Sleight of Hand [Show 'em Who's Boss #1]

18: The Deadly Game

"Are you going to stare at the gun all night or are you gonna take your turn?" speaks Jakob, pulling me out of the past yet again. He's drumming his fingers on the table impatiently and tapping his left foot on the floor. Maybe he's getting impatient or maybe this is Jakob's way of showing his fear. He seems relatively cool and collected but perhaps he isn't.

That's it; I've decided that I'm going to stall for as much time as possible. The outcome of this game isn't looking very good for me right now.

"I was thinking about the past, just like you were a moment ago. I couldn't help but think about how on earth we ended up here. How could our relationship end up like this? I always knew we'd never last, especially as we seemed to break up with each other on a weekly basis, but I wouldn't have thought that we'd be separated like this. A stupid game of fate. One of us is going to die tonight and the other is going to walk out with a briefcase full of money. Will the survivor regret the death of the other? I know I won't miss you Jakob, but will you miss me?"

Jakob slouches further down in his seat and kicks his legs up on the table.

"That's an interesting question and I'm not quite sure of the answer right now. On one hand, we've been together for such a long time. I'm sure it will be odd without you here but when all that money is mine your place will be easy to fill with any other pretty girl I come across. Then again, you really are one of a kind little miss Ebony Williams. I don't think I'll ever come across a girl quite as interesting as you. Not only did you figure out that I was going to scam you, but you also figured out a way scam me back. Two-faced, manipulative, intelligent and sexy; you really are a piece of work. Of course I'll miss you and I know that you're lying when you say that you won't miss me."

He clearly knows me better than I thought because he's correct about the part where I'll miss him if he dies. Jakob isn't just my boyfriend. He's my best friend, my only friend. Of course I don't want to lose him. After all we've been through I think we deserve a happy ending. Obviously that's not going to happen though. The happy ending here is only for one and in the end will the survivor even be happy? At the moment I don't think there can be a happy ending for either of us, no matter who lives and who dies.

"I don't know why I let you talk me into this. How about we just split the cash? We can divide it equally and then leave. We don't have to ever see each other again," I suggest, even though I know that Jakob won't go for it.

"I'd rather leave here with all the money. Plus I quite like my chances in this game now. You've got two turns left, I only have one. My future's looking bright." Jakob smirks at me. He really is enjoying this game. It makes me feel sick.

Instead of letting him see my real emotion I decide that two can play at the twisted game he's playing.

"So what are your chances now?" I ask as I point the gun to my forehead and pull the trigger without flinching at all.

Nothing happened.

It took a lot of courage for me to do that but I think I managed it without showing just how terrified I really was. Perhaps Jakob will be a little less confident now that he knows we both have an equal chance of dying.

"One turn left each. Ladies first," I joke, passing the gun back across the table to Jakob.

"So who do you think will die then, Ebony?" he asks as he reaches for the gun.

Me. it's going to be me, isn't it? Jakob will take his last turn and survive and then I'll have to be the one to die. This is it; the turn that will determine it all.

Perhaps Jakob did tamper with the gun. I haven't been paying close attention to the whole game as I've been somewhat distracted by my thoughts from the past. It would have been easy for him to cheat. As soon as he knew that he was going first all he had to do was change the place of the bullet so that it would fall on one of my turns. That's probably why he's been enjoying this game so much. He knows he's going to win.

No, Jakob wouldn't tamper with the gun. He's many things but he's not a cheater. He's the one who would always tell me off if I used the 'motherlode' cheat on the Sims or if I changed the difficulty during a particularly challenging battle in Skyrim. Jakob wouldn't cheat in a game. He likes to win square and fair. For Jakob, winning isn't the same if you get there through cheating.

It's unlucky for him that I'm not afraid to cheat.

"I have no idea who will die and who will survive, Jakob. But just in case you die now, there's something important I need to tell you. In fact, I probably should have told you before I even agreed to this stupid game..." I pause for a moment to see if Jakob will take the bait.

"What do you need to tell me?" he asks, seeming intrigued. He leans forward on the table once again, cocking his head to the side slightly.

"My period is late and I don't just mean by a few days," I explain. This is the truth. I haven't had a period in a while. Concerning the next part of my lie, well it could be the truth. I haven't actually checked because I'm too scared. I'm too young to be a mother. I can barely look after myself.

"What are you saying?" he asks, and eyebrow raised.

"You know what I'm saying, Jakob. I could be pregnant. Now do you really want me to continue this game? If I die you could be taking away two lives, not just mine. Would you really want to be held responsible for that?"

His eyes narrow and his breathing speeds up. Suddenly it's very difficult to read him. Is he angry with me? Surely he's not about to blame me for possibly getting pregnant. He better not because it's his fault too. If he's about to blame me then I am going to point the gun at him and watch as the bullet pierces through his head.

"How do I know you're not just lying?" That wasn't the response I had been expecting but it's a question that's almost equally infuriating.

"Look me in the eyes, Jakob. You can usually tell when I'm lying to you. I wouldn't lie to you about something like this, especially under these circumstances. That wouldn't be fair."

He leans even closer towards me, his face only inches from mine. His eyes flick between mine. Then he sighs and leans back again.

"I don't know anymore, Ebony. You might be lying but I can't tell."

It's silent for a minute while I allow Jakob to think it all through and take it in. He rubs his hands over his face, clearly looking distressed and torn. It seems as though there's been a change in the game now. Jakob is no longer the one in control, I am. Time to make him feel even worse.

"Imagine this: we both leave this warehouse together, hand in hand. We get in your car and drive until we're in a place we've never been to before. Somewhere no one knows us. We buy a house with some of the money. I keep the baby and we start a family together. Neither of us will have to get a job, not with the money we have. We could even get married, just like you wanted. I'd do that for you Jakob, I promise. We could have a chance at being happy, together. How perfect would that be?" I am beginning to like the sound of it myself. It sounds like a beautiful fairy tale ending. Except for the part where I have to go through childbirth, that doesn't sound like much fun. Marriage still sounds like a bit of a bummer too but if the promise of it keeps us all alive then I'll do it.

"We'd never mange that," Jakob mutters through his hands. "You're afraid of commitment, that's why you refused to marry me the first time I asked. And the Ebony I know would never want to have a baby. Plus I wouldn't make a good father. I can't even look after my little sister."

"We'll never know unless we try. Try to be more optimistic," I encourage. I reach across the table and carefully pull his hands from his face, keeping hold of them. I rub comforting circles on the back of his hands with my thumbs.

"After everything we've been through together it's hard for me to be optimistic. Our future doesn't look bright. That's why we need to finish the game. With one of us eliminated the other can finally have a shot at happiness," he explains, letting go of one of my hands and picking the gun back up. He puts the gun under his chin and clicks the safety off. I keep hold of his other hand as he pulls the trigger.