Creative Writing Challenge 2.9 - Game Over

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“Would you like to make a wager?”

Arina watched as the other woman set a coin on the table between them. It had to be a trick. She’d gone to the therapist to get help with her gambling addiction, not to play at games of chance. The answer should be no. That was the correct answer. No.

Still, it was so tempting.

“What sort of wager?”

The woman’s lips curved around her teeth into a lupine smile. Her already narrow eyes became slits as she sized Arina up, pushing the coin closer toward her patient.

“A simple one. You flip this coin. I call heads or tails. One of us wins, and one of us loses.”

Arina frowned. Maybe this was the wrong therapist after all. She had looked so promising, with her bright flashing website that promised results in a single session, but the storefront office setup had a distinct lack of degrees and accreditations on the wall. Come to think of it, there wasn’t even a couch.

There was no way this woman had a license to practice therapy. That much was obvious. Arina had ten years of experience spotting scam artists, and the notches she’d gained on her belt in that time had brought enough success that she’d never bothered to seek help until now.

Her therapist was a player, just like she was.

She might not know her opponent’s tells yet, but she would never learn them if she folded on the first move. No, on the first move you always had to call their bluff. Arina looked up and levelled her gaze.

“That’s the game. What’s the wager?”

The therapist shrugged. If her nonchalance was an act, it was a good one. She looked away, leaving Arina to focus intently on the outline of the bones beneath her cheeks.

“If you win, you pay my fee. If I win, you pay double.”

Arina nearly choked on the laugh that forced its way up her throat.

“You can’t be serious. Make a proper wager and I’ll take you on, but the most corrupt casino in Vegas wouldn’t try to get away with that one.”

She leaned back and waited for the inevitable moralizing lecture to come. Surely, that was the point. The therapist was trying to show her that there was no way to win at gambling.

So boring. Of course there was a way to win. She’d won enough times to prove that. She wasn’t quitting because she was a loser, she was quitting because everything else in life paled in comparison to winning.

Go on then, she thought, mentally yawning. Get your speech over and done with.

“No.”

Arina raised her eyebrows.

“Excuse me?”

The therapist’s eyes turned their focus back to Arina, and it took a surprising amount of willpower not to flinch away.

“I said no. That’s the wager, take it or leave it. You told me that you enjoy winning at games of chance, the thrill of beating the odds, and I took you at your word. You’re not a liar, are you? I can’t help you if you’re a liar.”

Arina clenched her teeth. She knew herself better than this stranger did, and she resented the accusation. Without the odds, the moment of uncertainty, the surge of victory would fall flat. Except--

She blinked.

“None of that matters if there’s no value in the prize.”

The therapist flicked the coin with enough force that it flew off the table. Quick as a cat, Arina caught it. She studied the coin, a standard penny with one side heads and one side tails, and slipped it into her pocket, a single cent better off than she was before.

As she looked back at the therapist, her eyes glowed triumphantly.

The other woman smiled.

“Congratulations, Arina. You win.”

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Written for Task #9 of the Second Creative Writing Challenge run by @steemfluencer!

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