Sinners ─ B. Watts

Mariage D'amour

CHAPTER 7
Las Vegas, 1950

     Only silence lingered in the air, beside the oddly familiar sound of the wooden pieces hitting the lacquered board. Violet found herself gnawing on the inside of her cheek as she thought about her next move. Just thinking of losing was making her breathing rapid and shallow, her pulse pounding in her temples but she knew it wasn't an option for her, not anymore. She missed it, she missed competing and most of all, she missed the relief feeling of winning. It had been difficult to get used to those fixed looks on her, she wasn't used to being watched anymore, but she'd been clever enough to put her emotions aside. A silent sigh leaped out of her mouth as she moved her queen to E4, checkmating Shapiro in just 25 moves.

     Everyone gave a round of applause when they stood up, shaking their hands out of respect. At that moment, there was an explosion in her brain, the good sort, the type that carries more possibilities than she could be conscious of. There were hundreds of thoughts in that buzz of electricity, Violet could feel it. It was the calling card of adventure, of paths awaiting her feet, something she'd wished to experience for a long time. Whatever was ahead was for sure a great challenge, and there could be tears, but it was her adventure to take and so she smiled. This first match proved her something and not just to her but to everyone, finally raising all expectations.

          "Turns out that taking risks is worth it, right?"

     The tension that had kept her up for 1 hour straight melted into nothing when Townes approached her from behind. The crowd flowed down the hallway once the game had finished, leaving Violet and a few other players around.

          "Yes," She agreed with him in a playful tone, a dumb grin on her face. "I owe Benny a thank you for this one."

     Townes raised a brow. "Benny?"

          "Mhm," Violet nodded without looking at him. She took tiny sips from her glass of water and walked away from the tables, towards the bar. 

     Townes followed her, without a clue why would she thank Benny for her win. Indeed, his mind started to concept different scenarios. None of the paths led to a valid conclusion, which made him insist on the subject — since Violet had gone silent about it. "But why?"

     Violet glanced upward, her mouth pursed but slightly open. "Last night, when we were all in his apartment, with everyone's gazes locked on us, on our games...It helped. Didn't matter that I lost a few times," she stated with a shrug. "Two beers, please."

     Townes flickered his eyes back to the woman behind the counter, noticing Violet had already ordered something for both of them. He gave the woman a short nod and spun around. "I have never seen you this happy," Townes pointed out.

          "I used to not be allowed to feel genuine happiness, remember?" Violet reminded him and rested her elbow on the cushion of the counter. She turned her head, now their eyes finally meeting. She had missed Townes, more than he was probably thinking. He'd been one of the people her parents agreed with, one of the people she was allowed to speak with. She felt so much regret for not keeping in touch with him after quitting.

          "There you go, ma'am."

     Violet refocused when the waitress's voice broke the moment. Her hand gripped the bottle and took a strong sip out of it. Townes did the same and took the empty seat beside her. She had a few hours until her next match, which left them both some free time to catch up.

     As Townes began another conversation, changing the chess topic to something more usual, there was still something Violet couldn't let go of, making her lose focus. This morning, what Benny said about her lipstick and how that's considered a sin. She had already been aware of it, it shouldn't have mattered too much, everyone breaks God's rules all the time. But his thoughts on her were given much importance. She was constantly searching for anything to ease the terrible burden of overthinking.