I Opia (11 page)

Tonight’s game had even higher stakes. The game was being hosted by Sally Horowitz. She and her husband Leo had made their fortune investing in gold mines in Australia. While the deals may sound fake, their wealth wasn’t. Nor were their collection of porcelain dolls. Personally, Blaine found the lifelike dolls creepy. Sally had started the evening with a tour of her house ending with the room where the doll collection was kept. Blaine had smiled politely as the Sally Horowitz bored them all with each doll’s name and the artist who made her.

Holy crap! What next, a Chucky Doll collection? Who could sleep with these creepy things in the house? Their eyes look real. I swear that one over there is following me with her eyes.
And then she saw the two dolls she needed. The two that Carole Martinez was willing to pay a total of $500,000 to obtain. As Sally came to those two, she stood admiringly before telling the guest their story.

“These two are very special to Leo and I. There were only two each of these ever made. We searched for years to get these and had to bid against another unknown collector to get them. Leo spared no expense. He ended up paying premium price for these—way over their original value to get them for me. They complete the set from Anistion. They are perfect.” Sally literally had a tear in her eye as she told the story.

“Wow, Sally. That is incredible. Do you know who the other bidder was or where the other dolls are?” Blaine asked innocently.

Sally shook her head, “No, we never found out. But all that matters is we got these two.”

Well done, Carole. Not only are you going to take these two dolls, but you bid the price up so they had to pay premium for them. Not sure what your beef is with these two but I sure as crap hope you never get mad at me.

Okay, girls, enough of this! Time to play.” And Sally was off, leading the group to the card tables and the refreshements.

Blaine happily went along, put her $5,000 in the pot and waited for the drawing to see who she would be seated with. Each table accommodated six and tonight there would be three tables. Blaine wasn’t nervous. In fact, this would be a piece of cake. All she basically had to do was lose. Well, at least to fold. She would take the real dolls and place them in her huge bag and replace them with bisque copies. The bisque replicas were extremely good. They had set iOpia, Inc. back $25,000 each. It may be years before the Horowitz’s figured out the swap. Or maybe not. Either way, Blaine didn’t care. One night and a few minutes were all that stood between she and Vince getting $500,000. Not a bad sum for a night’s work and a day of drinking in the conference room.

The first hand was dealt and Blaine began playing. She scanned the room and realized that she would need to wait until the ladies had more to drink so that her absence would be less noticed. Right now everyone was excited and at full attention, ready for the game to begin. After three hands, Blaine was breaking even. She looked around and decided to wait it out a bit more. Suddenly, she got on a winning streak.
Holy crap! This is great! I can’t seem to lose.
And for a few minutes she forgot that she needed to lose. In fact, she needed to fold and get out of the room in order to make the swap.

She had left her bag on the guestroom bed as had all the other ladies. That made it much easier to retrieve. Her winning streak continued and her partners were getting cranky.
Drink up ladies. I need to make a break.
She finally realized that the night was waning and soon the group would begin to break up. She took the last deal and realized she had a full house.

Crap! I am going to have to fold on a winning hand. What else can I do? Keep playing and hope that everyone else does too? Risk losing $500,000 or risk losing the pot and my pride? Dammit, B, do what you have to do. Don’t be a silly bitch!

“Ladies, the moment you have been waiting for is finally here. I am out.” And with that Blaine folded her hand and threw it on the table. “If you don’t mind, I will excuse myself. I haven’t even had a minute tonight to visit the ladies’ room.”

“Well, its about freaking time,” said one of the ladies. “You’ve been kicking our butt all night.”

And I very well should be kicking your butt now, if only . . .
“Well, we all get lucky sometimes,” she said as she exited the room.

She made her way down the hall to the guest bedroom and grabbed her bag. She walked toward the room where the dolls were displayed. Her plan, if stopped, was to act as if she were lost. Before the party, Vince had hacked in and disarmed the Horowitz’s surveillance cameras and the security system for the evening. Though they couldn’t be certain, neither had any doubt that the Horowitz’s had surveillance cameras throughout the house and especially on their precious dolls. The last thing the two needed was to have Blaine on camera swapping dolls during a poker game.

As she walked down the hall, she had a weird sense that she was being followed. She stopped, turned and didn’t see anyone. She started walking down the hall again and had the same sensation. Once again, she stopped and turned. Nothing.
What the hell? I swear I hear something. B, calm yourself girl. You are letting those dolls creep you out too much! Just get the damn dolls and be done with this stupid gig.

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and started walking. And again, she heard it. She stopped. Before she could turn she felt it. Something wet on her calf. Her eyes widened.
Holy crap. It is the antichrist or something in this hall with me.
Terrified, she slowly turned and looked down. A white poodle looked up at her, wagged its tail and yipped. Blaine jumped and grabbed her mouth to suppress her scream. Her fear quickly became humor as she suppressed a giggle.
A poodle. Really? A little bitty poodle has me ready to run and leave a $500,000 payout? Thank God Vinny is not here. I would never hear the end of this.

Blaine reached down to pet the poodle and he immediately began yipping and twirling in circles. “Shhhhhh. Go away little doggie. Go on now.” She whispered as she shooed the dog away with her bag. No deal however. The pooch was staying. In fact, the more she tried to shoo him the happier and noisier he became. He continued to twirling in circles and yip.
Oh for the love of Pete. What the hell am I going to do?
Blaine knew she was wasting precious time dealing with her little white stalker. So she took a deep breath and started down the hallway.
I guess I am not going to do this alone after all.
And sure enough, the pooch followed.

When she got to the entrance of the room with the doll collection, her little furry friend became agitated and began to bark. Not just the little yelps of before, but a full bark. Blaine became desperate. She spied a bathroom door just as she heard a voice, “Otis? Sweetie come here! What are you barking at?” Sally came around the corner just as Blaine flung herself into the bathroom and closed the door.

