RPF -- Daniel Negreanu/Brittany Lucas -- "Right In Front Of You"
Wow, I get to post the first fic. Sweet. Even though it's something completely atypical from what I normally write. So sorry, I promise to be less cracked with the next one.
Title: Right In Front Of You
Fandom: Real Person Fiction
Friendship: Daniel Negreanu and Brittany Lucas
Pairings: Brittany/Josh Lucas, Brittany/Jeremy Piven, Daniel/Lori Weber
Prompt: “It’s a long story.” “They always are.”
Rating: PG-13 for language and some sexual references
Word Count: 2863
Summary: They were growing up. It had to happen sometime.
Disclaimer: I don’t know any of these people, and to my knowledge, none of them know each other, either. This never happened. Also, Brittany Lucas doesn’t even exist.
Author’s Notes: Based on an ongoing storyline in an RPG. All events are fictional even if the people are real. The explanation is under the cut, before the story. Basically, over a period of five years almost a decade ago, Brittany and Danny ran together in Las Vegas poker circles, and while the friendship has waxed and waned with their life directions and surging careers, they’re finding themselves reconnecting again.
Introduction
This story takes place in a fictional universe, created in a celebrity role-playing game. The author doesn’t know any of these people, and to my knowledge, none of them know each other, either, with the obvious exception or two. All of the following is fictional backstory created for the game.
The year was 1997. Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu and Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren were close friends and members of professional poker’s modern “brat pack.” They ran into fellow pro player Phil Gordon and his semipro playing friend Brittany Cole. The foursome formed a friendship that carried them over the next couple of years. When Brittany dropped out of college to play professionally, she, Danny and Erick became each other’s wingmen. The three of them stayed together through bad beats, the occasional drunken idiot, some technically illegal activities, and the pressure of gambling for a living.
But by 2004 things had changed drastically. Poker had exploded as the next big sport and the careers of Danny, Erick and Phil took off at an even faster speed. Brittany gave up playing poker to move to New Jersey and attend Princeton University. Phil was cohost of “Celebrity Poker Showdown.” Danny met and married Lori Weber. Erick got his own star on the WPT Walk of Fame. They all seemed to go their separate ways, and forget about a period in their past marked with hard work, harder luck, and the occasional instance of bad judgment.
Until now.
Brittany moved back to Los Angeles from New Jersey, and turned up in Las Vegas, where she reconnected with Danny and Erick. Though they all realize they’ve drastically changed over the two years they’ve been apart, they’re still friends, and they decide that they want to work at rebuilding their friendship. They make a promise to keep in touch this time.
Our story picks up in August 2006, when Danny is in San Diego for his anniversary and decides to give Brittany a call...
Right In Front Of You
It almost seemed completely surreal.
Brittany Lucas took a good look at her watch. She’d phoned her friend this morning, and they’d agreed to meet at the giant Kyoto bell outside Forbidden Reef at one o’clock, about a week ago. Ever since then, she had stressed about this moment, worrying about what to wear, what to say, never mind that she’d known him for almost a decade. But now that she’d made the hideous drive from Los Angeles to San Diego, and she was actually at Sea World and closing in on the goal, she was not only less intimidated but more and more excited by the prospect of seeing him again.
By the time she made it to the bridge that would take her into the Forbidden Reef exhibit, she was actually running.
She made it over the bridge and down the walkway, and a beaming smile broke out on her face. She’d recognize that blond hair, goatee and impish grin anywhere, no matter how long it had been since they’d been in the same company.
“Danny!” she said, and it came out more like an excited squeal than anything else.
Daniel Negreanu detached his hand from that of his wife - it was actually just a day or two from their one-year wedding anniversary - and tugged his longtime friend into an easy hug. “Hey, Brittany,” he said with another sly smile, “it’s so good to see you again.” When they pulled back slightly, he held her out so he could take a look at her. “I almost didn’t recognize you for a second,” he admitted, releasing her and gesturing at her. “What is this?” he teased.
