( morphium-d )
The Solstice was far from silent. The ringing of slot machines was loudest of all from his standpoint. They were just off to his left, rows of them near the front entrance. Dark and lit with colored neon lights and dim yellowish ceiling lights. Felix was sitting at the Black Jack table. The dealer spread the cards in a rainbow along the playing table, then collected them in one hand and performed a one handed cut followed by another half deck cut and a riffle shuffle. His vivid eyes watched the dealer as she slid cards to five other casino attendees, giving each two cards and then placing the rest of the deck in the middle of the table. He looked at the ace of hearts and the jack of spades in his hand, knocking on the table twice, signalling that he would neither raise the bet or fold. The other men at the table raised the bet by two thousand dollars total, and he moved forward two black poker chips.
The man across from Felix, dressed in a gray suit with a receding hairline; probably dealing with marital stress. The man to the right of the other man, dressed in a black suit with a maroon tie; a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his brow. He stared down the other players, each of them betraying nothing with words, but the glints of their eyes, the twitch of a mustache, the tapping of a finger. The implicit details tell greater stories than explicit characteristics. It helped him win by a landslide. Felix swept the pile of chips in the middle towards his neat stacks, and began to place them on the corresponding chip-towers. Once he had enough of those, he excused himself and asked for his earnings to be deposited on his bank account. He stepped into the bar, taking a seat and ordering a glass of whiskey.
There was no such thing as pure luck; those who actually believed in it probably never had to face the true hardships of life. Allegra wasn’t a part of that oblivious group of people. No, life didn’t allow her to wish upon stars and dream of a better tomorrow. Another proof of that was one very simple fact - she was only in the casino to meet with another client. But luck once again decided to betray, fool and play with her fragile patience. It seemed like her foolish client simply refused or wasn’t able to show up, which was quite a displeasing fact. All alone, she could only sit there and drink.
However, Allegra wasn’t even a fan of alcohol, the bourbon in her glass left a bitter taste in her mouth, but it frankly wasn’t the taste that troubled her. Growing up with an alcoholic mother surely left some wounds on her heart and soul, wounds that always refused to properly heal. However, it was one man that managed to draw her attention and make her forget her current troubles. Or rather it was the way he played the simple game of cards. He even won so easily that she had to start questioning his methods.’’That was quite impressive. I’ve never met a man with so much luck in his life or perhaps a man who’s that good at counting cards. I mean, I can count cards pretty decently, but that’s because I’m an excellent mathematician. So, tell me. Was it luck or some special tricks?’’
