Hey, everyone! Thanks for reading and reviewing, means the world to me!! Anywhoo, here's chapter 14. Hope you enjoy. :)
Quote of the day: Sex and the City
Carrie: I'm thinking balls are to men, what purses are to women. It's just a little bag but we'd feel naked in public without it.
Chapter 14. Mindless Hearts/Heartless Minds.
Day 9, Las Vegas.
Hiya, diary. I promised to give you an update about the last wedding dress customer. Remember the previous two? Bitchy, coke addict, model sluts? So, imagine my surprise when the third one turned out to be a complete sweetheart! Seriously, Solaris is one of the sweetest people I've ever met. She didn't even kill me when we realized that the wedding dress that I delivered only one day before her wedding, had a ripped strap.
Yep, talk about crisis. But no worries, yours truly took care of that lil' problem and now the whole family loves me! They even invited me and Nathan to their wedding which is tomorrow. Nathan and I just came back to the hotel to change quickly for the poker night that we're leaving for soon.
I know this sounds corny but I can't believe how fast these past 9 days have gone. It started with me and Nathan completely hating each other's guts to getting to know one another and now we're both actually enjoying spending time together.
I love hanging out with him and I've gotta admit, he's pretty easy on the eyes. Talk about a hot body!
Nathan's become one of my best friends and I trust him with my life. I really can't imagine how I've ever lived without him. Who knew!
Day 9, 8.30 pm.
"So, where exactly are we going?" Haley asked as she closed the hotel room door and walked behind Nathan towards the elevator.
After taking the wedding dress to Solaris and solving the crisis with the ripped strap, Haley and Nathan had driven back to their hotel room. After resting, changing and eating they were on their way to the poker game that one of Nathan's friends was holding.
The theme of the poker night was James Bond, meaning that all the guys wore suits and the girls had cocktail dresses or something similar.
Haley had chosen a dark purple halter-neck, knee-length dress with a low cut that she had worn to her graduation. (AN: think the dark purple Roberto Cavalli dress on Vesper in 007: Casino Royale :) ) Nathan had a suit jacket and jeans.
"The casino is called 'Shanghai City' and it's almost on the Strip. The parents of one of the High Flyers player's co-own it. They've reserved a small, private game room for us."
"But none of us is 21 yet." Haley said.
"As long as everyone has some sort of a fake id that says you're 21, they're ok with it. Besides, it's not like we'll be playing with big bets."
"Ok, sounds cool. But you have to promise not to ditch me." Haley said.
"I won't. Besides, there's gonna be at least one person besides me that you know." Nathan said.
"Who?"
"Tim."
"Smith? What the hell?" Haley asked.
"Yeah, he just called me last. He flew out earlier 'cause he has his grandma's 80th birthday tomorrow and it's like less than an hour from here. He's spending the night here in Vegas."
"Cool." Haley said excited to know that she would have at least one friend in addition to Nathan.
"But I've gotta warn you. The guy whose parents own the place is a total asshole. So, watch out."
"Thanks for the heads up." Haley said and clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "God, I can't wait to play poker. It feels like forever since my previous game."
"You're not playing tonight." Nathan said.
"What? Why?" Haley asked confused.
"It's a 300-dollar buy-in. I'm not letting you lose that money. Some of the guys have been playing for years." Nathan said.
"Thanks, that's sweet. But how about you let me handle my own money?" Haley said with a knowing smirk.
"I know you don't have extra 300 bucks, Haley." Nathan said.
Haley's eyes narrowed as she looked at him. Not coming from money had always been a sore subject for Haley. Not that she was embarrassed or anything, in fact she was proud that she wasn't a spoiled little brat who knew nothing about real life and the value of money. Haley just hated when people based their opinions on how rich the other person was.
"You don't know anything about me."
"I've been spending every single minute for the past 9 days with you. You usually never eat out and you always buy groceries because it's cheaper. You don't mind wearing the same jeans or shirt again before washing them. You always turn the lights or the TV off when leaving the room and you take shorter showers than any other girl I've ever met. And I bet that thanks to your economical driving, we've saved gallons of gas on this trip."
Haley looked straight ahead, her lips pursed tightly together.
"So, you know I'm poor. Congrats." She said dryly.
"Hey, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm just trying to look after you and I think that losing 300 bucks for a stupid poker game is not worth it." Nathan said apologetically.
"Whatever, I'm still playing." She said stubbornly while crossing her arms over her chest. "And if you're so concerned with losing money, maybe you shouldn't play."
"Why would I do that? I'm planning on winning the game." Nathan said.
"We'll see about that." Haley muttered to herself.
