@hpjwen (x)
He wants to believe that this was pure coincidence.
He’s led to the same sidewalk through the same double doors and into the same suite, all without hesitation. It’s a case of déjà vu on a literal level, ripped free from the past.
Even the minute details remain present. The ‘405’ embellished in gold right beneath the peephole. The skyline view. The telephone line on the nightstand. All signs of oblivion that he had left behind swept away. Yet he still finds himself going down on one knee by the window, hand roaming over the texture of the rug. The glass splinters are no longer there. What had been a cut in his foot has faded into a thin scar. Somehow the memory still feels fresh, like an open wound.
The elevator door closes behind him with a groan, and then there’s silence. His steps end slow, muted to muffled as he makes his way across tile flooring to plush carpet. He finds the front desk occupied. A different face this time, a little young, working the graveyard shift. Save for the desk boy, the lobby is exceptionally empty—given the time, as it should be. There’s a couch in the opposite corner he eyes from a distance, but he hovers for just a mere second, then thinks.
This is better. Better than the enclosed space of the hotel room, better than the state of mind he’d been in a year prior.
And that’s all that matters.
Time begins to lapse into fragments.
Hour one: he’s a page in, what’s supposed to be a draft of a letter is nothing but a pattern of crossing things out, then filling them in. The minimum requirement at the very least has been reached: starting, after all, is just half the battle.
Hour two: a second blank page stares back at him. His eyes are at the doors, untouched. Not a single guest has decided to walk in. The night suddenly feels far too long for its own good.
Hour three: he’s cautious at first, side-stepping around, all tip-toes. He’s never liked breaking the silence, let alone be the type to start avid conversation.
“Uh, hey.” Kikwang clears his throat. “You got any blank envelopes, by any chance?”
