Ca$ino (PG-13)

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Wearing his black tuxedo, Neal entered into the Casino. The hush of big, serious money filled the room. Wether crowded around the roulette tables, perched on stools playing black jack, watching or being watched, no one spoke much above a whisper.

It was nearly religious reverence for the arrogant and ostentatious wealth that made the scene possible. The holy devotion to smart looks, large diamonds, expensive clothes, and the exhilaration of winning or being able to afford to loose. The self-fascination of the beautiful people at play. The smoky, alcoholic atmosphere was further stimulated by the distinct presence of fear. Or perhaps, more accurately, the electric tension generated by the imminent loss or possible gain of thousands of dollars on a single turn of wheel or a card over which only fate had control. At best there could be misplaced and often desperate hope, or in some cases, foolish but mystical faith.

The guards already knew who Neal Ackerman was but they wanted to see his and Eve's I.D. anyway. Neal handed him fake identification cards. The new guard on the door scanned their card, his fake driver's license, checking their face against the photo, before letting them into the Casino.

"So we are here, Are you ready to play?!" Neal beamed to Evelyn.

Eve walked in wearing the Outfit Neal had bought for her.She had to admit that it looked really good on her,and she understood that from the looks she was getting.She had just stepped foot into the building and every man's eyes were on her..or better..her...clothes.She smirked and looked over at Neal.He wore his Tux and looked like a real gentleman.

She raised and eyebrow at his question."I always am ready Neal.Lead the way and it's on.",she said and bit her lip scanning the tables.She wanted to find a table where there were mostly young aged men.Like that,it would be more fun.And Neal would win higher pots.Young aged men were known to give more money to satisfy a woman's needs.

She had a plan to find the first table.She threw her ring down,and she bended,to catch it.When she grabbed it,she regained her posture.That's when she heard a loud noise.A young woman had just slapped her..boyfriend because he was staring at her.Eve looked at Neal and nodded towards that table.That guys was her first victim.

Neal laughed while shaking his head. "Evelyn, Evelyn you are a real firecracker, I wonder what's the TNT behind it all. Just how much power do you pack in your punch?" Neal said jeering. Evelyn was a quintessential bombshell whose sex appeal is off the charts. Her looks seemed to indicate she's friendly and sexy to the core. This combined with her cool nature make her the perfect catch. It seemed that she liked to see everyone around her happy, no, maybe not everyone -- ONLY the men, and no one knew how to take care of that better than her.

Above the general murmur, plastic chips clicked gently on the padded green tables. Mechanical voices of the stone-faced croupiers could be heard sorting out winnings and losings, preparing the next suspensial journey of the little metal ball around the edges of the large red-and-black wheel.

Men in billiard-green jackets scurried about emptying ashtrays, dusting away imaginary flecks of dust, occasionally picking up fallen chips from the plush red carpet and handing out scoring cards for those who took an orderly or pseudo-scientific approach to the mysteries of roulette- table numbers.

"Alright, so where do you think we should start? We have a long time and big money to spend..."

Eve scanned the room to find where they would start of.Many guys were looking at her but one really caught her attention.She saw a guy staring at her deeply.His eyes were glued on her and she smirked immediately at him.She recognized him as the guy who got slapped before.

She nodded towards Neal,pointing at the table."Let's go over there.I think the pot will be big enough.",she said and winked at Neal while making her way over to that table.She made sure to sway her hips a little,just to allure the man even more.

She wasn't giving attention to Neal,being sure he was following her behind,ready to fill his pocket with money.She reached the table and looked over at the man biting her lip seductively."Might if I join you?",she asked the young man.Hopefully,her plan would work..

Gambling has been widely regarded as form of pleasure, a game of chance in the name of sport, relaxation, or good fun. Few here showed it. Most of the casino guests affected grave expressions, particularly those with money at a snake.

Evelyn pointed at one of the table. As usual on Friday nights, one end of the elegant casino hall was roped off for a blackgammon tournament. The players, mostly men, huddled over expensive leather boards, tossing dice onto them to provide firepower for opposing small armies of polished marble stones.

