Thwaites & Thompson

Now

One month later...

Thompson

"Coffee?" Madonna offers a cup and I instantly nod.
I raked through my now shorter hair and tucked my long bangs behind my ear.
"Do you think my hair is ever going to grow long again?" I huff, blowing a strand off of my face.
"It will..."
"Are you taking your bear hair supplement?" She asks and I nod hopelessly.
"Plus, you rock the boy cut!" She frowns at me and I chuckle.
"I like that it's low-maintenance..." I shrug and she nods agreeing.
"No hair ties. How awesome is that?" She winks and I grin at her.
I lift my cup of coffee with one hand and reach for the back of my head with the other, brushing the really soft short skitters with my fingers.

"So umm-what happened last night?" She asks worriedly.

"Oh..." I gulped.
"Silly nightmare..." I quirked my lip and she nodded slowly.

"Tess-you don't get much sleep..."
"You know that's not good for work..."
"And you have this big gala coming soon? Your grand closure?" She eyes me guardedly and I nod at her.

"I'll be okay, I'll go swimming, and I'll do some Yoga, and I'll get plenty of sleep. No worries." I wink at her and she nods with a sigh.

Her phone rings and her face lights up.
"It's Cole..." Her cheeks redden and I snicker.
"I'll be right back." She bit her lower lip and pressed her phone against her ear before she left the kitchen.

My smile instantly fades and I sigh lengthily.

Every time Cole called Madonna, my mind took me to the thought of Adam...

I thought about what he would say if he saw my new boy cut hairstyle...
So much for letting them mess with my hair, he would say...
I smiled to myself but it was fleeting.

My phone rings and saves me from my distress. I smile when I find Tiffany's name on the screen and I instantly pick up her call.
"Hey Annie..."
"Pretty soon!"
"I'll be done with work by Thursday, we'll probably move in the Thursday after, a week before school starts."

It all seemed planned out...
Just the way Adam planned it for me.
It was me moving to Madonna's for the month that we both didn't see coming...

~~~~~

"Tess..."
"You look-wow!" She took a deep breath and I turned to stare at myself in the mirror.
I was dressed in a bob off shoulder white cropped top that went exquisitely well with black high waist flare pants.
My layered thick front bangs were decorating one side of my face and I made sure I wore a handful of little silver earrings in the exposed ear that would do the trick on the other side of my face.

"You know what would be a complete slay?" Madonna holds out a dark lipstick color before me. I shake my head a little.

"I'd rather not..." I shrugged politely and she frowned confusedly.

Just in case Adam attends tonight's party... I tell myself.
The last person I wanted to see...

*****

"I'm game..." I slowly quirk my lips up to the side.
"I see your five hundred, and I'll raise you another five hundred..." I look Adam straight in the eye.
Everyone calls in and we hear the clatter of the poker chips a bunch after the other.
"I raise... A thousand..." I push the tar black chips forward.
"She's trying to buy her way out of her bluff..." Adam scoffs and all heads turn to me.
He was the one seated right across from me around the Brookdale pub and poker table.
On my right side, sat a very wealthy business woman, and on my left side, there was a very dangerous bulky thug...
See Adam and I pretended we didn't know each other in this game...
Our plan was to stay in the game until one of us wins the second place at the least, even though our aim was to win first and second place by learning to provoke one another and get the lady and the thug to stand down thinking the real game was between Adam and I.

"Two thousand." The thug passes me a cold glance.
"Fold..." The lady pushes her cards to the dealer.
"Call..." Adam throws the thug a similar cold glance.
The dealer exposes the last card and much to my luck, with the help of the last card, I had a full house in my hand...
"Show cards..." The dealer speaks after a few more bets and I smile my practiced sly smile before I expose my cards and eye both Adam and the thug.
The thug's face slightly falls when he acknowledges my full house and he tosses his cards that could've got him winning with a three of a kind.
Adam on the other hand was calling a bluff, as usual...
I pursed my lips when Adam stared at me, his eyes were glowing. He was proud of me; it wasn't too hard to tell...

And our plan works, we work our ways into winning both the lady's and the thug's money after the lady surprises us by being the last active player instead of the thug. It was just us now, and more than fifty heads were watching over us...
It doesn't matter who wins now, all the money on the table is ours and we know it...
It shouldn't matter...
But why did I feel like just now, the game was on?

"Bets..." The dealer speaks and I instantly push the first two fifties chips.
I check my cards and try not to react to the pocket of Aces I had for a hand.

"Check." Adam knocks twice on the table.
"Check." I follow suit.
I didn't want him to feel that my hand was full.

The first three cards get exposed and the fact that they were all clubs worries me.
I didn't want to compete against a flush.
What's the chance of Adam having two clubs in his hands? I asked myself.

"Raise..." Adam avoids my gaze and pushes three hundreds.
"Call." I push my chips forward.
Following suit this time was a risky move, but I never learned how to fold. Not when I'm playing against Adam.

By the time we reached to the last round, Adam was all in, and my palms were sweating profusely...
The last card gets exposed and I, for the first time for what felt like two years and not just two hours, I let my frown appear...
Without bothering to wait for the dealer to ask us to expose our cards, I flip my cards over and spend a few moments scanning the table, my cards, Adam's, and the five cards that were on the table. Queen of clubs, jack of clubs, a nine and...
My mind instantly fills in with Adam's King of clubs and red ten and my face falls.
"Straight..." It comes out a whisper.
"A flush..." He rested his back to the chair and shook his head in disbelief, his eyes never leaving mine...

"What?" I frowned a little but when I glanced between the cards on the table and my cards again, it dawned on me.
Five cards on the table, non-Aces...
Four clubs and I had the Ace of clubs...

It was me. I won the game and I was clueless...
I hear a few men hoot around us followed by a big round of applause...

A couple of minutes later I was handing my chips to a lady in uniform and she was handing me three thick envelopes.
"Congratulations." She smiles at me and I smile back and chew on my lower lip before I begin to stuff the envelopes in my bag.
I leave the bar, sighing shakily.
I force my legs to take me to where Adam was waiting for me in his car, away from all sights.
I get into the car and he drives off to his place.
We step inside noiselessly, not wanting to wake Nala up this late at night.
I walk into my room and he follows me a couple of moments later.
I place my bag onto my bed and walk to where he was leaning by my closed door, smiling at me.
"I feel like I'm about to freak out..." I cup my heated cheeks and he chuckles, reaching for my hands, pulling me closer to him.
"Don't freak out just yet..." He takes a deep breath and before I know it, he was kissing me ever so fervently...

*****

"Tess!"
I shut my eyes and instantly dab the tear that strides down my cheek unwillingly.

"Yeah?" I turn to Madonna who was standing at the glass doorway of the balcony, frowning at me.

"What a day dream!" She chuckles and I join her.
"I'm sorry, did you want something?" I cough once.
"No babe, I'm leaving for work, I was asking if you needed something." Her eyes were inspecting me as she spoke.
"Nothing..." I shook my head a beat and mustered a smile.
"Alright..." She nodded slowly.
"Bye Tess..." She waves and I wave back at her.
I sigh shakily and turn to stare ahead again, ready for another time travel...