"Gambit?"
"Oui m'sieur?" Gambit replied as he walked into the bar.
"Miss Bianchi wants to see you in her office."
"Merci."
The message given, the man returned to his work, while Gambit made his way to the elevator. He hit the button and one set of doors opened up almost immediately. He stepped inside and hit the button for the floor Joey's office was on. On the trip up, he pulled out his pack of cards and began springing them from one hand to the other. An almost unconscious habit by now.
The doors opened, and Gambit casually sauntered to Joey's office. He opened the door to the waiting room and caught Jessica's eyes. She shook her head slightly in mild admonishment and hit the button on the intercom.
"Gambit's here."
"Thanks," was Joey's replied.
"Have a seat," Jessica said to him.
"Don' mind if I do," Gambit replied, sitting down.
He continued to spring the cards from one hand to the other until he spotted the pot plant across the room, and decided that it made an ideal target, so he started flicking the cards at it (not charged of course). Jessica spotted him doing this and gave him an amused look. Gambit caught her expression and winked at her (but continued to flick the cards).
After about half an hour of this, just when Jessica was starting to get rather irritated by the constant sound of cards flicking through the air, Joey's voice came over the intercom asking for Gambit to come in, and that Jessica could go home whenever she was done.
"Gambit?"
"I heard," Gambit replied, retriving his cards from the pot. "Merci, mam'zelle."
He opened the door and made his way inside. Joey was standing with her back to him, looking out the window.
"So, I finished my negociations with Andy today, about buying the plant," Joey said, the moment she heard the door shut. "He's gotten wise too, asked for a percentage of the profits when it gets up and running again."
"Donny's started a fad den?"
"Looks like it, but that's not what's bothering me. What does is that I ended up having to pay much, much more for the place than I had intended. Seems that someone decided it would be a good idea to break into his house and burn a message into the carpet in the main room."
She turned around then, and caught Gambit's eyes. There wasn't even a smile on his face as he sprung his cards between his hands.
"Needed to pay fo' replacement carpet?"
"Yeah, that was part of the extra. The other part was blackmail disguised as a bribe to prevent him from turning in the culprit to the cops."
Gambit said nothing, and Joey banged her hand down on the desk.
"Dammit Gambit, what the hell made you think that burning the words 'Keep away from my wife' and - of all the crazy things - leaving a handful of playing cards at the scene was a good idea?"
"Mebbe I didn't," Gambit responded with a shrug. "Sounds rather sloppy if yo' ask me. Besides, I was at Barney's all night. Yo' ask him."
Joey rolled her eyes.
"Don't try that on me, Gambit. We both know perfectly well what you were doing that night, and it weren't hanging out at Barney's."
"Yo' sure about dat?"
Joey crossed her arms.
"Oh, so it was a real accident that caused the explosion at the plant?"
"Bien sūr." (of course)
"Argh," Joey exclaimed with a great deal of annoyance as she slammed down in her chair. "Try those lines on the cops all you want, Gambit, I know exactly what I pay you to do. And I don't pay you to vandalise carpet."
Gambit stopped springing the cards and returned them to his trench coat pocket as Joey continued.
"Andy's always flirted with Rogue. Rogue, and every other freaking woman he's ever come across. Oh, except me, because even Andy draws the line at flirting with his own sister. What the hell Gambit? What happened at the poker tournament is nothing new! You've never let your personal life interfere with your professional life before."
"But my professional life is allowed to interfere with my personal life?"
"Remy -" Joey began with a sigh.
"If dis be about da money, I'll just rip off his own casino to get the money back."
"You would. But it's not about the money."
"No, it's about Andy learning to keep his hands to himself. Yo' Dad tried to break him of da habit fo' years wit'out success, and now dere's no one left to keep da boy in check."
"Oh please, don't give me that," Joey scoffed. "This isn't about Andy, this is about Rogue. C'mon, Remy, you can't be serious? Rogue has way better taste than -"
Gambit stood and started walking to the door. Joey moved to intercept, but realising immediately that she wouldn't get there before him said:
"Are you two having problems?"
Gambit stopped, his face stony, although Joey wasn't in a position to actually see it.
"I don' see how my relationship wit' Rogue is any o' yo' business."
"Well, it's certainly not of any interest to Miss Bianchi of Bianchi Enterprises - except when it interferes with our work. But it's definitely of interest to your friend, Joey. At least... she thinks she's your friend."
Gambit closed his eyes and sighed.
"C'mon Remy," Joey wheedled as she closed the distance between them. "I know something's going on. I saw you two at the poker tournament. I mean, you two are crazy about each other, so when I thought I sensed some tension between you I figured I must just be imagening it, but... now I'm not so sure."
"I appreciate your concern, cherie," Gambit said softly. "But dere ain't a whole lot dat yo' can do about it."
"Well, maybe not," Joey conceeded. "My relationship with Harry is kinda crappy, and if it weren't for Marissa, I would have broken up with him years ago. But if you ever need anyone to talk to... y'know whatever. I'm here, y'know? You can talk to me."
Gambit finally conceeded to looking at Joey and met her eyes. She smiled slightly as she put her hand on his shoulder.
"Y'know, I was always kinda envious of Rogue. I mean, I knew the day we met that there was just no way you and I..." she shook her head. "I wish Harry would look at me like that."
Gambit laughed softly and put his arm around her waist.
"Yo' don' have to stay wit' him, yo' know, cherie."
Joey shrugged.
"I want what's best for Marissa," she said, reaching for the door handle with her free hand. "Y'know I hear Andy's gaming tables are rigged."
Gambit chuckled as they stepped out of the office, noting the change of subject.
"He ain't da only one who knows how to cheat, cherie. Oh, hi Harry."
Harry had clearly just walked into the waiting room and stopped walking just short of him. His eyes flicked from one to the other.
"G'evening," he said.
"Love to stay and chat," Gambit went on. "But I have a casino to rip off. 'Evening cherie. Harry."
"Bye Remy," Joey smirked after him as he left the room.