Fox Eyes

He smiled as the stack of chips got passed to him. The other player left the table, defeated. It was normal to him, however, he’s never lost a card game. 

“Luke, man, how do you do it?” His best friend, Aaron, asked as he hung his arm around him. “I’m surprised you’ve never had a birthday party at a casino before!”

“You know I couldn’t. I just turned 22 today.” He responded smirking. He tossed his blonde hair back as he straightened his simple outfit. The all black look with the leather jacket, shirt, and jeans contrasted with his bright complexion. 

“I know man, but like, you could have earned so much money.” Luke rambles as he waves his hand around the large stack of chips. 

“You know I don’t need the extra money.”

“Yeah we get it, you're a genius who created a trillion dollar company. But still.”

“Glad to know I have a backup plan.” He responded, smiling.

“Dude look!” Aaron shouted as he pointed to a girl who entered the table. She had jet black hair and wore a navy blue halter dress with a train. She pointed to her small stack of chips and asked, “You wanna play?” 

“I’m down.” He responded, grinning. He was waiting for a new person to come so he could play. “How about poker?”

She smiles, “That’s my favorite.” It wasn’t about to be anymore. 

The dealer deals two cards each and the starting bet is $200. She glances at her card and her mouth melts into a sure grin. “$300.” 

He thinks it through. Percentage-wise, most people won’t bluff on their first bet. Her grin also suggested that her cards were good. “Fold.” 

They both hand in their cards and they’re dealt another pair. He glances and he hides his grin as he sees a queen and a jack of the same suit. “$300.”

Her brows furrow as she contemplates whether or not to bet. Her mind makes up and she responds, “Call.” They both place out their chips and the dealer pulls out the next cards. His chances of getting a full house is getting higher and he decides to bet much more. “$1,000.” Poker is still about a gamble. 

Her eyebrows sky rocket and she stares at his face trying to see if he was bluffing. “Call.” He doesn’t show his emotions as his mood rises. This was a way too easy game. 

The next cards are out and by then, his chances are nearly at 100%. He decides to go all-in. It’s clear that this girl won’t wimp out despite the fact that her cards are probably mediocre at best, so it’ll be easier to just wipe her out now. He wants a better match. 

As he suspected, she goes all-in too, but he could visibly see sweat dripping off her face. Her eyes are like a cornered rabbit’s, and he was a lion. 

The dealer reveals all the cards and it’s clear he’s won. He flips over his two cards to see a full house, and he looks up to see the girl’s face. She trembles as she flips it over and it’s a…

Four of a kind. The card pair that’s one more level above his. 

He stares at her in shock as the rest of the crowd, his friends, quiets down. He’s never lost a game before; how did she do it? Her expression is completely different and her posture is straight. She no longer trembles and her eyes looked like a fox’s. A fox that slipped away from his grasps. She grabs the chips, but oddly, she stands up and pushes her chair in. 

“I don’t feel like playing anymore games. I think I’ll retire for the night.”

“Come on miss, one more round?” One more round to beat her. 

“Sorry, I have work tomorrow. I can’t stay out late.”

He needs her to stay. So he can see where he went wrong. “How about a coin toss? If I win, you stay and play one more round. If I lose, you can go back.” 

Her eyes light up at the thought of a bet. So she was someone like him, someone who lives for the thrill. She pulls out a coin and the head is faced up. “I’ll let you choose first.” The crowd breathes a sigh of relief. Maybe he lost in a card game, but a coin toss was something where he basically won if the opponent let him choose first. Using everything including: the way the coin is held, what kind of coin it is, the person’s weight (by look), and more. With all of these measurements, he could calculate exactly what side it would fall on. “Heads.” 

She nods and she flips the coin. He watches the coin’s movement and he knows that the coin would land on heads. He looks up and waits for the coin to drop. He watches the girl’s expression and he has his best smirk ready. He hears the coin land and a smile appears on her face. What? 

He looks down to see that the coin landed on tails.

Tails. 

How? This wasn’t possible. All of his calculations were correct down to the density of her thumb. How was he wrong? Again? 

The crowd is shocked as well. He knew he had to do something to make sure they don’t doubt his skill.

“I guess you’re just some bad luck.” He says nonchalantly. “And I wouldn’t want you to be tired on your next day at work.” He adds with a wink. The crowd relaxes as he says goodbye to the girl. He plays a couple more rounds before deciding to leave. He says goodnight and claims he has a massive headache from all the drinks. He looks calm as he waves bye, and right when he’s out of their plane of view, he runs. He asks tables where the girl went and finds her at the bar. No one‘s there and she’s smoking a cigarette by herself. He smoothly sits down next to her and orders a drink.

“So you’re here now.” The girl says matter-of-factly, as she puffs out a cloud of smoke.

“Yup, thought I would join the lucky girl who ended my win streak.” He responds happily.

“Don’t flatter yourself. You’re just easily fooled.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s easy to lead you on with expressions. The first time we played, you folded just because of my sure expression. I had a terrible pair of cards and I bet small to see if you would fall for an easy trick. When you did, the rest was easy.”

“But do you really think I would have fallen for your trick just by expression?” 

“No, I think you used statistics as well. I’m guessing you studied body language right?”

“Yes to both. How did you know?”

“Your eyes were all over my facial expression and the calculative face made me assume you were calculating the odds.”

He sips the drink quietly as he calms himself down. How was it possible she figured him out so quickly?”

“What about the coin toss?” He questions. “I’ve never lost a coin toss in my entire 22 years of existing.”

She smiles as she draws out another puff of smoke. “I can’t tell you all my tricks. A magician never reveals the truth.” 

“Come on.” He whines.

“Are you actually 22? You certainly don’t act like it.”

“Lemme guess, you’re 23?”

“Why would you think that?”

“People tend to pretend that they were never the age right below their’s.”

“I’m 21.”

He looked at her shocked but it made sense. Her face was much younger up close and her eyes look youthful.

“Huh.”

“Huh indeed.”

There’s silence for a while as he takes another drink and she finishes her cigarette.

“So what can I do to learn how you did it?” He asks, finally breaking the silence.

She smiles, as her fox eyes meet his lion ones. Her eyes held a sly look, as if she was about to teach the lion how to catch, properly. “Depends, can you keep a secret?”