Poker Face
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Chapter Four: Wild Card
"So you got home late last night." Mina observed as Serena sat down at the table for dinner the following night.
"Yeah, we ended up playing poker after dinner. You know how my dad is, always trying to bluff his way out of a bad hand and making the game go long." Serena reminded.
"Who played? I know you never play unless there are four or more players. Your mom doesn't play and your brother is still on the East Coast." Lita asked.
"Oh yeah, Drew brought a friend to dinner." Serena answered quickly.
"Oh, you never mentioned that." Amy said, glancing up from the book she was reading.
"Well, I didn't see you guys until now. I came home, slept, and then went to work." Serena huffed out.
"So, tell us now." Raye prompted.
"As I said, he's Drew's friend. He's studying to become a doctor. And yeah; we're going out tomorrow." Serena told them, the last part very quickly.
"Repeat the last part." Mina snapped.
"We are going out tomorrow." Serena said clearly this time.
"Sere, is that a good idea?" Amy asked as she put her book down and looked over Serena carefully.
"What do you mean?" Serena asked.
"Sere, we don't want to have to hurt him." Raye said carefully.
"We're only getting coffee, nothing more. And I don't know if anything more is going to happen. We're both in school and he's Drew's friend." Serena explained, hoping her friends wouldn't worry as much.
"Is he hot?" Mina asked, breaking up all the conversation.
"He's attractive, Mina. And he's nice and funny; charming and, surprisingly chivalrous." Serena answered with a smile.
"Sounds like you've already fallen for him." Lita observed.
"Oh Lita, I wouldn't do that. I just met him." Serena denied, though she didn't believe herself.
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"You did what last night?" Andrew asked his friend in disbelief.
"Serena and I are going to have coffee tomorrow." Darien repeated; exasperation evident in his tone.
"You know, she's like my little sister." Andrew repeated.
"I know, you've told me already. Listen, I'm not going to intentionally hurt her. We're just going to have a cup of coffee; nothing more. If it doesn't work between us, then at least we can put this whole thing behind us and it will just be an outing as friends." Darien assured his friend.
"Ok. I guess there's not much I can do now that it's after the fact. No offense, Darien. But I hope nothing happens." Andrew said softly.
"That's a little cold. Even with the fact that I just dropped a bomb on you." Darien pointed out. Knowing his friend wouldn't be saying that unless there was reason.
"I don't mean to be. But Serena's…… special." Andrew tried explaining.
"I know she is. Are you cool? Cause if you're not, I can still pull out." Darien asked, wanting to be sure that if anything, he'd still have his best friend.
"Yeah, I'm cool. You're a good man, it's just Serena is special. And it's not just because she's my cousin. Also, if you pulled out and she found out that it was because of me; she'd kill me." Andrew clapped his friend on the shoulder.
"I can believe that." Darien laughed.
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"Ok, so how do I look?" Serena asked as she turned for Mina and Raye in her bedroom.
"You look great." Raye commented with a smile.
"The skirt brings out your eyes." Mina said, going a little more in depth then Raye did.
"Really?" Serena asked as she smoothed away a non-existent wrinkle.
She wore a pale blue skirt and a dark blue v-neck shirt with a white tank top under it.
"Yes, you look great. He'll pass out." Raye smiled at her friend.
"If he knows what's good for him, he'll keep from passing out until after their coffee date." Lita said from the door way with a smile as she looked at what Serena was wearing.
"Oh Lita, you haven't even met him yet and you're already threatening him. And it's not a date." Serena smiled as she turned towards her friend.
"Yeah, well, what can I say? You sure you want to go out? I'm making a kick ass dinner and we've got some great movies to watch." Lita tried tempting Serena into staying in.
"I bet dinner's going to be fabulous, but I'm going out for coffee with Darien." Serena smiled sweetly.
"Serena, Darien's here." Amy called from the front room.
"Come on, I want to introduce you guys to him." Serena said as she ushered them all out of her room and towards the front door.
"Yeah, it definitely is competitive there. Hey Serena, wow, you look amazing." Darien commented as he saw her.
"Amy, were you picking his brain?" Serena asked with a fake frown on her face.
"No, I was just asking about the entry process for the medical field at his university." Amy defended herself.
"Ames, I think she was kidding." Mina laughed.
"Oh." Was all Amy could respond with as the girls all laughed and even Darien chuckled.
