“Keep your damn paws off me or I’ll gut you, you damn felines,” Hank grunted and Dave playfully pawed at him.
Alistair laughed at his friends. Tiberius dealt the cards.
“Last round.”
“Alistair this is it, your dragon is coming out,” Hank said. “Tibs, give me four cards.”
“I think the piggy is coming out,” Bob said. “Give me two, Tibs.”
“Piggy always comes out,” Dave said. “I just know you boys are going to have to wait another night to see the panther. I’ll take one card, Tibs.”
“Eliot?”
“Oh, I think the panther is coming out tonight. I’m feeling lucky. Two cards.”
“Alistair?”
Alistair stared at his pair of aces, but he kept his cool. He plucked his three cards and tossed them at Tibs. Tibs dealt him three more. Two aces and a king.
“Ok, call!”
“Hank?”
“Three of a kind.”
“Not bad. Bob?”
Bob growled, shook, and a big grizzly bear appeared in his seat. He then proceeded to eat all the snacks on the table.
“Bob is out!” Tibs said. “Dave?”
“Full house.”
Hank grunted and then shook, and a boar with massive tusks appeared.
“Beat that, Eliot.”
“Gladly. Royal flush!” Eliot laid out his cards. Alistair cursed and tossed his aces and king on the table.
“Stand back!” He rose from his seat and then with a roar he shook, and a great green dragon appeared. His friends whooped and hollered. Tiberius took his wolf form, and even Eliot shifted for the hell of it. They howled and roared and made quite the ruckus. Then just as quickly, they shifted back, and now they all sat around the table naked. Alistair shut out the lights and Tibs packed the cards and chips away.
“Thanks guys, I needed that.” Alistair smiled at his friends, then they all slipped away to the locker room to get their change of clothes. They always kept some there, for this very purpose.
Chapter 15
Sarai
Two months had passed since she had seen Alistair. He had called every day, but she had ignored his calls. Her inbox was full because of all the messages he had left. She hadn’t listened to them. She had considered blocking his number or getting a new phone, a new number. Something always stopped her, so she just did what she did best: she ignored the situation. At last, it seemed he had finally stopped calling. It was almost Thanksgiving. She had made plans with her mothers. Mickey would be goingwith her, because she didn’t really have any family of her own. She and Mickey made beautiful cornucopias, so they were busy making and selling them. Soon the store would be smothered by poinsettias. Those big beautiful red flowers that always announced Christmas was on its way.
She was just closing shop when she suddenly felt nauseous. She figured it was something she had eaten, so she stopped at a drugstore to get some medicine for it. She barely made it through the door to the apartment building when she vomited all over the foyer. She waited till she stopped throwing up before she got a mop and cleaned it. Then she puked in the mop water. Once she had it under control, she called Mickey.
“I’m sick. I think I have food poisoning or something. I’m not coming in tomorrow.”
“Ok. I can handle it. Do you need anything?”
“Nope, I think I’m just going to go sleep on the bathroom floor till it passes, and it will pass. Give me a few days, I’ll be back to work.”
“Take all the time you need. I can handle things for you. I’ll check on you in the morning.”
