Room to Fall

Just as they were about to begin, a ripple seemed to pass over every individual in the Metropolitan’s private casino and all it took was an enquiring glance thrown carelessly over David’s head to identify the new arrival: Teodor Vukomanovic.Camille felt herself still, considered calling the whole thing off, telling Michael that she couldn’t help him before heading home, but of course she remained rooted in her chair, watching as the older man took in the entire room from his vantage point by the door, where men built like slabs of wood with muscles straining under the confines of their black suits flanked his sides.He was a gangster through and through, supposedly even the leader of the aforementioned crew that Andrej was rumored to work for, but if you bumped into him on a busy street you’d probably think he was someone’s elegantly cultured grandfather.He even looked the part, hands in the pockets of expensive dress pants, white

Courtesy demanded that Nico should’ve walked straight to the boardroom as soon as he arrived, but his lift up the cramped metal box had—for the second time that morning it seemed—triggered his fear of enclosed spaces, so that by the time he stumbled out muttering a halfhearted goodbye to Timothy the intern, it was all he could do to fight against the irrational panic.Already, his breaths had begun coming out in shallow audible bursts.Nico needed a pick-me-up, but his tight schedule hadn’t afforded him time to indulge in one of his favorite pre-work rituals which involved brewing himself an Espresso and savoring it as soon as he got back from one of his jogs. He couldn’t risk facing the Board of Directors feeling as disoriented as he did, understood he had to pull himself together.The CEO of the De Rossi group gave short replies to everyone he met on the way to his office, sharing a passing nod with one of t

A woman sat at the bar of the Deluxe with a vacant, far-off expression on her face as if she was not really there. Like she’d upped and left her body behind to fill itself with alcohol until it could take no more.  This was the state in which Camille found her best friend. Octavia Tang Carmichael had an ethereal quality about her even sporting a pageboy haircut. Much of it had to do with her fine-boned face, how it happened to be an almost perfect combination of both Eastern and Western features like her name suggested—a pouty mouth, wide brown eyes so dark they looked black in some lights, and slanting cheekbones.  Simply put, she looked like a sad beautiful porcelain doll. It was this image that struck Camille when they first met in Paris during their debut at Les Bal des Débutante, where a madness settled into her and did not leave until she’d done the sketch of