Thursday, September 27, 2007

Chapter 21

Jamie had slept well but woken with a very vivid dream about Tricia that felt so real he had to check to see that she wasn’t really in bed with him. He’d been uncharacteristically antsy all morning and was now pacing around near the poker room having arrived forty five minutes early for his tournament. That was too short a time to bother finding a cash game to play but long enough to allow him to begin to get a little nervous about the upcoming tournament.

He smiled a bit at being nervous about a tournament. It just felt different now that he had his sponsorship deal.

“Well you look like you got some last night,” Kevin James said, surprising Jaime as he came up behind him. “That is a cat who ate the canary smile. Was the canary anybody I know?”

Jaime laughed. “You’re way off man. I was thinking about the fact that I quit getting nervous about these things a while back and now here I am feeling nervous again.”

“Afraid to mess up in front of your girl friend?” Kevin asked with a smile.

“Man you need to get yourself laid, you’ve got sex on the brain.” Jaime shook his head but grinned back at Kevin. “She’s not my girlfriend, not anymore anyway. Actually I’m more afraid to mess up in front of you. I’m nervous because of this sponsorship deal.”

Kevin clouted Jaime on the shoulder. “Well no worries there. You’ll do fine. I know you will.”

“Thank you. And how did you finish up last night?”

“We didn’t make it down to the final table. We’ll be starting today with 16 players. Your girlfriend’s buddy is chip leader. I haven’t been on his table yet but he seems to be playing solid.”

“She’s not my girlfriend damn it,” Jaime said, starting to get a littleirritated.

“Hey Jaime I’m sorry,” Kevin apologized quickly. “It’s kinda too bad she’s not. She is not only pretty damn good looking but she’s also a pretty good player.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of a surprise,” Jaime admitted. “Not that I didn’t think she had it in her. I knew she was bright. It’s just kind of funny that it happened that way.”

“Maybe it’s no accident. Fate has a way of doing what it wants with people.”

Jaime shrugged. “Well we took our shot and it didn’t work. I won’t be the one to mess up her marriage again. We had a talk yesterday and I think we’re going to manage to be just friends. I hope it works because I had a good time playing in a cash game with her yesterday. Probably we can’t do that much though because we’d cut into each other’s profits.”

Kevin nodded. “She was watching last night. I guess you’d gone to bed.”

Jaime nodded.

“She told me how you’d played $4/$8 with her.”

Jaime knew Kevin was teasing him about the way he liked the low limit games even though he could easily afford bigger games. He didn’t rise to the bait though.

“So you spent some time talking to her huh? And you think she’s pretty good looking. Now that you know we’re just friends are you planning something?” Jaime asked, mostly teasing but also knowing Kevin’s tendency attract women.

Kevin chuckled. “Well if I was going to have a fling with somebody who is probably ten years older than I am she would be my first choice I guess except for the fact that I wouldn’t do that to you. You can say what you want about being just friends but I’m not buying it.”

“I meanit Kevin.”

Kevin nodded. “I know you do. I also know it’s not what you really want. Aside from the fact that the lady wasn’t looking at me like that I would not take a chance on screwing up our friendship that way. There are more fish in the sea.”

Jaime shrugged. “Your choice.”

Kevin gave Jaime a long look. “You know she wasn’t there last night to watch me right?”

“I never thought she was man,” Jaime said. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m not. I just wondered if you knew she was there to watch that guy.”

Jaime shrugged, trying to look more nonchalant than he felt. “When I told her I was going to bed she said she was going to watch him for a while. His name is Rick by the way.”

“I know. Rick Fannin. He played pretty solid yesterday but was also just catching great cards from what I’d heard. I’ve never played with him but I’ve seen him around for a while.”

“I’ve played with him I think although I never knew his name. My impression is that he was ok but not great.” Jaime said with a shrug.

“And you don’t mind Tricia spending time with him like that?”

“It’s not going to affect my tournament if that’s what you’re asking. I think I can keep my private life separate and focus on poker.”

“I know you can,” Kevin said. “That isn’t what I was asking. We’ve come to be pretty good friends Jaime and I think I know you well enough to know that no matter what you say about Tricia you still think of her as more than a friend.”

Jaime shrugged. “I have feelings for her but it didn’t work out the first time. The best I think I can salvage from it is that maybe now we can be friends ok?”

“Hey I’m cool with it,” Kevin threw his hands up in the air in mock surrender. “I hope you’re ok with it because I saw them in the hotel bar as I was heading for bed.”

“She’s a big girl,” Jaime said. “She can do what she wants.”

“Ok man. I’ll let it go,” Kevin said. “I was just worried about you.”

“Thanks,” Jaime said.

Kevin gave Jaime an affectionate clout on the shoulder and said with a big smile, “No worries. Knock ‘em dead today. It’s time you got your first ring.”

Kevin made his way deeper into the poker room and Jaime watched him go. His first thought was that it would be cool winning one of the circuit events and getting the ring that went with that. It was second only to winning a WSOP bracelet which he also hoped to do one day.

That was where his mind was when Tricia touched his shoulder and he jumped, realizing that she had been talking to him.

“Oh! Good morning!” Jaime said.

“Good morning yourself,” Tricia said with a smile. “You were pretty deep in thought there.”

Jaime smiled. “Kevin was just talking to me and when he left he said it was time I got my first ring. I was daydreaming about that and about maybe one day winning a bracelet at the WSOP.”

“Well I agree with him!” Tricia smiled broadly. “I’d like to be here when you win your first ring. I’m sure you’ll have quite a collection.”

“Thanks. I don’t know about that. I do want one pretty badly though.”