"The game is No Limit Texas Hold 'Em. Blinds are 15 and 30. Antes 10."
Nathan gathered his chips in front of him and looked around the table. He and Haley had made it to the casino and the game on time and though Haley was still not talking to him, he couldn't wait to actually start the game.
Haley looked around the room in awe. The room where the game was held was a private game room. They had their own bar, own bartenders and comfortable couches for hanging out in the corner of the room. Haley looked at the six guys around the table, arranging their chips into piles in silence, trying to mentally prepare themselves for the game.
She was the only girl playing and Haley was more than happy about it. It was much easier to work her charm and flirt if there were only boys around. All the other girls in the room were either sitting in the bar or smoking by the couches.
The other girls had briefly instructed Haley to use all of her feminine charm when they had learned that for once a girl was playing. Haley smiled to herself when she remembered all the girls gushing around her, pulling her dress a bit lower to show more cleavage and giving her tips on the weak spots on their boyfriends. Charlie totally digs butts so be sure to drop something on the floor and pick it up slowly.
The girls, who were used to hanging out in the casino watching their friends and boyfriends play and fight, were for once excited to watch the game. Haley had promised to do her best to make the girls proud.
Haley glanced at Nathan who was sitting next to her and was looking at her with a mixture of annoyance and pride.
"You can still back out, you know." Nathan said.
He had played poker with the guys before and knew how the games had ended every single time; cheating accusations, yelling, smack talk, mind games, manipulation and even a few punches had been thrown.
He had explained all that to Haley and she had still insisted on playing. She had said that she could take care of herself and that he should trust her. Besides, it's not like the guys would attack a girl. And I probably won't even last too long considering I'm a girl playing Texas Hold Em with 6 guys, right? Haley had said sarcastically.
"Not gonna happen." She said to Nathan stubbornly. "Drop it. I mean it."
"No offence, but how the hell are you planning on winning against six guys?" Nathan asked. "And no, I didn't mean that just because you're a girl, you can't win. I meant that all the guys have played for years. They can read people, find out their weakness. Do you even know the rules?"
Haley looked at Nathan annoyed how little faith in her he had.
"You wanna know how I'm planning on winning?" she asked quietly. "Fine. Watch and learn, buddy." She said and turned to look at the whole table with a sweet smile.
"How y'all doing?" she asked with a sugary voice while leaning on the table to make sure her cleavage was visible.
The guys around the table smiled back brightly and said their heys. Nathan noticed that all the guys who had just a second ago been in their own world concentrating on the upcoming game and keeping their game face on, were now smiling brightly at Haley and talking to her openly. Nick, one of the best players, even took his sunglasses off to talk to her. He never takes those off! Not even to go to bathroom in the middle of the game.
"Ok, everyone ready to start?" the dealer asked.
When everyone nodded, Haley turned to look at Nathan quickly.
"And that's how I'm gonna win." She hissed.
"Small blind, please." The dealer said looking at Haley.
She looked around in confusion.
"Huh? Who's blind?"
All the guys laughed out loud and looked at her with kind smiles. She was so clueless that few of the guys even felt bad for letting her play. Nathan shook his head in a defeated manner, knowing that letting Haley play was a bad idea.
"Small blind and big blind are an amount of chips that on every round two players have to pay. Now, it's your turn to put the small blind because you're first from the dealer." Tim explained.
"Thanks, Tim." Haley said and gave him a quick half hug that earned a jealous glare from Nathan. "You guys have to help me out a bit. I'm still a bit new to this game. So, one of these?" she asked holding one chip on her hand.
"That's the one. Don't worry, we'll help you through it." Charlie said reassuringly.
"Thanks." She said and winked at the guys. Again, Nathan couldn't help the jealous feeling he got when she was smiling to all the other guys.
"Yeah no problem, hot cheeks. I'd be more than happy to help you and do much, much more to you." Damien said with a cocky grin and winked at her.
Haley looked at Damien West, the kid whose parents owned the place and who Nathan had warned her about. She gave him a forced smile before looking at her cards again. All the guys looked at Damien with annoyed looks, Nathan definitely being the most obvious.
It was no secret that everyone in the room despised Damien and that the only reason he was there was because his parents owned the place.
"How about you leave her alone, West?" Nathan snapped at Damien.
"Jeez, take it easy. Just making conversation with our lovely little girly here." Damien said.
Haley's head whipped up to glare at him for a second, wanting nothing else but to smack him for calling her 'girly'. She took a deep breath and managed to calm herself down.
"Why don't you keep your shit to yourself for once?" Nathan said getting more and more angry every time Damien looked at Haley's direction.
