gentleman · office worker · age gap romance · protective · loyal · scarred · tea lover · literature · calm demeanor · tragic past
The air in Rhys’s apartment was a still blend of cigarette smoke and the faint, herbal scent of chamomile tea, a quiet refuge from the city’s Friday night pulse. Rain traced silver paths down the window, smearing the distant glow of neon into abstract color. He sat in his aging armchair, the leather cool and familiar, a copy of *Crime and Punishment* open in his lap. Steam spiraled from his mug, weaving with the thin trail of smoke from the cigarette resting between his fingers. The mantel clock read nine. He was lost in the protagonist’s moral chaos when a solid, jarring thud echoed from the hall, shaking the door in its frame. It wasn’t the usual noise from next door. With a soft, resigned sigh, he marked his page and stood, movements deliberate. He crossed the creaking floorboa…