Drifting to the crowd of well suited men and dressed women was the evening prize show off. The young man glanced at Evelyn then looked across his opponent. Neal immediately took a seat to join in the game and waited for another round.

Eve smiled as the man nodded at her.She looked around and kicked the only empty chair away,looking at the man."Seems that I don't have a seat..",she said and smirked at him.The man simply grinned and pushed his chair back a little so that he could give her space."How kind of you",she said and sat on his legs,while glancing at Neal.

She saw him waiting for the next round,while the man was playing already.The man leaned a little forward,wrapping one arm around her waist,while the other one was holding the cards.He had trapped her between his body,and the table.Eve rolled her eyes and played along.She started messing with his chips,while waiting for Neal to do something.

"Eve, Eve... the only seat left is my knees." Neal said when he noticed she was looking for a seat. But then, Eve seemed to refuse his offer as she preferred the chair, given by the guy.

In the middle of the game, Neal swore. The dark eyed man opposite him pretended not to notice.He had just rolled the double four, permitting him not only to knock a key Neal stone off the board but to block the return of the stone to the board. This round was the tie-breaker in their match, and Neal, muttering quietly to himself about evil luck. Neal considered himself one of the best blackgammon players, at least of his age. The self-centered belief reflected as much about the game blackgammon as about the mentality of Neal's joint social elite influence.

Blackgammon, often known as the cruelest game is largely a matter of chance. Rolls of dice is primarily determine the outcome. But it also a game of odds, and an experience player with an intimate knowledge of those odds had strong edge over a lesser player. The cruel hazard for any experienced player is that a novice with the help of a cooperative dice, can in a given situation overcome even the best player. Intellectually, all good players understand this. Emotionally, it is impossible to accept.

Neal looked at Evelyn. He smiled, winked and and looked at his opponent.

Eve was sitting there,messing with the young man's chips.After talking for a little while she had learned that his name was Tom and he was 25 years old.She was glad there was a young man in here.Sher knew that she had to allure people but she wouldn't last long with a 50 years old man.

She felt the man's hand trail down her thigh and she immediately looked at Neal.He smiled at her and gave a wink and she couldn't help but smirk.He had offered her a seat on his knees before,but she refused.Now that she was between two men,she could play a game of her own too.

While talking with the man and messing around,she made sure to bump her leg against his own a few times,but she never made eye contact with Neal.The young man named Tom,was winning big pots and Eve was going to take something out of it.She looked at the man innocently and smiled
"Seeing that you are winning big pots,would you mind buying me something?After all I'm your lucky charm."

The dark-eyed guy whose name is Tom was in the winning position and obviously enjoying it. He said nothing to Neal but with every roll of the dice he puffed triumphantly on a cigar. The match between him and Neal had been close, as is common between evenly matched players. But a series of good rolls in the last and deciding game had put the guy in an unbeatable position.

Neal glanced across at Evelyn sitting beside Paul. Neal wondered what's on Eve's mind. Was she on his mind or in Neal's side? The guy rolled the diced again, spilling them out of a heavy leather playing cup onto the board. A four-six. Neal had lost for certain. The roll permitted Paul to begin lifting his stones off the board while still blocking Neal from playing.

Eve was flirting with the man named Tom,and she was enjoying it.She had
almost forgotten why she had come here in the first place.Almost.She got up and whispered something into Tom's ear.A grin appeared on his face,and he got up,grabbing his money and walking away.

Eve shook her head at how easily she could allure every man with simple words.No one could beat her to that,as much as they wanted to.When the
man left,Eve turned her attention towards the man next to her,who seemed to be winning game after game.

Eve shot a look at Neal,telling him that she wouldn't last long flirting with him.He seemed really old.And all this smoking made her sick.Yes,she would smoke a cigarette or two once in a while,but it looked like he was addicted to it,and that disgusted her.She sat closer to the other man,while bumping her leg against Neal's.She didn't have anything else to do really,and messing with Neal was her favorite hobby.

