CASINO SHUFFLE (9 page)

“It was my pleasure.”

“Antonio?”

“I haven’t closed the doors.”

“You and I are friends right?”

Antonio was taken aback by the question.
 
“I consider you a friend, Max, if that isn’t overstepping my bounds.”

“Good!
 
Thank you.
 
I don’t have very many, you know.”

“I have always preferred quality over quantity.”

“Can I call you Tony?”

“No,” said Antonio as he closed the doors.

While he checked the stock in the bar area he considered Max’s question.

The hotel manager, Jonathon, had been correct when he’d said Max preferred the comfort of his suite to the limelight of the casino.
 
He was a celebrity in the reclusive world of on-line poker, but at the same time nearly anonymous under his screen name.
 
When he visited the casino he played a private table in the VIP section, or stayed ensconced within his suite and only ventured out to entertain Trixie in the odd hours of the night.
 
He had competed in live tournaments a half dozen times, only for large prizes to fund his lifestyle, usually placing in the top five.
 
Other than that, Max’s tournaments had all taken place in the virtual world, in spite of several Vegas and
Atlantic City
casinos courting him endlessly as the brick-and-mortars began their competition with the internet in a rapidly changing marketplace.
 
His father, a bad-luck poker player from Sinatra’s Vegas, had been a friend of Benny Binion’s and a regular at the infamous Horseshoe casino.
 
His mother a cocktail waitress and a nightclub singer, Max was the only son of a
Sin
City
marriage who spent his childhood in casino hotel rooms.
 
Absorbing television through his adolescence, he mastered video games in his teen years, his home-cooked meals were rolled in by room service and his most frequent visitors were the maids delivering his laundry and making his bed.
 
Everything was routine and ordered, his father considering any change in routine a prophecy of bad luck.
 
In the outside world this upbringing would make Max very high maintenance.
 
What modern woman would suffer such a helpless and superstitious man?
 
But in the casino hotel industry he was the perfect guest, expecting only the service that is always provided, and wanting nothing more than exactly what had been provided before.
 
He wasn’t averse to the real world so much as he had never really been introduced to it.
 

The concern with friendship was certainly out of the ordinary.
 
As Antonio checked the exact number of Diet Cokes – both caffeinated and decaffeinated, Snickers bars, Hershey’s Hugs with Almonds, Doritos, Spicy Fritos and other various snacks that Max and Trixie enjoyed, the realization came to him quite obviously.

For the first time in years, Max Allen had a special request to make of him.
 
It explained the need for reassurance to bolster his courage.

Though amused, Antonio was also pleased to finally be given the opportunity to utilize his expansive resources for one of his favorite guests.
 

The doors to the master bedroom opened.

“Who invented the bow tie?”
 
Max strangled the offensive silk in his fist.
 
“And what do you have against clip-ons?
 
It would be our little secret.”

Antonio stepped forward and fitted the tie around Max’s collar.
 
“In the late 1800s Pierre Lorillard the Fifth invented the tuxedo as an alternative to tailcoats.
 
Though I don’t know if anyone is credited for inventing the bow tie, which evolved from the 17
^th
century lace cravats, Monsieur Lorillard made the black tie fashionable.”
 
Antonio stepped back to inspect his work. He straightened Max’s tie, and then his own.
 
“I for one am grateful to him.”

“I’m grateful to the guy who invented sweatpants.”
 

Antonio gave him a dismissive frown.
 
“Wearing a tuxedo marks a moment in a man’s life, very often a moment of truth.”

“Some people think it makes them look like a penguin.”

“Penguins have a noble bearing.”

Max rolled his eyes.
 
“You win.”

“Of course I do.”

He shot back his jacket cuffs.
 
“I think I got the cufflinks in the right way, though.”

“Well done, Max.”
 
Antonio reached into the tuxedo pocket and withdrew a white silk faux handkerchief square.
 
“This is for your breast pocket.
 
Like so.”
 
He pulled a small chamois from his trouser pocket.
 
“If you would be so kind as to put your foot up onto the barstool I’ll buff the shine back into your shoes.”

“Antonio?”

“Yes, Max.”

“I have a request.
 
Sort of a favor.”

Antonio ran the chamois over the toe of the shoe.
 