"Anyways, Darien, these are my roommates and friends. Amy, you've already met. The one with brown hair is Lita, the other blond is Mina, and Raye is the one with black hair." Serena quickly went over, "Girls, this is Darien."
"So, where are you guys off to?" Lita asked.
"Oh there's this coffee shop I've been wanting to try downtown. It's called Tuxes." Darien answered easily.
"Well, you guys have fun." Mina said as she began to push the pair towards the door.
"We will, and don't worry, mothers!" Serena said as she nearly pushed Darien out of the door.
"It was nice meeting you." Darien called as Serena closed the door.
"He was nice." Mina said with a smile as she flopped onto the couch.
"Yes, he seemed to be." Raye agreed.
"And a medical student? Wow." Lita commented as she headed for the kitchen.
"He knows his stuff too." Amy commented, approving.
"Hey, Lita, when's dinner going to be ready?" Mina asked, changing the subject so rapidly it seemed like Serena never left with Darien and that all of them wouldn't worry about their friend until she came home.
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"So what was that all about?" Darien asked as they got into his car.
"Oh, it's nothing. They just worry; actually, we all worry about each other." Serena brushed off her friends behavior with a smile.
"Oh, ok. It just sounded like it was something more then that." Darien commented as he started his car and began to drive to the coffee shop.
"Well, I; It's really nothing to worry about right now." Serena assured him.
"Ok. So Andrew mentioned something about a weekly poker game last night?" Darien asked, trying to make small talk.
"Oh yea, in the apartment we have weekly games. It's just us, really. But it's tradition and we like it." Serena answered with a smile and a shake of her head.
"That's cool. I wish my friends could keep something like that up." Darien commented, "So what else do you like?"
"I like sleeping and eating. Lita makes some great food. What else?" Serena asked as she thought about it some more, "Oh and sports. Baseball and football mainly, but theres also hockey and basketball."
"Wow. I wouldn't think that you'd like sports." Darien said as he smiled at her.
"I don't like sports, I love sports. I think it's closer to an obsession." Serena laughed.
"Cool. A woman after my heart." Darien said quietly as he parked his car in one of the public lots and got out of the car.
"What about you?" Serena asked, after she had also gotten out of the car; startling Darien who had rushed around the car to help her out.
"Well, let's see; when I'm not studying, I like to read, sleeping is also one of my favorite pass times, like to eat, and enjoy watching sports as well." Darien told her as they began walking out of the parking lot and onto the main street.
"It seems like we have a lot in common; did Andrew set this up?" Serena asked with a smile.
"No, actually he wasn't too pleased that I had plans with you tonight." Darien admitted with a sheepish grin, "Why do you think he set it up?" Darien then asked.
"Well, he's always saying that I need to have a boyfriend and fall in love at least once before." Serena paused, "Hey, is this the place?" Serena asked as they came up to a small coffee shop.
"Yes it is, Andrew wanted you to fall in love at least once before what; if I may ask." Darien reminded her of what she had said before as he held the door open for her.
"Before I hit 22. I haven't had much luck with men." Serena said with a smile.
"You can't be 22, can you? I mean, I'm 23." Darien said shocked.
"No, I'm not 22, I'm 20." Serena smiled, "Though many people think I'm 25." Serena answered his question as they found a small table in the coffee shop.
"Really? I guess it's your eyes. If Andrew hadn't said you were his younger cousin, I would have thought you were my age if not older." Darien said after a moment, "What would you like to drink?" Darien then asked.
"I'll take a tux mocha, since they seem to be the special here." Serena smiled as Darien repeated her order and went to the counter to order their drinks.
"Drinks are on their way. So, what else is there to talk about?" Darien asked as he tapped his fingers on the table, trying to remember what you were supposed to do on a first date.
"Well, what about sports? We both seem to like them." Serena suggested.
"That works for me, which one would you like to start out with?" Darien asked.
"How about baseball? The season's going to be starting soon." Serena pointed out.
"Excellent choice, who's you favorite team?" Darien asked, knowing that this one answer could make or break any relationship they could have.
"Giants, what about you?" Serena asked, the same thought going through her head.
"Undecided; though I do dislike the Angels and Dodgers." Darien said after a moment's thought.
"Ok, I can live with that. Hate the Dodgers, but then again, what kind of fan would I be if I didn't?" Serena smiled as she recalled every rivalry game she's been too, "Now I have to warn you, I've only done research on the Giants, so I don't really know much about any other team."
