"That's fine Cathy. I understand." Lana stood at the entrance of the casino and looked out at all the flashing lights. She was supposed to be having a girl's night out with her three best friends. Before she left, Marcie had called to tell her that her daughter was sick with the flu and didn't want to leave her home alone with her husband. Lana figured that her husband didn't want to take care of their cute daughter, but she was not going to butt into her best friend's twisted marriage. Sandra had called as she drove to the casino. She was mumbling some excuse about not being able to go, but from her whimpers Lana knew that her on again, off again, boyfriend was back in town. So she figured she would have a fun night with Cathy, but then she had cancelled as well. She had not even paid attention to her excuse.
She still had money in her purse and decided that she was going to try to have fun tonight by herself. She walked over to an empty slot machine and put in a twenty. She mindlessly began to hit the buttons and when the machine began to chime, she realized she had won a large sum of money. It wasn't the jackpot, but after the chiming ended, she realized she had over a thousand credits. Lana did the quick math in her head and realized that was over two hundred and fifty dollars. She hit the credit button and the receipt spit out.
Lana was smiling wide. She had never won anything at the casino and here she was with what she considered a large sum of money. She glanced around and tried to find the cashier. It was on the other end of the casino and by the time she got there, her feet were hurting. She had bought these cute high heels, but now they were making her toes hurt. She stood in line and waited for the next cashier.
"You might be in the wrong line." Lana jumped as she felt a warm breath on her ear. She turned and was face to face with a taller man wearing a business suit.
"Excuse me?" Lana had loved the feel of his breath on her neck and realized he didn't even notice the effect he had on her. She was also confused as to what he meant by the wrong line.
"You're in the Gold Privilege line. I see you have won $250 on a slot machine. This line is for high stakes players."
Lana's face went red. She couldn't even stand in the right line. Her lip quivered and the enjoyment that she got from winning on the slot machine was slowly being dissolved.
"I'm sorry." Lana turned to leave the line. She was getting flustered.
"No. Stop. I didn't mean to upset you. Listen we'll go up together. I know Susie, who's working the cash tonight, she won't mind."
Lana just stared as the tall stranger guided her to the booth. He smiled and stood close to Lana. She handed the woman the ticket and was given the money in fifty and hundred dollar bills. She stepped away from the counter and watched in awe as the man handed her a stack of bills and in return she gave him a small quantity of chips. Lana knew enough about casinos to know that each of those chips was worth a large sum of money, much more then she could ever imagine.
"So you're just going to pocket the money and run?"
Lana blinked. She didn't realize she was staring until he teased her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm not used to seeing that much money float around. I was supposed to spend the evening with some friends, but they all cancelled."
"My name is Ian Johnston. I'm heading over to the blackjack table. You can join me if you want. I'm alone tonight and would love a beautiful blonde by my side."
Lana blushed. She never considered herself beautiful. She used the word cute with much more confidence. She thought for a moment and figured that there wasn't any harm in going with him. She was single. She had made two hundred and thirty dollars, which was going to be used for rent money.
"Yes." Lana titled her head up and smiled at Ian.
"I'm glad. Let's go."
Ian led Lana through the casino to one of the areas at the back. There were a large number of card tables and he had his eyes set on a specific one.
"Do you want to play?"
"Um, Sure. Don't I need those chips though?"
Ian laughed. She was so sweet and cute and he figured she probably didn't even realize how sexy she was.
"You can use some of mine."
"O.K."
They got to the table and sat down. His leg brushed against hers and she didn't move it away. He gave her some chips and she held back a gasp when she saw that each chip was a thousand dollars. She handed the dealer the chip and he made the appropriate change. The first hand was rough since she didn't know the right words to say, but knew that her cards had to add up to 21 and no more. She lost the first hand, as did Ian.
"I'm so sorry Ian."
"Shhh." Ian put his hand over hers. "Just enjoy."
Lana nodded and the next three hands she won and he lost. A few more people joined the table and when a waiter asked for an order of drinks, she casually ordered a diet coke. She felt her cell phone ring and when she went to grab it, she realized she had been there for over three hours. She saw it was Cathy calling and decided not to answer.
"Everything O.K.?" Ian saw that Lana was a little upset and she didn't even realize that her face had fallen when she saw the caller I.D.