Nathan knew Damien was a dick and his dirty eyes roaming all over Haley's body was beyond infuriating. And it certainly didn't help that with the revealing dress, the simple but gorgeous hairdo and the perfect smoky eye makeup, she looked absolutely stunning.
"Hey, calm down." Haley said quietly and set her hand on his thigh, drawing a few soothing circles on it.
Nathan looked at his thigh where Haley's hand was and took in a shaky breath. Feeling sparkles all over her hand, she snapped her hand back on the table like it had burned. She coughed uncomfortably and looked at him.
"Don't worry about him." She whispered.
"Yeah, don't worry." Damien who had heard her, taunted Nathan.
"Fine, whose turn?" Nathan asked.
"Yours."
"Fine." Nathan said looking at his cards and the three cards on the table. 2, 5 and Jack. "Call."
"Haley?" Tim asked.
Instead of keeping the two cards on the table and looking at them as carefully as possible, she grabbed both of her cards and held them on her hands in front of her face like you would when playing a normal card game.
With a sigh, Nathan grabbed her cards and put them back on the table as all the guys laughed.
"Keep them on the table, otherwise both Tim and Nathan can see what you have." Andy said.
"Ah, ok. Now I get why they do that. Thanks, darling'." She said while playing with her hair innocently.
Nathan coughed loudly and glared at Andy when he winked at her.
As carefully as possible, Haley lifted the cards on the table to see what she had. She bit her lip in an innocent manner as she looked at them for the longest time.
"Is Ace one or fourteen?" she asked and the guys laughed again.
"Haley!" Nathan said. "Don't tell us what you have!"
"Jeez, I was just asking." Haley said pouting. "Fine, I fold." She said throwing the cards on the table, face up.
She had an Ace and a King.
"That's a good hand!" Nathan yelled as the rest of the table laughed again.
"But they were different color!" she defended.
The guys were laughing so hard that few of them were practically in tears. The girls shook their heads sadly while ordering more drinks for themselves.
"Besides, it's not like your cards are that good either." Haley said to Nathan. "Why the hell are you still playing with a five and a Q?"
"Haley!" Nathan yelled and had no choice but the throw his cards on the center of the table to fold. "Bartender! Vodka!" he yelled while rubbing his temples with closed eyes.
This time, few of the guys almost passed because of the lack of oxygen for laughing so hard.
Few hours later...
"Ok, let's have a fifteen minute break." The dealer announced.
"Yay!" Haley cheered happily and got up.
Nathan glared and shoved a few guys angrily when they watched Haley's ass as she joined the girls on the other side of the room.
They had played for over 2 hours now. Haley had kept the table laughing and the atmosphere light while flirting with everyone and making everyone laugh which had not been easy on Nathan. He didn't know who he wanted to beat up more, the guys for flirting with her and himself so he didn't have to watch it anymore.
When it came to the game, both Nathan and Haley were doing good. She had lost a few hands but had had amazing beginner's luck. Charlie, Andy and Nick had lost all of their chips and dropped out and were now taking full advantage of the open bar.
Haley, Nathan, Tim and Damien who were still in the game were more than eager to win the prize of 2 grand. Tim was almost out of his chips after a few unlucky river cards while Nathan, Haley and Damien had about the same amount of chips left.
"I'm gonna head to the bathroom. Get me beer." Nathan said as Haley and Tim stayed on the line to the bar.
Tim watched closely at Haley who watched Nathan walk away. He smiled when he saw the passionate look on her face, similar to the one Nathan had whenever he had looked at her.
"So, you and Nathan... Is it serious?" Tim asked straight up.
"Huh?" Haley asked confused.
"Are you two serious?"
"Wha- Oh, we're not dating."
"Not officially. But apparently you don't need to 'go steady' to be in a relationship." He said with the air quotes.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Haley said with an uncomfortable voice.
Tim looked at Haley more carefully. Just that moment Nathan came out of the bathroom and stopped to say something to one of the girls, one of the few single girls in the room.
"Bitch." Haley muttered when the girl laughed at something Nathan said.
Tim turned to look at Haley surprised, but what he saw in Haley's eyes surprised him more than what she had said. Jealousy. Caring. Passion.
"You like him." Tim said looking at Haley.
"What? Of course I do, who wouldn't." Haley said.
"No, you like him, like him. As in, you can't stop thinking about him and you wanna spend every minute of every hour with him."
Haley looked at Tim with those deer in headlights eyes but then shook her head.
"You're crazy." Haley said and sighed in relief when it was her turn to order drinks. "Something strong!"
After getting her drink, she quickly made her way to where the girls were, wanting to get away from Tim.
