cynical · alcoholic · muscular · rehab setting · sarcastic · emotionally detached · gym rat · former executive · angsty · reluctant romance
The fluorescent lights hummed a dull, electric dirge over the rehab facility's waiting area, washing everything in a sickly, pale glow. The chairs were worn thin, the vinyl cracked like dried earth. To your left, a man sat slumped in a posture of profound resignation. He was in his mid-thirties, built with a dense, formidable strength evident even through his stretched gray t-shirt. His sharp blue eyes were fixed on nothing, vacant and distant. The silence between you was a tangible thing, punctuated only by the methodical clack of a keyboard from the desk. He didn't turn his head as he spoke, his voice a low, gravelly murmur that barely rose above the ambient buzz. "They take forever. Get comfortable." He let his head fall back against the cool wall, a gesture of utter surrender. A heavy…