The Midnight Heir

A GAME OF LUCK?

Since the beginning, the manager had had his head bowed ever so slightly that it looked like he had a slouch but in truth, he didn't 

("Oh, one last thing. Always remember to lower your head when in the presence of these guests.") The manager told Anthony during the interview but Anthony responded with silence at the time.

The manager took that as compliance but he was wrong as he has been glaring at Anthony but Anthony wasn't lowering his head to the guests. Instead, he was looking them straight in the eyes.

Angry at Anthony, the manager wanted to address the topic but couldn't in their presence so he would have to remain quiet about it until they leave.

However, what he didn't expect was that both VIPs didn't seem bothered about Anthony not acting overly subservient around them. They were even more accepting of him than the manager had calculated, especially from the man on the left.

"So how did you get so skilled in cards kid? You also gamble a lot?" Asked the VIP on the left, puffing on his cigar but then his friend interjected.

"What nonsense are you even talking about Quinn? Does this kid look like he has enough money to gamble, let alone enough to learn the skills? He probably learned through some online tutorial video, Yourstubes, or whatever the kids call it" the man to the right responded 

"Hehe, you could be right Rollo" Quinn replied and the both of them went on to laugh their hearts out.

"My guardian taught me. That and everything else I know" Anthony replied and the two men smiled at his response, both exhaling a lung full of smoke.

Suddenly, the manager clapped to get their attention "Alright sirs, sorry to interrupt but since your guest should be on his way back any moment now, is it okay if the dealer prepares the card for the game?" the manager chipped in and they agreed.

"Who said you old heads can start without me?" The third VIP said the moment he walked in and they all looked at him.

Anthony was the last to see who it was because he was just busy getting the deck ready.

"What took you so long Franklin?" Asked Quinn with a smirk, and by the time Anthony's eyes were able to see Franklin Crow, the man was pulling out his chair to sit on.

Same age as the other two VIPs, pasty skin and dressed in a carton brown colored pants suit, Anthony stood there in shock, staring at Franklin who sat opposite him.

'It's him, the man who saved Samuel!' Anthony thought with bewildered eyes.

"What's wrong? I got something on my face or what?" Franklin asked after noticing Anthony's stare.

Franklin's voice had more of an aggressive undertone to it than the others but that could just be how he talks.

One thing that drew his attention was Anthony's hair color and the second being that he wasn't expecting him there.

Anthony didn't look old enough to be the same dealer that Quinn and Rollow had bragged to him about so seeing Anthony was like a red flag that caused all the alarms in his head to go off.

"You must intimidate the kid that's all," Quinn said before looking at Anthony and winking at him.

"If that's the case then no problem, but why are we being dealt by a young fellow? What happened to the usual dealer the two of you told me about?" Franklin inquired.

Rollow puffed on his cigar "That issue has already been discussed, and settled. It's not anyone's fault that you decided to go take a sh*t during the conversation." He said then looked to the manager "Okay, no more dulling, time to get the game started"

The manager signaled Anthony and he started the game.

Right in front of all of them, he shuffled the card so proficiently and elegantly that the men were left amazed by his skills, asking the manager where he found someone like Anthony, and the manager smiled proudly.

Anthony dished them their cards and each man used their chips, poker face and whatever tactic they had in their arsenal to play the game because there could only be one winner.

Franklin on the other hand kept staring at Anthony skeptically as he played. Throughout the multiple games they played he never stopped sneaking glances at Anthony, having a pondering face he couldn't shake off

Finally, after five rounds of shuffling, strategizing, and bluffing, the game came to an end and there was only one winner.

"Who would have thought that inviting you to come to play with us for the first time would mean our defeat, huh Franklin?" Quinn said, taking in a cloud of smoke to deal with his loss and Rollow nodded his head in agreement.

"Hmm, I guess it must have been my lucky day" Franklin shrugged.

"I mean, winning three games while Rollow and I only won one each, that's just something. Not that I'm doubting my skills but luck does have a lot to play in this game too and you my friend were on a lucky streak today" Quinn said then sighed. "Well, regardless of the loss, it was still a good game and at this juncture, I should start heading out"

"Of course, I should too" Rollow responded and so did Franklin with "Yeah, me too"

They all left in the same order they came in and once at the door, Franklin halted and took another glance at Anthony who was busy packing the cards to be discarded before he finally stepped out.

A couple of minutes later, Anthony was at the manager's office and the manager was joyed.

"You did way better than I expected, even the guests took a liking to you, especially the last guest who couldn't stop looking at you the entire game. As agreed upon, I have no other option but to accept you into our staff. Congratulations!" 

"Thank you" Anthony replied

"Yes, but there's just one problem I'll like to address" suddenly the manager's voice picked up a more serious and hostile taste.

"This should be the first and last time I will ever tell you to do something and you disobey me, got it?! Earlier I told you that you should lower your head when speaking with the guests but you didn't and even though things went by smoothly, that should be the last time you ever undermine a direct instruction from me, or else it's straight forced resignation for you, got it?!" The manager glared menacingly at him.

After a few seconds pause "As you say, sir" Anthony smacked his tongue then left without being dismissed first.

"Stupid brat! I should fire you just for that nonsense attitude but I don't know how much the guests like you and how that would translate if I fired you so you better count yourself lucky" The manager spoke to himself while glaring at the door that Anthony had already gone through.

*BAM*

"Damn, that hurt!" He slammed both hands on his desk and then quickly wried in pain, continuing to curse multiple times.

Anthony who his anger was aimed at was now outside the casino, walking on the pavement in his way to going back to the Untitled Hotel.

Before he could even get far from the Jade Casino building, beside him a black Mercedes with tinted windows drove by, parked a few meters ahead, and stepping out was Franklin Crow. He had been waiting for Anthony to come out.

"Mr. Franklin?" Anthony paused and then questioned, "Why are you still here?"

"Listen, I'll only ask you this question once so you better give me a good answer if you don't want me reporting on you. Why did you manipulate the deck and CHEAT on the game for me to win?" Franklin asked, glaring at Anthony and expecting a good enough answer back.