"So, good game, Haley." The girls said when she joined them by the couches.
"Thanks, but it's still a long ways till the end." Haley said.
"Well, you've still made it further than any other girl before." Jessica, Nick's girlfriend said.
"I've been lucky." She said smiling to herself.
"Well see how far that'll take you." Nathan said with a sour voice behind them.
"Don't be an ass." Haley said and took a sip from her drink.
"Whatcha drinking?" Kim asked to change the subject.
"Sex on the beach." Haley said.
"Sure, anytime you want." Damien said with a wink, coming out of nowhere and unfortunately for her, sat down next to her.
Haley looked at Nathan and saw him glaring at Damien in fury.
"I was just saying the name of my drink." Haley said and smiled politely.
"Sure, but my offer still stands." Damien said and threw his hands over her shoulders.
She quickly shook his hand away knowing that Nathan would flip out very soon.
"I think I'm gonna check on the rest of the guys." Haley said and got up quickly.
Wanting to get away from Damien, she joined the rest of the guys who were smoking cigars in the other side of the room.
"Hey, guys." She said with a cheery voice.
"Hey, gorgeous." Andy said with a wink.
"Want some?" Charlie asked offering his cigar.
"No thanks, I don't smoke." She said and sat on the hand rest of the couch and crossed her legs.
"So, gotta boyfriend?" Andy asked not being able to take his eyes off of her smooth, shiny legs.
"Nope, free as a bird." She smiled and almost laughed out loud when he kept looking at her legs.
"Not long if I have anything to do with it." Damien said coming up next to her. Too close, in Haley's mind.
Jeez, stalker much? Haley thought.
"So, having fun playing?" Charlie asked when he saw Haley's uncomfortable look.
"Yeah, it's been a blast. I've been lucky." She said.
"Luck won't be enough." Nathan said joining the group.
"Don't start again." Haley warned him. Ok, what is it with those two following me? Haley thought looking at Nathan and Damien.
"Start what? Not wanting to make you lose all your money?"
"Trust me, Nathan." Haley said pointedly and tried to signal him with her eyes to drop the subject.
"I'm just being realistic. You're gonna lose all your money and than you're gonna wish you'd listened to me." Nathan said.
"Look, I'm trying to have fun. Don't ruin it." Haley said to him and stood up wanting to leave.
She was seriously thinking of hiding in the bathroom 'til the game continued. She wanted to stay away from Damien so Nathan would stay calm. She had to stay away from Nathan because she didn't want to fight with him. And lastly, she needed to stay away from Tim because apparently he had the ability to read her like an open book.
Instead of the bathroom, she decided to join the girls table again because none of the before mentioned guys were there.
She tried to pass Nathan but he took a hold of her arm.
"I'm just trying to look after you!" he said.
"Why don't you trust me when I say it's gonna be ok!" Haley said frustrated.
"Why don't you trust me when I say it's not!"
"Why do you always have to be such an ass when things don't go your way?"
"Why do you always have to try to prove yourself?" Nathan yelled.
Their voices were growing with every word and soon the whole room was staring at them.
"I'm not! I'm just trying to enjoy the night!"
"You're being someone you're not!"
"I'm just trying to have fun!"
"By flirting with all the guys in the room?! Giggling and laughing? Shaking your ass and playing with your hair?! You're acting like a whor-"
Nathan fell silent when he realized what he was about to say. He didn't need to finish the sentence though because everyone knew how it would've ended.
All the girls gasped in horror and glared at Nathan in anger, their hands crossed over their chests. The guys shook their heads sadly, knowing that Nathan had just crossed the line and there was no saving him. He was about to be scratched to death.
Everyone stared at Haley in silence waiting to see her reaction. Standing only few feet from him, she slowly shook her hand away from his grasp while swallowing the lump from her throat which didn't go unnoticed by Nathan.
He looked at her with an apologetic, scared look. He had never felt shittier, not even when he had seen her break down after being betrayed by Chris Keller. Realizing that, he wanted to hit himself for being so stupid. But first, he'd have to apologize.
"Hale-"
She cut his apology off with a hard slap on his face.
"Acting like a what?!" she screamed.
"I didn't mean that, I'm so sor-"
"Don't you dare." Haley said shoving him in the chest with a shaky voice.
She took a second to look around and saw that the whole room including the dealer and the bartenders were staring at her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to calm herself down.
Though Nathan deserved the beating of the century, she wasn't keen on making a scene in front of the whole room. Taking another deep breath, she finally opened her eyes and looked at him desperately on the verge of tears.
"You're so goddamm clueless." Haley said in such a quiet voice that only he could hear it.
