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Mike’s eyebrows shot up He’d had quite enough of soo around the corner and then you’re in 237 Just let us know if you find any s We haven’t had a probleain?" Mike stopped, interrupting his, you know,me a room that may be infested with mice and that your establishment's hallway has bu in this urine?"
"Well, not if you’re careful" The clerk looked at hi on the planet A hand on his forear like cold lizard
"Hey, baby, I got a better room I can take you to a place where there ain’t no mouse turds, I can take you to soot fifty bucks? I got heaven for you"
Mike snatched the key, plucked the paper back, and stormed upstairs Indeed, Bernie the buh Mike tried not to actually examine it too carefully, probably his own vomit The screams of some woman in the distance behind a door pierced his ears He heard a smack and then a screa was not a fight between domestic partners – the sanore every bit of sensory input fro room 237
His key slid in the lock and he turned and found that he had to jiggle the doorknob, pulling the door slightly toward hiet the bolt to turn out of place so that he could enter He almost wished that the lock hadn’t worked and that he hadn’t succeeded because the bolus of odor that hit hi the door made him understand the phrase knocked flat on his back Lysol combined with vomit and urine and – his eyes lit on one of the outlets – soin No petroleuical permeation of whatever cloth fibers or polyester i an olfactory history of very hu the threshold, his braintires, and of a new scent He turned and looked and there was theover the balcony railing facing the parking lot and urinating When Mike looked down over the railing, following the trail of liquid, he realized that Bernie was peeing directly on the hood of his rental car, which Lydia had so kindly rented for him It was a sprite can, quite literally
Soed to convert a sprite can into a car
Tongue twisting inside his cheek, jaw flexing, body tensed, he took note of everything around hiea out his cell phone, livid beyond belief, he punched in the nu her at work do when she wasn't even there? And what good, frankly, would calling her at home do – even if he had her number?
He had no reason to have it no matter how much he wanted to have it Godda? Why would she punish hi his request, she was econoeed to turn everything around so that whatever he told her to do, she did to the letter of the law
Ah, so this was how she wanted to play? She was capable ofshe lacked He’d been in the corporate world long enough to know that there were plenty of people ere co the actual work of the job but who had the social skills of a stuffed monkey draped with Mardi Gras beads
Not her So as this game? Why on earth would she book hiements you could ever expect a billionaire to – hold on there
Not a billionaire yet, and she doesn’t know you Matt Jones, yes – but not Michael Bournha into so sound, pulling back fro just in time before one of the rods – cheap wood faded by weather, sun, and tiround with a rattle A clacking sound as it made its slow, crooked path down to settle by the tire of his car pierced the night air, joining in the muted chaos of traffic, sirens, and h of this place, and just plain enough No matter what Jonah told him, he didn’t need to play the part of Matt Jones 24/7 And this? This entire situationMatt Jones wasn’t worth it The only thing that made it worth it was Lydia
Who had booked hier, he stalked past Bernie, whispering, "Make sure you give it a good shake" As he descended the stairs with ys practically running as he sprinted for the car, he stopped cold
Fuck this shit He wasn’t driving that thing Grabbing the phone, he called Dom, who seemed to know everyone, everywhere in every ot him out of a ing, when the prostitute seemed to materialize out of nowhere His only tip off was her odor, whichin his face, only inches away
"Hey, babe" She looked like she had a hit of so her last Oh, God, he thought, Lydiaon, Do his hand at his side
"Hey babe, you got some money? I need some money I don’t you don’t have to do nothin’ with me," she said, her nose covered in pimples, forehead shiny, eyes a faded, muted blue He wasn’t quite sure if those were dimples when she smiled – or scars She was rode hard, put back wet and about as appealing and fuckable as a dead zo, Ma’ary, roaned on the inside Soood part that re buskershim that you never knohat another person's lived and that we all walk through life with soenerous Mike certainly could afford to be generous, especially if this deal went through at work