“Do you remember… our games?” the old man struggled to speak. “I used to call you… Miss Fortune”.
On his first night at the casino, he was eager to play with the money his father gifted him. That’s when they first met. That night, as all nights that followed, she wore red: a slim-fit dress, high heels, and vibrant lipstick to match it. She was the goddess who joined them, mere people.
“Sure,” Miss Fortune replied, sitting beside his bed in the hospital. “And you were right.”
Miss Fortune used to come and turn the whole evening in her favour. She was smiling, collecting yet another stack of chips won from people at the table. There was something hidden in that smile on her young face, something that couldn’t let him go.
“What I wanted… was your power,” his speech was interrupted by the cough. He took a deep breath. “That’s what was at stake.”
In the years to come, he wasn’t as carefree as before. His father died and left him a business that was falling apart, and he also had his own family to care for. To stay on his feet, he needed a game-changer. So, he went to the casino; naturally, she was there that night.
“That was clever of you.” Despite the room being only half-lit, it was clear that none of the decades passed shoved on her face. “You just didn’t notice where it’s coming from.”
They were playing “all-in”. As the dealer revealed the last card, he froze. He hoped for better. There was a Pair of Jacks in his hand, but she, with her luck, could’ve had a Full House. He already felt it – endless fall to the blackest pit. Gambled and lost everything. However, one heartbeat later, Miss Fortune revealed just a Queen high.
“Why did I win?”. Looking back, he realized how naïve it was to believe without questioning.
He hasn’t seen her again after that. Instead, he got lucky himself, and not only in the casino. Always the man to strike the idea, complete a perfect affair, and get the best deal. As he was hitting the sky, he failed to notice the people around were falling deeper and deeper.
“You knew it from the very beginning.” She was smiling in the very same way as she did years ago.
The money was coming and going so effortlessly that he stopped noticing it. The people were unhappy around him and, therefore, left. He could afford everything, but there wasn’t anything that would make him intrigued.
“So, you were… my misfortune”, the dying old man sighed.
And here he was, in the end, by pure luck clinging to the last thread of the life that felt way too long now.
“I was both.”
She rose up to her feet and quit the room.