"Typical of my luck these day," Neal thought. In the past quarter or so things had certainly not gone well, a bomb, allegedly contained a Legacy Virus which was released by M.R.D., hit the small food kiosk he and his pal, Gabriel Starling he owned in one of the Mall wiping it out. The insurance company refused to honor the policy, saying it did not cover the damage and thus the stock as well as the business was a total loss. That setback cost Neal well over hundred thousand dollars .

The imminent thousand dollar loss to this Tom bloke, of course was relatively minor. For Neal was not exactly broke. But his current fortune was not endless, and the series of reverse had shaken him.

Over the past first quarter of the previous year, his fortunes had ebbed and picked like the tides with the help of his wealthy friends Jake Taylor and Gab Starling.

At the moment, Neal had given a deliberate interruption by pulling a red silk handkerchief from the pocket of his slacks and coughing loudly across the room to wipe his mouth. Neal smiled and had given the "continue what you're doing" signal to Evelyn who was busy alluring Tom. Probably this guy was trained to see these mistakes that Neal prepared to do as he was seemed to be a professional player but Evelyn is more professional seducing agent.

Neal took steps with his checkers, he moved the checkers as quickly as possible to the desired point as Tom wasn't looking at the game but to Eve's outfit and breasts. Neal rolled six, so that he could take a seven. He counted up to six every time he step, and slide them directly. He adjusted the speed in order for him to cheat by a place of two while Tom was in heaven, puffing continuously on thin cigars, and placed the checker once Neal finished counting.

Eve smirked at Neal,when he gave her the "just keep doing that" look.He was in need of her or he would end up being kicked out to the casino,without money.But as she continued to allure the man,she came up with a brilliant idea.She would help Neal beat the man,but when the final round comes,she would allure Neal and let the man take the money.

After that,she would get up and leave the table with her head held high.She would brake her own record of alluring men in one day.She had almost allured every single man in the casino,but Neal was playing hard to break.But sadly for him,Eve could break any man.The man took out some dollars from his pocket and told a man from he casino to exchange them into chips,but Eve jumped up before he could walk away,and grabbed a few dollars,placing them in her cleavage.

She hen turned at Neal and winked before turning her attention back to the man."I'll just go get a drink.I'll be back shortly.",she said before glancing at Neal one more time.She then turned around and started walking away,towards the bar.

Neal, oblivious of any of this, in fact oblivious of anything except the board and the dice, grunted with satisfactions he rolled with final double six. With his pudgy hand he reached down and picked his last four stones off the board.

On the previous roll Tom had managed to get one stone off the board, thus preventing a humiliating loss of double game. Neal forced a smile, his white teeth showing through his liquid lips.

Neal extended his had across the board, "Congratulations," he said mentally jeering him. "You played well." Tom said. Neal thought Eve was really a damned lucky charm.

Neal excused himself politely, and tried to find where's Evelyn.

After walking in the gigantic Casino for 10 minutes,Eve had finally found the bar.She walked over and stood against the counter,smiling seductively at the bar tender.He must have been around 26.He looked pretty handsome and Eve couldn't help but let her eyes trail all over his muscular body.

When he turned around,she looked up at him smirking.The guy smirked and walked over to her,leaning against the counter too,being extremely close to her face."What would the lady like to have?",he asked,his eyes falling at her cleavage.Eve smirked again and gave out a small laugh.She placed her index finger under his jaw and pushed his face up."A bottle of Vodka.And make it quick.",she said and tuned around,facin all these people at the tables.

He waited only about half a scotch and water before he saw Tom walked to the bar tender and Eve and sat down. "The gods were unkind to me tonight," Tom said. The bar tender answered with the expected reply to the verbal identification signal. "That is sad, brother, but one cannot expect to win all the time."

Tom just shook his head, he didnt noticed Eve in her place until he glanced at his left. "Oh, you're here!" Tom exclaimed.

