Hell's Smitten (Gordon Ramsay x Reader)

Chapter 99- Gordon Ramsay Steak

||A/N: Welcome back to Hell's Smitten! I will be posting one chapter every Friday for the foreseeable future. I missed you guys and I can't wait to hear what you think of the story as it continues to reach a boiling point. Love you all!||

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Abel and I emerge hand-in-hand onto the casino floor to Bella cheering. She beams at the dealer who passes her a stack of chips.

"Third hand in a row! I'm the Queen of Blackjack!"

We approach their table, where Abel pulls out the chair beside Taylor for me. I sit and Taylor leans her shoulder into me.

"Table seems lucky, you should try a few hands," Taylor suggests. I nod as I take out my $250 and hand it over to the dealer, an elderly woman with white hair in a bun and a spry glint in her eye.

"Two hundred and fifty dollars," she calls out to the pit boss before turning to me. "Do you want this in twenties, fifties, or hundreds?"

"Twenties, please." She slides me three stacks of chips, then exchanges Abel's money as well.

We play six hands; Taylor wins once and loses twice before she stops playing, Bella wins another three hands before a sudden streak of six losses in which she loses most of her gains, Abel wins two and loses one then quits while he's ahead, and I win three and lose three. At one point a woman stopped by and asked if we want anything to drink, on the house. I didn't want to risk exacerbating my earlier stomach problem, so I passed. Abel and Bella asked for a glass of seltzer water, while Taylor ordered a piña colada.

Our group moves on to a poker table. I recall thinking Abel would be fantastic at poker, and can't wait to see if I'm right. Bella sits out since she insists she doesn't know how to play and is already low on chips. I don't know how to play either, but the dealer is helpful and answers my every question. As I had rightfully suspected earlier, Abel is great. Both Taylor and I are wary of calling him on bluffs, his face never gives anything away. Staring too long gives him the opportunity to give me a butterfly-inducing wink. I have no way of knowing how long we've been playing as the casino has no clocks to speak of. Judging by Taylor's drunken giggling, a few hours must've passed by the time Gordon's voice comes in over my head, surprising us.

"Bella, what happened to your chips?" He has his hands on either side of my chair as he inspects our table.

"I was up to five hundred on the blackjack table, Chef!" Bella groans, picking up her meager stack of chips and letting them clack down onto each other while she pouts. "Now I only have forty."

"Shame, I was going to ask you to buy us dinner tonight," Gordon jokes. "Seems it'll be on me, then. Are you all ready to visit Gordon Ramsay Steak?"

We nod enthusiastically. Exchanging our chips in for cash at the exchange window is quick, Gordon and the production crew part the regular patrons so we get a straight shot to the front. All in all, Tay ended at $190, Bella at $40, Abel at $310, and I came away at $150. Not too bad for the hours of fun we had.

"It's right this way." Gordon leads us from the casino and through a hallway that emerges into a concourse of shops, restaurants, and seating areas. The shops are made to look like individual buildings on the side of the road in Paris, with white-yellow bricks and ornate detailing. The ceiling is painted like a blue sky with sparse clouds. Chandeliers hang every few feet with pillars between them.

The people around us part to make way for our group and camera crew, but that doesn't stop a few ambitious fans from shouting for Gordon's attention. He ignores their pleas, taking a turn behind a pillar. A tall sign stands like its own pillar, black with Gordon Ramsay Steak written along its length sideways. A street light illuminates the entrance– a half-circle from the top to the right side of shiny, silver metal rings segmented every four feet by a semi-circular panel of red glass. A beautiful woman with a black dress waits by the circular red door, pulling it open as we approach.