Day One
“Do you find it funny that we just left Canada a few hours ago and we’re already back?” AJ asked as we cruised across the Ambassador Bridge. I shrugged.
“Not really.”
“I just don’t want to be here all night,” Kevin said, looking pointedly at me.
“We won’t be.”
“If it gets past three and you’re still not ready to leave...”
“What?” I challenged, smiling at him.
“Then I’m leaving without you or I’m physically dragging you out,” he finished.
“Dragging me out?”
Kevin nodded. “Dragging you out.”
“Shut up, guys,” AJ broke in as we neared the customs booth. Don’t ask why, AJ has a deep fear of customs. He’s never been searched or anything, and not that they do anything bad when you do get detained, but for some reason he’s scared out of his mind of being held at the border. We slowed to a stop and Marcos, our driver, rolled down his window.
“How many in the car?” the customs officer asked.
“Six,” Marcos answered.
“Citizenship?”
“American.”
“What’s your business in Canada tonight?”
“Headed to the casino,” Marcos replied charmingly. I smiled over at AJ, who was slouched low in his seat and staring out the window. I hit him and he jumped a mile, sending Kevin and I laughing. He scowled at us and went back to the window. A minute later we were off and I felt my spirits - already pretty high - raise in anticipation. It’s funny - I’m usually such a stickler with money and I’m never very lucky, but I love to gamble. Casinos are just the greatest places to me. Every time I walk into one and hear the jangling of the slots and the cries of the people winning and losing I just...I forget everything. There’s really only one goal - leave with something. Some people have higher aspirations, as in leave with more than you brought in, but like I said I’m not very lucky. I try to be realistic, plus leaving with something is harder than it sounds.
AJ, Kevin, Marcos, Al, Jake (two of our other bodyguards), and I entered together after leaving the car to the valets. I looked around appreciatively - a huge waterfall-type thing was right in front of us, with the hotel to the left and casino to the right. Marcos stepped into the middle of our group.
“OK, rather than attempt to track y’all down, why don’t we just pick a time and meet here then?” he suggested. We nodded our agreement and Marcos looked down at his watch. “How does two sound?”
I glanced at my own watch - eight-thirty. Plenty of time. Kevin looked skeptical but nodded, as did AJ. I agreed too and we were off. First we headed to the exchange window where we each traded in some money for Canadian currency (I happened to drop the most but that was expected). After that we started to drift apart - Kevin and Marcos wandered off towards the craps tables while AJ and I headed for the blackjack area, Al and Jake a short distance behind us.
That was when I saw her.
Dramatic, I know, but it was true. The strangest part was that she wasn’t the type that I was usually drawn to at all. Her hair was short and kinda funky, a reddy-brown that I was pretty sure was fake. She actually looked like a young Shirley MacLaine (who, for the record, was very good looking back in the day, believe it or not). I saw sparkles lining both her ears and almost every finger held some sort of silver ring. She was almost like watching a cartoon as she dealt her cards - one minute smiling and blinking big blue eyes expectantly, the next skeptically cocking an eyebrow, the next looking pained as one of the players busted. I nodded my head in her direction.
“Let’s try there first,” I suggested. AJ checked it out then raised an eyebrow at me.
“Any particular reason?” he asked, and I understood why - if she was anyone’s type she was his. I didn’t know why but I really wanted to talk to her. I shrugged at him.
“I get a lucky feeling,” I told him and he laughed, patting my back.
“You do, huh?”
“Yeah. Never can tell.”
“All right then,” he agreed and so we approached the table. Faith (as I saw her name was once we were close enough), looked up at us once and smiled quickly, then glanced back at the player she was dealing to. The hand ended shortly after that (with her beating everyone), and she looked at us again. AJ had already put his chips up and so her attention was focused on me.
“Can I deal you in?” she asked, her voice smooth. I grinned and slid twenty dollars’ worth of chips into the circle.
