Crystal Bella (5 page)

“Her hotness was there, but it was just easy and free and beautiful somehow.”

Ethan looked at him with a faint smile and kept listening. Christian kept talking, “there was no judgment, where someone like her could judge. You know she is a little bit posh, but in that small moment when we chatted it was all quite…easy and clear.”

They ca
me to a halt as they had to all part ways to go to different classes. Christian was still pondering.

Ethan smiled
. “Nice,” he said “I better get to class lover boy and if I don’t see you later I’ll see you both tonight.”

They said
their goodbyes and headed off.             

~~~~

Ethan got up from his seat and headed towards the exit door from his lecture thinking,
fuck
I missed half of that.
That was the thing about college for Ethan there were so many distractions, the social life, the girls. It was a fun place but you had to learn as well. It annoyed Ethan that it took so long to get a degree. He often said he would go to medical school if he could complete it in one year. Ethan felt he could do it. His mother once told him, he was a doctor in a past life.
Easy
Ethan used to think to himself,
I only would need three months of study in this life.

Ethan jumped in
to his car and headed home. As he drove he could see the openness of his surroundings, he always liked space and the moment where he would hit a semi plateau as the road went flat near his home.  On the way home, the sea view at this point was now on his right side, and behind him. Ethan could feel it, but it was in his rear view mirror also, just moments of it.

E
than walked into his home. His mom was not there, she was still working. She used to have a corporate job for a long time and worked as a management consultant. She eventually got out and started her own florist business. Ethan liked her working in a florist shop, it was romantic and sweet and the shop definitely had that feel. Ethan loved working there. He would do some part time hours, doing the odd job there. He loved the simplicity of it, but most of all the vibe. It hummed in its unique way. It had soul and it derived from his mom and that was why he loved being there.

He hung
around his home, enjoying the space and time he had to himself. In a few hours he would be heading out to Carl’s.

~
CHAPTER THREE ~

A RIVER QUEEN

Ethan walked into
Carl’s house. Carl had a flat that he rented. His mother owned it and let Carl stay there rent free as long as he could rent out the other three rooms which he did. It was a cool flat, a little bit messy, a social hub. There were seven people there playing cards.

Ethan had
a bottle of wine with him, he brought it from his home, a red, it was his mothers. He was in a slight hurry and grabbed it on the way out. The feeling was cool then but now it does not quite fit the occasion so he asked Carl if he could swap for a few of his beers. Carl said yes with a glint in his eyes, he liked the red and as it is Ethan’s mother’s wine he knew it would be high quality.
Some rollies and a red, perfect.
Ethan often came with random, positive surprises. It was a $30 bottle of wine but to Ethan it didn’t matter, he wanted some beers that could match the night and tonight he was in the bogan flat, that had character, life with his friends playing cards.

Carl poured his red like it was a special vintage of 300 years ago, at
the same time sparking his rollie. He then introduced Ethan to his new friend from college, Chuck.

Ethan returned
from the fridge where he had just grabbed a six pack of beers. Carl’s smoke went into the air, leaving a mist that perfected itself into the atmosphere of the home. As Carl introduced Chuck to Ethan, everything became still and heightened for that immediate moment. Almost like a freeze on time where all the subjects of that picture are frozen and able to be looked at with precision. But not so much the look but the feeling and what it gives you. Like the detail from a song that you adore, that gives the exact feeling you once had when the song played a long time ago.

“This is Chuc
k, a friend from college,” Carl said.

“Hi
,” Ethan replied in an easy, calm manner, reflecting on what he was feeling. Chuck then asked him how he was doing, the normal greetings to which Ethan responded politely too.

It was the feeling Ethan felt when he was
introduced to Chuck that made him highly alert. Ethan’s heart told him something and he knew at a later time he would have to tell Carl, and more importantly Christian with what he now knew.

Ethan
was used to picking up on the emotions, feelings and thoughts of others. He could read their minds, like an immediate imprint. The feeling froze, snapped and locked into the truth in a brief moment that told him everything in that split second. Ethan had learnt to trust those feelings. He used to think he was paranoid when he was younger, thinking certain people didn’t like him for no particular reason, but as he grew older he knew he could read the thoughts and feelings of others and he was not paranoid after all. The lovely smile behind the true intentions could never fool Ethan. He trusted his gift, he trusted his feelings.

