+TYPED OUT-

+HEART THROB+

"How have you been Monday?"

"Fine, and you, Kenneth?"

The tone was poised without animosity. It pricked the guru's ego. Used to being desired, Kenneth almost wished to hear a more desperate voice.

"Good," Kenneth replied after a second of hesitation where he gagged his ego and wondered if it was the right moment to say what was on his mind.

It was a ten minutes walk to Mondays' hotel in the opposite direction of his. And the prestige was not at the rendezvous.

"It's your hotel?" Kenneth said as he stared at the hotels' entrance.

Monday smiled, "it's Charles's punishment."

The building was between two others. One knew it didn't have more than twenty rooms from the outside. It was very far from the luxury of his hotel and suite.

Monday glanced at him and giggled, "It's better inside. I didn't know you were so precious."

"I'm not precious," Kenneth said.

Monday let her eyes roll to the side, "you are. You know what? You remind me of all these incredibly elitist people. They have the life they want because they have privileges besides being rich. They then go about telling those who do their three to eight, nine to five, and seven to eleven jobs they can become and live like them."

"Let's go inside, shall we,ㅡ and you can say it. You can say a white man with his privilege. I'm well aware of it," Kenneth interrupted with a sardonic grin that softened as he grabbed her hand to pass the hotel's door. Monday said things that he disliked and sometimes disagreed with, but at least she spoke her mind.

They took the tiny elevator to the second floor. Kenneth coughed, "it's pretty dusty here."

Monday smiled, "precious."

She opened the door to her bedroom, a matchbox with a one-person bed. The man breathed better in the space so small that Mondays' scent filled the whole room. They took off their shoes. Monday went to the bathroom while Kenneth tried to figure out whether he should sit on the bed or the stern wooden desk chair that reminded him of his boarding school bedroom.

"What did you do to deserve this, Monday?" The man yelled as he sat on the chair. Kenneth didn't want Monday to think he had sex in mind if he chose the bed, even if he low-key did have the intention.

Monday came back and went to the rooms' mini-fridge, "a diva tantrum at BookInc. Do you want a drink?"

"No, thank you."

"Sorry, I can't offer anything else. I have nothing else."

"This is hell, Monday. Why don't you check out and find somewhere else?"

"Almost all the hotels in the sector are booked because of the fair. Besides, it's only three days, I don't care," Monday sat crossed-legged on the bed and took her pillow on her knees.

Kenneth pulled the chair closer.

"So tell me, Kenneth, what do you want to talk about?"

"Eh, hmm, when did you arrive here?"

"This morning," Monday replied.

"When are you leaving?"

"After Dagmar wins the bear."

"Dagmar?"

"DPG," Monday replied.

"Oh, you're here with her. Her novels are marvels; she's the best thriller writer out there, right now."