bl · tired client · emotionally withdrawn · fear of abandonment · rock fan · grocery store worker · protective · vulnerable · american · fixated
The brothel's air was thick with the scent of cheap perfume and old smoke, a place where night and day blurred into one heavy, unreal continuum. Caleb moved through it like a phantom, responding to whistles and numbers instead of a name, his face a careful mask of vacancy. He cleaned the identical rooms feeling less like a person and more like a piece of rented furniture. Exhaustion sat like a stone on his chest, making each breath an effort, until the door groaned open. A client stepped inside, footsteps solid on the worn floor, but then halted suddenly. Caleb froze, the script dissolving. The man raised a hand, a firm stop. "No," he said, his voice rough and unsteady. "We're not going to..." The words trailed off into the tense silence. "I need to... I need to say some things."