by Odeda Yaari
It was almost five in the morning, and Ron was the unofficial king of the hall. Despite being tired, he decided this was the time, just before calling quits, to try out his big move. He stood up, took a deep breath, and placed all his money on the table. The crowd around him froze in awe, and the tense silence was so palpable it could have been cut with a knife.The dealer handed out the cards. According to Ron’s calculations, this was the last pack. All the cards that had been previously dealt were swarming around in his head. He was sure he only had to take one more card to hit the jackpot.
“Hit me!” he told the dealer in a confident voice.
The crowd held its breath. No one dared give any advice. Several women huddled behind Ron, almost touching him. He pushed them back, concentrating on the cards in front of him.
The dealer drew out Ron’s card from the pack. Ron looked at it for a moment with a victorious look on his face.
But it wasn’t the card he had planned for.
Ron felt the air leave his lungs at once. A great sigh of disappointment was heard all around him. The show was over. Some woman put her hand on his shoulder and whispered, “Too bad! And I thought tonight would be our night.” She disappeared among all the people that began moving away from the table.Where did I go wrong? he thought. Just like in our experiment, when we got so close to the finish line, something went wrong.
Ron left the table and went up to his room.
***
When Sophie arrived at the hotel, it was late in the evening. She was tired after a long, exhausting day. Anyway, she thought, it would be best if Ron doesn’t see me tonight and doesn’t know I’m here. All she wanted at that moment was to get to her room, soothe her body and mind with a hot bath, call home to wish Matan and Garry good night, and go to bed.
She checked in at the front desk as Dana. That was the name in the passport and on the credit card Yoni had given her. Along with her room key, she received an envelope that contained a VIP entrance card to the hotel casino, in case she would need it. She went up to her room and fell asleep shortly after.
***
She was startled awake by the phone ringing the next morning. It took her a few moments to remember where she was. She looked at her watch. It was nine a.m., which meant it was ten in the morning in Israel. Yoni was on the line.
“Good morning, miss. I hope everything is to your liking!” he said humorously, and Sophie knew things were probably going well.
“Morning, my dear!” Sophie reciprocated. “Everything is to my liking. Other than the fact that you dared wake me up without sending me breakfast in bed.”
“It’s on its way, trust me.” Yoni laughed and said, “I just wanted to let you know that our guy must have had a good time at the casino last night. You’re not going to believe this, but the entire amount he had transferred to his checking account before the trip is now safe in the hands of the hotel casino.”
Sophie smiled. “That didn’t take him very long, now did it? But Yoni, this isn’t like him. From my short time knowing him, I can say this isn’t something he would normally do. Something’s going on with him.”“Maybe he’s in love?” Yoni tried to speculate.
“If this is love, than he should be spending that money on me. Anyway, I’ll go see what’s up with him. We may be on to something.”
“Sophie…sorry, Dana, the clock isn’t on our side with this one.”
“Yoni, the clock is never on our side. By the way, I don’t see any breakfast here. I’ll have two butter croissants, a cup of coffee, and some orange juice. You got that?”
“Got it. And just keep in mind, sometimes the clock is more considerate than it is right now. I suggest you take a few hours to get organized and start snooping around the casino this evening. Talk to me tomorrow morning, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Enjoy your meal, Chiquita,” he said and hung up.
Sophie decided not to take the chance of Ron seeing her too soon and stayed in her room. As she was getting dressed, she heard a knock on the door.
“Who is it?” she asked in surprise.
“Room service.”
She opened the door and saw a waiter holding a silver tray with two butter croissants, a cup of coffee, and a glass of orange juice. She smiled from ear to ear and gave the waiter a generous tip.
As the waiter closed the door behind him, Sophie opened the envelope that had been placed on the tray. Inside was a fax that, according to the time stamp, had just arrived.
“I don’t want you to go hungry, or to think your boss isn’t looking out for you. P.S. I know you’ll do something I wouldn’t do. Enjoy.”
Sophie burst out into a rolling laugh. Yoni could be tough and strict at times, but he was also a good friend, understanding and funny. She loved working with him.
She spent the rest of her day napping and reading. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d had the pleasure of indulging like this, spending the whole day doing nothing. She lit a long cigarette and tried to imagine what was going through Ron’s mind. How could she not have seen this trip coming? Did it have anything to do with her? What had prompted him to act this way, so unlike his usual self? She recalled what Ron had told her about his parents. Then she thought of her own parents, so different from his. And still, they too did not always know how to give their children the attention they needed, or couldn’t, for very different reasons.She thought of Garry, at home with Matan, waiting for her, missing her. She missed him, too. She missed the quiet and security she felt when she was in his arms. She missed the love they shared. She loved their weekends together, even if at times they got to be too much and she needed a more liberating atmosphere.She tried to shut off her mind and sleep. She knew enough about casinos to know that she had a long night ahead of her.
