Page 90 of Insufferable Boss
"Are you?"
Her smile was much brighter than I had ever imagined.
"I'll make sure we do."
"How?" I asked, and she started by pulling something out of her purse that looked like a wooden case, and then a bag that she lifted to her ears and noisily shook for my benefit. But for the life of me, I couldn't picture what was in there.
"What is that?" I asked, and she came over to my table. She took the seat opposite mine, and the game she soon revealed on the table was none other than Scrabble.
I gave the game a look, then glanced at her, not quite knowing how to react.
"We're playing Scrabble?" I asked, and she nodded, although her smile faltered.
"You don't like it?"
"It's a boring game," I said, and almost regretted it when I saw her face fall. And then her eyes.
"Okay, so what kind of game would you prefer?"
I hadn't played any games in so long that I couldn't even remember what that was like, but I thought hard, and a few that I had enjoyed in the past came to mind.
"Monopoly is good," I said, but her expression didn't change. "I especially like chess," I added.
"You're a snob," she said and leaned back in her seat, and I couldn't help but be amused.
"And why is that?" I asked.
"Look at the two games you just stated as your preferences. One is about money, and the other is about control."
"Maybe, but they're both mostly about winning."
"All from a guy who just got fired, I don't think you're doing much of that lately."
She said this under her breath, which was so shocking that all I could do was stare at her.
"Too soon?" she asked, and I shook my head, truly amused.
"Oh, maybe you want to play these games because you want to win at them, right? I mean, Scrabble is mainly just intellectually stimulating, but you—"
"Waste of time," I said, and she frowned.
"We're on vacation. The point is to waste time."
"Just playing games is not very appealing," I said. "Let's put wagers on the table... incentives to ensure that winning is encouraged."
"Winning is encouraged?" she repeated.
"Oh," she got up then and came over to my table. "You're on."
I watched as she took her jacket off, revealing a fitted dark waistcoat that did very little to hide her cleavage, and from this one move, I was pretty certain that I was already losing. My eyes lingered, and at the same time, she had the most sheepish smile on her face.
"Distracted?" she asked, and I shook my head. Then I called the air hostess over and requested my chessboard.
"You have a chessboard here?" Her eyes widened, and I nodded.
"Of course I do," I replied. "I've earned millions off it."
"Wait, what? Millions? By taking other people's money?"
