Dealer Prep

 

No matter how many times she walked out onto the floor, she got butterflies.  She knew what she was doing, she had done it so often, and yet each time made her nervous all over again.

Every second, she knew every move she made would be on camera.  They didn’t care if she smiled or not, but she had to be friendly and outgoing.  They wanted every customer to feel welcomed and relaxed.

She made a mental game out of it.  To herself, she would try to guess what each person did for a living, where they had come from and what their life was like.  She already knew what had drawn them into the casino, the thought of winning.

From her table she could see the red convertible slowly rotating, bright lights shining on it, surrounded by slot machines.  Each machine had someone sitting at it, stuffing their dollars in and pulling on the handle.  Maybe this time.  Maybe the next pull, all the while she mechanically flipped the cards over, then scooped in the bets.  “Better luck next time.” She’d say, even though her thoughts were on the leather seats of that car.  How wonderful it would be just to sit down for a while.