“Teddy Toy Boy?” Hashwini adjusted her tone an octave higher to match that of Gao Jingxuan’s in the typically gossipy manner. She raised her palm to screen her lips like she always saw the pretty girls do and giggled, “What kind of a name is that?”

“That’s what we call him,” Jingxuan said. “He must have been really handsome when he was younger. But now he’s put on a little weight. Still good-looking, but a little too chubby for my taste.”

“He’s one of the most pleasant high rollers to deal for. You’ll like him. He only plays blackjack, which is why we don’t bother to have standby croupiers for the other two tables,” the pit supervisor explained, gesturing at the idle baccarat and roulette tables in the Emerald Room.

Hashwini was about to say something when the door opened and a hostess wearing a cheongsam with dangerously high slits ushered a man into the room. Jingxuan was right. The man was extraordinarily handsome, albeit on the chubby side. He flashed a dazzling smile at the hostess as the latter backed out of the room. When he swivelled around and spotted Hashwini, he beamed at her and said, “I haven’t seen you before. What’s your name?”

Hashwini told him her name. She also told herself she liked Teddy. The man was a natural charmer.

“Hashwini, please be kind to me. I was slaughtered like the 300 Spartans last week. There was so much blood!” Teddy laughed as he sat himself down at Hashwini’s blackjack table.

“I don’t remember that you came last week, Mr Quee,” the pit supervisor interjected.

“Oh yes, you’re right. Something cropped up last week and I missed my blackjack therapy session.” Teddy tapped on his temple with a finger and raised an eyebrow. “I must be getting senile.”

Hashwini could not help noticing that Teddy had amazingly neat eyebrows. They looked like they had been pencilled in by a professional make-up artist. She wondered if she could risk a dose of humour.

“So you went missing last week. Hmm…” Hashwini decided to risk it. “I heard the police are still looking for the ones who set their patrol cars on fire in Little India. Shouldn’t you be in hiding, Mr Quee?”

Teddy quickly recovered from his initial surprise and chortled. “That was a shocker, wasn’t it? I wouldn’t want to be caught in the middle of that riot.”

“Well, it so happened that I was there. And I saw them overturn the first vehicle and set it on fire.” Hashwini did not attempt to hide the hint of pride in her voice, although she was not entirely sure what she was proud about.

“You’re kidding!” Teddy put on a look of mock disbelief.

“No, I am not. I actually wrote about it in my blog.”