"What are you talking about?" he asked confused.
"You think this is the real me?" she asked swallowing the lump again and trying to desperately get him to understand.
"Huh? I'm lost." Nathan said.
"Let's continue." The dealer announced.
Haley looked at Nathan one more time trying to make some sense into him.
"You're letting your fucking ego control your mind. What does your heart say?"
"What?" he asked even more confused.
"Open your eyes, Nathan." She said in disappointment and walked back to the table.
He watched in confusion as she walked back.
"Whatta..." he mumbled more confused than he'd ever been.
"Not cool, Nathan." Jessica said and kicked him in the ankle while walking past him to the bar.
"I hope you lose." Kim hissed while 'accidentally' spilling some of her drink on him.
"Dude, you're making it almost too easy for me." Damien said grinning while walking past him to the poker table.
Tim, who was walking behind him grabbed Nathan's hand when he was about to attack Damien.
"Nate! What the hell's the matter with you?! Damien's just pushing your buttons. And what comes to Haley? Dude, chill the fuck out! Are you fucking blind or just stupid? She's just playing the game!"
Nathan followed them slowly to the table and sat on his seat next to Haley. He looked at her for few seconds realizing how stupid he had been. Why he hadn't realized, that she was just playing the game, was something he'd never understand. And now that he thought about it, she hadn't even been that flirty at all; just few giggles and smiles. Few giggles and smiles too much, Nathan thought solemnly.
"I'm sorry." He whispered to her.
"No, you're not." She said without looking at him while arranging her chips in front of her.
And she was right. Kind of.
Nathan was sorry for being such an ass to her but he certainly wasn't sorry for his reasons of being an asshole and jealous. He couldn't help it but every time someone as much as hugged her or talked to her, he got blinded by over-protectiveness and jealousy. He still wanted nothing more than to beat the living daylight out of Damien and anyone who dared to even glance at her.
"We're upping the blinds. 20 and 40." The dealer announced.
"Good, maybe the weak ones will lose now." She said sarcastically while looking straight at Nathan who looked at her apologetically.
"Here you go, hon." Kim said and brought Haley her drink that she had left on the table in the midst of fighting with Nathan.
"Thanks." She said with a smile.
"Cheers. And beat the guys." Kim said before leaving.
"I'll try my best." She said and smiled back.
"I can't believe you could be so mean to her, Nathan." Damien said and smirked cockily when Nathan looked at him furiously.
Nathan looked between Haley and Damien, wondering if she'd be mad, if he killed Damien. Haley looked at Nathan, waiting him to make his move.
Had she not been there, he would've probably already attacked Damien but knowing that violence would only piss her off more, he decided to take Tim's advice: to chill the fuck out.
"Why don't we concentrate on the game here." Nathan said and smiled to himself when Haley gave him a thankful nod.
"Still, Haley's such a sweet, nice girl. Raise." Damien said while throwing some chips in the middle.
"Yes, she is. So, why don't you leave her alone?" Nathan suggested.
"Me? I'm not the one who called her a whore and got slapped." Damien said with a smirk.
Haley merely rolled her eyes at the stupidity of the guys. She was sick of being forced to witness the pissing contest between the guys. She smiled to herself when she knew just the way to end it.
"Hey, which one was better again? Q or J?" she asked with a sweet, dumb Jessica Simpson –look.
"It goes 10, Jack, Queen, King, and Ace." Tim said and smiled to her when Nathan and Damien turned their attention on her.
"Okay, then I raise." Haley said and threw some chips in the middle.
They had played over an hour since the break now and Tim had just lost his chips. Nathan was doing poorly and could only blame himself. Even though he had had plenty of good opportunities and had even decided to try to be cool about Damien's taunting, his cockiness and obsession to beat Damien had killed his game. Damien knew that and was taking full advantage of it.
Damien was a good player, no wonder since he had been playing almost his entire life in his parents' casino. He knew how to read people and find out their weaknesses and then use them to his advantage. And in Nathan's case you didn't need a professional to realize his weakness. Even a blind, 3-year-old who'd never even met Nathan, could see his weakness clearly.
Haley.
So, Damien had taunted Nathan as much as he could, forcing him to make stupid, irrational game decisions and it had worked perfectly. Haley wanted to help Nathan, she really did. She had told him over and over again to stay cool and play smart but it was like talking to a deaf person.
Haley wasn't mad about the fight anymore, not at all. Just disappointed. But she wasn't stupid either, she knew why he had been acting like that because it was the same way she acted when girls approached Nathan. She knew he was jealous and was acting on that feeling. But what she didn't know was the reason for his jealousy.
