Anyone for Poker?

Posted on Thu 2nd Aug, 2018 @ 6:22pm by Eddie Hunt

1,360 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Oblivion
Location: Deck 1553
Timeline: MD12 1430 Hours

Cheya had been on the base for nearly a week now and had started settling in, slowly but surely. She liked everything about her department, although the base was old, the department seemed as if it was new. She shared a room with a sweet woman as well, slightly older than her and more experienced, but friendly. She was sure they would get on even more down the line. She had barely had time to explore the base, a couple of trips to the Promenade here and there, but nothing Cheya would class as free time.

The first bit of free time she had came today, and all she had heard about was Tivoli Gardens. Apparently it ran across many decks, had all kinds of landscapes and all kinds of buildings there. You name it, it was there. Cheya had even heard that Disney was on board, 'Who would have thought that!'
She had gone to Deck 1553, she wasn't sure why she picked that particular deck, but that was the one she had asked the turbolift to take her to.

She walked out and immediately inhaled in excitement. Straight away she could see a waterfall that was falling from the deck above to the deck below. 'A waterfall on a base! Crazy!' She thought. She moved towards the waterfall which was buzzing with people, mainly tourists by the looks of them and a lot decked out with cameras taking pictures of family members behind the fall. She looked and saw that there the rock had been cut away to allow the footpath around the waterfall. Astonishingly, the place was serene. Yes, there was a buzz of people, but the fall itself was so quiet, so at home, as if it wanted to be a never ending flow. Cheya made a mental note to check the deck below and see if there was some kind of river walk. She would save that for next time.

After a while, she moved away from the waterfall and into the gardens that were on the deck. It went from one extreme to the other. The gardens were even more beautiful and at home. Every flower that was there seemed to flow into the next flower. Nothing was out of sorts with the plant life. It was amazing. Whoever the gardener was deserved a pay rise! She continued walking around the gardens before the section she was in seemed to change, as if the plants were newer and infused with more colour - if that was possible.

There seemed to be more daisies, mixed with blue, white, pink and purple flowers, some looked like hydrangeas. Opposite there was heteromeles arbutifolia or toyon as Cheya knew it better. She frowned. It was as if this part of the garden had been planned and more recently so. The plants were fresher and more colourful than the other parts of the garden, as if it was leading somewhere. Then she noticed it, a massive building with a white and gold sign reading 'Hunt's Fortune' with two playing cards next to it. It was a casino! Cheya enjoyed playing poker and had played in some local games at home, maybe this was a place to visit.

She walked up to the doors and noticed a sign on the door advertising the Grand Opening tomorrow night. So much for poker today!. She walked away from the doors and around the building. There was a tower building which looked as if it was about seven or eight stories high. She assumed that must be a hotel or something, nothing she was interested in. However, what was happening to the building wall of the casino was more interesting to her. There were three people by the wall, two were painting on it, and the third was observing. They were painting some kind of mural. The top half had been complete with a variety of colours and shapes, blending into each other.

As she was observing the painters, the man without a brush noticed her and smiled, "Can I help you Ma'am?" He asked.

Cheya was caught by surprise as she wasn't paying attention to him. "Sorry Sir, I was just...errr... watching you paint the wall," She frowned. "Why is the wall being painted?" Her curiosity was acting up.

He slowly walked over to her, "This casino is opening tomorrow and is supporting the local community in many different ways. One of the many ways is an artist or artists being invited every six months to paint a mural on the wall. A, it allows them to show their work off, and B, it beats a boring old wall right?" The guy beamed a smile in her direction.

Cheya couldn't help but smile back, "Yeah, they're good points, and very well thought of. You must be the owner, Mr ..." She remembered the name of the casino. "Hunt?"

"That's right, please, call me Eddie though," He said.

"Hello Eddie, I'm Cheya. I'm fairly new to the base so just getting my bearings at the moment," She smiled.

"Ahhhh you're in that phase. I was going through that part not so long ago! Where I've been renovating the casino, I've had a lot of spare time to have a look around the base between the builders coming in. If you get a chance, pay a visit to Orchids and Jazz, one of the best places I've ever been to, and the owner is one of the nicest I've met. So welcoming!" Eddie said with a glint of happiness in his eye.

Cheya smiled and pulled out a small notebook, opening it to the second page, "This is my list of things to check out on the base, Orchids and Jazz is already on there," She paused. "And it has a tick already. It is a nice place, and someone beat you to the recommendation. I will, however, add the Grand Opening for the casino tomorrow!"

"Oh into gambling are you?" Eddie let out a laugh.

"I am into my poker, but I've never been inside a casino. I was a bit disappointed it was closed, but if you've recently done it up, then I'm more excited to see it!"

"Ahhhh don't be that excited. It's a place for people to lose money after all," He paused, maybe he was giving the wrong message out here. "But don't get me wrong, it will be an experience when you get in. And in answer to your previous question, not too much. I've spent the past couple of weeks changing things, adding things, doing this, doing that, running in circles, however I think I can safely say that the wall needs to be painted and everything is sorted. I've got last minute checks tomorrow afternoon and a set up for the Grand Opening, and then I'm all ready," He smiled at Cheya, as if the smile could never be wiped off his face. She could see how excited he was about this.

"Wow! Sounds like everything has gone to plan as well!" Cheya exclaimed.

"It has. Makes it even easier when you have that bit of luck on your side," Eddie winked.

"Ha, a casino joke, very funny Mr Hunt!"

"Eddie."

"Alright, Eddie! Anyway, as this place isn't open and it's my free time, I'm not going to waste more of it watching two people paint a wall. I think there might be something more interesting to be done."

"Oooo, is that a jibe there?" Eddie questioned jokingly.

"No comment," She winked at him in return and started walking away. "I'm sure I shall see you tomorrow Eddie Hunt! And good luck with everything."

She walked away, smiling to herself. What a friendly and lovely man he was. Were casino owners supposed to be that nice, she was sure they weren't meant to be, maybe there was something more to him than met the eye.

Eddie turned away as Cheya walked away. Those eyes, He thought, there was something about them. Of all the people he had met so far, he couldn't wait to meet her again.

 

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