Chapter One: Meetings and Seductions

Chapter One of The Gamblers

It was a cold and misty day in Dublin, the winter frost glazed the morning in glitter as Ace O'Conner stepped out of his house, it was still dark enough to warrant protest from his mother but work needed him in early to help set up for the presentation that would hopefully land him and the rest of his team the million pound project of a life time. Dressed in his favourite vest Ace worked on the paperwork his boss had asked him to sort out, “I can’t believe I forgot, I stayed up all night and you’d think I’d remember something like this!” he muttered to the old lady next to him on the bus “aye lad” she nodded, though she had that look that said “you’re crazy, stay away from me”, Ace was too busy to care, he got off just outside the office building and looked back, he checked for anything he was missing before taking a deep breath and stepping inside. The warm office air his Ace the second he got off the elevator “Ace! You’re early lad, good, come help me with this table” said Mr. McGinnis, Ace rushed over “where should I put these?” he asked, his boss stretched, arching his tired back, he must have been here since 3am, he looked shattered, “just pop them down on my desk lad, say, you wouldn’t happen to have seen your sister on the way here?” he asked, Ace put down the papers and glared at him “I thought she was already here?” Mr. McGinnis and he both sighed “I’ll call her; lass must have had a rough night”. Ace snickered as he pulled the table into position in the conference room, “heh, yeah, as rough as that boyfriend of hers can manage” McGinnis chuckled “you dirty little rascal!” he heaved the coffee machine onto the table and Ace helped him move it onto the stand in the corner of the room “I’m serious, I don’t even know why she’s with someone so absolutely tiny, I thought the French were supposed to be good lovers” they both shared a laugh before McGinnis rang Ace’s sister. Penny groaned and rolled off the bed, she grunted as she fumbled for the phone and clicked it open “Hello? Vlaskav speaking” she rubbed her eyes “Morning Penny, I hope I didn’t wake you up?” McGinnis’ tinny voice stung her ears “no Mr Mac Ginnis, I am not of the sleeping” she sat on the bed and Remy stirred behind her “well then, I’ll be expecting you at work in oh let’s say… half an hour?” he suggested, Penny nodded “yes sir Mr Mac Ginnis sir, I will be over soon” she flipped the phone shut and groaned.

“Penny? What’s the matter? Work needs you in early?” Remy massaged her shoulders “Little boyfriend hit’s nail on the head” Penny rubbed her face “is big meeting today with lots of very posh people, I will need my smart clothes” she turned and pecked him on the cheek before getting up and rummaging through the closet “well, I’ll run you down there once your dressed, just let me have a cup of tea before we go” Remy got off the bed and left the room. “Ugh, little-little man, I bought big toy just for you and you let me down again” Penny mumbled under her breath, disappointed with Remy’s skills in bed once again, but she loved him dearly so she put it past her, she put on a white dress with a scarlet belt and tied her hair up in a ponytail. She was about average size, just under two inches shorter than Ace and while he was well built and tall, she was slim and only moderately muscled, but Remy, Remy was a scrawny little curled moustache bearing French stereotype, a gentleman and excellent romantic, but hopelessly ill equipped when it comes to sex, which disappointed Penny greatly. Remy drove penny to work before heading off into town, Penny hurried into the officer with her arms wrapped around a laptop, Ace pecked her on the cheek and she gave him a hug before the three got to work organising the office ready for the Drellora and sons Co executives, whom were arriving at 9am, which was just under 3 hours away. Ace was a fair skinned lad with well-groomed jet black hair and golden sapphire blue eyes, Penny on the other hand had pale skin and snow white hair, her eyes were milky and the only colour on her face was her permanently blood red lips, she got allot of stick for the way she looked and spoke, but Ace was always usually there to comfort her, Penny was of course adopted and since she moved into Remy’s apartment Ace had tried to remain as close to her as possible, they spent 5 years growing into adulthood together after all, they’re both 19.

