Forgetting the Past

chapter seventeen - Learining some Tricks

                                                           LEARNING SOME TRICKS

               Tomorrow evening we were going to the Casino, and Tony believed that I had to learn all the tricks in Poker, Russian Roulette, Black Jack and all the other games where money is evolved that one can possibly think about. That was Friday's Programme, and Chris was supposed to come and teach me how to play.

               For the whole day, at the table with three decks of cards, Tony taught me the rules of various casino games and mostly the techniques at my disposal in order to put all the odds in my favour. It was mostly math and probability calculation, I eventually made my way through it. What interested me the most, was the clues that gave out your opponents' feelings and game.

               In the evening, Chris arrived along side with Al. Indeed, he was a great amateur in poker, “James Bond was my childhood idol, until I realized that he was a mere creation of Ian Flemming's imagination. Though he also worked for the MI6”

               That evening, did I not only learn tricks in gambling, but also the meaning of 'MI6', the 'Military Intelligence – 6' in other words Her Majesty's Secret Service, not to confuse with the MI5 which is the Security Service.

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               I desperately wanted to talk to Chris about Jenny, I knew that I didn't have any right to be nosey, But I strongly believed that I was capable on helping Tony with his love problems.

     I finally got to corner Chris in the living room while the other men were playing poker, “Chris, then man I need to talk to!” I almost shouted at him, and he almost dropped the chocolate chip muffin he was holding in his hand.

     “Hey, what can I do for you?”

     “Erm, will I need to talk to you about Tony,” I said.

     “Sure, what about him?” he asked me taking a bit of his muffin.

               I started off at the club, the acquaintance he made –in other words the girl we were making fun about – and the date I half forced him into, there was a small laughter from Chris there, the dinner we had the three of us, and to finish, the conversation we had after that.

     “He seriously is still attached to her,” I eagerly whispered to him.

     “I don't think it's her Joe.”

     “What do you mean?” I asked.

     “I think that she could have had sex with anyone, he wouldn't had minded that much.” I was getting lost there, then why was he so focused on her then? “It's just that it was with Nate that he can't stand.”

     “Nate?”

     “His best, or rather ex, best friend,” he informed me.

     “Oh right yeah,” I remembered now the conversation we had at the beginning of our acquaintance when we had just gotten at the Beach House.

     “You know that I advised him to invite you here, right?” he asked me, insinuating that I eavesdropped on their conversation -which was true.