Ace spoke first, almost breaking the spell of ending up so intimately after a long night at the gaming tables.

“I could stay like this forever, simply spooning with you in the dark, my dear slim and smooth, beautiful redhead.”

“That’s because you are right behind me, you naughty tall dark handsome one, you! Just don’t break my heart.”

“As if I would. Being behind you or right in front, just being this close to you is the real deal for me. I wish it could always be like this, my favourite princess of the heart.”

“Princess! Huh! Flattery will get you nowhere, Ace, you know I’m just as old as you are! But us being together all the time, you know that’s really not on the cards ... Jack is-”

“Jack’s all wrong for you, my sweet princess, he’s too similar to you. I think you’re pretty as a picture and we both suspect that Jack plays around in Clubs, every last one of us know he likes them well stacked. Okay, I accept that we are all shallow one-sided characters but I suspect Jack goes ... both ways.”

“That’s hardly his fault, he’s always been two-faced, just because you are always so straight up, Ace, so, well ... so singular.”

“I’m always straight, baby, I call a spade a spade.”

“That’s the truth, Ace, that’s so you.”

“We should be together, always, my dear heart, my sweet princess.”

“That would be wonderful, Ace, but you know how it is, my family...”

“Yeah, sweetheart, only I hate the thought of you lying next to Jack most of the time.”

“You shouldn’t be jealous of Jack, I mean he’s more like a brother—”

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

“I know he can be two-faced, but we still have our worthwhile little moments together, Ace.”

“Brief turns, sure, here and there, mixing with the pack, all based on chance. It cuts me up. Sometimes it gets to me and I feel high, Ace High, but then I’m low, Ace Low, I hate that uncertainty even though I know where I stand before the game begins. Can’t you just tell Jack that he’s been busted and you need to be paired up permanently with me?”

“You know that is not possible, darling, even though it breaks my heart.”

“I know, it’s your family that I don’t really don’t fit in with, I just don’t suit your old man.”

“Darling, you know what the head of my family’s like...”

“It’s a color issue, isn’t it, he thinks I won’t fit in because I’m black?”

“It’s tricky, but yes, Ace, he’s old school and a little prejudiced about your color -”

“Yeah, your old man sure calls a spade a bloody shovel. I know he doesn’t like me because of my color. “I’ve heard him say it, ‘He’s as black as the ace of spades’. Oh, I really hate that!”