Haircut (Beth Harmon X Benny Watts)

Chapter 35

If I had seen this boy, that sat in front of me, on the streets, I would never have guessed that he played chess. He wore a red sweater, blue jeans and white converse. It was the type of boy that would have been popular with the Apple Pi's girls.

He really stood out between all these men in their neat suits. It made me nervous. I had no clue what to expect.

When I sat down, he smiled at me. "Beth Harmon. My name's Sam. Do you want me to bow or is a hand good enough?" He laughed.

I gave him a confused look. "Why should you need to bow?"

"Aren't they calling you the white queen in every magazine?"

I didn't know if this was supposed to be a compliment or a insult. But he sounded genuine so, I just went along with it.

"A hand is good enough." I said with a soft smile.

Sam wasn't bad, not bad at all. He was playing white and played pawn to king four. I quickly replied with the Sicilian. The Sicilian always gave me confidence. It was my territory.

After 15 moves, he still hadn't made a mistake. I knew better than to waith for my opponent to do something wrong. So when I saw a safe option, I started to attack. But he saw it coming, made sure he castled and defensed.

I wasn't scared that he was going to beat me. He played good, but he also played reckless. Not reckless enough for me to beat him in a couple of moves though.

I was the kind of person who only enjoyed games, if I'd won. But Sam looked impressed with every move I made and smiled mischievous with every piece he moved. He really enjoyed playing, if he was winning or not. And his joy was rubbing of on me.

I felt almost sad when I saw that I could beat him in less than 8 moves. I sighed and looked at the board. I was literally stalling time, what made me feel childish but I couldn't help myself.

After a few minutes of watching the board and genuinely enjoying sitting behind the board, a group of journalists and photographers walked by.

They quickly snatched a couple of photos of the chessboard and of Sam and I.

"Hey Mr. Darryl, don't distract us. Can't you see were playing chess?" Sam asked one of the photographers sarcastically. "You know what dad would say about that."

The man shook his head and laughed. "I think you should focused, instead of annoying your father's colleagues."

"Whatever you say, Darryl." He smirked.

When the group walked away, Sam focused back on the board.

"Sorry, I love to tease them. I'll stay quiet now."

I nodded. A bit doubtful, I took the piece that would lead me to victory and placed it down.

Too bad it had to come to an end, but if I was planning to beat Benny's ass, I couldn't take any chances by goofing around.

Sam tilted his king seven moves later. "That was fun. You play to good." He smiled.

"Thanks Sam. You're pretty good yourself."

He nodded and started to walk away, by before I realised, I had asked him to wait.

"Your father knows a lot of photographers here?" I asked.

"Yeah. My dad always decides which writer goes to what event. He loves chess and he loves to read it even more. I got these geek genes from him."

He crossed his arms, trying to look confident. But I immediately saw, that he was slightly embarrassed that he was participating.

"Do you have a list or a schedule of the writers?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to avoid the paparazzi, Mrs Harmon?"

"Just around specific hours." I lied. "I don't like to see a camera in my face before 9:00 AM."

"Hmmm, sounds reasonable."

"It would help me a lot."

"Alright, don't worry. My dad gave every writer and photographer a schedule. It says who is supposed to be where. Dad probably has a couple of spare ones laying around. I could get you one?"

"You're a lifesaver, Sam." I smiled relieved.

"Everything for my queen." He dramatically bowed and walked of. "I'll bring you one after the second match!" He yelled over his shoulder.

I sat down on the chair. A lot of people were still playing.

I hadn't seen Townes and I was really grateful for it. But still, I found it weird. He was an important writer and usually didn't mind talking to every chess player if he got the chance.

He was probably avoiding me. He, of course, had a schedule with all the participant's times and tables.

But it wouldn't take long untill I had his schedule. I would be able to keep Benny, Matt, Mike and even Collin away from him. Maybe then, I could stop worrying and enjoy the tournament.

"Hey, why is this stunning looking lady sitting on her own." A voice whispered in my air.

I jumped up, only to see Benny's face. He looked startled by my sudden movement.

"Sorry, deep in thoughts." I said as all the muscles in my body relaxed.

"What were you thinking about now?" He said as he laid his hand on my shoulder.

"Nothing important." I shrugged.

He looked as me suspicious, but I ignored it. I took both of his hands and squeezed them softly.

"Let's go grab lunch. I'm starving."

He nodded slowly, the weird look on his face not fading one bit.

"Alright then."

I knew his eyes were on me the whole way we walked to the restaurant. I didn't need to look to know that they were looking concerned. But if I got the schedule, he didn't need to worry no more.

~A.N: We hit 10k :))). I'm screaming inwardly hahah