She laughed at him. Sometimes, she had to remember that when she’d met him, she’d been eighteen and just out of high school; now she was twenty-seven and a college graduate. “This is me layering things,” she replied, gesturing at her jeans, V-neck blouse and black windbreaker. “I also kind of grew my hair out a little bit.” Once cut fairly short, her blond hair now fell to just slightly more than shoulder-length.
To say nothing of the wedding band on her left hand, or the three-hundred-dollar Breitling Navitimer flight watch on her right wrist.
“Of course,” she replied, nodding at him and his faded jeans and untucked button-down, “you still dress almost exactly the same.”
“Well, yeah,” he said with a smirk, “it’s what works for me.” He nodded toward the slightly shorter Asian woman. “You remember my wife, Lori.”
She gave him a ‘duh’ look. “Danny, I was just in Vegas like, a month ago, not to mention I was at your wedding?” she teased, then nodded. “Of course I remember your wife. How are you guys doing? All right?”
“Enjoying the nice breeze and the manta rays,” he replied, as his wife and his old friend exchanged a hug. “So, where’s your significant other, huh?”
“He let me go on ahead.”
Danny just laughed. When he’d called to tell Brittany that he and his wife were going to spend their anniversary vacation in San Diego and he wanted to see her, he’d asked if it would be too much trouble for her to bring her husband. After all, they remembered how much of a coronary he’d had when he’d first seen the wedding band on her finger and realized who she was married to. It had happened in late July, when she had taken a trip to Las Vegas and Danny, now poker ambassador for the brand new Wynn resort, had given her the star treatment. Before that, they hadn’t seen each other in two years.
He got the shock of his life.
"You look great," she’d murmured, kissing him on the cheek and holding him at arm's length for inspection. "What are you now, twenty?"
"Ha. Very funny. You look fabulous. I mean, you look older...obviously...but wow." He smiled at her. "Really grew into that body of yours, didn't you? And you..." He caught a look at her hand and stared. "You got married? When? And you didn't damn well tell me? Where's the lucky one?"
She laughed, having expected that. “Josh is at home,” she’d replied. “He had some stuff to do.”
Daniel had put two and two together. “Josh Lucas,” he’d said, “like the actor? That’s cool. Your husband shares a name with a famous guy?”
Brittany had swallowed, paused, and then given him a bashful look. “Um, Danny,” she’d said, very, very slowly, “he...is the actor.”
His eyes had gotten very, very wide. “That Josh Lucas? The Sweet Home Alabama, Josh Lucas? You married Josh Lucas?” he’d blurted, about eighteen times until it had finally sunken in. Of course, since Danny hadn’t actually met her husband face-to-face, Brittany wasn’t sure that it had actually sunken in at all.
Which was why Danny said slyly, “You’re sure he’s not invisible?”
Brittany mock-glared at him the same time Lori punched him in the arm. “No, Danny,” she drawled, “my husband is not invisible. How’s Erick?” she asked, referencing Daniel’s longtime close friend and her former cohort, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren. It was funny how a Canadian kid could be friends with a guy from Burney, California, but that’s what had happened to Danny and Erick.
“He’s good,” her friend replied. “He’s got some shit in Vegas, otherwise he would’ve come out. He said to tell you he sends his love.”
“Well, tell him I said thanks.” Brittany turned and looked over her shoulder, waving as her husband came into view, before she turned back to her friend. “Hey, listen, Danny, once Josh gets here…you think that you and I can go somewhere and, you know, catch up for awhile?”
“Sure,” he said easily, noting the slightly serious look in her eyes.
This was business, not just pleasure.
He’d known her long enough to know when she was telling him that there was something going on.
But he wasn’t going to push her. That was one of the things that they never did with each other. Part of trust was trusting your friends to tell you things in their own time. If she had something to say, she’d say it when she felt the time was right.
After all, enough had changed in the past two years. Aside from her unannounced trip to Vegas the last month, and his wedding the previous year, he hadn’t seen Brittany since he’d put her on a plane to New Jersey in the fall of 2004. And it hadn’t been like they’d been exchanging emails, with his busy schedule and her desire to get a fresh start in an Ivy League world. All he needs to know that she’s really changed is look at her. When they’d met, she’d been a reckless teenager, short on opportunities. Now she was well-dressed, her hair had grown out, her face looked a hell of a lot older, and there was a wedding band on her finger.
