𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧'𝐬 𝐆𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭 ♕From Beth the Eyes of Beth Harmon

XV - Close Your Eyes

Episode 4

Part 3

Middle Game

Mexico City, 1966

Close Your Eyes

♕♛♕♛♕♛

Today was the day.

The day I played Borgov.

One of us would walk out of this match a winner.

I headed to the back corner of the elevator on my way down to the match. My heartbeat was accelerated and beating noticeably hard. I was worried that the people entering the small compartment would be able to hear it.

Floor by floor, people walked in and the elevator became crowded, much like my head in these agonizing moments. But we stopped at floor six when three men walked in, one of them being Borgov.

"In Moscow, she'll be jet-lagged. We can destroy her then." The sound of Russian tickled my ears. He and his guards were in the middle of a conversation, and I relied on my knowledge of the language to kick in.

"She's getting better." One of the other men said. "Have to deal with her here or in Paris, before she gets too strong."

Even though there were some missing holes in my understanding of what they were saying, I suddenly registered that they were talking about me.

"There's talk she's a drunk." My heart sank. Is this what everyone thought of me? I don't even drink in public that often. I closed my eyes in an attempt to regain balance and hold on to my consciousness.

"Her game is almost all attack, so she doesn't always watch her back." They continued. Thanks, now I'm prepared.

I couldn't hear everything they said, but I picked up the gist. It was too bad their backs were turned away from me. I wanted to see Borgov's reaction to all this, he's been silent this whole time while the two men took turns leaning into him and whispering.

"When she blunders, she gets angry, and can be dangerous. Like all women."

"She's an orphan. A survivor. She's like us— losing is not an option for her." Borgov cut in. His voice was significantly lower, smoother, more relaxed then the other two men's. I wasn't sure what to make of the comment yet.

"Otherwise, what would her life be?"

For the first time since the three of us had been in this elevator together, I heard every single word, every single syllable in that phrase crystal clear.

A switch turned on in Borgov. He sensed my presence. His posture straightened and he turned his head to his shoulder like he was about to look behind him. I could feel the weight of his gaze before it even reached me. But then he turned around all the way and spotted me. I instantaneously looked away, pretending to admire the gold accents in the compartment.

But for a moment, only a fraction of a second, our eyes locked.

A rush of cold water spread throughout my veins, numbing my senses. I had felt this feeling before many times in my life, too many times. It was a feeling I was so used to I forgot how bad it really felt. But Borgov made me remember how I hated this feeling.