“Well not really, I knew that Dempsey took a portion of the entrance…” And then I caught sight of her eyes and I knew I started to say something incredibly stupid. I wanted to grumble but I swallowed the random thoughts and answered her question. “Yes, I thought this was a winner take all tournament, less Dempsey’s hefty share.”
She smiled in satisfaction at successfully reading me, she was very good at reading people, or was it just me? I shook that thought from my mind and noticed that she had been unable to keep herself from laughing. But, once she saw me notice she tried to appease my bruised ego. “That was how my uncle originally ran these tournaments.”
“It was? Then what changed?” I asked when she paused to take a breath.
“When the professionals found out they didn’t come back the next year. As I’m sure you can imagine they wanted to walk out with something as long as they placed high enough. As my uncle quickly found out, he needed the pros more than they needed his tournament, so he eventually relented a bit. It took a couple of years to reclaim the pros who had fled but, in time, they caught wind of the change and returned.”
“I take it your father is very tight with your uncle.” Fortunately, I was watching her so I saw the slight nod that she offered in return. And since she was speaking about her uncle I decided it would be safe to ask about her father. “So I know what your uncle does here. Couple that with the fact that you painted him with your uncle, I’m just a little curious, what does your father do for your uncle at this tournament?”
With a warm, though rather unsettling smile she said, “Well they both meet everyone who comes to the tournament, only my father does it at the front door. Good old pops, he and his underlings pat down everyone who comes in here. Well, almost everyone I guess that’s another small benefit of being family here, I’m trusted by them.”
With a shocked face I stammered, “Your… father is…”
She tried to hide a laugh behind her hands but did a perfectly horrendous job of it. When she was quite finished, I wasn’t able to get out any kind of coherent thought, so she went on, “Yes, Marcus I was looking for you after watching your little performance at the door.” As she spoke I watched a smile break out on her face, which threw me even more off balance. “And I’m quite sure good old pops told my uncle about you as well. Oh you should have seen my father’s face when my uncle shook your hand and left you intact. I’m certain he would have preferred seeing you trussed up and roasting on a spit.” I had thought I had seen her biggest smile earlier but somehow it was still widening, despite the constraints of her face.
I think it was my laughter that caught her off guard, and if I am going to be completely honest it caught me off guard a little as well. But she went absolutely red in the face. Before she could say anything I tried to explain my laughter as best as I could.
“Here you thought I was trying to curry favor from you, because you thought I knew about your father and uncle, like everyone else probably does. But I honestly had no clue. And to top it off, all this time you were using the anger I brewed with your father to make him and your uncle uncomfortable.” She didn’t offer a different explanation so I just sat there dumbly staring at her. She was very good, I had never even suspected that she could have had an ulterior motive for choosing to sit down with me.
When I looked back at her face, I could tell that the red was slowly dissipating, which was too bad in a way, that blush suited her. But I could tell that she was trying hard not to join in my laughter. “You have to admit, this is absolutely hilarious. Well I can definitely say that you’re one of the deepest people I know.”
Eyeing me with the same type of measuring stare that her uncle had used on me earlier she eventually replied. “Thank you, I think.” She watched me nod before she laid her head back on my shoulder and continued. “That’s the closest anyone has ever come to offering me a genuine compliment in quite some time.”
Her head felt right laying on my shoulder like that, so I let my voice flow naturally as I thought very carefully about what I was about to say. “I might be able to offer you more.”
“Is that so?” She asked in an almost musical tone.
I tilted my head just enough to see her face. “Or rather I might be able to offer you more after the tournament is over.”
There was no turning back now. Feeling more than a bit nervous and hoping, not mention mentally crossing my fingers that I had not been completely imagining things, I asked, “Would you like to have a meal with me after the tournament? My treat of course.”
“Marcus, are you asking me out on a date?” Her voice was thick with the playful teasing that let me know she was pleasantly surprised.
In answer I leaned down just enough that I was able to kiss the top of her forehead before answering, “I believe I just did.”
“Well in that case just make sure you’re not at my table when we start, I would hate to ruin our first date by taking all your money so early.” Her words were laced with such an inviting tone that I knew she was wearing a broad smile that everyone in the hall could see. But I didn’t care right then, so with a broad smile of my own I kissed her forehead once again.
Chapter 7
After a few moments of silence, that as far as I was concerned could have lasted a while longer, she tilted her head so I could get a good look at her face. With a warm smile she whispered into my ear, “Now whatever you do Marcus, don’t win my money. If you did that, I don’t think I’d be able to accept your offer of a date.” I knew she was only teasing me, at least, slightly teasing me. Her tone of voice held a mixture of playfulness and seriousness. “Thank you, for being you. You have no idea, what your kindness mean to me, or how good it makes me feel.”