegan sat and placed her drink on the table.
“Good, then let’s get this game going.” Piper smiled.
Hannah patted Piper’s shoulder. “I’ll see you in a bit, okay?”
Piper waved her hand. “Take as much time as you want. I’ll be fine.”
Hannah shuffled into the café and minutes later, slid into a small booth holding an extra-large plastic basket full of truffle parmesan french fries. She took a moment to glance aroundand was surprised by how many people were still out and about at the late hour. But in a place that displayed no windows or clocks, she could see how time played an elusive trick on the body.
She let out an exhausted breath as she focused on an elderly couple two booths over. The man was feeding soup to his wife and gently wiping her chin. That, Hannah thought to herself, is the face of love. She scolded herself for not knowing if she was the cupid who’d delivered their arrows many moons ago. She had never taken the time to commit the faces of her marks to memory, something she wanted to be conscious of doing from here on out.
Hannah remained mesmerized by the couple as she lifted a fry to her mouth. She bit off the tip, and her tastebuds came alive. “Oh my God,” she whispered as she gazed at the shoestring food. The server was right; she wasn’t disappointed. In fact, she was pleasantly pleased with the unique taste. What an interesting thing to do to a potato, she thought as she shoved handfuls into her mouth. It took her less than a minute to polish off the entire basket.
Her hunger satisfied, she leaned back in the booth and glanced once again at the elderly couple. That was what she wanted, a love that would beat the odds and last a lifetime. To wake up every morning and look into the eyes of her lover and know that their feelings would conquer anything life threw at them. That was what she had wanted with Payson.
As Hannah returned to the blackjack table with a new to-go container in hand, she zeroed in on Piper’s dangling necklace. The stone was still black as coal, without the slightest hint of a glow, and she wondered what was taking the star so long to light. “Here, you must try this food. It’s called a french fry,” she said as she opened the Styrofoam container in front of Piper,who took a few and nodded her approval. “Tegan? Want some?” She motioned, but Tegan waved her off.
“These are delicious,” Piper said as she reached for more.
“I talked to the cook at the café, and he told me how he made them. I’ll share the recipe with Brea.”
The clearing of the throat from the dealer brought the focus back to the table.
“Oh, sorry,” Hannah mumbled. “Didn’t mean to interrupt. I’ll, uh…I’ll be over there trying my hand at one of those machines.”
Piper nodded, and Hannah approached the first video slot machine she encountered. She sat, placed the container of fries on the seat next to her, and took a moment to observe others playing the slots. After a few minutes, she convinced herself that it didn’t seem too complicated, so she slid a bill in, pushed one of the many flashing buttons, and mindlessly watched cartoonish images spin in front of her as a disjointed jingle played from the machine. Seconds later, everything stopped, a multitude of lines appeared on the screen in endless configurations, and the flashing buttons prompted her to play again.
“That’s it?” she disappointedly whispered. Unlike cards, there apparently was no skill required to the game beyond the basic coordination of pressing a button. Oh well. At least it would kill some time while she waited for Piper to finish playing. She leaned, head in hand, on the machine, yawned, and continued the repetitive motion. Red digital numbers went up and down with each push, and her eyes became heavier and heavier as she tried to focus on the spinning images.
“Hey, wake up,” Piper said as she gently nudged her.
Hannah rubbed her eyes. “Is it time to go home?” she asked in a groggy voice.
Piper grabbed her necklace and dangled it in front of Hannah. “Still no glow, which is odd because by now, the starshould have definitely been lit,” she slurred and waved a hand. “But you know how stars can be. Sometimes they seem to have a mind of their own,” she said as she stumbled a bit.
