When to Fold Them
a Las Vegas (the TV show) story
by Meg
Vegas Slang:
Carpet joint: A casino catering to high rollers
Whale: A weathly gambler
Black chip : $100 casino chip
A heavy haze of cigar smoke had settled in the air as Danny McCoy and Sam Marquez stood in the back corner of the private gaming room watching as one of the gamers threw another black chip onto the table. Although the Montecito wasn't exactly a carpet joint it did get its fair share of whales, the players who could drop a million dollars on a single hand without batting an eyelash.
They had been in the room for what seemed like hours and the atmosphere was tense. Danny could see that one of the men at the table was becoming irritated by his constant sniffling so he had been trying to hold back the tickles in his nose for some time but couldn't anymore as sniffled one last time. He pinched his nose and waited as quietly as he could until the hand was over before letting out a loud "huh-Chuhhhh! Kishh!"
The irritated man slid his sunglasses down and looked over his shoulder and Nessa, who was shuffling the cards for the next hand, looked up. 'Are you okay?' she mouthed to Danny, worried. Danny nodded his head and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and quietly blew his nose.
Mr. Irritated turned back around and took a final gulp of his drink. "Damn it." The man said around the cigar in his mouth and folded his cards on the table.
"Can I get you another martini, Mr. Cullison?" Sam asked stepping forward.
"That would be wonderful, beautiful." The man slurred in a thick southern accent, turning again to look at Sam. She nodded and motioned for Danny to follow her out the door.
"I'm going down to get him another drink. Do you think you can hold down the fort for a few minutes?" She teased, already heading down the hall toward the elevator.
"Yeah, only for a couple though." He sniffed and rubbed his nose with his sleeve.
"Don't do that, you'll ruin your suit." She told him as the elevator dinged. "I'll be right back."
Danny sighed, pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket once more and blew his nose, preparing himself for going back inside. He sucked in one last gulp of clean air before turning the knob and taking his place at the back of the room.
Three hands later, Sam returned with a tray of drinks. "Here's your martini, Mr. Cullison. Your bourbon, Mr. Pike. And your saki, Mr. Lee." With one drink left on the tray she too took her place at the back of the room next to Danny.
"This one is for you," she whispered, handing him the glass. He looked at her and nodded thanks before taking the drink and gulping it down. He coughed into his fist and set the glass back on the tray. The place between his eyes was starting to throb as his headache grew. Groaning slightly, he bent forward and rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to alleviated the pain. "I need to get out of here." He croaked softly.
Sam reached over and loosened his tie for him. "I'll call Mary and see if she can come up." She offered, stepping toward the door again. Danny followed her outside again, not knowing how much longer her could hold back the urge to sneeze that had just set on.
"Eh-shhhh! Heh-shooo!" He let them out louder now that they were alone in the hallway. He pulled out his handkerchief and grimaced when he saw how wet it was.
"Bless you." Sam was at the ready though and handed him a stack of tissues. "Picked them up when I was downstairs," she said. He smiled before turning and blowing his nose.
They both heard the elevator ding again and Mary stepped out. "Danny," she said, worried, "you look awful. I talked to Ed, he's giving you the next couple days off so you can get well."
"Thank you both." Danny snuffled and wiped his pink nose again. Both women smiled at him, slightly blushing.
"I called Mike and told him to bring your car around so it should be waiting for you." Sam said, reaching up and unbuttoning the first button of his shirt. "Go home and get some rest." She instructed.
"I don't want to put anyone in a pinch." He said, stuffily.
"No, no, no, no." Mary said, rubbing his arm. "We've got everything covered, don't worry."
Danny thanked them once again and waved. He reached the elevator, punched the down button and waited. Sam and Mary had turned and were going back into the gaming room when they heard him sneeze again. "Huuuh-shooo" Both girls stopped in their tracks and listened for the second sneeze they knew was coming "Heh-shhh!"
They looked at each other and smiled. "Damn, he's cute when he's sick." Sam whispered after she heard the elevator door close.
"Got that right." Mary stifled a giggle as they stepped back inside the gaming room.
Gary Scott Thompson is the man behind this show.
Inspired by week #23's bunny in the sneezefic weekly hatching.