Chapter 3-6

Choices are funny things, they are turns in your life, decisions to be made with no real knowledge of the outcome, you see if you knew the outcome of a choice you were about to make, it wouldn’t really be a choice at all. Sometimes we think we have only 2 or 3 choices but really there are dozens, its just that we confine our own minds to satisfy our won selfish desires and though patterns…

 

“Excuse me sir.” He said, standing directly behind me, I turned my head away from the table to see a small man in a tuxedo, “The management would like to congratulate you on your win, drinks are on the house for the rest of the night.” He continued. I slumped my head slightly and forced a smile. “Thank you.” I replied as politely as I could, he ushered one of the scantily dressed young girls to bring me a drink and she hurried over with another whisky. I casually threw a £50 chip on her tray and her eyes lit up, “Oh thank you sir!” she said excitedly. This plan didn’t seem to be working I had the money, but what to do with it? That was the choice, problem is I didn’t want it, in my mind it was dirty money, blood money stained with the smell of Jane’s death and I just wanted rid of it as quickly as I could. I had spent over £50,000 on renting a posh flat in Portobello, Edinburgh overlooking the beach and in the last 12 hours in the casino I had won all of that back and another £7,000 I just could not get rid of it. I sat playing with the pile of chips in front of me sipping my free whisky, I had a quick count up and decided I would throw it all on one number; I stacked up the chips and waited for the next round. “Place your bets.” Came the shout from the dealer, I could see all the eyes around the table look at me as I picked up the entire stack of £57,000 chips, I leant across the table and as casually as I could said “everything on black 17”. There was a murmur and a gasp that rippled around the table, the dealer paused and pressed a button under the table to call the floor manager, he soon appeared as if he had shot through the floor and stood behind the dealer, they whispered to each other and he looked at me long and hard as I tried desperately to look casual, then, he nodded and the dealer started the wheel spinning, “no more bets” came the shout as I realised there was no going back. A huge crowd quickly gathered around the table as the ball kept spinning and spinning, it seemed to take a lot longer than usual, suddenly the ball started to bounce as it skipped like a rock over water, and then with a thud it landed, there was a silence around the table the dealer looked up, “Black 17” he shouted, everyone around the table cheered, I could not believe it, I had just won a little over £750,000.

 

Panic started to set in as the manager walked around the table towards me, was I in trouble? I was new to all of this and didn’t know what happened now, he walked towards me with his hand out to shake mine, “Well done” he said, in a surprisingly upbeat way, “if you would like to come with me we will arrange your winnings.” I followed him to the cashiers’ desk where two rather larger bouncers were waiting, panic started to set in again, the manager talked with the cashier then turned to me. “Sir.” He said seriously, “The casino would like to offer you a free room for the night in our penthouse suite.” He turned back to the cashier and took a briefcase from him, he opened it and showed me the money inside, all cash all bound up like in a movie. He closed the case and handed it to one of the bouncers, “These gentlemen will escort you to your suit sir, and have a good evening.” He said, shaking my hand one more time. I was escorted like a movie start to the elevator and up to the top floor where I was given the key to a room I had never seen the like of in my life, it was 4 rooms bigger than any house any of my friends had ever had, there was a huge double bed and a Jacuzzi on the terrace, every room had a TV and the drinks bar was fully loaded and free, I couldn’t believe it, was I dreaming? One of the men handed me the case and showed me how the room safe worked and congratulated me on my win, I opened the case and pulled out a few £50 notes to give to them, but they refused, telling me they were not allowed to accept tips. They left and I locked the door behind them, crashing on the bed, everything I was worried about over the last few days washed away, all I could think about now was the last few hours and all that had happened. I stuffed the money in the safe and poured myself a drink, standing on the terrace I looked across the city, swirling the ice in my glass I thought, I could get used to this…