“You certainly may,” I invited. She graced me with another smile.
“Well, good luck,” she wished with a twinkle in her eye and that was it. I was hooked. I watched her hands as they deftly dealt out the cards, splitting my time between them and her animated face. I had a hand fetish (weird, I know), and hers fascinated me. When she got to me I was so distracted that I didn’t realize it was my turn til AJ hit me.
“Yo, man, wake up,” he muttered. I glanced at Faith, who was watching me with a crooked, expectant grin. I smiled back and took in the situation. She had a three showing. I had 19. I looked back up at her and scratched the table. Her eyebrows shot up a little.
“You want a card?” she clarified. I nodded.
“Please.”
AJ smacked me again. “Are you crazy? You don’t hit on that,” he said softly. I ignored him and watched as Faith dealt me a queen. I knew that would happen - I knew I wasn’t even supposed to hit. It was silly and juvenile, but as long as it was still my turn her attention was on me. And that was good. “Nice one,” AJ congratulated as Faith swept up my cards and chips. I shrugged.
“Oh well,” I said as I cast Faith my best smile. She smiled too, shaking her head as she moved on to the old woman to my left. AJ leaned in as the hand continued.
“Is this how you’re gonna play the rest of the night?”
“Hopefully not,” I lied. AJ shook his head.
“D, here’s a tip - to impress a dealer you might want to play well. They see plenty of dumbasses blow their money.”
I shrugged and AJ shook his head again. I played some of the worst blackjack of my life. I made stupid choices - hitting on a 17 or 18, standing on 15 when Faith had a king showing, splitting twos. Every time I made a mistake I watched Faith to see what kind of reaction I’d elicit. Overall she just seemed really amused. AJ, however, wasn’t and about a half hour after we had started he walked away, muttering about how he couldn’t stand watching me waste money. It didn’t bother me - I was pretty wrapped up in Faith. As it got later (and the shoes got worse and worse), the table started to empty. Soon there was only one other player besides me - an old man who could barely hear or see (it was a Tuesday night after all). I’d easily spent over five hundred dollars and had been dropping unanswered hints left and right. Unanswered verbally, anyway - I could see in her eyes that there was some sort of interest there. As she shuffled for a new shoe I watched her with a smile. Faith smiled back.
“Feeling good about this one?” she asked. I shrugged.
“No, but maybe that’s a good sign.”
She nodded a little. “Maybe,” she agreed. She dealt out the hand and as usual I busted (although that hand I had actually followed strategy). The old man busted too and wandered away. I slid forward the rest of my money and Faith sighed, although the grin let on that she wasn’t really annoyed. Rather than deal out the cards she cocked her head and gave me a look.
“You really want to play again?” she questioned. I nodded. “You’re sure that you don’t want to play at a table with more people?”
“Nope,” I answered simply.
“You want to play just you and...you versus the dealer?” she asked, correcting herself. I was encouraged by her slip and smiled again.
“When do you get a break?” I quizzed in response. Her eyebrows raised and she laughed a little.
“What?”
“When’s your next break?”
“I don’t have any more breaks tonight.”
“OK, when do you get off work?” I tried again. Faith sighed again, rolling her eyes and starting to deal. I was afraid that she wouldn’t answer but then I saw her glance at her watch after she laid down my ace.
“In twenty minutes,” she finally replied, laying down my second card. It was the king of hearts - what are the odds? I looked up to see her grinning. “Looks like this was your hand.”
I laughed. “Yes it does.”
**********
A half hour later I was waiting at the front doors for Faith. It had taken a lot for me to convince Al that I’d be all right on my own, but he had finally conceded after I promised I’d be back by two as originally planned. It was one now. I had downed a couple quick drinks before wandering out to the lobby so that I’d feel a little more relaxed and they were kicking in nicely. Suddenly I saw Faith strolling out of the casino, waving at the security guard near the steps and smiling as she spotted me. My dorky smile popped out and I had to refrain from jogging over to her. When she reached me I felt myself go shy.