She had grown up. It had to happen sometime.
When Josh finally caught up with them, it’s a couple of minutes of pleasantries and small talk before Danny took Brittany by the arm and they excused themselves. They turned and headed in the other direction, and for awhile, it’s just like old times. The rapport had never really changed.
“Did you see Erick wrote a book?” she asked.
“See it? I helped him work on it. I wrote the introduction,” Danny replied with a touch of mock ego. “You read it yet? You like it?”
She nodded. “It was pretty good. Phil’s already got what, two books? Where the hell is yours?”
“It’s coming, I assure you. One comes out the end of this year, I have another for next year. I promise, I wouldn’t dare offend you by not gracing the world with my opinions.” He laughed softly, taking his arm in hers. “You see the whole Professional Poker Tour thing?”
“Mmhmm. Not a fan,” she admitted. “I’d rather see a whole table where anyone can play. That’s the allure. The commentator guy..."
"...Mark Seif?”
”No, the other guy. Not a fan of him either. He’s trying too hard. Though, I saw you were doing pretty well. Plus, man, the World Series…”
Danny winced. “Don’t start. I was so close.”
“You were third in chips at one point!” she replied. “Well, at least E-Dog got a bracelet, right? And Phil got to call the final table. And you finished in the money.”
“That’s true.” He shrugged. “Always gotta see the bright side of things.”
She grinned. “That’s because all I ever got was a third-place trophy. One. At the Bellagio. Like, years and years ago.”
“Ah, but we still love you anyway,” Danny replied. He glanced over his shoulder. They’d been walking this whole time, and they were clear on the other side of the park by now. Carefully, he turned her round and pulled her toward the nearest park bench, sitting her down. “Is everything okay?” he asked her honestly, now that she could speak without fear of being overheard.
Brittany bit her lower lip nervously, folding her hands in her lap. “It’s a long story,” she warned him.
“They always are. Look at who you’re talking to,” he replied. “What’s going on?”
She exhaled. “I’m going to the Emmy Awards on Sunday.” A wave of her hand. “House is up for Best Drama,” she said, naming the television series that she now wrote for, “and a…friend of mine is up for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. I’m going as his date.”
Danny’s brow furrowed. He didn’t understand quite why that was such a bad thing, but he also knew that sometimes Brittany had a hard time with being in the public eye. In the poker world, “public” had used to mean a couple of guys at a table, before it turned into that and six billion cameras. Going to an awards show would be even worse.
“Little bit intimidated?” he asked.
“Try a lot intimidated,” she replied. “Not to mention that I don’t have the first clue how to act...”
“...well, can’t you ask Josh about that? I mean, he’s gone to a ton of these things, probably. And he’ll be right there the whole night.”
“No, he won’t.” She shook her head. “He’s not going. It’s just me and Jeremy. And...”
Daniel Negreanu had come to find out that ‘and’ and ‘but’ were kind of the same thing.
“And what?” he asked uneasily.
She swallowed, and when she looked at him her eyes had nervousness and guilt and emotion all at the same time. He’d never seen her look like that in years. “Danny,” she said quietly, “Jeremy and I are having an affair.”
“Jesus,” he blurted, before he realized that wasn’t the most supportive thing to say. But startled did not begin to cover it. The last person he’d ever have expected to have an extramarital affair would have been Brittany. She was always loyal, always honest, and she had the best heart he’d ever seen…plus, she was married to a stand-up guy who just happened to be a dreamboat. It didn’t make sense. But the honest guilt on her face said that it was the truth and it was eating at her.
Plus, she’d used the present tense.
“How long...” he started, before he shook his head. “Never mind. Start from the beginning.”
“Right around my birthday,” she replied. “Josh met him and introduced him to me, because you know, I’m a fan of his and all, I used to have that crush on him. And he was flirting with me and it just…it was the thirteenth. July thirteenth, he kissed me. Couple of days later, I slept with him. We’ve been seeing each other ever since.” She ran a hand through her hair. “He was the guy I was waiting to meet when I was in Vegas. I went to Vegas so we could spend the week together.”
