Page 33 of A Midlife Gamble

But Marianne hadn't heard.

‘I’d have to disagree,’ Caro hissed. She didn't take her eyes off the slot as she hit another roll. ‘She’d have tipped herself over.’

'What are they arguing about?' Helen said.

Kay shrugged.

‘But she didn’t even try!' Marianne threw her arm up. 'What kind of a love story is that, when she didn't even try to save him?'

‘She would have frozen!’ Caro banged down on the playbutton.

‘Hey!’ A heavy-set man in a floral shirt playing the slot next door turned and glared. ‘Lady!’ he growled.

‘Tell her,’ Tony turned to Kay and Helen, ‘not to bang. Other players don’t like it.’

Helen nodded. Caro, she could see, was unlikely to hear anything she might be told.

‘Don’t bang the machine,’ Kay said gently.

‘What?’ Caro looked at Kay blankly, then turned back to the slot. ‘I just need one more Heart of the Ocean.’

‘And then it’s my turn,’ Marianne muttered.

The counters rolled. One heart, two and then none.

Caro rolled again.

One heart, two and then none.

Moving in, indefatigable as the iceberg itself, Marianne nudged Caro aside, and pressed to roll.

Helen's heart sank, as surely, she thought, as the bloody heart of the ocean thing. Her blisters had started up again, circles of sharp pain rubbing at the back of her heels. Dully, she watched the slot spin.

One heart, two and then none.

And again.

One heart, two and then none.

‘My turn—’

‘Caro!’ Helen said loudly, a little more loudly than she'd intended.

And suddenly, Caro broke free from her spell. She pulled back and looked around. ‘Goodness! There you all are.’

And now Marianne turned.

Tony laughed. ‘You see? This is how time passes in Vegas.’

‘Gosh.’ Caro gave a small embarrassed laugh. ‘These things are addictive.’

‘Vegas,’ Tony smiled, ‘is addictive.’

‘How long have we been here?’ Marianne said, looking back at the machine, her hand itching towards it.

‘I have no idea,’ Helen sighed. ‘But I do know, I could really do with a coffee now.’

‘Me too. And something else…’ Marianne snorted as she picked up her handbag. ‘Whatever anyone says, the ending was ridiculous. She had plenty of room on that door. What do you think, Kay?’

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