“A circus?” John asked innocently.
“Two more people. One of them is a vampire. This is not the kind of environment—”
“Oh! Benny, our manager. Of course he’s here. You’re here,” John said.
Red sputtered. “Venkat, we should go.”
After resituating the coffee, acting like that had been his intention in stopping at the front desk all along, Venkat approached, his heart in his throat. As sweetly and gently as possible, he reasoned: “We have to make up for all the missed time, yesterday. I feel really bad I slowed everyone down.”
“Nothing’s getting done in a room like that!”
“Well, that’s because we’re on a break, remember?” John held up his bags. “Coffee and water and champagne.”
“And it’s unprofessional to drink while recording a—”
“Say that to Harper’s face and see what happens,” John
