his head at the security team. For a guy who just got smacked, he’s shockingly unfazed. He draws his hand away from the pile of chips and leans back in his chair, carefully adjusting the glittering, gold cuff-links at the ends of his sleeves. “Those are my winnings, Deanna.” He motions to the table with an open hand.
“They would be. If you didn’t cheat,” she spits back. Her voice is slurring and I can feel my cheeks getting warm, blushing in embarrassment on her behalf.
“Oh shiiiiit!” The young guy named Jeremy seems to wake up out of his haze, giving Deanna a double take.
“That’s a very serious allegation, young lady,” the big man with the cigar—I think David introduced him as Maurice—says.
The Japanese gentleman is sitting calmly, his eyes on his own pile of chips in front of him. Meanwhile the staff in the room is transfixed, all of them staring at David.
“It’s not an allegation. It’s the truth!” Deanna is completely oblivious to anything but her own anger at losing. “You work at this goddamn casino, right?”
David nods briefly.
“I’m sure you’ve got all kinds of fucking tricks up your sleeve,” she hurtles on. She’s up out of her seat and I cringe as I see that her short red dress has ridden up and is barely concealing her butt. I want to run over, pull it down, and drag her out of here but I’m scared to take a step thanks to the security guys standing at the ready. And Deanna clearly isn’t ready to go. “You probably have the dealer rig this shit so you win every time, huh? Is that how you get your kicks? Inviting guests to the ‘high roller’ back room and then cheating them out of their hard-earned cash?” Deanna swats at the pile of chips as she’s speaking, spraying them in his direction.
“I can assure you that is not the case.” David’s voice is calm but his hands are jammed into his pockets, as if he’s itching to take action and holding himself back.
“Or do you have these little cocktail girlies reading my cards and sending you secret signals, huh?” She whirls to face one of the waitresses in the corner, who looks totally mortified to be dragged into this mess. I can’t blame her. “Or your hostess lady over here, huh? She’s been standing behind me the whole time, hasn’t she?”
“Deanna!” I step forward slightly, finally finding some strength. “She’s just been explaining the game to me. That’s all.”
“Whatever, Lilly! He’s been looking back there the entire time. I’ve seen it! I thought he was just checking you out but now I’m not so sure.”
I look back to David and see him signal to the bouncers. They advance on Deanna, who is quivering with anger. “This is bullshit!” She explodes as one of the muscled men takes her arm.
“Hey! You don’t have to touch her,” I step forward, hoping the others in the room will ignore the quiver in my voice. “Please.” I turn towards David. He was so nice earlier. Surely he can help. “She didn’t mean to offend you. I think this is just a misunderstanding.”
“It’s not a fucking misunderstanding, it’s a fucking scam!” Deanna’s shrill voice interrupts me. She jerks her arm out of the security guy’s grip and gives him a shove. “I’m not leaving here without my money!” She stamps her foot in rage, nearly losing her balance. Suddenly, the security guard has gone from grabbing her arm to supporting her, making sure she doesn’t drunkenly tip over in her heels.
“Deanna, please! Calm down.” I look back to David. “Is there maybe a manager we could speak to? Someone more…senior?” I have no idea how casino job rankings work and don’t want to offend him. The words are barely out of my mouth before the room erupts into laughter.
“Damnnn, yeah Milner, show us your supervisor,” the younger guy, Jeremy, says with a grin.
Meanwhile the guy called Maurice is speechless with chortling laughter. The bartender is looking down but I can hear him snorting as he tries to contain himself and even the cocktail girls are failing to suppress giggles. Mr. Hayashi has turned his back to me, politely trying to hide his mirth, but his shoulders are shaking with hilarity. I turn to look at Tessa, who is kindly hiding her smile behind her hands.
Everyone in the room seems to be in on the joke. Everyone except for me and Deanna. I look at David, the only