Chapter 1
“Check,” I said when it was my turn to bet, simultaneously tapping the table with my knuckles, hoping this would let me see the flop without making any bets.
A sly smile spread across the lips of the hunk seated opposite me at the table, showing me there was no chance he’d let me off that easily.
“Raise,” he said, taking a sip of his whiskey and looking me straight in the eye.
“All-in,” said the third guy in the game.
“Fold,” I muttered, giving up when it was my turn.
“Interesting. It’s not often that I end up in the final in such a great company. What do you think about a final all-in, beauty? No more betting games. All-in to all-in?” the hunk purred after knocking the other guy out of the game, leaving just two of us.
For the final hand, the dealer slid two new cards toward each of us.
I was looking at the pair of deuces in my hands and considering his offer. If I had only known that these two small pieces of painted paper would in some way lead me to lie on the ground, feeling the burning pain in every part of my body from God-knows-how-many broken bones, on the ground that wasn’t even mine, to which I did not belong, just as I did not belong to everything around me. If I had only known that these two cards would lead me holding both the light and the darkness in my hands, something that, like the ground beneath me, also did not belong to me, wasn’t mine, yet I desperately wanted to keep, hold, and cling to. Would I have agreed?
How’s that joke go? ‘Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation’? Well, sometimes only one decision in your life can turn it upside-down and show you that if you think the Universe is not listening to your wishes and desires, you guessed wrong. It actually does, but in a very weird way. So, be cautious about what you wish for. Only one turn, one word, one step can separate you from things you believed were impossible just yesterday. Everything is possible, even if it’s not written.
To be honest, it’s stupid to blame the pair of innocent deuces. When people make poor decisions, they often tend to blame someone else or even the humble planet Mercury, which does nothing wrong except for going retrograde from time to time. In my case, I should blame myself for not listening to my gut, which turned out to be not my gut at all (but more on that later). One man once told me that coincidences are not accidental. Maybe the Universe heard how tired I was of my average and boring life, and I ended up at that table with that pair of deuces.
Average. I often used this word when I was asked to tell a little about myself. And not because of low self-esteem, I just always tried to evaluate everything in this life from a common sense perspective. I never had any special talents: I loved to sing, but I couldn’t do it well enough, I was pretty smart, but not a genius, and so on and so forth. Like most people in their teenage years, I was sure that by the age of twenty-five I would figure out this life and become a millionaire. Ha! Twice! As it turned out, the whole ‘school, university, here, there, hop, and millionaire’ plan really doesn’t work. Surprise, surprise, right?
Although, truth be told, becoming rich had never been the goal or dream of my life. It would certainly have been nice, indeed, very much so, but I couldn’t say that this was the pinnacle of my aspirations. I had always wanted to accomplish something significant, to be outstanding, to be admired and remembered by the next generations. What exactly? I had never come up with the answer. So there I was with the ‘I still don’t know what I want to become when I grow up’ problem. Feel free to insert your age into this phrase, since I’m sure I’m not alone with this crisis. Well, for some reason I got carried away with philosophical thoughts, and I could go on like this for a while, but you get the gist, right?
“Deal,” I accepted my opponent’s offer and pushed all the chips of my stack into the middle of the table.
Since the second glass of wine had done its job, I confidently agreed to go all-in blindly, fully expecting to lose. Still, I wouldn’t say that my pair of deuces was an amazing hand, but it wasn’t that bad either. I was never lucky in games or other competitions; luck always enjoyed teasing me throughout my life, offering me nothing more than second place, which I had long come to terms with. At least I met and talked to new people during this poker game; that was already some kind of victory for me. I didn’t bet my kidney in this game, so I didn’t risk losing it. The stakes were purely symbolic.
I didn’t even really want to be at that poker table. My psychologist had suggested I leave my apartment and talk to real people, because apparently “work from home, eat, sleep, repeat” did not qualify as a life. A weekly poker game in the city chat seemed safer than a party and less depressing than another date night with Netflix. So I signed up before I could talk myself out of it.
By the end of the workday that Wednesday, I had almost convinced myself that staying home with tea and a TV series was a much better plan. But somehow, through what I can only describe as a personal miracle, I closed my laptop, put on makeup, found jeans and a hoodie that made me look almost like a functioning member of society, and dragged myself to the bus stop.
