Trust (13 page)

I
relax my jaw a bit as I realize
I’ve
been clenching my teeth.  I can at
least hear him out.  At least he
didn’t
involve me in a crime, we
weren’t
really breaki
ng
and entering and the couple, although pissed, seem to agree with the fact that
he is intending to buy the house. 
I’ve
only known him for a week, after all. 
I can
’
t expect that he
’
s filled me in on every detail of his
life.  Maybe I
’
m taking this issue
too seriously.  There are plenty of other things, or
people, he could have lied about that would have been a lot worse.

I
turn to his car and take a step just as the homeowner calls out to us again. 
“I
’
m still calling your agent about this,
”
he says. 
“
What
’
s her name again, honey?
”

“Denise,”
his wife says. 
“Denise Parks.”

It
’
s funny how you can think you
’
re about as angry as possible about
something, and then something else happens to show you just how much more angry
you can get.  The sound
of Denise
’
s name rolling off the tongue of that
woman gave me that particular feeling.  I had been angry at Chase about the
house and his lies, but then finding out that his bitch of an ex was involved
just made it that much worse.

What
burns me even more
was being forced to sit in the
limousine with Chase as it slowly makes its way through midday Vegas traffic,
back to his hotel room where the very last of my belongings are. 
I’ve
already lost most of what I arrived in
this city with, thanks to Harrison
’
s
betrayal — he took that bag back with him to Toronto
–
and
I
’
m not willing to be reduced to the clothes on my back once
again because Chase is a liar as well.  Even though most of the clothes I have
back at his place are ones he
’
s bought for me.  Fuck him
, I
’
m taking them with me anyway.  Not that
I have a clue where I
’
m going to go.

“
Lila, can we please just talk about
this?
”

I
continue to stare out the window.

“
Okay, well I
’
m just going to talk then, and you can
listen.
” 
He pauses, but when he gets
no response from me he continues. 
“
The whole thing with the house
…
it was supposed to be a simple little
thing that got away from me.  You were asking to see it, adamant, even, and the
reality was I had nothing to show you.  My lifestyle, it
doesn’t
requi
re
having a home.  I mean, in the past
I’ve
had one, but then I realized that I
just
didn’t
need it.  It
didn’t
make sense.  So I basically just
started living in hotel rooms.
”

Despite
myself, I can
’
t keep quiet
. 
“
I asked you the first night we were toge
ther whether you lived in that hotel room, you said no.
”

“
Because I don
’t.  I don’
t live in any particular room.  Each
time I go somewhere else I check out, and when I come back to Vegas I check
back in.  Sometimes I get that room, sometimes I get a diffe
rent one.  There
’
s no point in paying for it if I
’
m not there, despite the favorable rate
they give me.
” 
When I raise my eyebrow, he explains. 
“
Vegas is notorious for comping gamblers
things like drinks, meals, or even rooms in order to get them to come
to their hotel and lose money at their casino.  With me it
’
s a little different, since I play poker
against other players, not the house.  I don
’
t lose money to them.  Still, because of
my
…
because I
’
m on television and I have a certain
amount of recogniti
on, they like me to stay at their
hotel.  For the fans.  Because of that, I pay a lot less per night than the
posted rate.
”

“
So famous people get money and stuff
thrown at them, that
’
s what you
’
re saying.  The rich get richer.  Got it.  What
’
s that got to
do with Denise and your lies?
”

Chase
lets out a heavy sigh but
doesn’t
respond to my taunt. 
“
Anyway, it seemed obvious to me that you
put a lot of value in a home.  It
didn’t
make sense to you that someone would
live in hotels.  I guess I wanted to impr
ess you.
”

“
With what?  A big house?  You thought
that would impress me?
”

Chase
shrugs, looking down and breaking my hard stare. 
“
Denise is a real estate agent.  She
deals primarily in big, expensive houses.  I asked her to find me a house that
was on th
e market that
didn’t
have any personal stuff in it, so that
I can pretend like it was mine and impress you.  Not with how fancy it was.  I
know the money
doesn’t
impress you.  I only thought it should be big because I
thought you
’
d expect that of someone l
ike me.  But the point was more about the stability.
”

“
What?
”  I
’
m confused.

“Lila, I
’
m used to people knowing who I am.  I
’
m not trying to sound conceited, but
especially in Vegas I
’
m usually recognized.  When I met you, you had no idea who
I was.  Tha
t was a breath of fresh air, to be
honest.  But at the same time, because of how things ended with Harrison, you
seemed to have a pretty dim view of guys who gamble in general.
” 
He looks back up at me and when he sees
my glare
hasn’t
disappeared, he adds,
“
Maybe you still do.
”

I
continue to wait silently, watching him with pursed lips as he flounders
through his explanation. 

“
Anyway, I guess it seems stupid now, but
I thought that if I had a house you wouldn’t think that I was just some
degenerate gamb
ler who was at risk of losing
everything on the roll of the dice, but would
think I had more stability in my life
because I had a place of my own.  When I first set things up with Denise, I
just thought it would be a onetime thing.  I thought you and I wer
e just having a fling, and I
’
d take you to this house and prove that
not all gamblers were l
ike your ex, and
eventually we
’
d end up going our separate ways.  But
something happened in between when I set it all up and when we actually got to
the house.
”

“
W
hat was that?
”

“
I started to fall for you.
” 
He says it quietly, but he lifts his
head to look at me again.

I
let out a slow breath, shaking my head slowly.  Lies, lies, lies.  You can
’
t build a relationship on a foundation
of lies.  My heart is fightin
g with my head, but I
’
m careful to keep the frown on my face. 
Lying comes so easily to Chase.  How do I know what is real and what
isn’t
?

“
After we left the house I realized that
I
didn’t
want you to leave, but when you agreed
to stay I realized I had pu
t myself in a position
where I had to maintain a story that I thought was only going to be a onetime
thing.  So I had to keep making appointments to see it.
”

“
And then you just went and bought it? 
To what, keep the lie going forever?
”

“
The reason I don
’
t have a place I call home now is
because I
didn’t
have anyone to live there with me. 
What good is a big house all to myself?  But over this last week
I’ve
started to be able to envision a time
where maybe that will no longer be the case.  I decided I was
being short sighted in not having a house.  So I bought
it.  That was the real reason I met with Denise secretly yesterday.  I was
signing the papers.
”

“
There are still too many lies,
”
I say, turning back away from him to
stare out the window again.  I h
ear him sigh and lean
back, the leather of the seats creaking against his weight.

The
strip speeds by now that traffic has picked up.  The neon lights of Vegas
seemed washed out against the midday sun, their glamor and glitz less
impressive when they
aren
’t
contrasted against the backdrop of a
darkened night.  Everything in Vegas is designed, on some level, to fool
people.  To make them hand over whatever is most important to them, and to do
it with a smile on their faces.  Chase is no exception.  He is Ve
gas, putting on a show for me, the tourist.  He shows me
what he thinks I want to see in order to get me to give him whatever it is he
wants.  And like every fool who has ever flown here thinking he
w
as going to beat the house, I fell for
it.

It
’
s time th
is
tourist takes what little is left in her pockets and goes home.