The hallway tilted just enough to remind me of the whiskey. Too much Scotch, too fast, too many toasts I hadn’t meant. Lights stretched down the corridor, too clean, too bright, cutting across the blur behind my eyes. I kept my stride steady, leather shoes sinking into the carpet with deliberate weight. I didn’t stumble. I never stumbled. But each step carried the drag of liquor, a rhythm slowed by heat in my blood.
The suite door waited, faceless in gold trim. I slid the keycard through the lock. Green blink. Soft click. No hesitation.
Silence hit me first. Not silence like peace. Silence like money. Air scrubbed clean of noise, carpets muffling everything human. A lamp burned low across the living room, throwing pale light across the polished glass table. Beyond it, another door sat ha