All of a sudden things started to make sense in Danny’s head. That was why she’d spent an entire week in Vegas. That was who she’d been waiting for the whole time, that he and Erick had been teasing her about. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed this sooner.
Brittany had closed her eyes and was staring at the concrete.
“I’m in love with him,” she muttered quietly. “I told him when we were in Vegas. I’m falling in love with him.”
This time, Danny kept from saying anything rash. “You told him?” he asked quietly, still reeling a little from the shock. “What’d he say?”
“That he was flattered, but he couldn’t say it back until he was absolutely sure. We haven’t talked about it again, but he’s still interested in me.” She met his eyes, finally, and sighed, water pressing behind her vision. “I love my husband, Danny. He saved my life. He’s perfect. But I’ve had a crush on Jeremy for eight fucking years and when I’m with him, I just...I love him too.” A deep breath. “I’ve been lucky enough to be in love with two right people in one lifetime...and it’s a fucking curse.”
Danny nodded slightly. He’d heard the stories about her first boyfriend, some doctor she’d met in New Jersey, and how ugly it had gotten when she’d broken up with the guy after meeting Josh and he’d refused to accept that they were over. No doubt, she didn’t want that to turn into the same situation. That situation had ended with her with a gun to her head on a New Jersey rooftop. He didn’t want to see that happen again either.
“I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” he assured her. “Josh is not that kinda guy.”
“I know, I know. I just…don’t know what to do. Because I’m in love with two guys, and Jeremy and I have kept it quiet, but now we’re gonna be out there in public together and I’m concerned that I’m gonna do something stupid and blow it, and then it’s gonna be public and he, I and Josh will all be screwed, you know?” She sighed. “I’ll sort my life out when I can. I just don’t want someone else to do it for me.”
“Just be careful.” He gave her a serious look. “And I think you need to know where you stand with Jeremy before you invest more in that relationship than he’s willing to. Figure out where you are…and then make your decision. But don’t worry about it now, just...enjoy the moment.” A pause. “I want you to be happy.”
“I am happy. Just with two different men.”
“And going to the Emmys and graduating Princeton and working on one of the coolest shows on TV. Yeah, life’s a bitch, isn’t it?”
Brittany just stared at him for a moment before she cracked up laughing. Considering she’d grown up as a kid from an L.A. suburb, he had an actual point there. She nodded, before she tugged him into a hug. “Thanks for hearing me out,” she said quietly, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“Don’t mention it,” he replied. “What are friends for, huh?”
“To annoy the hell out of you?”
“That, too,” he agreed. He nodded his head toward the rest of the park, and as the two of them got up from the bench, he added, “Hey, no matter what happens, I’ll always be here to support you. You can always lean on me, okay?”
She nodded. “Thanks, Danny.”
“You’re welcome.”
The two of them walked through the park for another couple of moments before something else finally hit him, as he finally remembered who all the Emmy nominees even were. That was when he turned on her.
“You’re sleeping with Jeremy Piven? The guy from Entourage, that Jeremy?”
She glanced around, and then paused. “Um...yeah, why?”
“The guy that used to be on Cupid? The show which you and Phil were only obsessed with for the entire thirty seconds it was on?” Danny was really on a roll now, and his smile grew with every word. “The guy you used to say you were going to run off with and marry? You’re sleeping with that guy?”
By now, Brittany couldn’t help it. She was grinning a little, and she nodded.
Danny threw up his hands. “That’s it. You’re officially the luckiest person on the planet.”
She laughed and followed after him. “If I were that lucky, don’t you think I’d have more than just a third-place WPT trophy?”
“Well, poker luck is different.”
“Mmmhmm, yeah, make up your own rules, go ahead.”
“I’ve always done that,” he replied, “where have you been for the last thirty years? Oh, that’s right, off discovering the meaning of life, probably, huh? Making a movie with Spielberg? World peace? Did you get to world peace yet?”
The one thing they never had to say to each other was the one thing that they already knew. Their stars were rising, and they had a chance to do something great. But no matter how weird the fame or fortune got, the friendship that had been built on nothing would always be real.