“Mister Mac Ginnis, you need to calm yourself down” Penny poured him another cup of tea as concentration etched his face and sweat lined his brow “I know Penny, but they’ll be here any minute now! Everything has to be perfect if we’re to get this job” McGinnis, Ace was about to lay in some reassurance when the elevator pinged and the office froze, the doors seemed to take forever to open as Maggi Drellora herself and two company executives were revealed, like the curtains drawing back on a scene, McGinnis stood up and wiped his forehead with a cloth before stuffing it in his pocket and walking up to the old woman. What happened next is so full of tension and an unease Ace could have sworn it was an eternity, when in fact the meeting only lasted an hour, when it was over and the executives left, everyone could finally breath again and Penny was the most relieved, it had been down to her to man the slideshow and she had almost deleted the file! McGinnis was even worse now, he believed thoroughly they weren’t going to get the job; they would have to wait until tomorrow to know the truth. Ace and Penny stood outside the office building waiting for pickups, “so, you gave Remy the extension thingy?” Ace smirked, Penny sighed “little lover man did not take kindly to suggestion of trapping tiny pencil in nice big extension” she suckled on her electric cigarette while Ace took long big puffs of his jumbo sized cigars, rare treats in his life came in big packages, “aw, well, you’ll have to give him the ultimatum then, wear the aid or G.T.F.O” he blew a large cloud of smoke that hung in the windless air until it slowly drifted away. Penny sighed “no, Remy is good guy, he is sweet and I will not leave him, I will buy shaking toy next, and threaten him only in my backside until he wears the aid” the paid of them discussed Remy and Penny’s sex life often, she seemed to think he was an expert on the matter when in fact Ace was still a virgin.

“Well” Ace grunted as he snuffed the cigar on the back of his hand and put it into a small metal tube to light again later as their mother pulled up onto the kerb “I wish you all the luck in world lass, I’ll see you later Penny” he kissed her quickly before dashing into the car, Janice poked her head out of the window and waved “afternoon Penny, good to see you sweetheart, you still coming for dinner tomorrow?” she asked. Penny smiled and nodded vigorously “yes mother, Remy will not but I will surely come” she replied, Ace burst out laughing and stuck his head out “we better hope so, for Remy’s sake” he wheezed, Penny growled “is not funny brother! Little man has serious problem!” she huffed and folded her arms. On the drive home, Janice played a confused look until she finally caught a break in Ace’s chuckles “what was that about?” she asked, “It’s nothing Ma” Ace snickered “it’s just, you know Remy’s a very small guy, so it makes sense, he has a small” he made air quotations “little guy” he laughed, It took Janice a little while to figure it out but when she did they were both howling all the way up the drive, neither would get out until they had stopped laughing. Ace’s time flew by, he didn’t have much to do until he got the call from McGinnis tomorrow so he simply lay on his bed listening to music and reading; he was currently on book four of the Harry Potter series, for the sixth time, hey! The classics never get old am I right? Ace closed his eyes for a moment to wipe them when his music stopped and he felt his phone vibrating on his leg. Ace yanked out his headphones and swiped his screen, “Ace! You need to get down here, right now!” McGinnis was on the other end, “What?! What’s going on? Is everything ok? Did they call back early?” Ace sat up, “yes! Maggi Drellora herself wishes to speak with you; looks like that stunt you pulled during the presentation might have paid off!” McGinnis said hurriedly “come quick, she says her flight leaves in three hours and she needs most of that time to talk to you, get your a*s down here lad, this might be our big break!” the line cut off and Ace was left scrambling through the house getting himself ready.

“Ma!” Ace roared, Janice rounded the corner “what?” her face was covered in pale green goo “aww ma!! I need to get down to the office! Now! Mrs. Drellora wants to see me” he explained, Janice panicked “Oh! Ah! Eh, here!” she threw him the keys “slab your learning sticker on and drive yourself, if you get into any trouble with the police… well, eh… oh f**k it, just go!” Janice watched as Ace bolted out the door, she sighed with relief, every time he stressed out about something it made her heart beat like a drum “the lad’s gonna kill me one of these days, I swear”. Ace fixed his tie as the elevator doors opened and he stepped into the office, McGinnis and a few other late shifters were gathered around a table with Mrs. Drellora sat down sipping from a cup of tea, her executives weren’t there, Ace gulped “ah, Mister O'Conner, good, Mr McGinnis, if you would excuse me” the old woman set down her tea and walked towards the elevator, “follow me please, eh… Ace, is it?” she put a hand on his shoulder and turned him back into the elevator. Maggi was young looking for a 50 year old, she had long, lush silvery hair and remarkably smooth skin, barely a wrinkle or a bag to be seen, “I trust by now you realise what goes on in the next 3 hours decides whether or not your team here in Dublin get the assignment we’ve put together” she said, Ace nodded “yes ma’am, and I’m sorry for my behaviour earlier”, “oh? You mean that little quip during the presentation?” she turned to him “oh don’t worry about it darling” she was English, the Queen’s English, it spooked Ace just a little. “I was rather amused by it in fact, I find attitudes like that rare these days, you’re a bold boy Ace” she leaned over, with a wicked grin “I rather like it” she mused, the elevator pinged and the doors opened and she straightened herself out “with me Ace” Maggi said, Ace was by now thoroughly confused as they both got into the back of a black limousine, “driver, take us around Dublin and park somewhere hidden” Maggi said, “yes Ma’am” the driver said, Maggi reached over and closed the privacy hatch “good, now we can finally talk in peace” Maggi took off her coat.

