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Sometimes, Maria’s friendship with Alina is like their chess games - complicity, movements in synch, and always, at the very last moment, Maria caving and letting her win.
For the longest time, they were the only two players - old board, same rules, familiar habits. But when Alina came into wealth, she expanded the game, increasing the stakes and introducing new players - no, new pawns. Pieces that she moved with dexterity.
Maria watched her put on the board a salmon-colored piece that looked like it came straight out of a children's game, and suppressed a wince when Killian moved unwisely, yet too close to the white queen for her liking.
She then observed her add a crimson rook, draped like a queen but advancing straight and confidently. Wendy was guarded, forthright, efficient. She could have been a good opponent, if the viciousness of her strikes and her vermilion brilliance hadn't clashed with the carefully arranged black-and-white game that was Maria and Alina's relationship.
As the rules changed, so did the setup. The tea house and Seam's Good's old backroom gave way to speakeasies, hotels and casinos. The usual quietness of their meetings, too, yielded to the glamour of Alina's new socialite life.
Maria couldn't be anything but glad for her friend's latest status. And yet, on more than one night, she mourned the days when it was just the two of them, playing with cracked wooden pieces on the cheapest chessboard they manage to find.
"Yes, she's lucky enough to down tools and escape that prole life. And I only wish I could join her," she hears herself tell the bartender one December evening, slowly swirling a glass of tomato juice and vodka.
Here, in the basement of a bookstore, surrounded by books and people from various backgrounds, she feels a little more at home than she did in the Jubilee lounge. Perhaps that is why she allows herself to confide, emboldened by the alcohol and the bartender's encouraging smile - and why, when discussing chess or her fondness for Alina, she lets slip a few words about her envy or what she makes of their new acquaintances.
The person behind the bar always listens, studying her with the knowing eyes of someone who heard Alina's confessions too.
For all she loves about the Nightcap, she often wonders what she's actually doing there - especially after hours chatting with Killian and Wendy in the comfy seats that have strangely become theirs.
As always, Alina pulls the strings. Maria sees everything, sees the strategy unfolding - Alina's moves, Alina's goal. Her tactics for inserting herself into this elite world, her fear of falling from her brand-new throne. No one can understand better than she why her friend does not wish to return to the frugal lifestyle they once shared - although understanding doesn't mean she approves of visiting places where alcohol is served, or flirting with men whose only appeal is their money and position in society.
She voiced her concerns on several occasions, told Alina about her reservations regarding her love life. An unfair advice, maybe, which left a sour aftertaste on both sides. As frustrating as it is, this time it's not her plan to make - and once again she retreats as Alina is conquering the board with ivory pieces much newer and more expensive than anything she will ever own.
She rises with a smile, leaves the group to fetch herself a cocktail - tonight she's willing to answer questions about Natalia Reed's death if it means she can have a Femme Fatale, and escape Killian's unrelatable stories for a few minutes.
Only when they are alone can she breathe. The Last Drop had shut down more than ten days ago, and Maria feels like it's the first time they've been able to drink together. Leaning on the counter, with only the discreet but encouraging presence of the Nightcap bartender for company, they can finally vent about Wendy and her insensitive remarks, about Natalia who really was no better, about everything that went wrong.
It's a meeting between two players who are solely committed to each other. Maria consumes Alina's presence like a flower soaks up the sun. She revels in her light, laughs by her side, and rejoices every time she remembers that she and Alina are still on the same wavelength - that her friend is not changing, but plotting.
The magic ends when Alina grabs her glass and heads off to join the others. Maria watches her settle into an armchair, regaining her place in front of her new chessboard, then decides to follow suit - toward a life that is not hers, but has become Alina's.
"A people pleaser," she described herself when the bartender prompted her to talk a bit about herself.
And in Maria's world, the person to please is no one else but Alina.