Fin.
Title: Right In Front Of You
Fandom: Real Person Fiction
Friendship: Daniel Negreanu and Brittany Lucas
Pairings: Brittany/Josh Lucas, Brittany/Jeremy Piven, Daniel/Lori Weber
Prompt: “It’s a long story.” “They always are.”
Rating: PG-13 for language and some sexual references
Word Count: 2863
Summary: They were growing up. It had to happen sometime.
Disclaimer: I don’t know any of these people, and to my knowledge, none of them know each other, either. This never happened. Also, Brittany Lucas doesn’t even exist.
Author’s Notes: Based on an ongoing storyline in an RPG. All events are fictional even if the people are real. The explanation is under the cut, before the story. Basically, over a period of five years almost a decade ago, Brittany and Danny ran together in Las Vegas poker circles, and while the friendship has waxed and waned with their life directions and surging careers, they’re finding themselves reconnecting again.
Introduction
This story takes place in a fictional universe, created in a celebrity role-playing game. The author doesn’t know any of these people, and to my knowledge, none of them know each other, either, with the obvious exception or two. All of the following is fictional backstory created for the game.
The year was 1997. Daniel “Kid Poker” Negreanu and Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren were close friends and members of professional poker’s modern “brat pack.” They ran into fellow pro player Phil Gordon and his semipro playing friend Brittany Cole. The foursome formed a friendship that carried them over the next couple of years. When Brittany dropped out of college to play professionally, she, Danny and Erick became each other’s wingmen. The three of them stayed together through bad beats, the occasional drunken idiot, some technically illegal activities, and the pressure of gambling for a living.
But by 2004 things had changed drastically. Poker had exploded as the next big sport and the careers of Danny, Erick and Phil took off at an even faster speed. Brittany gave up playing poker to move to New Jersey and attend Princeton University. Phil was cohost of “Celebrity Poker Showdown.” Danny met and married Lori Weber. Erick got his own star on the WPT Walk of Fame. They all seemed to go their separate ways, and forget about a period in their past marked with hard work, harder luck, and the occasional instance of bad judgment.
Until now.
Brittany moved back to Los Angeles from New Jersey, and turned up in Las Vegas, where she reconnected with Danny and Erick. Though they all realize they’ve drastically changed over the two years they’ve been apart, they’re still friends, and they decide that they want to work at rebuilding their friendship. They make a promise to keep in touch this time.
Our story picks up in August 2006, when Danny is in San Diego for his anniversary and decides to give Brittany a call...
Right In Front Of You
It almost seemed completely surreal.
Brittany Lucas took a good look at her watch. She’d phoned her friend this morning, and they’d agreed to meet at the giant Kyoto bell outside Forbidden Reef at one o’clock, about a week ago. Ever since then, she had stressed about this moment, worrying about what to wear, what to say, never mind that she’d known him for almost a decade. But now that she’d made the hideous drive from Los Angeles to San Diego, and she was actually at Sea World and closing in on the goal, she was not only less intimidated but more and more excited by the prospect of seeing him again.
By the time she made it to the bridge that would take her into the Forbidden Reef exhibit, she was actually running.
She made it over the bridge and down the walkway, and a beaming smile broke out on her face. She’d recognize that blond hair, goatee and impish grin anywhere, no matter how long it had been since they’d been in the same company.
“Danny!” she said, and it came out more like an excited squeal than anything else.
Daniel Negreanu detached his hand from that of his wife - it was actually just a day or two from their one-year wedding anniversary - and tugged his longtime friend into an easy hug. “Hey, Brittany,” he said with another sly smile, “it’s so good to see you again.” When they pulled back slightly, he held her out so he could take a look at her. “I almost didn’t recognize you for a second,” he admitted, releasing her and gesturing at her. “What is this?” he teased.
She laughed at him. Sometimes, she had to remember that when she’d met him, she’d been eighteen and just out of high school; now she was twenty-seven and a college graduate. “This is me layering things,” she replied, gesturing at her jeans, V-neck blouse and black windbreaker. “I also kind of grew my hair out a little bit.” Once cut fairly short, her blond hair now fell to just slightly more than shoulder-length.