“Hi,” she greeted as she untucked her shirt, then struck a pose. “Like my outfit?”
I laughed - the white, gold and black blousy shirt was horrible. “It’s lovely,” I told her. She nodded.
“Oh I know. Of all the cool colors in this place they choose this for the uniform color. Blech.” She stripped off the blouse, revealing a white tanktop underneath, then leaned back against the railing as she tied her shirt around her waist. “Sooo...what’s new with you?” she asked, grinning. I laughed again then looked down at my watch.
“Not much in the past half hour, just been getting used to walking around with empty pockets.”
She shrugged, still grinning. “It happens.”
I smiled back, kind of wanting to get out of there. The casino, although we weren’t in the main section, was still noisy (plus not very conducive to getting to know anyone very well). “Would you like to go outside? It’s pretty warm out,” I suggested. She nodded and we headed out the doors. It was quiet as we began walking, somewhat uncomfortable but nice in a way too.
“Have you been here before? To the casino, I mean?” Faith asked after a few minutes of silence.
“A couple times. When I’ve been in the area I try and stop by.”
“You’re not from around here.”
“No, I’m actually from Florida.”
“I know. It was a statement of fact, not a question,” she said and I glanced over at her.
“You knew that I wasn’t from around here?”
“Sure, everyone knows the Backstreet Boys hail from ‘O-Town’,” she supplied, smiling as she made finger-quotes around the last part. I laughed a little. “Isn’t your first concert Thursday?”
“Yep, the first of three.”
“Why are you here now?”
“Publicity gigs, fan conference - all the fun stuff that comes along with the job,” I told her. She nodded.
“Are you staying on this side of the bridge or the other?”
“The Michigan side. In...Troy, I think?”
Faith nodded again. “Doubletree Suites?” she guessed and I nodded. Faith smiled. “I’m good.”
“That you are. Should I be afraid?” I joked. She shrugged.
“No, lots of big names stay there so it was a pretty safe bet. Besides, you’re the one that dropped a couple hundred just to go for a walk with me - maybe I should be scared.”
I laughed. “You have a point there,” I conceded, “but I promise you have nothing to be afraid of.”
“Ditto,” she seconded. We made more small talk as we headed for the park by the lake. It was a beautiful night - crystal clear sky with a warm, late May breeze that just barely stirred the leaves. I found out that Faith lived in Michigan and went to the University of Michigan but was taking a few classes at a community college for the summer. She asked me a few questions about touring and everything but she didn’t pry - which I very much welcomed - and actually seemed more interested in hearing about other non-Backstreet related things. Once we reached the water Faith stepped up on the bottom rail and leaned out towards the lake. I leaned on the top rail, resting my elbows on it as I stared out at Detroit, periodically glancing at Faith. She was smiling softly as the wind ruffled her hair.
“It’s a lot prettier by night, huh?” she asked.
“What, Detroit?” Faith nodded. I thought so but didn’t want to sound like I was bashing the town. “I don’t know, it’s nice during the day too...”
“No it isn’t - well, not much of it. You can say it.”
“What’s that?” I asked, pointing at a cluster of buildings across the way.
“The Renaissance Center - RenCen. Detroit’s pride and joy. To the left is Joe Louis Arena, where the Red Wings play.”
“Really?” She nodded. “That’s cool.” We were quiet again and I felt a sense of frustration growing. We were stuck at this small talk level. I didn’t want to know every secret she’d ever known or anything, but at the same time this petty stuff would get old pretty quickly. I shouldn’t have worried about it. Suddenly Faith turned around and faced me.
“So what made you pick me?” she asked with a grin. I laughed.
“’Pick’ you?”
“Yeah – you know, pick me as your dealer, as the girl you decided to pursue,” she explained as she perched herself up on the railing. I felt heat rising to my cheeks in embarrassment.
