“Truly,” you said. “I hope to see you again. Truly.” I can’t remember the last time I’d heard that word, let alone in that context. But there, in that context, it was beautiful. When you sat down at the poker table, I didn’t know what to expect; I was wary of you, maybe a little afraid. You didn’t remember this, but a week before we had played at the same table together, and that time you didn’t like me very much. You were losing money and I was one of the people taking it, and you didn’t like how quiet I was about it. I was the dull, quiet guy at the other end of the table who did nothing but take your money, and a couple times you even glared.
But when you sat down next to me this time, in a chair to my left where the drunk and over-talkative WSU alumnus had just left, angry and much less talkative when all of his money was gone, you did all you could to engage me. And it worked. After one bad hand you said “I can’t lose all my money already! What am I going to do? Go home by myself and lay on the couch and watch TV?” You touched my hand.Men like me, playing a low-limit poker game like that, are suckers for a pretty girl. Or maybe the limits don’t matter? I guess if you’re too worried about the money to be distracted by a beautiful girl, then you’re playing above your level. Once, I played in a tournament and sat next to a beautiful Asian girl, and she didn’t need to say a word. I was completely lost at that table because of her perfume. I remember it as one of the most perfect scents ever. But she took her advantage a step farther – to the candy from a baby level – by sitting far back in her chair and most of the time leaning far forward in very low riding jeans, wearing sexy panties that three or four of us in the area couldn’t help but see most of. Are those… ‘hunter orange’? Clearly, it was not an accident, but we were still all sad to see her go when she was busted out of the tournament by someone at the other end of the table, some guy, apparently, with immunity. I’m pretty sure we knocked him out next.Is it just a subtle part of the whole poker experience? Use everything at the table to your advantage, including the fact that you’re the only woman, and an attractive woman at that? I don’t care. It worked for you and it worked for me. Twice I laid down better hands because I wasn’t ready for you to leave. In return, you raked in a pile of someone else’s chips (and some of mine) and with a happy, satisfied look you said “Congratulations. That pot just bought you another twenty minutes of me time.”In the end, when I got tired and it was time to go, I wasn’t ready to leave you. I said quietly, so nobody else would hear, “I need some food. Would you like to get a late-night snack? Is Burgermaster still open?” You didn’t hear the first part. You just checked your watch and wondered aloud whether or not the place was open, but for my sake only; you didn’t look like you were ready to go. I didn’t push the idea just in case you had heard but were ignoring it. “It was nice playing with you,” I said. “Take care.”“It was nice playing with you, too,” you said. I smiled and started to walk away, but then you looked over your shoulder and said, “I hope to see you again,” and quietly, so only I could hear or maybe only to yourself, “Truly.”