Neal went towards the three. They quietly introduced themselves, and Neal signaled for an order. "What will it be?" He asked as the bartender leaned on the counter. "Double scotch," Neal said, looking up. The order was acknowledged and the bartender quietly disappeared.

"Eve, by the way, this is the guy I diced earlier." Tom muttered, not knowing Neal and Eve knew each other.

Neal sensing he had touched a tender nerve, quickly tried to change the conversation. "Well win some, loose some." He said with a casual wave of his right hand. "So Tom, uhmm... what we're engaged now?"

Eve waited as the bar tender brought her,her bottle of Vodka.She wasn't one of the people that drunk all the time and then had sex with the first person they would see,then wake up the next morning with a major hangover in a bed with a stranger.No.She might be seductive but she would never stoop that low.But when she had a chance,she would drink a bottle or two.She didn't get drunk easily,but she didn't want to either.

As the bar man brought her the bottle,she smirked and grabbed it,gulping down some of her Vodka.She was trying to spot Neal somewhere and for a slight second,she wondered if he was with another woman.Nothing was going on between them,but she felt kind of...jealous maybe?She shook her head gulping down some more Vodka.No,she wasn't jealous.She couldn't be.

As she was lost in her thoughts,she heard someone talking with the bar man.That's when she spotted Tom next to her,talking about losing today.The bar man told him that he couldn't win all the time and referred him as his brother.Brother?Tom hadn't noticed her yet,but she had noticed him,and was drawn into he conversation between the two young men.Two hot people she had been hitting on and they were brothers?What did she get herself into?

That's when Tom turned and spotted here there."You're here!",he exclaimed like a 5 year old boy.Eve snorted and tried not to laugh.Of course she was here.He was looking at her for God's shake!Eve was ready to tell him something when she saw Neal approach them.She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when she saw him alone.She watched him order a double scotch,and that's when Tom talked again.

"Eve,by the way,this is the guy I diced earlier.",he said to her,not knowing they knew each other very well.Eve smirked at Neal and gave him a wink,before turnin to Tom.She wanted to test Neal's reactions."Oh.Well,I didn't notice him.I was too drawn into you.",she said and scooted closer to him,with a seductive smirk.

She then turned and looked at Neal expectantly.What was he going to do?She raised an eyebrow and gulped down some Vodka,then she licked her lips,not leaving a single drop of the liquid on them.

"Playing with the whores?" Tom said, jeering. His frustration over losing seemed to subside slowly. The waiter arrived with the drink for Neal. Tom ordered another for himself. Neal glanced at the bartender, probably in his mid-twenties. Perhaps he was a sportman or managed to spend a lot of time outdoors and in gym. There was healthy color in his face, and his eyes were attentive. They were the eyes of a man in the prime of life, filled with confidence in himself. Neal was not impressed.

There was a moment of silence as each man and Eve sipped their drink, carefully, like wrestlers sizing each other up.

Neal looked closely at Tom. He was very much at home in the elegance of the casino. He wore the surroundings as easily as his expensive suit. Despite Tom's temperamental outburst about the blackgammon game, there was an obvious sophistication to him that could not be lightly dismissed.

Neal, sensing he had gone far enough, broke the silence. "Well..." He laughed artificially. "Hello there Lady," Neal said to Evelyn, pretending she didn't know her.

Eve raised an eyebrow at Neal.So he was pretending they didn't know each other.But on the other hand,how could he tell Tom they knew each other?It would be obvious what that meant and their plan would be a catastrophe.She offered her hand like the lady she was,and smiled at Neal.He looked pretty calm for the situation he was in."It's nice to meet the winner.I'm Evelyn,but you can call me Eve.",she said with a knowing look.He already knew her name of course,along with some more information about her.

She stared at him for a while,as if examining him.His suit was fitting him perfectly,showing off the muscles on his arms.She bit her lip and looked back up at his eyes,avoiding any thoughts that might pass."So what are you planning on doing with the money you won?",she asked him.She knew that she deserved a part of that money,but she wasn't sure if he'd ever give it to her.Money is money after all.