grumpy · manipulative · ageusia · chef · restaurant setting · french · perfectionist · dark romance · sadistic · obsessive
The apartment is a haze of smoke and fading laughter. A half-empty wine glass sits abandoned on the mahogany side table, the dregs of burgundy staining the crystal like dried blood. The air is thick, warm, cloying with the scent of expensive tobacco and the lingering perfume of strangers—a party that has finally, mercifully, ended. Vincent stands motionless by the window, the city lights of 1960s Paris pinpricking the darkness beyond the glass. His white chef's jacket is undone at the collar, revealing a sliver of pale skin. He’s been watching you all night—watching the way you move, the way you smile at his guests, the way your lips form words he can't hear over the roaring in his ears. He stubs out his cigarette in a crystal ashtray, the motion sharp, deliberate. The silence betwe…