I drew the nicotine deep into my lungs. Exhaling the long plume of smoke, I felt alive again. In an instant, all my stress evaporated, and the irritability that had welled up earlier vanished.Ding-dong.When I opened the door, as expected, it was room service. I signed, left a tip, and sent the bellboy on his way. With a cigarette still in my mouth, I pulled the cart inside and prepared to pour the wine. Doug would want to go again once he emerged—so I planned to finish the job orally. After all, I liked giving head as much as he did. It would keep the mood going and make a quick exit easier.Though I’d prepared at home, penetration still felt foreign and painful—today I intended to refuse it.Those bastards insisting on thrusting anyway.I inhaled another drag of smoke, placed the wine glass on the table, and grabbed the corkscrew. As I twisted it into the cork, I heard music start up.Doug’s phone ringtone. I glanced down at the device he’d left behind.Hannah Reynolds.Pop.The cork burst free from the bottle with a satisfying release. The sweet, crisp aroma of red wine drifted to my nose—but I couldn’t savor it.Doug could be just a casual sex partner, but as far as I knew, he was gay. It was highly unlikely he’d switched without telling me. The name on the screen was unmistakably female.I stared at the ringing phone for a long moment. Eventually, the ringtone ceased. Echoes of it lingered in my ears as I picked up the phone, a frown creasing my brow at the unease of rifling through someone else’s calls.Sure enough, he was just a simpleton.The passcode was unchanged. I unlocked it at once and scrolled through his recent calls—nothing needed close reading. The conclusion hit me immediately.Clack.At the sound of the bathroom door opening, I set the phone down and poured the wine. Plink-plink-plink—the bright, out-of-place noise echoed.“Hey, haven’t you finished your smoke?”His question reminded me I’d only been holding the cigarette. I tapped the butt, and the ash, too heavy, collapsed in a heap. Seeing the grey stub split in two and fall made me inexplicably tense. I took one more drag before extinguishing it.Doug emerged wearing only a large towel around his waist, the outline beneath revealing he was naked. I averted my gaze, looked at his face, and offered him the wine.“Oh, thanks. Shall we toast?”I clinked my glass lightly as he wished. Eager, he swallowed a generous gulp without even smelling it. Placing the glass down, he looked at me expectantly.His shameless openness made me smile.I wet my lips and set the glass aside. He immediately drew me into a hug; his lips met mine, and I let it happen. Just as I wondered how far I’d let this go, the phone rang again. Doug, planting kisses here and there on my face, reached lazily for it. The phone slipped from his hand and clattered onto the carpet.“Ah, come on…”He muttered irritably as he picked it up, then froze, glancing at me in hesitation.“Uh, one sec.”He shrugged as if to say “do whatever,” then hurriedly answered and slipped back into the bathroom.“…Yes, that’s right… Yes… What? No, nothing like that…”His muffled, flustered voice drifted out. I leaned against the window, lit a «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» fresh cigarette, and scowled. After a long drag, I rolled the smoke between my fingers. When Doug finally emerged, I sat there expressionless, smoking.“Sorry about that. Something urgent came up.”He apologized but avoided my eyes. I inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and broke the silence before suspicion could take hold, my face in a calm smile.“That was Hannah Reynolds calling?”He nearly fainted at my question. The ensuing silence was awkward.5｜“What?”He managed only that one word. I spoke evenly.“The call you got while you were showering. It was from Hannah Reynolds.”Doug, cheeks flushed, stammered without any brazen excuse.“Y-You answered? A call from Miss Reynolds?”“It kept ringing.”“And? What did she say?”His pale, panicked response made me ask again,“What do you think she said?”“Don’t joke around!”He grew angry, but that only dug him deeper. I soothed him with a nonchalant tone.“Don’t worry—she said you were ‘with a guy.’”“Cough.”At that, he burst into a violent coughing fit. I silently smoked until it passed. When his eyes, reddened with tears, finally met mine, he blurted,“Are you crazy? Why would you say that?”I exhaled, unfazed.“Why not? Should I have told her you were my ex-boyfriend and current sex partner?”“You asshole!”Doug exploded in rage, kicking the sofa. He paced the room, throwing meaningless glares, then slammed himself against the wall and buried his face in his hands. I smoked quietly through his breakdown.After a while, he finally collapsed onto the bed, exhausted and panting. Once he’d regained some composure, I spoke.“It was a lie.”Doug looked at me with bleary eyes. I tapped the cigarette stub in my hand and said,“A lie—surely you don’t think I’d be so thoughtless as to answer someone else’s call and blurt out nonsense?”“…Huh.”He sighed in disbelief, as if the weight had lifted. He slumped forward, face in his hands, and remained silent for a long time.“How did you know?”At last, his voice emerged, faint and worn. I stubbed out my cigarette and answered,“A call came in while you were showering. It showed ‘Hannah Reynolds.’”

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