On my way to this new adventure, I had to go back for my headphones, took the wrong bus, and tripped so badly at the entrance that for one second I wondered if the Universe itself was trying to keep me away from that place.
It was an amazing beginning to the evening, indeed.
That was how I ended up in this small bar, at the table at the very far end, in the company of a bunch of strangers. I had always been nervous before meeting new people alone, which is probably true for most people unless they’re psychopaths. It wasn’t that I was bad at socializing. On the contrary, I knew how to smile, ask the right questions, and make a decent impression. I called myself an extroverted introvert: I could talk to almost anyone, but did I want to? No, thank you.
I chose a seat between two guys because it felt easier that night. Male attention had always been a stupid little weakness of mine, the kind I was self-aware enough to judge but not mature enough to outgrow. Being noticed felt nice. Being noticed while wearing a hoodie and pretending I hadn’t almost gone home three times felt even nicer.
I was looking at the flop that came up as a ten of spades, a king of hearts, and an eight of spades. Not really in my favor, and the catlike smile of this handsome man across the table did not instill any more confidence in me, well at least there was no need to bargain and try to bluff. The turn hit the two of spades, which was a ray of hope for me as it gave me a set. But still, the flush draw on the table was obvious.
Ares, that was the hunk’s name, winked at me, letting me know that I was screwed.
“Valnella, my love, stop breaking my heart,” Ares purred to his companion, who was sitting next to him and who had captured the attention of the majority of men at our table. “I was nice to take you here, but you still need to get back. Just think about it,” he added and playfully bit her on the neck.
I regretted my choice of the outfit for this evening immediately when I saw these two entering the bar a couple of hours ago, when a flash of red by the entrance door caught my eye. The moment I turned my head to that direction, I saw a long-legged beautiful brunette in high heels, in a short tight red dress, and with red lipstick on her full lips. A masculine and handsome man with shoulder-length dark hair and a beard came in behind her, put his arm around her waist, and they confidently walked toward our table. He was dressed all in black. His pants and shirt fit like a glove, outlining all his muscles. Pure testosterone. Women usually went after men like that mercilessly. I definitely didn’t have enough internal energy today to stand next to that kind of woman and not compare myself to her, especially when I was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a hoodie. For one painful second, I felt like I had wandered into the wrong scene, while they looked like they belonged to a much darker, more expensive story.
They did not even apologize for being late. Ares just introduced them both to us, pulled back a chair for Valnella like a real gentleman, ordered whiskey, and the game began.
“What would you say, beauty? Shall we open up and see the river together? If you want, I can hold your hand,” Ares suggested with a smile, shifting his attention from Valnella to me and our game.
Rolling my eyes was supposed to deflate his inflated ego just a little. I opened my deuces, and he opened his... queen and jack of spades. Of course, he had a flush, and I ran out of wine to keep looking at that smug face of his. I was about to ask for the bill, when the dealer put the last card on the table.
Another deuce.
For a second, I just stared at it.
“Congrats, Allie! Four of a kind. You win,” the organizer of the game cheerfully addressed me.
Ares’s eyes widened and his face lengthened in surprise. God, was there really a need to be such a drama queen? It was just poker, although I won’t say I wasn’t happy to win. Quite the opposite.
“How?!” he sighed, looking at his companion.
“Learn how to lose, Ares,” the brunette purred.
Honestly, he looked like I just broke his favorite toy.
“Well, thanks for the game!” I said, picking up my symbolic winnings.
“Ares, don’t you want to reward this girl for winning you over?” Valnella asked him slyly.
“To reward? She’ll be lucky enough to get out of here before I start questioning her about how she did it. She won’t like the way I usually ask questions when I really need to know the answer,” he replied, putting his hands into his pants pockets and still looking upset, like a grown-up bearded boy.
“Oh, come on!” said the brunette as she moved closer to him, wrapping her arm around his. “Do you get to experience losing to someone that often?”
“Too often lately, apparently,” he muttered, looking sideways at her. They both acted like I was not just standing there, in front of them. However, I was too involved in their weird conversation to just walk away. “Fine! I’ve probably exaggerated a little with my reaction to the loss. This was very unexpected for me; I rarely lose, very rarely. But, beauty, you managed to surprise me. Firstly, by the fact that you stayed with me in the final; I certainly didn’t place a bet on you in my internal betting, and secondly, by winning against me. Many would kill to be in your place,” he added, turning his head away from the brunette toward me.
