Chapter 8

I was planning on heading back to Nashville, but John had some things he wanted to go over with me, and Marshal wanted to see me about some things, so I spent Monday and Tuesday in meetings.

Wednesday morning, I packed my stuff at Doug's, before heading up the road towards Gainesville.

I showed up at my old apartment where Cathy, Darcy, and Dani were all happy to see me. We had a nice dinner together. That night, I knew that I had to please Darcy so we spent the night taking turns sleeping, and fucking. At one point, we were lying in bed with her head on my chest, and she said, "I'm glad you were driving through this week instead of next. We'd all be gone for Spring Break."

I asked, "What are your plans?"

"I was just going to go home and hang out."

"Why don't you come and hang out with me?"

"I'd love that. What would we do?"

"First we'd drive to Nashville where you could follow me around like a puppy, and tell me you how much you miss me."

"I can do that."

She called her mom the next day, so she could tell her that she was changing her plans. Dani fixed me some chicken and waffles for breakfast, and since Darcy had afternoon classes, she told us to have a fun time in bed while she was in class. Dani, as always, was so much fun, so we really enjoyed our time together.

During the afternoon, Darcy had to study for a test on Friday morning, so I spent the afternoon working out and as I jumped in the pool and swam some laps, the swimming coach just waved at me. Thursday night, I hung out with Cathy and Dani while Darcy studied, and then I slept with Darcy. On Friday, I did my morning workout and when Darcy got back from her test, we packed the Land Cruiser, and hit the road.

We stopped in Atlanta for the night, and stayed at the Hilton downtown. The next morning we went to visit the Coca-Cola Museum. After lunch, we drove the last leg of the Trip to Nashville. When I walked into the apartment, the changes they had made to the top floor surprised me. They had cut my massive apartment into three apartments. Mine was still half of the top floor, but they had divided the other half into two separate apartments. It had turned out nice.

I showed Darcy around my new adopted town, we walked around downtown, and spent some time down by the river. That evening, I took her out to the Bluebird to see some songwriters play their music. She liked the music scene, so I even took her to a country bar where I taught her how to do the two-step. We had a fun evening being together. The sex was fun, and I remembered to give her a spanking for calling a guy a dumb hick when he pulled out in front of me on the way home.

Monday, we had breakfast before heading down to the offices. When we arrived, I introduced her to Craig, and we talked about what areas were doing well, and which ones needed attention. He reported that Joe, the COO, had been in contact with Hector, and we now have a tentative agreement in place to start hauling their freight out of Miami. He asked me if I could go out and work with Roy as he was making changes to the production schedule.

Craig said, "I was surprised how many owner operators were out there. The number of trucks Roy can manufacture using two regular shifts with no overtime should cover our demand as we ramp up the program. I'm sure the used truck market will ultimately dry up. They'll be cheap when the old contracts start changing to our new model. If we need any to bridge the gap, we could always go in and buy the trucks as part of the deal to take on their contracts. I think that when you're in Oregon, you're going to find a glimpse of the future. Dealing with the unions will be a big part of what you will need to focus on."

"Craig, just make sure that every contract we have, has a clause that relieves us of liability in case of weather, natural disasters or strikes. I'm trying to make the work for these guys better and more lucrative. If they want to hold out then the country will come to a stop."

"Have fun out there."

We went back to my office where I explained to Darcy what we were trying to accomplish. As she gained a better understanding, the whole concept completely fascinated her.When I called Roy, he asked if I could come out for a meeting on Thursday afternoon. I told him I'd need to check my schedule and get back to him. So I checked in with Beth. She was happy to hear from me, and was happy to see me when I was in Orlando. After she confirmed my schedule, I called Art the main guy at the travel agency, and I told him that I needed to arrive in Portland on Thursday. After he asked, and I answered a few questions, he mentioned one flight that would connect through Las Vegas.

I said, "Art, can you get Darcy and me on the flight to Vegas tonight, so we can then catch the second leg on Wednesday? That will give us forty-eight hours in Vegas."

He said that he'd book it for Darcy and me, and asked where we wanted to stay. I was thinking that the Tropicana might be tired of me staying there, so I told him to book us a suite at the Frontier hotel.

When we flew out on Monday afternoon, I took some extra cash with me. While we were having a nice dinner, I started thinking about sports in 1981. Spring training was just starting, so baseball immediately came to mind. I remembered that in 1980, the Phillies had won in a big way and they, being the pundits, still favored them to repeat as the World Series champions. I had to think, but then finally remembered the big letdown when they lost in the first round of the playoffs to Montreal, and then Montreal lost to the Dodgers who ended up beating the Yankees. I was happy and interested to see what the odds were this early in the year.

I took Darcy to a show where the costumes and music amazed her. Dinner was nice, and when we finally went upstairs, the huge suite had a balcony overlooking the pool. We made love a few times, and spent a lot of time talking and catching up. She was a senior this year, and was looking forward to her life after college.

The next morning, I was up early, did my normal morning workout, and went to the huge and empty pool, where I could swim a long ways. I had breakfast with Darcy, and asked her if she had anything special that she wanted to do. She said, "Britt, I've been working so hard all year at school. Would you mind if I just sat by the pool all day and relaxed? If you want to see the dam or something we can, but I'd really love to just sit in the sun all day."

