Double Life | Natasha Romanoff

23. Poker

I've never played Poker before so some of the terminologies may be wrong. Also, I'm basing this on Casino Royale just to give you an idea on what's happening. Just that there's no specific guy I'm beating here, I just need to win the game amongst normal players. How does one describe a poker scene anyway? I don't know how much one usually bet on this kind of game.

Your POV
The organiser rang the bell to get the attention of the party and to signal the start of the Poker match. I kiss Natasha goodbye and get all the good luck I can get.

In order to win, the game of Poker starts before even the round begins. I start to observe them as soon as they sit down. People act subconsciously without even them realising. They act differently when they are nervous or in a pinch. It's not that I don't have it, it's just that people lack the ability to discern those actions. As soon as they start to change, that's when I need to strike. The table sits nicely with eight people and the game starts.

The dealer dealt the cards. I got pocket tens. The first player raises $1000 and everyone calls. The flop shows 9 diamond, 3 diamond and 2 heart. It's pretty good and we shouldn't be up against two pairs very often. Everyone checks to me but I can't allow anyone to see a free card so I raise $500. There's so many opponents and I can be up against a set but only one calls and the rest fold. One on one.

The turn shows 6 spade and he raises another $1000. He seems confident about his hand but I'm not going to allow him to take the first game so easily. I'm going to win this game and continue on with the flow, so I call.

The river shows 7 club and the guy checks. Now he doesn't seem so confident. In order to deal a more crushing blow, I raise $500 to him. He takes his time to think and eventually folds. I won this game and the huge pile of chips got pushed to me. I win a solid pot and get the night started out with the right foot.

The game continued and I won some games and lost some. I try to instill fear in them. I have very little clue as to what I am doing but I know the game well enough to win. Some of them have lesser chips with them compared to when they started and some have more. Only a few left on the table are considered threats to me. My amount of chips should be able to last me the entire game.

---

During halftime, the waiter gave us drinks that we had ordered beforehand. I take a sip before the match starts again. Very quickly, I start to feel my heartbeat rising. Yes, it's closer to the end of the match, but I shouldn't be this nervous. I couldn't catch my breath and energy was draining rapidly. I couldn't concentrate on anything and I knew there was something wrong with the drink. I tried to leave the table but the dealer said I was the small bind and I needed to place the bet first. I just randomly took some chips and placed them on the table and left to find the nearest washroom.

It was getting hard to breathe so I unbuttoned the top few buttons of my shirt and stumbled my way through the ballroom. I tried to maintain a straight line but I'm pretty sure I'm all over the place, trying to grab onto things. I forced water down my throat in hopes of throwing up the contents in my stomach and stopping this effect, but it wasn't working. I could feel myself swaying and my vision blurry.

Natasha POV
Things are going pretty well up to the half point mark. I don't know much about Poker but I know that Y/N is in the lead and roughly 3 other guys are up with her. Y/N has a decent size chip to last her the entire game. The second half was about to start, but her eyes kept darting everywhere. I was trying to see where she was looking but I couldn't find anything. Why is she looking so flustered?

She takes a look at her glass and leaves the table.

The game is starting, where is she going?

I left my seat and followed her. She's grabbing onto everything she can to prevent her from falling over and eventually makes her way to the washroom. When I burst into the washroom, her whole body was wet and she's holding onto the countertop for her dear life. Suddenly her strength leaves her legs and I manage to catch her before she hits the floor.

"What happened?" I hold her on my knees. Her breathing is so erratic that she's having difficulties forming words. I am so afraid of what I am seeing right now.

"Look... I'm- I'm going to pass out, and- and I need you to bring me back." With that her body goes limp and she passes out. I lay her on the floor and started CPR immediately to try and bring her back. It isn't working and I start slamming her chest repeatedly.

"Come on! Get. Back. Up!" I was starting to panic, what if she doesn't make it? What am I going to do? Suddenly, without warning she shot up taking a deep breath, eyes almost popping out.

"Oh thank god." I heave a sigh of relief. "You okay?"

She turns and looks at me, swallowing her breath. "Yeah I think so. Someone must have spiked my drink." She says while trying to steady her breathing. It's a good thing there's no one using the washroom currently.

"You scared the hell out of me!" I stood up.

"Yeah, now both sides of my chest hurts." I gave her a hand and helped her up.

"You still have the mood to make jokes!"

"I'm not joking! It hurts!"

Standing in front of the mirror, she makes herself presentable again before making her way out. I gave her words of assurance knowing that she's still shaking from the incident. She gave me a kiss before sitting at the table again. Several rounds must have passed but there's not much change in the lead. From the starting eight people, now four remain.

I'm sorry if the poker part was boring, I didn't know how to make it interesting so I just stated the facts.