“Of course, Max.
 
Anything that you require, you only have to ask.”

“Really?
 
Thanks Antonio.”

“Your other shoe, please.”

“I’m not sure you can even do it.”

“I would prefer to do both shoes.”

“The favor, I mean.”

“Ah.”

“Should I still ask?”

“That would be advisable, so that I might assess the difficulty.”

“Okay.”

“But first the other shoe.”

“Right.”

“And now the question.”

“Right.
 
I was wondering,” Max ran a hand through his hair.
 
“Wondering if you – well – remember when I was in the limo and the limo was on the back of that tow truck?”

“Vividly.”

“Trixie called me and I told her about Shannon Moon being here at the casino.”

Antonio finished the shoe and straightened up.

“And she thought it was cool, you know.
 
Being here at the same time as her favorite actress.
 
She has all her movies on Blu-Ray.”

“I can see how she would be excited at the idea.”

“So I thought it would be neat if you could get her autograph.
 
Shannon Moon’s autograph.”

Antonio hesitated.

“To give to Trixie.”

“You know that I think the world of Trixie…”
 
Antonio arched an eyebrow.

“She likes you too.”

“…but unfortunately such a thing is forbidden.
 
My staff and I are here to fulfill requests, not to
make
them.”

“Ok, it’s fine.
 
I didn’t think you would be able to do it.”

“I cannot.”

“Okay.”

“But.”

“But?”
 
Max stared at him for a moment.
 
“But?”

Antonio raised a finger in the air.
 
“But there has been precedence for arranging a meeting between our VIP guests, one guest to another.
 
Especially when both guests are priorities for the casino.”

“Can you do that for Trixie?
 
She would be thrilled.”

“I wasn’t speaking of Trixie.”

“Oh.”

“But it may be possible to introduce Shannon Moon to you.”

“Me?”

“You.”

“No.”

“I believe I can, yes.”

“No.
 
I’m not good at that stuff.”
 
Max reached under his cowboy hat and scratched his head.
 
“I don’t think I’m going to.”

Antonio waited.

Max looked at him.
 
“What?”

Antonio was motionless.

“Oh come on,” whined Max.
 
“Trixie won’t even care about it once I show her the
Brandon
tickets.
 
I’ll just explain that it wasn’t possible and she’ll understand.”
 
He glanced at Antonio again.
 
“I know it
was
possible, technically.
 
But not really.
 
It’s not possible for me to do it.
 
I’ve seen her movies and she’s pretty.
 
Not even normal pretty like you see on the street and you think ‘Gee, that girl is pretty.’
 
She’s
movie
pretty.
 
Abnormally
pretty.
 
She is right?
 
I already know it so just admit it.
 
Go on.”

Antonio blinked.

“I knew it.
 
Great.
 
So now I have to go and meet Shannon Moon and she’s going to be gorgeous and I’m going to get sick to my stomach and say something stupid.
 
I can’t believe I’m doing this.
 
I mean I’m not going to do it.
 
I’m not.”

Antonio shifted his weight ever so slightly.

“Fine, Antonio.
 
Okay.
 
Let’s go so you can introduce me and I can get her autograph and then vomit.
 
Okay?
 
Let’s just go.
 
Wait.
 
How do I look?”

Antonio inspected him quickly.
 
“Tip top.”

“How does she look?”

“She’s stunning.”

Max bumped into the closed door.

Antonio turned the handle and escorted him out of the room.
 
“I just want to call her suite first to make sure she’s out of…”
 
He cut himself short and withdrew his BlackBerry as he walked away down the hall.

Max caught up to him.
 
“Were you going to say out of the shower?”

“No.”

“The bath.
 
She’s just getting out of the bath isn’t she?”

“Max, you have to breathe.
 
Your face is turning red.”

“Just tell me…”

“She was not taking a bath.”

“Okay.”
 
Max took a breath.
 
“I couldn’t handle anything like that.
 
You know that.”

“I know.
 
However, Trixie is very beautiful as well.”
 

“That’s different.
 
I’ve known her for eleven years.”

Antonio dialed the Sachem Suite.
 
“Good evening, Miss Moon.
 
This is Antonio.
 
If it’s convenient, I would like to introduce you to another gentleman who’s here this weekend.”