“Mrs. Drello-” Ace found himself silence when Maggi held a finger over his lips, she kept it there as she sat opposite him as she shook off her jacket as well, “now, Ace, my name is Maggi, and it’s Miss, Miss Hampton, I hate that pig’s name” she swung her hair loose from her bun and let it fall down over her shoulders, Ace was now beginning to realise just what Maggi was wanting, his heart throbbed and his head pounded “my husband is a s****y little man, darling you don’t know just how bad he is” she pouted. Ace gently moved her hand away from his mouth “Miss… Maggi, I…” he crossed his legs and Maggi noticed “oh! No! no, no, no, that’s not what I want at all darling! Nothing like that, well, not yet anyways, not unless you want it” she moved closer “don’t worry darling, I was sold by your presentation the second you started, your team put more effort into that meeting than any other branch combined” Ace sagged with relief. “No, Ace darling, I…” Maggi looked out the window, still holding his hand “you see, my husband spends most of his time either threatening me and my boys or tinkering in his study, I haven’t felt needed or wanted for so long, I have no family left alive to confide in and the men that I already have in my life are pigs” Maggi sniffed, Ace’s mood was swinging closer and closer to genuine concern “when you spoke out during that meeting, I’m sure you notice me whispering to my assistants, well I asked them to run a background check on you”. Ace sat forward “to be blunt Ace, you’re a nice boy, your handsome and smart, hardworking and very well endowed” Maggi teased, Ace’s face flushed bright red “how could a background check tell you all that?!” he asked, Maggi dismissed the question with a wave “the point is Ace, I’m willing to make you a deal, we meet every Tuesday and Thursday” she looked out the window, they had parked in an alleyway by the docks, no one ever walked through here “here, by the docks, in this Limo, we’ll discuss what exactly we’d do in our time together then but the general idea is, if you’re here for me, comfort me, please me, and I’ll send more work your way, I have hundreds of project ideas in the works, and normally I’d send them off to other companies for a small share, but I could send some of them to your team, and” she pulled him in by his tie.

“I’ll make it well worth your while, money, professional insight…” she caressed his cheek and Ace played along, his face was bright red but he smiled through it “pleasure” she whispered, she let him go and smiled “whatever, we, want” Maggi said, Ace rubbed his face and covered his mouth, “oh and if you’re thinking about relationships with other people, think about me as a small piece on the side, it doesn’t matter to me” she chuckled, Ace smiled “I’m not concerned about that, I…” he puffed “I would be happy to talk, any time, and you are a stunning woman” Ace’s face returned to normal, finally his bravado and libido had kicked in. “I’m in, but if there’s something I’m not sure about-” Maggi cut him off “nothing you don’t want to do, we discuss everything” they nodded, Ace sat back and Maggi smiled, she reached into her jacket and pulled out a matchbox, Ace sat forward as she asked “want a light?” he took out his cigar case and pulled out the one he hadn’t finished before “only if you’ll tell me more about these concerns of yours” he smiled, Maggi beamed. Ace walked through the front door just as Janice came down the stairs; he was already holding his tie and his vest “well?” she asked “and put that out!” she walked through into the living room, Ace smiled and crammed the butt of the cigar into the ash tray before following her into the living room, McGinnis and Penny along with a few other co-workers were sat having tea and biscuits. “What did she say lad? Out with it!” McGinnis said brushing back his messy ginger/grey hair, Ace rubbed his face and sat down in his armchair by the fire and he pushed his shoes off and sighed “out with the beans brother!” Penny pounded the table, Ace nodded “well, I have bad news, and good news” he sat forward, McGinnis leaned forward, his expression that of terror “what’s the good news?” he asked, Ace grinned “we got the project”. Janice winced as the living room erupted into cheer, stopped only when Penny roared “then what is bad news?” she asked, McGinnis fell silent, “you didn’t… you didn’t have to f**k ‘er did ya lad?” Janice glared at him, “no!” Ace stood up “bad news is, we’re all going to be doing late hours” he said, McGinnis frowned “why’s that?” he asked, “because Drellora wants to send us even more projects!” Ace threw his arms up, he was ecstatic, his only concern was Maggi’s husband finding out, but Maggi had assured him he’d never find out… Probably, anyways…