Haley thought that the only reason for Nathan's jealousy was because they were such good friends and he didn't want to see her get hurt. She thought that he had developed a big brother complex, like Lucas had. Not to even mention her brothers threatening Nathan with bodily harm, if he let something happen to her.
After witnessing the whole fall down with Chris, it would've been no wonder that Nathan tried to keep her away from guys. And the fact that Nathan had a hero complex didn't help the situation at all. He was both possessive and obsessed and since having spent 9 days with her, he was used to her always being with him and him only.
This was all true and she knew it. But what she didn't know was the true reason behind his jealousy, the true reason behind her own jealousy. It was something that they both should've known for a long time now, something that all the others had already seen and told them. Many times. And yet, they were still oblivious about it.
The attraction between them was so strong that it had blinded them completely. They liked each other more than friends do and hell of a lot more than enemies do and somewhere deep inside of them, they both knew that but neither was ready to admit it yet. So, they continued their never-ending cat and mouse game with the awkward silences and muffled feelings.
"So, Natey-boy. Whatcha gonna do?" Damien asked when he had just raised again.
"Don't listen to him." Haley said after folding. "Just fold it if don't have it."
"Yeah, just fold." Damien said mocking her voice. "Just give up, Nathan. Give it all up." He said clearly not just talking about the game.
Damien glanced quickly at Haley who was staring at the cards on the table. He licked his lips and then turned to look at Nathan with a I'm-so-gonna-hook-up-with-her –look.
"All in." Nathan said glaring at Damien.
"Nathan!" Haley said annoyed that he was being so irrational.
"I call." Damien said quickly and turned to look at the bar where the rest were drinking. "Hey, Nathan's all in!"
Soon everyone was as close to the table as the dealer would let them. The girls couldn't be more excited that Haley was still in the game and based on the amount of chips, she wasn't doing too bad either.
"Okay, let's see what you have." The dealer said.
The flop and the turn card were already on the table: 4, 7, Jack, Queen.
Nathan turned his cards around showing his Queen and 10.
"Pair of queens." He said confident that they were good enough.
With an annoyed glare, Damien turned his cards around. King and a Jack.
"A smaller pair, jacks." The dealer said and Nathan cheered.
"So, did he win?" Jessica asked confused.
"Nathan has better odds." Nick explained to his girlfriend. "Depends on the last card though. Damien needs to get a King or another Jack to survive."
"Let's see the river now." The dealer said and turned around the last card. A King.
"Yeah!" Damien yelled and stood up. "In your face!" he yelled at Nathan.
"Goddammit!" Nathan yelled and hit the table hard with his fist.
"You can only blame yourself, Nathan." Haley muttered.
"Sorry I lost my cool." He said disappointed in himself.
"Your loss." Haley said.
"Good luck." He said and stood up from the table and took a few feet back where the others were standing and watching the game.
"Upping the blinds, 50 and 100." The dealer announced.
"So, I guess it's just you and me left, sweetie." Damien said with a wink.
"I guess so." She said with a sigh. Gone was the flirty, cheery voice. She couldn't despise Damien any more than she already did and giving him the satisfaction of flirting was definitely out of the question.
"So, how can a pretty little thang such as you be single?" he asked while throwing some chips in the center.
"No reason." She said politely while looking at her chips in front of her.
"Well, you must be dying to spend some time with a real man after all this time with the Natey-boy." He said and winked at Haley who looked like she was about to throw up.
"Why don't you shut the hell up!" Nathan yelled from the back.
"Hey, you're out of the game." Damien said with a cocky grin that both disgusted Haley and infuriated Nathan.
"It doesn't mean that I can't kick your ass!" Nathan said and Tim had to hold him back again so he wouldn't attack Damien.
"Guys, stop it. I'm sick of you two fighting." Haley said.
"Yeah, listen to the girl, she's right. We shouldn't be fighting." Damien said in a voice that clearly meant the opposite.
"Just stop talking and concentrate on the game." Haley snapped at Damien.
"But, I'm sure-" Damien started.
"The game, West! The game!" Nathan yelled and Haley nodded her head in agreement.
"What's with the hostility, Scott?" Damien asked in a taunting voice as Haley sighed irritated. "Really Nathan, I don't know what your problem is. We shouldn't fight. Unlike that one song by the Dixie Chicks, I am ready to make nice… to myself... Or even better, maybe one of those Chicks could make nice to my dic-"
"If you finish that sentence I swear to god my 4-inch-stilettos will make sure you won't be able to reproduce." Haley snapped, finally having enough of him. "Which you seriously should consider skipping anyways."
The girls started laughing out loud while the guys ooh-ed.