To say nothing of the wedding band on her left hand, or the three-hundred-dollar Breitling Navitimer flight watch on her right wrist.
“Of course,” she replied, nodding at him and his faded jeans and untucked button-down, “you still dress almost exactly the same.”
“Well, yeah,” he said with a smirk, “it’s what works for me.” He nodded toward the slightly shorter Asian woman. “You remember my wife, Lori.”
She gave him a ‘duh’ look. “Danny, I was just in Vegas like, a month ago, not to mention I was at your wedding?” she teased, then nodded. “Of course I remember your wife. How are you guys doing? All right?”
“Enjoying the nice breeze and the manta rays,” he replied, as his wife and his old friend exchanged a hug. “So, where’s your significant other, huh?”
“He let me go on ahead.”
Danny just laughed. When he’d called to tell Brittany that he and his wife were going to spend their anniversary vacation in San Diego and he wanted to see her, he’d asked if it would be too much trouble for her to bring her husband. After all, they remembered how much of a coronary he’d had when he’d first seen the wedding band on her finger and realized who she was married to. It had happened in late July, when she had taken a trip to Las Vegas and Danny, now poker ambassador for the brand new Wynn resort, had given her the star treatment. Before that, they hadn’t seen each other in two years.
He got the shock of his life.
"You look great," she’d murmured, kissing him on the cheek and holding him at arm's length for inspection. "What are you now, twenty?"
"Ha. Very funny. You look fabulous. I mean, you look older...obviously...but wow." He smiled at her. "Really grew into that body of yours, didn't you? And you..." He caught a look at her hand and stared. "You got married? When? And you didn't damn well tell me? Where's the lucky one?"
She laughed, having expected that. “Josh is at home,” she’d replied. “He had some stuff to do.”
Daniel had put two and two together. “Josh Lucas,” he’d said, “like the actor? That’s cool. Your husband shares a name with a famous guy?”
Brittany had swallowed, paused, and then given him a bashful look. “Um, Danny,” she’d said, very, very slowly, “he...is the actor.”
His eyes had gotten very, very wide. “That Josh Lucas? The Sweet Home Alabama, Josh Lucas? You married Josh Lucas?” he’d blurted, about eighteen times until it had finally sunken in. Of course, since Danny hadn’t actually met her husband face-to-face, Brittany wasn’t sure that it had actually sunken in at all.
Which was why Danny said slyly, “You’re sure he’s not invisible?”
Brittany mock-glared at him the same time Lori punched him in the arm. “No, Danny,” she drawled, “my husband is not invisible. How’s Erick?” she asked, referencing Daniel’s longtime close friend and her former cohort, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren. It was funny how a Canadian kid could be friends with a guy from Burney, California, but that’s what had happened to Danny and Erick.
“He’s good,” her friend replied. “He’s got some shit in Vegas, otherwise he would’ve come out. He said to tell you he sends his love.”
“Well, tell him I said thanks.” Brittany turned and looked over her shoulder, waving as her husband came into view, before she turned back to her friend. “Hey, listen, Danny, once Josh gets here…you think that you and I can go somewhere and, you know, catch up for awhile?”
“Sure,” he said easily, noting the slightly serious look in her eyes.
This was business, not just pleasure.
He’d known her long enough to know when she was telling him that there was something going on.
But he wasn’t going to push her. That was one of the things that they never did with each other. Part of trust was trusting your friends to tell you things in their own time. If she had something to say, she’d say it when she felt the time was right.
After all, enough had changed in the past two years. Aside from her unannounced trip to Vegas the last month, and his wedding the previous year, he hadn’t seen Brittany since he’d put her on a plane to New Jersey in the fall of 2004. And it hadn’t been like they’d been exchanging emails, with his busy schedule and her desire to get a fresh start in an Ivy League world. All he needs to know that she’s really changed is look at her. When they’d met, she’d been a reckless teenager, short on opportunities. Now she was well-dressed, her hair had grown out, her face looked a hell of a lot older, and there was a wedding band on her finger.
