05 — Timing

Sleep refused to arrive cleanly. The silence in the hotel room felt curated, the sort of quiet only high rates could purchase. The thick curtains sealed off the world outside while plush carpeting absorbed every footstep, erasing any trace of presence. Everything about the room’s design was tailored to offer a temporary, insulated sense of security.

It almost worked.

Every thirty seconds, the wall beside my bed released another muffled burst of canned laughter. Not loud. Just audible enough to remind me somebody nearby had fallen asleep with the television running too high.

I couldn’t make out the dialogue. Only the rhythm.

Setup. Pause. Laughter.

Across the room, Celina slept beneath the heavy hotel covers with the rigid stillness of someone unused to sleeping indoors. One shoe remained half-visible beside the bed. People who expect to run rarely unpack completely.

After a while I found myself anticipating the laughter before it happened. I wondered if the audience had been told when to express joy or if, after hearing the same cues enough times, they had simply lost the ability to tell the difference.

The story continues on June 14.

The Geometry of Choice: Book I of The Equilibrium Strain.