Haley was finally sick of Damien being a sexist, chauvinist bully with nothing better to do than annoy the hell out of everyone else. Damien looked at Haley with a glare. How dare she talk to him like that!
"I mean, think about the world, Damien." Haley continued not being able to stop the words from coming. "It's bad enough that we have global warming, cancer and AIDS but to add your offspring to the mix? That just might be the last straw." She said and smiled sweetly.
Haley knew that she had just totally blown her "innocent, stupid, sweet girl" -cover but she didn't really care anymore. Damien totally deserved it all after being a pain in the ass and harassing Nathan.
"You little-" Damien glared at Haley.
"I'd reconsider the next few words that come out of your mouth." Nathan said his fingers already curled in balls, more than ready to leave their marks on Damien's face.
Damien took a few angry breaths before finally giving Haley an evil smirk.
"So, the gloves come off." Damien said and started to clap his hands slowly. "Oh, snap girl. It's not like I would've hooked up with you even if you had begged." He said looking at her disgusted, trying to save his ego.
"You're insane." Haley said with a sweet smile.
"Why don't you drop the act, princess. I know you've been fooling everyone with you ditzyness and pretending to be dumb. Since it's just the two of us and 2000 bucks left, how about you bring your A-game to the table? You can't flirt your way out of this one, honey."
Haley looked at Damien for the longest time as the rest of the room held their breaths.
"Fine." Haley said looking at Damien sternly.
Gone was the flirty, sweet face she had worn the whole night. She looked at Damien with a cold, hard, calculating stare which reminded Nathan of the way Haley's sister Quinn had looked at him the first time they'd met. The guys looked at Haley their mouths open in shock since they clearly had bought her act.
"Good." Damien said.
"I'm actually kinda relieved that I can drop the bimbo act." She said and pulled the front of her dress a bit higher so it would block the cleavage. The guys groaned in disappointment as Nathan glared at them.
"Great. Now, let's play some poker." Damien said.
"You're so going down." Nathan said and smiled at Haley reassuringly.
"I highly doubt it." Damien said and looked at Haley. "Playing against a girl? Hardly a challenge. I mean, how much can she know about poker?"
Haley's eyes narrowed in anger. She looked at him and then at her own cards thoughtfully. She then looked at the back of his cards, thinking through every move he had made. Few seconds later she smiled sweetly.
"Enough that I know you're gonna fold this hand."
"And why the hell would I do that considering we both have most of our chips on this hand?"
"Why? Not that I've given it that much thought, but considering you didn't bet before the turn card which was a deuce, I'd say your other card is also a two. The flop was 3, 5 and 6 after which you only called so your other card is either 8 or 9. I know you didn't hit a pair or a straight yet because you would've bet more or gone all in considering the amount of chips you have already put on this hand. So, now you're hoping for a straight which you're not gonna get. And since I have a pair of aces here, really your only chance of beating me is getting another two at the river card thus making it a three-of-a-kind for you. And the changes for that are, I don't know, approximately 1 out of 22. That's 4,5 percent in case you don't have an I.Q of 130 like I do."
The whole table looked at her in shock as she stared at Damien without blinking. During her entire rant she had stared at him coldly with piercing eyes. She hadn't even looked at her right hand that was shuffling and playing with her chips in a professional manner.
Damien swallowed while looking at Haley's hand that was still shuffling and playing with the chips. He slowly looked at his cards again. A two and an 8.
"But like I said..." she said and grinned to herself when she noticed that she had the attention of the entire room.
She suddenly stopped shuffling the chips, making the entire room dead silent.
"...I haven't really given it that much thought."
The girls and the other players that had gathered around the table were looking at Haley with a mixture of shock and admire. It wasn't every day that someone not only beat Damien West in Texas Hold 'Em but also managed to shut him up.
"Where did you learn all of that?" one of the guys asked.
"I'm pretty good at math and my Uncle Vinnie taught me well." Haley said with a smirk.
"Who's Uncle Vinnie?" Nick asked.
"My uncle Vince."
"Vince who?- Wait, you don't mean Vince Van Patten, do you?" Andy asked his eyes wide.
"Yep, that's my uncle."
"Your uncle is Vince 'The-pro-poker-player-and-the-host-of-World-Poker-Tour' Van Patten? Jesus... You're in trouble, West." Charlie said with a wide smile.
"Of all the nieces of all the professional poker players in the world, you're playing against one." Tim said with a wide grin.
Damien looked down at his chips but it was not a pretty sight. Since he had just lost most of his chips, he only had enough for 2 or 3 hands. Sure, it was possible to come back from that but finding out who he was playing against had just totally ruined his confidence.
