Serious in Love ✔

26- "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

A little while later, I received the same message but from a different person. Seems like Deep fulfilled his promise to Pragya. Looks like I had to step in my game as well. Just where the hell are you, Kunal?

~

The croupier spun the roulette wheel and threw the ball across the circular track making a continuous sound against the wooden board. I kept my fingers crossed, hoping the ball would land between nineteen to thirty six. The watch gifted by Maitree was at stake here. The ball slowed down, little by little, in contrast to my escalating heart rate. Oh shoot, here it comes...

“Most guys need three meals a day to keep going... I just need eye contact from you.”

“Excuse me?!” My heart beat that was already escalating just took a shot through the roof, at the sound of a deep, gruff voice. I turned around to face the man himself, this time in a red shirt and dark blue cargo pants while sporting a bandana on his head.

“Kunal.” We shared a welcoming smile and shook hands. Finally!

With one hand on his pocket, he faced me. “You look so familiar. Didn't we take a class together?”

“No.”

He took another step closer. “Because I swear we had chemistry.”

“What?! What does that even—”

I was cut off by the voices in my front. Fuck, I had almost forgotten about the roulette game I was participating in. I turned to the front, clenching my teeth.

“Noo!” The ball had landed on number nine.

“Sorry, babes.” Said the dark blonde woman who won and took my precious possession as if it was nothing. “As per the rules, this watch is mine.”

I watched my defeat in vain when Kunal intervened, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder. His voice was a hot breath against my ears as he voiced his opinion, “Try my luck, Buttercup.” His woody cologne rendered me of my senses. Not thinking too much about it, I said yes.

Fortunately, I became lucky.

The next hour was spent in gambling and more gambling— Something which was illegal in other countries. The results were totally random. Sometimes we won, sometimes we lost. Regardless we accepted it with our heads held high. And no, I didn't forget to update my status to my girlfriends.

When we had enough, we walked out of the casino to our next destination. Kunal was still tagging along, much to my surprise. Maybe he didn't mind.

“What were you blabbering when we met in the casino? Something about guys needing three meals a day, something about chemistry.”

He let out a hearty laugh, “I thought you'd never ask. Those were my pick up lines.”

Now it was my turn to laugh, “Seriously?”

“Yeah. I often used them to pick on girls in the past. It was basically to humor myself and the girl I was interested in. I have one hundred and twenty stored in my biological ram.”

“Wow!” So much work for something so useless. Gosh, this man was confusing as hell. Curiosity bubbled within me so I asked another question about his relationship status. It was obvious he was single. He even complained about his friends being lazy bums who couldn't drag their asses out of the country.

It was after a while, he added casually, “I was in a serious relationship once. The kind where you invest your everything, hoping it would work out. It was useless.”