Yes. Appearances are deceptive. What arrogance! Yuck!
“Um, ok...” I said, not knowing at all what to reply.
“I will reward you with the best night of your life. A night you’ll remember for the rest of your life. And regret, since no one will ever be able to give you the same pleasure again,” Ares said with a playful smile and winked at me.
“Nah, I’m good, thanks,” I replied, snapping out of a couple minutes’ stupor after such an offer.
There was almost no one left at the bar except the staff, and every instinct was screaming at me to get out of there. However, my curiosity was winning the battle with my gut, for now.
“Ares, be nice!” Valnella said and lightly poked him in the side with her elbow.
“What? I am nice! This is quite a generous offer. Tell her,” he said, looking at his companion, who rolled her eyes slightly.
“You know, I might meet someone like you one day and tell them this unusual story about how you lost to an ordinary girl… twice,” she said, carefully inspecting her nails.
“If I had been questioning the existence of the devil before, I don’t anymore, because you are the one!” Ares said dramatically. “Fine. I will fulfill your wish for bringing this new experience into my life and blah blah blah. Ask for whatever you want. An apartment, a car, or whatever you people usually wish for here,” he added, turning his head to me.
He was definitely the one who needed to see a psychologist; he clearly had a narcissistic disorder. Valnella was standing by his side and smiling cheerfully. I was a little confused, since the wine should have gone to my head, not theirs.
“I’m serious. Ask for anything. I’m generous today, as it turns out,” he said and shot a quick glance toward the brunette.
“Pff. Is it some kind of genie role-play with ‘girl, you have three wishes’? If so, let’s make this one wish of mine turn into a thousand wishes,” I said, trying to play along with their joke, though honestly the joke was not that funny.
“Don’t get smart,” Ares said.
“I’m kidding, relax. You can keep it for yourself, and I’ll give you a business card of a good psychologist as a gift.”
“I would advise you to take a risk. What if you miss the opportunity of a lifetime?” said Valnella and winked at me.
“Okay, the genie and his girlfriend,” I started, and then, with the wine talking instead of me, I added, “Here is my wish: I want to see what other people don’t see.”
I don’t know why I said that, but the look of surprise on their beautiful faces made it worth it, even if I just blew the chance to get my own apartment. Crap. What if this was something like a situation from one of those books about a bored millionaire who had nothing to do and a lot of money? What if, because of my stubbornness, I’ve just really screwed up my chance to get my own apartment? Stupid.
“You surprised me for the third time in one evening, beauty,” Ares said.
“Well, if you’re not going to take out your magic wand and say ‘abracadabra,’ then I’ll go, nature calls, you know. It was… interesting meeting you. Bye!” I quickly said, trying to escape from these two weirdos.
I headed to the restroom, calling a taxi on the way. But before the door could close after me, the brunette rushed in, painfully grabbing my hand. Her face was very serious and seemed worried.
“Listen to me very carefully,” she said with a dead-serious expression on her face.
“You guys are crazy, both of you. Let me go, it hurts!” I tried to pull my hand away, but she was holding on with a death grip, digging her nails into my flesh. Insane.
“No time. Listen—”
“I don’t—”
“Shut up! It is important! Stay at school and do not leave its territory. I will find you and help you,” she said and then she unexpectedly hugged me, for a short second, but this unhinged stranger hugged me. At the doorway, she stopped, turned around, and added, “And one more thing. Don’t tell anyone who you really are. It’s dangerous. And forgive me...” She didn’t finish and quickly left.
I had no idea what those two were on, but they definitely made this one of the strangest evenings of my life. Well, I’d definitely managed to spice up my monotonous life this evening. Probably that would be enough for the next six months. And yes, this bitch scratched my hand until it bled. I quickly washed it, took care of my business and ran out into the street, since the taxi was already there and I didn’t want to pay for the wait or meet that couple again. I sat in the front seat and we drove off. On the way home, the evening officially earned its place among the top three weirdest nights of my life, because a bunch of people with wings attached to their backs were walking around the city. Had I missed some interesting city event again? Well, not for the first time and most likely not for the last.
Emotionally exhausted and with wine in my blood, I quickly undressed as soon as I got home, without even turning on the light, and fell into bed, silently praying I wouldn’t have a headache in the morning.
I had no idea the headache would be the least of my problems.
