“Did you want me to put some business cards together too? Maybe some fliers that I could pass around campus advertising a Tuesday Night Special?” I kept my eyes on my computer screen, but I couldn’t help but notice the twitch of his lips as he tried not to smile.
“Smartass,” he murmured.
“Such language,” I breathed with a feigned huff.
He snorted at that and then we both got to work. I pulled up his multiple documents with concise, but simple language and attempted to put all the rules and regulations together in a professional way. Fin sat staring at his computer screen with this intense gaze, arms crossed, feet stretched out in front of him under the desk.
The silence wasn’t uncomfortable between us, but we weren’t exactly working in companionable ease. At least on my part. Fin seemed perfectly fine to watch the game happen on the computer screen. It was just like I imagined online poker to be. An octagonal table was displayed on the screen with each section designated to a screen name. The backs of cards were pictured to display how many cards each player had or needed, while the pot in the middle continued to grow with each new bet; also in the middle was a display of the cards the dealer showed. Even Fin, although he sat behind the master controls, couldn’t see the exact cards each player had. The only advantage Fin had over the other players was knowing exactly who each player was, while the anonymity of their screen name kept the other players from finding out.
I didn’t understand what was happening on screen at all. The hands played didn’t make sense to me and from one round to the next, I couldn’t figure out who was going to take the pot. But it was kind of fascinating to watch over Fin’s shoulder. Sometimes he would grunt out a response, either in approval or disapproval. And sometimes his fingers would tap rhythms on his desk in what I imagined was him restraining himself from getting further involved in the game.
“Do you ever play?” I asked casually. I was googling other documents to help me with the wording of Fin’s rules.
“Hardly ever anymore.” He shot me an unreadable look but turned his eyes quickly back to the computer screen.
“How did you get into this whole thing?” I asked casually, but I was dying to know. Did he come to college with aspirations to put this together? Or did he inherit this from a graduating senior when he was but a young freshman?
He hesitated for a few moments and then heaved a short sigh. “Ty.”
“Ty?” I asked in complete disbelief. Ty was so rigid and strict and…. anal about the rules! I could not believe Ty would actually put together something like this and then pass it on to the next generation.
“He’s kind of a computer genius. He helped me set this up freshman year,” he admitted in a low voice.
“I don’t believe you,” I said mulishly.
He shot another look over his shoulder, this time a mischievous grin that told me I didn’t know Ty at all. I shook out my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders in a defiant gesture that I was right and he was wrong. “Besides he told me he thinks of you like a son.”
“Exactly.”
“Well, that’s kind of messed up, don’t you think?”
“Nope. I needed the money, and he found me a way for me to make it without killing myself.”
“Why? Why do you need the money? Aren’t you on full-ride for track?” I asked, a bit desperate to get to the bottom of him, to figure out exactly what made him tick, even though I knew I was being rude.
“Yes, I’m on full-ride, but school doesn’t pay for everything. I still have to live. And I still have to provide…. for myself.” He sounded cocky despite his awkward hesitation as he explained that, like it was his right as a man to make money and he was just fulfilling his destiny.
“You seem to do pretty good though,” I gestured to his trendy apartment with expensive furniture, exposed brick walls and real wood flooring.
“As long as I get paid, I do alright,” he admitted.
I hmphed at that which earned me another killer smile. “So why do you need the money you think I owe then? In the grand scheme of things, it’s not that big of a deal if a measly seven thousand goes missing.” I kept my tone and words casual, trying to use my powers of persuasion. If I believed seven thousand dollars was an insignificant amount so would Fin.
He fell silent instead of answering my question and I got the impression I went too far. Fin seemed to have this elevated opinion of me, despite the fact that I owed him money. If I didn’t know better, it was almost like he was chasing me, pursuing me. Good thing I knew better.
Still, I felt really bad when he went quiet, almost like I disappointed him.
After a while he said, “Why don’t you go order us dinner? There’s a good Thai place in the menu drawer. The dish I like is circled.”
“Um, Ok,” I saved the document I was working on and then started to get up.
Fin reached for my hand yanking me back to face him. He was swiveled around on his desk chair to face me, his hand firmly gripping mine. I stepped off balance and then came to land with my legs awkwardly parted over his bent knee. The rough material of his jean-clad knee brushed against the inside of my right thigh and I froze with anticipation. Fin seemed to be hyper-aware of our closeness too because his throat was doing that thing again where I watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down as he worked to swallow.
With his dark eyes boring into mine he reached into his back pocket and pulled out an ultra-thin wallet. He extended it out to me and I grabbed for it with my free hand but he didn’t immediately let go.
“One day,” he said gruffly, his words harsh and raspy in his throat as if it were painful for him to give up. “I’ll tell you why the money’s important one day.”
His eyes were so vulnerable, so trusting…. so open. Even though I didn’t have any idea what he was trying to tell me, I knew there was something he was saying. So afraid to ruin the moment, I just nodded. I could wait till one day. He could tell me one day.