"Darcy, if that's what you want, I have no problem with that. Would you be upset if I went to the casino and did some gambling? I can sit for a while if I have a book to read, but I tend to get bored and sweaty just sitting by the pool."

"If you did that, I wouldn't feel bad if I fell asleep. Can we get together around four or so?" she asked.

When I glanced at my watch I said, "That's more than enough time to get my fix. Do you want me to place any bets for you?"

"I have no idea what to bet on. I know you do well on your sports bets, but I don't have any money, so I'll just have to stay poor."

"Darcy, I want to play poker for a while. I'll give your twenty percent of my winnings for giving me the time to play. OK?"

"Britt, you don't have to, but I'm not going to turn down free money."

I thought about staying to play at the Frontier, but I had always wanted to play at Binion's Horseshoe. I took a cab downtown, and found my way into the poker room. The room had low ceilings, and was very smoky. A hostess seated me at a table where they were playing Hold 'em so I was right at home.

The first time through, I played a lot of poker on-line. The computer speeds up play, and you can play at multiple tables at the same time. As I traveled for business or even after dinner at home, I'd play for a couple of hours. I've played thousands of hands. I know the odds and strategies of playing the game.

It was early, but there were still people playing. I was at the high stakes table, with five other players. I looked and saw that their stacks ranged from $500 to $5,000. I didn't want to drop the $10,000 I had brought with me on the table, so I matched the large stack, and placed five grand in front of me. I played it slow for the first few hands while I measured up my opponents. I also looked like I was playing tight.

By the fourth time the dealer chip made it around the table, I got involved in a hand that was down to two people, a guy with a $500 stack of chips and me. He was to my right, and pushed all of his chips in trying to steal my blind. (The money that I put in before the dealer deals the first cards.) I had a pair of tens and called him. He had a queen and a ten. There was only one ten left, and it would help me more than it would help him. He needed a queen, and when the five common cards were on the table, and none of them were a queen.

I raked in his $500, and he left the table. A couple of others joined, and I'd win more than I lost, but I didn't want to play too many more hands. I was getting a reputation for playing tight or conservatively. I finally got the worst hand in poker the seven and two of different suits. I was the last one to bet so after the first person raised the pot to $50 and three of the others called, I raised the pot $1,500 before the flop. Most of the hands were ending up at one or two hundred-dollar pots, so this was big. Each of the others grimaced, but each of them folded. I turned over my cards, and they were all pissed that I had bluffed them.

I used that anger to egg them into playing against my higher bets and better hands. If I bet $500, they'd think seven and two when I had ace and king. I turned my $5,000 stack into $12,000 by lunch. It's rude to take money off the table, but I saw some people turn around when they saw how much I was playing with. I took a break, and went to lunch.

They have a great steak house, and I had a steak sandwich. I was back at the table forty minutes later, and they gave me the last open seat. I placed $5,000 in front of me. Nobody asked about the other $7,000, and I didn't scare people away.

I continued to win and lose about the same number of hands that I played, but the pots were about twice as large on the ones I won, so I was doing well. I had brought my stack up to around $10,000, and there were three others with about the same amount.

I was first to bet and I put up $300. I had an ace and jack of diamonds. I knew this wasn't the best cards to play with, but if I caught a pair, I had a good chance of beating them. I also could hit a straight or a flush depending on the cards. The other two with larger stacks called. The flop came off ace of clubs, king of diamonds and jack of spades.

I had two pairs and three diamonds. I could fill in with the last two cards with diamonds for a flush, a ten queen for a straight, and a jack or ace for a full house. I was guessing that one of the other two had an ace king, and now, I was in second place with a lot of upside. I was playing with five of the seven thousand that I had won earlier, so even if I lost it all, I'd still be up two thousand for the day.

I bid another two thousand to scare off anyone looking for a card to make a hand. The first guy called and the second guy went all in. As I said before, we were all close to $10,000, so I called. The last guy called as well. We turned over our cards, and they both had four cards to a straight. One had the ten, and the other had a pair of aces and a queen. I was in the lead with two pairs. Then next card came off, and was a six of diamonds giving me four diamonds. The last card was a queen giving the first guy a straight, but it was the queen of diamonds giving me a flush to win.

I collected the pot and had $31,500 in front of me, and another $2,000 in profit from the morning. I tipped the dealer $500, and played for another hour making another $2,200. I tipped the dealers another $200, and then left with $35,000 in profits. I was very happy, and felt very lucky. The guy with the straight that lost would remember that hand for a long time.

I went back to the room, and changed into my bathing suit. It was only 2:45, and I was in a great mood. I found Darcy, and she was sitting next to another woman talking like old friends. She saw me and waved.

I walked up, and she said, "Hey lover, you're back early. Did you run out of money?"

"Why do you have some I can borrow?"

"No, I just didn't know how I should act around you. Should I be happy or consoling?"

"I never bet more than I can afford to lose, so you should never walk on eggshells around me."