"That's ok, I think it will be good for me to finally choose a team. I like to know as much about a franchise as I can before I devote myself to them. Andrew's been trying to get me to convert to a Giants fan for years." Darien smiled as their drinks were called out at the bar for pick up.
"So, how do you think the Giants will fare this year?" Darien asked once he sat down with their drinks.
"Well, they are in the middle of re-building their club. I'm hoping they'll do well this year, but then again, I hope they do well every year. My hopes are high as of right now, we do have 3 Cy Young winners on rotation." Serena said with a smile, glad to finally give out her knowledge of baseball.
"That's true, what about the offense?" Darien asked, noting that Serena had only talked about pitchers so far.
"Well, that's where we need work. We have great pitchers and great defense, but we can't get any hits!" Serena said exasperated, "I mean, we do get some hits, but never when we need them."
"Yea, I know what you mean. I can still hear Andrew yelling at the screen when there's a strike out with the bases loaded." Darien had to smile at his best friend and roommate.
"Yeah, don't remind me about that; though we have called up some young guns who might be able to help us out with the offense. We'll just have to wait and see what they can do." Serena said with a shrug as she took a sip of her mocha.
"How's your mocha?" Darien asked after a moment.
"It's very good, I can see why they have it as a special. What did you get?" Serena asked, recalling that he never told her what he was ordering.
"Oh, I just got a regular cup of coffee, I really don't like those fancy drinks." Darien told her as he took a sip of his coffee.
"What about hot cocoa?" Serena asked as she swirled her cup slightly.
"I like hot cocoa too. I just prefer coffee." Darien answered.
"hmm, would you like to try this?" Serena asked, holding up her cup in invitation.
"Uh, ok." Darien said.
"It's not a fancy drink." Serena assured him with a smile as he brought the cup to his lips and took a sip.
"This is actually quite good." Darien admitted with a smile.
"Oh no." Serena muttered after Darien put her cup down.
"Don't worry, I still have my coffee, you can have your mocha back." Darien smiled, though he though it was odd that she would worry about him stealing her drink.
"Oh, no, I mean, I'm glad you like it, but the girls are here. I think they're checking up on me." Serena said as she gestured toward the door of the coffee shop.
"Ah, I see." Darien said as he spotted the 4 girls at the entrance, "How about this, you go and run interference with them and I'll go grab the car and meet you out front." Darien suggested.
"That's perfect." Serena smiled as she grabbed her cup and walked over to the girls as Darien slid out the door, "Hi guys; what are you doing here?" Serena asked the girls.
"Well, after dinner we thought we'd get some coffee or ice cream or something." Lita said an a casual voice.
"Right." Serena said, unconvinced.
"Well, that and after Darien had talked about this place I was craving a cup of coffee." Amy said, trying to back up Lita's story.
"Uh-huh. So are you going to keep trying to fool me or come out with it?" Serena asked as she finished off her mocha.
"We were worried about you." Mina finally said, "I mean, you're not eating dinner with us and you guys came to a coffee shop, not exactly a place that's known for carrying food." Mina added.
"A, I'm not hungry; B, how do you know that we weren't going to go eat somewhere after we had coffee? And C, it's none of your business!" Serena pointed out to her friends.
"Sere, we know we're not your mother, but still; we want to know you're ok." Raye interjected softly, trying to get Serena to understand where they were coming from.
"I get that you guys worry about me and only want to make sure I'm ok, but showing up on my date isn't the way to do it." Serena said after a deep breath.
"So this is a date!" Mina said triumphantly.
"Wait, no….. I did say date, sisn't I?" Serena asked after she thought about what she had said.
"You did." Amy answered.
"Ok, yes, it's a date. I'm fine, don't worry. And don't wait up. Bye!" Serena said as Darien pulled up in front of the coffee chop and opened his passenger side door so Serena could jump in.
"You know, I think they planned that." Mina said with a frown.
"Yeah, they definitely did." Lita agreed as they turned around to order some mochas and get home to wait for their friend.
AN: I know it's been a while since I've updated this story. Well, it's been a while since I've updated any of my stories really. But here's a chapter! I'm hoping to keep writing and finish up some of these stories soon! Though I can't give any guarantees. Hope you like it!
Starrynight2010