Why didn’t he rush to her when the letter from the business school sent him spiralling in all directions?
‘Don’t get me wrong, I love this energy, but where did it come from?’ Elsy asks, her fingers still tangled in Charles’ hair.
‘From nowhere… It had just been a while.’
‘Abstinence does wonders on you, it’s—’ She’s cut off by a muffled crash of glass, and her teasing smile morphs into a desperate wince. ‘This is why we never host, isn’t it?’
‘Yes…’
She gets off the desk, wiggling to help her dress fall down, picks up her knickers and walks to a blind corner to put them on. Charles doesn’t question her sudden modesty and keeps his back turned to the camera to neaten himself up.
Now that he’s buzzing from heady post-orgasm effects, what came out as a vague answer to Elsy’s surprise echoes like a puzzling fact. It had been a while. He didn’t consciously feel sex deprived, but perhaps it played a part in his unbecoming compulsion in Loris’ flat.
And perhaps he shouldn’t mentally be back there, when he’s yet to leave the room where he had ecstatic intercourse with Elsy.
In need of a glass of anything heavily alcoholic, Charles follows her out of the study, leaving his coat inside the room to ensure that Spencer’s search for his drugs will fail.
‘Good evening, kids!’
George forks into the hallway, holding hands with his date, whose presence and allure distract Charles from tormenting thoughts. Like most of George’s exes, she has blond hair, brown eyes and fancy taste in clothes. Unlike any of George’s exes, her hair is shaved on one side, her left eye is crowned with piercings, and her cowl neck t-shirt reveals a full-chest tattoo.
‘Meet Hannah. Hannah, this is the irritatingly good-looking pair I told you about.’
‘Nice to meet you,’ they say in unison, equally astounded.
Hannah smiles mindlessly, looking behind them. ‘I bet you half a bitcoin that I can crack that door code with the TV remote!’ She kissesthe corner of George’ grin and faces Elsy again. ‘Sick place, I’d love a tour. But first, could you please point me to the food?’
‘Nibbles are in the main room. But what did you mean you can crack—’
‘Thanks!’
George whirls around as Hannah retraces her steps, watching her with his hand on his chest. ‘I will marry this woman.’
‘She will hack into my security system?’
‘Most certainly, if she finds a TV remote.’
‘Damn it, Downes! Why do you have to bring chaos everywhere?’
‘Personal trademark.’
‘Hannah!’ Elsy scurries towards the entrance hall. ‘Wait up!’
As soon as she disappears, George whistles and clasps Charles’ wrist to examine his watch. ‘Nice new leash! Present from Milton, right?’
‘Yes, he gave it to me during a freaky exchange this morning.’
‘Wonderful. And how many strings are attached to it?’
‘That’s the freaky thing. None, I think.’
George sniggers. ‘Good one.’
‘What? Is it so hard to believe? That for all my best efforts to be a complete waste of space, I’m worthy of my father’s admiration?’
‘Blimey!’ George takes a step back. ‘Tell me, Charming, on a scale of terrible to awful, how well are you doing?’
Charles moves back in turn, slapped by the primary conclusion he outlined in the afternoon, which is how terribly awful he’s doing on the whole. ‘Sorry, I’m… I’m losing it.’