***
“You can make one phone call. If I were you, I’d call my lawyer,” the police officer barked at Ron disgustedly.Ron felt sick to his stomach and his throat tightened shut. Who was he going to call? How was he going to explain that he had lost his entire family fortune at the casino?
He had no other choice but to call his parents. In a trembling, almost begging voice, he explained what had happened and where he was.
What if they don’t come? he asked himself, lying on the hard, narrow bunk in the cold holding cell.But they came twenty-four hours later and bailed him out, with looks of shame and contempt in their eyes.
“You failed us. We’ve lost another son now,” was all they said before leaving him and returning to the airport.
***
Ron woke up drenched in cold sweat, out of the nightmare that had filled his already restless sleep. He turned on the shower and stood under the cold water, letting it wash away the previous night’s sense of failure and the subsequent nightmare. Feeling somewhat restored, he went down to the hotel dining room.
Few people were having their breakfast so early. Most of the guests, who had partied till the small hours of the night in the casino, had chosen to sleep in till noon to be fresh again for the next night.
Over a steaming cup of coffee, Ron decided that the previous night’s experience had been more than enough for him. Tonight, he thought, I might just go see a show, or maybe I should even try and change my flight to an earlier one and go home on Saturday night. Maybe I’ll even have enough time to see Dana. This whole thing just isn’t for me.
Feeling quite relieved, he exited the hotel. The boulevard that had been teeming with life the night before was not yet awake and ready for the new day. Here and there, he saw some waiters cleaning tables and stall holders just starting to offer their goods. The cool morning air did him good. He paused by a tourism office that advertised day trips around the city, and decided to go on one. He had half an hour before the tour started, so he wandered the streets some more, hoping to find some nice little thing to buy for Dana.
***
The guided tour took him to all of Gaudi’s buildings throughout the city. Ron listened half-heartedly to the guide’s explana
tions and stories about the unique architecture and about Gaudi’s complex personality. In a way, he felt he could relate to that special man, who had built shrines to celebrate what he’d believed in professionally and made no compromises or allowances for what other people thought, staying true only to himself.
Around eleven a.m., Ron began to feel restless, and that tingling in the tips of his fingers was starting to make another appearance. He stopped by a pay phone, called his bank, and in an authoritative voice, asked to draw one hundred thousand dollars from the company funds and transfer the money into his private account.
“There’s some important business I need to finish up here,” he told the banker defensively, though she had not asked him anything.
The banker had known Ron for many years, and she also knew the company funds came from his family. She knew Ron to be a level-headed person whose actions were always carefully thought out.
By tomorrow, I’ll have a much larger sum and no one will be the wiser, he thought.
Feeling a bit calmer, he rejoined the tour, but after a while he again felt impatient. He wanted to be back at the casino, to be done with it. He said goodbye to the guide and headed to the hotel.
After a good shower, he put on his suit and a clean shirt, took his wallet, and went down to the casino. He remembered seeing people entering a room that he thought looked interesting the previous night, its entrance covered by a thick velvet curtain. He walked toward that door.
“What’s in that room? Can I go in and take a look?” he politely asked one of the guards standing at the doorway.
“I’m sorry,” said the guard. “This is the VIP room, reserved for members and heavy players. If you’re interested, I suggest you inquire at the cashier’s desk.”In the main hall, there were already several people gambling. Some were familiar faces from the night before, who gave him appreciative looks, making him feel encouraged about what he was about to do, despite last night’s loss.
Ron mustered all his self-confidence and approached the stern-looking man behind the glass partition.
“What do I need to do in order to play in the VIP room?”
“Please take a seat,” said the man, pointing to one of the armchairs on the right-hand side. “Someone will be here to help you in a moment.”
Seconds later, an attractive girl came up to Ron and asked him to accompany her. She led him to an elegant office and slipped away quietly. On the wall opposite the table were monitors showing everything that took place in all the casino halls. Behind the table sat a bespectacled man who looked at Ron carefully, trying to find out as much as he could about him before starting a conversation.
“I understand,” he said in a low voice, “that you wish to play in our VIP room. I followed your playing last night for a bit, and I admit it was certainly admirable. Your concentration and gaming skills are quite surprising. But to play in our VIP room, you need more than that. You need to have proper monetary coverage. The stakes in that room are much higher than at our usual tables.”
“How much are we talking about?”
“Let’s say, if you can prove you have coverage of a hundred thousand dollars, we will be satisfied.”
Ron felt he was in deeper than he could control. His options were either to get up and leave, or to really get into it. It wasn’t the money he had lost the night before that prompted him to go on; it was the knowledge that he simply had to win. He had to prove to himself he could do this. Calm and collected, he took out his credit card and placed it on the table.“Can I please ask you to wait a few minutes? In the meantime, please help yourself to a drink. Make yourself comfortable.”As if by magic, the girl who had shown Ron to the room reappeared, waiting to take his drink order.
When the manager returned, he entrusted Ron with a golden VIP card that had his name on it. “Good luck,” he said and got up to shake Ron’s hand.