She had grown up. It had to happen sometime.
When Josh finally caught up with them, it’s a couple of minutes of pleasantries and small talk before Danny took Brittany by the arm and they excused themselves. They turned and headed in the other direction, and for awhile, it’s just like old times. The rapport had never really changed.
“Did you see Erick wrote a book?” she asked.
“See it? I helped him work on it. I wrote the introduction,” Danny replied with a touch of mock ego. “You read it yet? You like it?”
She nodded. “It was pretty good. Phil’s already got what, two books? Where the hell is yours?”
“It’s coming, I assure you. One comes out the end of this year, I have another for next year. I promise, I wouldn’t dare offend you by not gracing the world with my opinions.” He laughed softly, taking his arm in hers. “You see the whole Professional Poker Tour thing?”
“Mmhmm. Not a fan,” she admitted. “I’d rather see a whole table where anyone can play. That’s the allure. The commentator guy..."
"...Mark Seif?”
”No, the other guy. Not a fan of him either. He’s trying too hard. Though, I saw you were doing pretty well. Plus, man, the World Series…”
Danny winced. “Don’t start. I was so close.”
“You were third in chips at one point!” she replied. “Well, at least E-Dog got a bracelet, right? And Phil got to call the final table. And you finished in the money.”
“That’s true.” He shrugged. “Always gotta see the bright side of things.”
She grinned. “That’s because all I ever got was a third-place trophy. One. At the Bellagio. Like, years and years ago.”
“Ah, but we still love you anyway,” Danny replied. He glanced over his shoulder. They’d been walking this whole time, and they were clear on the other side of the park by now. Carefully, he turned her round and pulled her toward the nearest park bench, sitting her down. “Is everything okay?” he asked her honestly, now that she could speak without fear of being overheard.
Brittany bit her lower lip nervously, folding her hands in her lap. “It’s a long story,” she warned him.
“They always are. Look at who you’re talking to,” he replied. “What’s going on?”
She exhaled. “I’m going to the Emmy Awards on Sunday.” A wave of her hand. “House is up for Best Drama,” she said, naming the television series that she now wrote for, “and a…friend of mine is up for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy. I’m going as his date.”
Danny’s brow furrowed. He didn’t understand quite why that was such a bad thing, but he also knew that sometimes Brittany had a hard time with being in the public eye. In the poker world, “public” had used to mean a couple of guys at a table, before it turned into that and six billion cameras. Going to an awards show would be even worse.
“Little bit intimidated?” he asked.
“Try a lot intimidated,” she replied. “Not to mention that I don’t have the first clue how to act...”
“...well, can’t you ask Josh about that? I mean, he’s gone to a ton of these things, probably. And he’ll be right there the whole night.”
“No, he won’t.” She shook her head. “He’s not going. It’s just me and Jeremy. And...”
Daniel Negreanu had come to find out that ‘and’ and ‘but’ were kind of the same thing.
“And what?” he asked uneasily.
She swallowed, and when she looked at him her eyes had nervousness and guilt and emotion all at the same time. He’d never seen her look like that in years. “Danny,” she said quietly, “Jeremy and I are having an affair.”
“Jesus,” he blurted, before he realized that wasn’t the most supportive thing to say. But startled did not begin to cover it. The last person he’d ever have expected to have an extramarital affair would have been Brittany. She was always loyal, always honest, and she had the best heart he’d ever seen…plus, she was married to a stand-up guy who just happened to be a dreamboat. It didn’t make sense. But the honest guilt on her face said that it was the truth and it was eating at her.
Plus, she’d used the present tense.
“How long...” he started, before he shook his head. “Never mind. Start from the beginning.”
“Right around my birthday,” she replied. “Josh met him and introduced him to me, because you know, I’m a fan of his and all, I used to have that crush on him. And he was flirting with me and it just…it was the thirteenth. July thirteenth, he kissed me. Couple of days later, I slept with him. We’ve been seeing each other ever since.” She ran a hand through her hair. “He was the guy I was waiting to meet when I was in Vegas. I went to Vegas so we could spend the week together.”