Anyway
, Ethan thought to himself, I’m here to have fun, and win
as he had earlier predicted. He opened up his bottle of beer and drank it from the bottle as he always did. The night was young and the excitement of the game, the players, his friends and knowing that the alcohol would soon be coming into his body made him feel so alive. It was coming, he could feel it.

They played
Texas Hold’em usually once a week. It had the same theme, bragging rights for whoever won, but it was also very social and cool, always fun. The game usually lasted for three hours. When each individual got eliminated they could stay around and watch or head off home.

Tonight’s
game was going as planned for Ethan, slowly building his chips, winning quite easily without having to take on too much risk. He played with an aggressive style and tried to bully some of the weaker players. Usually it worked but sometimes a new player could come in and counter that with the same aggression, which made things a little trickier for Ethan as he had to show a different technique to counter one particular player while trying to continue his main game plan with the others. Sometimes the strategy then would be to play a little timid for a moment to try and build up the ego of the other aggressor and then wait until he had the ultimate hand and go in hard.

As the game went
through its process, Carl became the fourth player to exit so there were only three remaining, Ethan, Christian and another friend of theirs. Carl wasn’t too annoyed about been bundled out. He had a red and a rollie which made him feel very happy. He was all smiles tonight. Amazing what one little thing can do to the human heart sometimes, the joy that can derive from the simplicity of life. The student life for Carl was his forte, the cruisy life, not having to pay rent and not having a care in the world really. Add the red and the rollie and Carl didn’t need much more, maybe a beautiful girl would make it complete. But Carl was never too fixated on hitting on girls, he was more the smooth, lucky one. It just seemed to glide to him when he really needed it, or the moment before he really needed it, the girl would show up.

Ethan had noticed
Carl’s situation with girls, on the deeper level with how he attracted them. While Ethan would just come out of the blue and chat a girl up, Carl never really did that, they just seemed to come together and fit for the right reason. Ethan said to Carl once. “It’s your lack of eagerness that gets you the girls at the right time.”

Carl laughed about it but Ethan knew as
soon as you got too eager or needy for the opposite sex, they scented it somehow and it just pushed them further away. Ethan being highly sensitive could always tell the difference between his states and how girls responded to him. He remembered about two months after breaking up with Natasha, there were a couple of days where he longed for a girl, just so emotionally up and down and craving that female attention. But every girl at the time that he stared at seemed to look away. It frustrated Ethan to lose his power like that, but he was aware with what it was about. Find the inner peace and beauty within and that will allow and attract what the body and soul needs. A bit like attracting a beautiful, wild animal from the forest, you have to be gentle and attract it. A sudden movement can just fear it and make it run. Attract it with no fear, love and peace and do it gently.

The next player
took an exit and was just watching now, so all was left was Ethan and Christian. Christian was keen to win here and so was Ethan. Ethan could sense the feeling of the game, what he needed to do to win. Christian knew Ethan well and would read his game astutely from here on in. The feeling Ethan got was to finish the game off fast. If he played it long, the feeling was he would come off short and lose.

Ethan
on this particular hand decided to add a lot of chips in, but as each card got turned, nothing really went his way. The final card came out and all Ethan had was a pair of sevens. Though he also knew he had played this hand as if he had something strong. Ethan decided to go all in. Christian went, “fuck,” to himself.

He knew Ethan would do
something like this, just when you’re getting into your grove he comes up with a big call. They have even chips so whoever wins this hand, probably wins the game. The problem for Christian is he has only a pair of kings. Okay, but not great. Not the kind of hand you want to bet your whole match on. If he plays it though he will win, though of course he has no idea what Ethan has in his hand. Ethan has shown strength throughout with his hand so it would appear he has something good.

Christian i
s unsure whether he has an okay hand or a great one. If Christian had three kings he would definitely go all in, but with only two that might be silly. He decided to test the waters.

“I know you’
re bluffing,” he said, looking for a sign from Ethan.

“I’m
the psychic remember,” Ethan replied with a big smile.