Well, guess I need to go now since I almost just peed myself!
Instead, she put her ear to the door and listened.

“There, there come on. Moomers has a treat for you. Hurry up before we start another hand. Come on baby boy.” Sally said. Unfortunately, Otis didn’t want to budge and Blaine could hear him yipping at the bathroom door. “You silly boy, come on!” Sally said.

Blaine could only surmise through the door that Sally had scooped the little noisy guy up. She kept her ear to the door until she heard nothing. She flushed the toilet and then slowly opened the door. She looked both ways and saw nothing.
Holy crap! I didn’t even look at my watch. I have no idea how much time I have lost.
She decided that she had to go for it. She quickly made her way into the room. She used the flashlight app on her cell phone and made her way to the two dolls.
Oh my goodness. These things are even creepier in the dark.

Blaine felt her heart race—not from nervousness of being caught, but from sheer fright of all the little eyes that she felt bearing down on her.
Stop it. Right now. Dammit, B, you are being a silly idiot. Get this done!
She took a deep breath as she took the dolls one at a time from their shelf and gently replaced them with the bisque replicas. She smoothed their hair and dresses as best she could with the only light being the one on her flashlight app. She carefully placed the originals in her bag and stepped out into the hall.

She quickly made her way down the hall and carefully placed her bag back on the guest bed. She calmly walked back into the card room as if all were well. The games were ending and everyone was starting to break it up for the evening. Blaine realized that she had completed the task in just the nick of time.
One more minute with Otis and I would have been a goner for sure!

She made her way back to the table to gather up her chips. “You okay? We played two hands without you.” One of the women asked.

Blaine flushed and grabbed her stomach, “I know. Sorry, girls. I love oyster dip I do, but that shellfish just gets to me,” she said as she made a sick little face.

“Oh, honey, me too. I will fart for days after all this junk food,” the woman replied.

Her friend slapped her on the arm, “Claudette, seriously, that is just awful.”

“It may be awful, but it is true,” Claudette responded. Blaine couldn’t help but laugh and the entire table joined in.

Blaine was all too glad to say goodnight to her hostess. She was relieved that everyone went to grab their wraps and their bags at the same time. Just as Blaine was about to walk out the front door, the Otis ran up to her and began sniffing at her bag and yipping.

“Otis!” Sally scolded, “What has gotten into you?” Sally scooped him up and looked at Blaine apologetically. “I am so sorry. I have no idea what has gotten into him tonight.”

Blaine looked at Sally and smiled, “No problem. He is probably just smelling my cat. I had a great time, thank you again! See you at the golf course!” Blaine could not get out of there fast enough.
Smelling my cat? Oh for crap sake, B. That’s all you got?
She unlocked her car, placed the bag gently in the passenger seat and then got in on the driver’s side. She took out her phone and text Vince:

Be a doll and make me a drink. Wait, make that two. See you in 10.

Vince:
Drink will be waiting, doll face, as will I. Can’t wait to hear.

Blaine:
Oh, it will take two drinks to hear this story. But I did win again. Winner takes doll. I mean all.

Vince:
Shut up and get home! LOL!

The three sat
in the conference room.
Carole had already given them their final payment and taken the nicely wrapped package that contained the two dolls. She had refused their offer to inspect the inventory. She looked gorgeous as always and had entered the office dramatically. She was dressed in a red silk strapless dress with matching red heels and purse. Only she could get away with such an outfit in broad daylight. She had a box of chocolates that she placed on Delores’ desk.

“Honey, here’s my thank you for putting up with me again today. Let’s get the cocktails rolling!” She said as she laughed and placed her hand through Vince’s arm as he escorted her into the conference room. Both Vince and Blaine had already figured they were in for another long cocktail meeting, and they were right.

They had just finished their second cocktail and were waiting for Delores to bring their third when Carole asked, “Do you have a video screen in here?” She looked around the room.

“Yes, the room is fully equipped with whatever you need.” Vince replied as Blaine rolled her eyes.
He just can’t resist bragging about this room he designed.

“Great, cause I got something to show you two.” Carole said as she reached into her purse and pulled out a small video camera.

Vince stood and walked over to the wall and flipped a switch. A video screen appeared as did a projector from the middle of the ceiling. Carole whistled, “Nice equipment you have big boy.”

Vince flushed and smiled, “I do what I can to please,” he responded.

“Big talk from a big tease,” she said as she tossed her hair and laughed. Blaine joined in the laughter. She couldn’t help but admire how confident and beautiful Carole was.

Carole handed Vince the small video camera. He went to the console in the back of the room and began to insert wires in the proper place. Delores entered and placed their drinks and a pitcher of ice water on the table.

“Thank you so much for taking care of us,” Carole said sweetly.

Delores blushed and said, “Certainly, Ms. Martinez. Please let me know if you need anything else.”

Blaine was stunned. Even Delores had fallen under the spell of Carole. She had never seen Delores act anything but professional.

“You ready?” Carole asked Vince as she took a sip of her cocktail.

“I am. Let me know when you are ready,” he replied.

“Well, honey, I am always ready, let’s just hope you are.” And with that she twirled her chair around to face the screen. “Ok,” she said motioning to Vince, “Show time!!!”

The screen lit up. There was a short, chubby, older man standing naked in the middle of the screen. He was backing away as another figure entered the room.

“That’s me in case you couldn’t tell,” she said as she licked her lips and kept her eyes fixed on the screen. Blaine looked over at her and could see that she was in her element. Blaine looked back at Vince and he just shrugged his shoulders and grabbed his drink.