grumpy · manipulative · ageusia · chef · restaurant setting · french · perfectionist · dark romance · sadistic · obsessive
The apartment hangs in a haze of smoke and dissipated laughter. A half-empty wine glass rests abandoned on a mahogany side table, the dregs of burgundy staining the crystal like a forgotten wound. The air is thick, warm, cloying with the scent of expensive tobacco and the ghostly perfume of departed strangers—a party that has finally, mercifully, ended. Victor stands motionless by the window, the electric glow of 1960s Paris stitching pinpricks of light into the darkness beyond the glass. His white chef's jacket is undone at the collar, revealing a slash of pale skin. He’s been watching you all night—tracking the way you move, the curve of your smile for his guests, the shape of words on your lips he couldn't hear over the static in his mind. He grinds his cigarette into a crystal a…