Rising Like A Phoenix

Chapter 12

Maya’s P. O. V.

As soon as I went inside, the sparkling light from the thousands of glowing slot machines and the smell of money came to me all of a sudden. I did not fail to see how everyone was busy gambling or drinking as if it was their last day.

Inside here, the ceiling lights were a bit dull, but the environment was colourful and unique without any doubt.

From where I was standing, the hall appeared never-ending to my eyes, while some sitting arrangements were perfectly organised under the fluorescent neon lighting where the casino roulette wheel on the green gambling tables was, while some of the lounge areas were situated under the dim light to almost darkness near the bar.

Serious men in suits mostly in grey hair, were already busy and focused on making their bets on each table to double their money or even more while the croupiers are appointed at each and every single table by the casino to assist in the distribution of bets and payouts.

The cocktail waitresses are roaming on every single corner of the casino in their fancy outfits with short skirts and fishnet stockings, something similar to the playboy bunny looks and were serving drinks in every minute.

The live music sounded so loud to my ears but the constant robotic noise coming from the thousands of slot machines were what I found even more irritating all of a sudden even when I was not quite unfamiliar with a noisy place like this casino, as I have been to such places so many times before in my previous life as well, cause during that time, I needed to make deals to grow my business and places like casino were the most popular and the best place to have a deal done.

Anyway,

On my way inside The Nightingale Bar and Casino, I saw over a few hundred men in such a short span of time but none of them smiled. Some even looked angry may be because they lost their bet tonight. To me, this world looked kind of a robotic world where I could barely find the essence of life which seemed to have lost somewhere in between the hunger and lust for money and possessions.

I realised how I was and I still am no different from them, neither do I want to change.

But the main concern for me now is finding someone out from this place which was quite similar to finding a needle out of garbage.

“ughh… where is he now?” I muttered under my breath out of frustration as I knew how fast time kept passing by.

I chose to settle myself down first at the farthest corner of the lounge area where the light might have forgotten to touch even for a little bit. Yes, it was the best spot for me as I could look at each and every single man from here without caring much that they would find me out staring at them, cause from here no one might ever know about my presence at all. And rather than roaming here and there suspiciously, it was the best thing to do while I also get to relax myself for a bit at least.

“What can I get for you?” As soon as I settled down, one of the girls came to ask me.

“Margarita, please.” I tried to blend in so that no one finds me suspicious and ordered my cocktail and within minutes I was served my drink.

From the darkest corner of the hall, I kept my eyes moving from one person to another, hoping that I might see some familiar face among them as I have a strong feeling that I heard the name of the guy before too. Now I just need to wait and find out.

‘****Alert****

Two more hours left.

02:00 Hrs

01:59 Hrs

.

.

************’

The sudden beeping of the system did notify me about the fact that now I really do not have much time to complete the task so that I could proceed with saving my dad.

Just when I thought I might have to do something risky to find out Massimo, a sound of commotion came to my ears all of a sudden. In no time I sharply turned to look in the direction from where the sound came and realised that I was not alone to get startled due to the sudden commotion as the others too were looking in the same direction and were trying to figure out what went wrong, if not for long but for some time at least and then they all moved back to mind their own business as no one seemed to have any time to waste on others, cause some of them were busy to lose while others were busy to win more and more

Gambling is indeed a serious business.

“You are not being fair, Massimo. I am telling you, that you will surely regret.’ From a bit far, the words came flying to my ears which made me alert in no time, as I just heard the very name of the man whom I was expecting to find out in this casino tonight.

And at last, my wait is over I guess.