“I don’t know...I mean, I don’t know that I’d call it picking, but I guess I...I...” I trailed off, feeling stupid. “I thought you were...that you were pretty.” I looked away.
“Yeah, OK,” she scoffed, laughing. I turned back to her, though, and noticed a tiny smile fighting to break through. I grinned too.
“No, really. I thought you were- are really pretty, plus you seemed like a lot of fun,” I continued. Faith shook her head but her smile won out. She looked out into the distance and I watched as her smile flickered and her eyes sparkled. In her own way she was a knockout, but you’d never think so at first. It was gradual - every minute I was around her made her more and more appealing. Finally she looked at me, catching me staring at her (not that it was hard). Rather than look away I just kept watching her with a smile. She narrowed her eyes.
“What?”
“What what?”
“What are you looking at?” she asked, fighting back her smile again.
“You,” I answered, still grinning. Her smile appeared.
“Why?”
I leaned in close. “Because I like looking at you,” I said quietly and under the street lights I watched a blush conquer her face as she self-consciously reached up to fiddle with her hair.
“Shut up,” she said, avoiding my eyes. I held back a laugh, amused at her quick change from bold to shy. I stepped closer to her.
“So would you say this counts as a first date?” I wondered. Faith laughed and put her head back.
“Oh, I don’t know,” she said to the stars. I reached up and gently tipped her face down again.
“I’m serious,” I murmured, staring into her eyes. She shrugged.
“I don’t know - would you?”
“Hmm, I don’t know.” We were only inches apart and so I crossed the remaining distance and kissed her softly. When I pulled away she still had her eyes closed, a faint smile gracing her lips. She opened her eyes slowly and cocked her head.
“I’d have to say maybe,” she almost whispered. I placed my hands gently on either side of her face.
“Maybe, huh?” I asked, kissing her again, this time twice as long.
“Maybe,” she repeated afterward, resting her hands on my shoulders. My arms stole all the way around her waist.
“OK, maybe it is,” I whispered, smiling before lifting her off the railing and pulling her to me. Her arms were around my neck and we were kissing again, passionately. My rational side - the side that at every other time was in charge - screamed from the tiny corner of my brain it had been shoved into, but I paid it no mind. Faith’s lips and hands and body were the only things I was concerned with. Suddenly my phone rang. Faith nearly jumped away from me but I grabbed her hand and kept her close as I fished my phone from my pocket.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Just for your information it’s two thirty,” Al informed me so loudly that I had to hold the phone away from my ear. Faith giggled and I laughed, then attempted to sober.
“I’m really sorry Al,” I apologized. Faith gave me a funny look and I mouthed ‘bodyguard’. She nodded her understanding.
“Yeah, sorry my ass,” Al muttered. “Lucky for you your two groupmates are still missing too. Well, not missing - AJ took off with some girl and Kevin said he’ll be back in ten minutes. Of course that was a half hour ago so who fuckin’ knows when he’ll actually show up. When are you planning to grace us with your presence, or are you?”
I was about to answer, then looked into Faith’s eyes again. Tonight had been all about being impulsive and I was about to test my luck again. “Actually...I might just catch my own ride back?” I kept eye contact with Faith, asking her if that was all right. We both knew it meant more than a ride. She was still a moment then smiled mischieveously, nodding. “Yeah, I’ll get my own ride back,” I affirmed, squeezing her hand. I heard Al sigh, which made me smile.
“Why do I bother at all? Fine, Don Juan, see you later.”
“Thanks Al,” I said and we hung up. I slipped my phone back in my pocket and took Faith’s other hand, pulling her up against me and placing her hands on my shoulders. “Can I get a ride with you?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around her and rested my hands on the small of her back. Faith shrugged.
“Maybe,” she said airily. I laughed.
“Again with the maybe?”
She tipped her face up suggestively. “What can I say? I like your way of convincing.”
Day Two
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