Christian laughed. “What does he have?” he muttered to himself.

“He did predict himse
lf first, you second,” Carl said.

“Poignant
moment, what do you have, Ethan? Tell me!” Christian said laughing.

“I’ll stay with my earlier prediction, me first
, you second.” Then as they looked at each other, Ethan continued talking but in a different tone that everyone noticed. “And I’ll tell you something really important later.”

“I will win this but
just not at this moment. I fold,” Christian said.

Carl watched as did
his other two friends. The other three players had gone home. Carl was finding it funny, the competiveness of it all and he wanted to see if Ethan could make his prediction right. He was also intrigued with Christian’s plan to make Ethan come unstuck.

The cards were dealt again. Ethan knew he had
to be aggressive. He was lucky on his last hand, Christian had a better one. Had Christian played it, Ethan would have been out. But this was the strategy Ethan felt he needed to win the game. Ethan had an Ace and a seven, pretty good and the numerology seemed good too, so he upped the ante and put more chips in. Christian followed. Three cards are placed down in the middle, what they call community cards. A queen, a seven and a two. Christian’s two cards are an Ace and a jack, so he has nothing at present while Ethan has a pair of seven’s. Ethan went all in and again with Christian unable to commit on a weak hand is forced to fold. Ethan won another large pot.

Next hand is
dealt. Ethan had a Queen and a seven. Christian had a pair of Jacks, a great hand. Christian upped the ante and Ethan followed. The flop is then dealt and the three cards get laid down. A jack, a queen and a four. Great for Christian, he now has three Jacks. It is Ethan’s bet. Carl looked on taking a puff from his rollie.

“May I hav
e a red too please?” Ethan asked Carl.

Carl smil
ed, he laughed at the theatrics of Ethan. A switch of drinks right at the last moment. Christian picked up on it too, it slightly bugged him, it’s almost as if Ethan was trying to twist the game in his direction with all his signs and gestures.

Ethan took
a sip of the red wine, then asked Carl, “can I have a rollie too?”

There wa
s already one rolled up on the table and Ethan sparked it up. He is a non smoker but does indulge in the odd durry, as he liked to call them, when the moment is right.

“Play the game bro
,” Christian said. Ethan laughed and said, “all in.”

“S
how us your Hands,” Carl said.

When they go all in like this, the cards are turned over to see who has what, there is no more bluffing, it is just a matter of watching to see who wins the hand.

T
hey turn their cards over. Ethan took a sharp intake of breath when he saw that Christian had three Jacks. Ethan had a pair of Queens. Ethan took another sip of his wine. He had a heavy feeling.
It’s just a game
he thought to himself and he laughed.

“Okay
future boy you’re going to need some luck here,” Carl said.

Ethan felt
there was still a chance, nothing to lose really. The fourth card came out. It was an ace, no difference in the result and still one card to go.

Christian led with one more card left to come out. The only way Ethan could win this hand was if a Queen came out. If it did, he wins the game, if it doesn’t Christian will be back in the match and leading. Carl put his finger on the pack of cards and flipped the final card. Christian heart starts to beat more loudly, Ethan just felt empowered and buzzed, but also nervous. He is not quite out if he loses but if he wins, what a win. Card turns, it’s a color, it’s a queen!

“Yes!” Ethan yelled
.

“Mother Fucker!”
Christian screamed.

Ethan got
up all smiles. He put a fist to the table in a light way and banged it. Christian gave him a handshake and said, “you’re a river queen!”

River, the term
that is used when the final card is dealt.

They all left the table and went
to the lounge and jumped onto the sofa and Ethan ever so chatty now talked about the game. He knew Christian lost it only on the river so he consoled him and said it just a bit of luck. Carl then started talking about girls and the game was lost for now. They consumed their drinks, chatted about life and talked about how it would be, if there were girls with them right now. It had a similar feel to when they were all 14. Back then they were hanging out on one New Years Eve, talking about girls, wondering where they were, where they were hanging out. They had a few drinks that night and they walked the streets hoping to bump into the opposite sex, no such luck that evening and here they were in a similar place. When they talked about it, it made them laugh so much. They were 23 and girlfriendless just hanging out with the same friends talking about girls.

An hour or so later
they all headed home, just like when they were 14 again, all by themselves with Ethan crashing on Carl’s couch. Ethan closed his eyes and started to think back through the evening, then he started thinking about his past and he thought right back to the time when his mother had to go away and he was forced to stay with the Taylors.