Since he wasn't willing to lose to a girl, he decided to take the only road left.
"Yeah, I'm getting tired and I have to meet my dad. You can have this one. Gotta go." He said, pushed his chips to the center and quickly left the room.
Someone might say that folding and giving up was losing, but at least this way Damien didn't actually lose and he could still try to convince himself that if he had finished the game, he would have won.
Fat chance, but denial is a beautiful state of mind.
"Did she just win?" Jessica asked from Nick.
"What the hell just happened?" Haley asked confused.
"You won!" Kim and the girls yelled.
"What?" she asked still not believing it.
"You just won 2000 dollars!"
"What? I did?" she asked. "I did!" she then yelled with a loud scream and started to jump up and down.
Nathan jumped to where she was and picked her up as the rest clapped their hands and girls cheered.
"Congrats, Haley." Nathan said and carefully set her down but kept his hands around her. "I'm so sorry for what happened before. I should've known you were just playing the game and realized how stupid I was being."
"I'm not mad, Nathan." Haley said sobering up from her win as everyone started their way back to the bar. "I know that you were just looking out for me." She said with a sad look.
Nathan smiled at her and looked at her intensively. Maybe this was it, they both thought. Maybe this was finally their moment. The moment they had both been waiting for. The moment where they could finally get over all the shit and waiting. The moment they both had been dying to continue since their almost-kiss in the camping area of some natural forest in Utah.
"But, Nathan..." Haley started with a serious, sad voice which got Nathan extremely worried. Nothing good could ever come from that tone.
Haley took a deep breath and blinked back the tears from her eyes. She wasn't sure which one would be more hurt by what she was about to say, him or her.
"Nathan, I asked you to trust me. Repeatedly. Just like I have trusted you every time you have asked me to. Unconditionally. But you didn't. And trust me now when I say it's breaking my heart to say this. But if there's no trust..." She said trailing of and took a step back from him with a pained expression.
"Haley-"
"I'm not mad." She whispered in a disappointed voice.
She took a few, slow steps back, waiting for Nathan to stop her and reassure her that tonight had been just an exception and that he did trust her and want her. That he had only acted like that because he wanted the best for her and cared for her. She needed him to stop her, talk to her and kiss her. Still looking at Nathan, she prayed silently for him to do or say something. Anything.
Nothing.
Shaking her head sadly, she turned around to face the others that had moved to the bar. She forced a fake smile while quickly wiping the few tears from the corner of her eyes.
"Rounds on me!" she yelled and everyone cheered, obviously not noticing her upset look.
She ordered a bottle of champagne for the group and a vodka shot for herself. With a quick movement she slammed the drink down her throat to calm herself down.
She set the shot glass back on the table and looked at her hand that was shaking madly while biting her lip so it would stop trembling.
Realizing that she was about to have a breakdown, she grabbed the first person she saw.
"Hey, Tim." She said grabbing him by the shoulder.
"Hey, you ok?" he asked when he saw her upset face.
"Yeah, perfect. The alcohol's starting to get to me so I'm gonna head back to my hotel. Tell Nathan to take his time with you guys tonight and that I'll see him tomorrow at the wedding. I have some shopping to do in the morning so I'm gonna get up early." She said and left before he had time to protest.
She could feel Nathan's eyes on her back as she practically ran from the room. Pushing people out of her way, she made it outside the casino. Taking the first cab she saw, and in the process cutting about 20 people on the line, she told the driver her address. As the car started towards its destination, she kept her eyes strictly on the front seat ahead of her, trying her best to keep herself calm.
Had she turned to watch the road behind them and the entrance of the casino, she'd seen Nathan running out of the casino, looking around desperately for her. With a defeated look, he walked back in when he couldn't find her.
Determined that she wouldn't break out crying in front of the car driver, Haley made it to her hotel. Sure, her lip was bleeding because of the constant biting to keep herself together but she was not planning on making a scene.
With shaky hands she opened her hotel room door, stepped in and slammed the door shut. Two seconds later she collapsed on the floor. Sobbing loudly she pulled her legs up, hugging them madly while swaying from side to side.
She wasn't crying because she was drunk or because she had fought with Nathan and he had practically called her a whore. She wasn't crying because she thought that Nathan didn't trust her or want her.
She was crying because she had just realized that she was in love with Nathan Scott. And based on the night they'd just had with the whole fighting, yelling and him not trusting her, Haley had a hard time imagining a future for them.
And that scared her more than camping and clowns combined.
So, there you go.. Any thoughts on the chappie? Next chapter will be the last before the epilogue so we're nearing the end. :) In the meantime, review:)
-Fes-