“Kevin gives you a pep talk before every tournament?” Tricia asked.

Jaime shrugged. “Kind of. He’s always like that. He knows a ton of people and he is always buzzing around encouraging them.”

“I like him,” Tricia said. “He takes a little getting used to but I like him. Did he tell you I talked to him last night?”

Jaime nodded.

“It kind of boggles my mind. I’ve seen him on TV even and he came over and talked to me. That was kind of neat.”

Jaime laughed. “You’ll find he’s just a regular guy. A very busy, very focused guy, but really just a regular guy. He doesn’t get all caught up in some of the superstar stuff some of these guys get into.”

“I can see that,” Tricia said and then biting her lip nervously asked, “Did he tell you I went to the hotel bar with Rick after they were done?”

“He mentioned it,” Jaime said. “He was worried about me because he knows about you and I. I told him we were just friends and that you are a grown woman and can do what you want.”

Jaime looked at Tricia and thought there was something she was about to tell him, and then wondered why she looked like she was about to cry but when she visibly wiped that look from her face he didn’t pursue it.

“I understand why you want to just be friends Jaime. I even admit it’s probably for the best. I really had a good time last night playing with you. I think I learned a lot too.” Tricia said. The way she looked and the way she said it made it sound like there was an unsaid ‘but’. He wondered what it was but didn’t feel he could, or should, pry.

“I enjoyed it too Tricia,” Jaime told her. “Ilook forward to doing it again. And maybe not at just this tournament. Do you think you’re going to come to any more of these?”

Tricia perked up then and smiled, practically jumping up and down in her excitement. “Yes! I talked to Matt this morning and it sounds like he’s actually figuring I’d do more of these! I couldn’t believe it. Actually it’s kind of odd but I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.”

“Well that is great!” Jaime said, glad to have a safe subject and glad, also, to know that he would be seeing her again.

“The big thing will be that I may not want to leave Matty all that much but I can see coming to three or four a year. Do you think that would work?”

“I don’t see why not. Actually doing them all like I am this year turns out to be a real grind. I’ve been on the road constantly and to tell you the truth it’s not as much fun as I thought it would be. It’s starting to feel like work.”

“I wondered,” Tricia said. “But you’re still enjoying it?”

“Hell yes!” Jaime said. “It’s not that much like work and it’s work I enjoy. How many people can say they like their job?”

“It will help that I won’t need to do it for eating money,” Tricia said.

“That always helps,” Jaime said. “You know that’s where I am also although this past year I did make enough to have supported myself.”

Tricia looked at Jaime when he said that and he could practically be certain what her next question was going to be. He was right.

She cocked her head at him and asked, “Considering that you say nothing has really changed in your marriage and you’ve been on the road constantly does the fact that you could support yourself playing poker make youthink about changing anything?”

“Like getting a divorce?” Jaime asked and then shook his head. “Not as long as she is ok with the way things are. Hell in some ways we seem to be getting along better. The time we do have when I’m home or the very rare occasions she joins me on the road we’ve been better than we have in a long time.”

“You don’t worry about what she’s doing when you’re on the road all the time?” Tricia asked.

Jaime laughed. “Now how could I? I mean that would be pretty hypocritical. Besides she is still totally wrapped up in her career and not even thinking about that sort of thing as near as I can tell. Mostly what I know is that right now my life is pretty good and I’m not going to fix what ain’t broke. Maybe my life is weird but it works for me.”

Tricia shrugged. “That’s great Jaime. I hope you don’t mind my asking. I was just curious.”

“I don’t mind. I don’t see you deciding to leave Matt if you find you can support yourself playing poker.”

Tricia shook her head. “No. I wish he was more like he was for a while, attentive to me and to Matty but no, I want Matty to have both a mom and dad growing up. Jaime you don’t think I was fishing to find out if you’d ever consider leaving your wife for me do you?”

That had not been at all what Jaime had been thinking now, although he had entertained thoughts like that over the years, just never seriously. It surprised him that she asked.

“No that thought had not crossed my mind.”

“Never?”

Jaime smiled. “In the past it did yes but you know I’d never ask you to leave Matt. And I know you’d never ask me to leave my wife. We had that discussion and agreed to that long long ago. You haven’t started to change your mind have you? Are things that bad between you and Matt?”

Tricia shook her head, “No! I’m sorry. I don’t know why I brought it up. It was thoughtless.. It was just you saying you could support yourself with poker made me think of it I guess.”

“I wonder if you’re as comfortable being just friends as I am Tricia. For what it’s worth it’s going to be hard for a while…maybe forever. But I think it’s worth it. It’s also flattering that you seem to want more. Unless I’m being a jerk and reading in more than is there.”

Tricia’s eyes watered and she said quietly. “You’re not being a jerk. I feel horrible about it but I did want more. I guess I still do. I will do my best to just be the best friend you’ve ever had though.”

“I will too Tricia.” Jaime said, feeling a little like he was going to tear up too.

“It’s just about time Jaime,” Tricia said looking at the tournament clock which was ticking down to the start of the tournament. “I hope I didn’t distract you.”

“Not at all! I’m glad I got to see you this morning!”

“Ok. Well I’ll be pulling for you. I’ll be around and try to keep an eye on how you’re doing. Good luck!”

“Thanks!” Jaime said.

Tricia impulsively gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Good luck Jaime.”

She as quickly released him and turned away, making her way toward the satellite sign up area. Jaime watched her go for a moment, thinking back to what Kevin had said. She was a pretty damn good looking woman. She was also a pretty good friend. He chuckled and turned, walking toward his seat with a smile on his face.

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