All of a sudden things started to make sense in Danny’s head. That was why she’d spent an entire week in Vegas. That was who she’d been waiting for the whole time, that he and Erick had been teasing her about. He wondered why he hadn’t noticed this sooner.
Brittany had closed her eyes and was staring at the concrete.
“I’m in love with him,” she muttered quietly. “I told him when we were in Vegas. I’m falling in love with him.”
This time, Danny kept from saying anything rash. “You told him?” he asked quietly, still reeling a little from the shock. “What’d he say?”
“That he was flattered, but he couldn’t say it back until he was absolutely sure. We haven’t talked about it again, but he’s still interested in me.” She met his eyes, finally, and sighed, water pressing behind her vision. “I love my husband, Danny. He saved my life. He’s perfect. But I’ve had a crush on Jeremy for eight fucking years and when I’m with him, I just...I love him too.” A deep breath. “I’ve been lucky enough to be in love with two right people in one lifetime...and it’s a fucking curse.”
Danny nodded slightly. He’d heard the stories about her first boyfriend, some doctor she’d met in New Jersey, and how ugly it had gotten when she’d broken up with the guy after meeting Josh and he’d refused to accept that they were over. No doubt, she didn’t want that to turn into the same situation. That situation had ended with her with a gun to her head on a New Jersey rooftop. He didn’t want to see that happen again either.
“I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” he assured her. “Josh is not that kinda guy.”
“I know, I know. I just…don’t know what to do. Because I’m in love with two guys, and Jeremy and I have kept it quiet, but now we’re gonna be out there in public together and I’m concerned that I’m gonna do something stupid and blow it, and then it’s gonna be public and he, I and Josh will all be screwed, you know?” She sighed. “I’ll sort my life out when I can. I just don’t want someone else to do it for me.”
“Just be careful.” He gave her a serious look. “And I think you need to know where you stand with Jeremy before you invest more in that relationship than he’s willing to. Figure out where you are…and then make your decision. But don’t worry about it now, just...enjoy the moment.” A pause. “I want you to be happy.”
“I am happy. Just with two different men.”
“And going to the Emmys and graduating Princeton and working on one of the coolest shows on TV. Yeah, life’s a bitch, isn’t it?”
Brittany just stared at him for a moment before she cracked up laughing. Considering she’d grown up as a kid from an L.A. suburb, he had an actual point there. She nodded, before she tugged him into a hug. “Thanks for hearing me out,” she said quietly, pressing a kiss to his cheek.
“Don’t mention it,” he replied. “What are friends for, huh?”
“To annoy the hell out of you?”
“That, too,” he agreed. He nodded his head toward the rest of the park, and as the two of them got up from the bench, he added, “Hey, no matter what happens, I’ll always be here to support you. You can always lean on me, okay?”
She nodded. “Thanks, Danny.”
“You’re welcome.”
The two of them walked through the park for another couple of moments before something else finally hit him, as he finally remembered who all the Emmy nominees even were. That was when he turned on her.
“You’re sleeping with Jeremy Piven? The guy from Entourage, that Jeremy?”
She glanced around, and then paused. “Um...yeah, why?”
“The guy that used to be on Cupid? The show which you and Phil were only obsessed with for the entire thirty seconds it was on?” Danny was really on a roll now, and his smile grew with every word. “The guy you used to say you were going to run off with and marry? You’re sleeping with that guy?”
By now, Brittany couldn’t help it. She was grinning a little, and she nodded.
Danny threw up his hands. “That’s it. You’re officially the luckiest person on the planet.”
She laughed and followed after him. “If I were that lucky, don’t you think I’d have more than just a third-place WPT trophy?”
“Well, poker luck is different.”
“Mmmhmm, yeah, make up your own rules, go ahead.”
“I’ve always done that,” he replied, “where have you been for the last thirty years? Oh, that’s right, off discovering the meaning of life, probably, huh? Making a movie with Spielberg? World peace? Did you get to world peace yet?”
The one thing they never had to say to each other was the one thing that they already knew. Their stars were rising, and they had a chance to do something great. But no matter how weird the fame or fortune got, the friendship that had been built on nothing would always be real.
Fin.