17
The velvet curtain was drawn and Ron entered a small private hall with dark drapes and blue wall-to-wall carpeting. The hall was quiet, and spoke of dignified wealth. For a moment, he stood at the doorway, observing the room and the people sitting around the tables, searching for just the right spot. Then he decisively walked toward the blackjack table at the end of the room, and sat with his back facing the door.
***
In her hotel room, Sophie was working out her plan of action. She had had a good sleep and was fully alert and ready. In truth, she loved the tension and excitement that surrounded the casino. If she hadn’t chosen to settle down, she would probably be deep into that dark mysterious world that dealt in millions of dollars. In the past, when she had worked at a casino, she got to see people losing their entire possessions in the course of a single evening. Men and women who were prepared to gamble away their spouses, their homes, everything they held dear—just so they could get another chance at spinning the wheel, in the hopes of winning the jackpot.
Just before six p.m., she took a shower and put on the silver evening gown she had brought. She did her makeup meticulously and put on her diamond jewelry. The Dana she saw in the mirror was a beautiful young woman, attractive and confident. She took a deep breath, gave herself a last look in the mirror and a final touch of lipstick, and left the room.
Slowly, she passed the main casino hall and scoured the room. Ron wasn’t there. Just to be sure, she walked among the tables, checking out all the players. As she had suspected, Ron was in the VIP hall.
She presented her member card to the cashier, bought some chips, and walked toward the blue velvet curtain. As she entered, she gave a quick glance around the room and immediately spotted Ron sitting at the far end of the room, his broad back facing her. She came closer and sat at one of the roulette tables next to his blackjack table, her back turned to him. Ron had a tall stack of chips in front of him, which meant luck had been on his side so far. He was completely engrossed in the game, and there was no chance of him noticing her sitting behind him.
It was almost ten p.m. when Ron felt he was ready for his big move.
“One hundred thousand dollars,” he placed his bet, and the words echoed around the room, charging it with electricity. It was as if every person in the room now had their eyes on the blackjack table. The rest of the players around the table retired from the game and awaited the results nervously. While the people in the room were all heavy players, even they were surprised by the large sum. Ron was the only one there who did not give out any signs of excitement. In his world, given a continuum of repetitive successful trials, an error was an impossibility. In that moment, money was no factor, and all that mattered was the victory of the human brain over the wheel of fortune.
Sophie sat there, tense and quiet. The outcome of this move would determine her entire strategy with Ron. The next moment she remembered was heavy and silent. She had no need to step over to the table to realize that at that very moment Ron had lost all his money. She left the VIP room and went out to sit by one of the tables in the main hall, next to the door, waiting for Ron to emerge.
A few minutes later, he came out, pale and sweaty.
“Ron,” she called to him. “What are you doing here?”
Ron was panicked and confused. What is she doing here? he thought to himself. What does she know?Of all the people in the world, the last person he expected to see leaning over a table in this casino was Dana.
“Like I said in the message I left you, I had an unexpected business meeting,” he began stuttering. “And I had some free time, so I thought I’d check out the casino. This isn’t something I usually do,” he said apologetically. “What are you doing here?”
Sophie had her cover story all laid out. “I actually really enjoy going to a casino every now and then, and this is my favorite one. I have a VIP club membership, so I get really good deals at this hotel. Plus, I absolutely love Barcelona, so whenever I get the chance for a little break, I come here. After I heard your message and knew you were going to be busy the entire weekend, I thought I’d tr
eat myself to a little vacation, just till Sunday. What time are you leaving?”
Sophie’s talking allowed Ron the chance to snap out of his initial shock of seeing her, but the burning sensation of failure was most definitely still there. He could think of nothing but the huge sum of money he had lost. This was no longer just about his system failing, but about how he was going to pay back the money he had taken from the company. This was embezzlement. Dana looked at him, waiting for him to answer.
“I haven’t decided yet. I might leave tomorrow night or on Sunday, I really don’t know.”
Sophie seized the opportunity and said, “Stay till Sunday. It must have been fate for us to be together this weekend, otherwise we wouldn’t have met like this.” She came closer and kissed him fondly. “We can go out for a meal and walk around the city. I’m sure we’ll have a great time. And now,” she added, “I just have to get some fresh air and a nice cup of coffee. I know a great café on the beach that would be perfect.”
Ron allowed Dana to sweep him along. Anyway, he wasn’t going to be able to fall asleep, and thinking about the money he had lost would only drive him mad. They left the hotel and hailed a cab.
The romantic seaside location and the company of the beautiful woman by his side only made Ron gloomier. If it were just the two of us here on a romantic getaway, everything would have been so different, he thought to himself as he stared silently at the crashing waves.
“Why are you being so quiet?” Dana nudged him. “If I messed up your plans, I can go right now.” She frowned. “I thought you’d be happy to see me, and pick up where we left off at your place.” She looked into his eyes.