As soon as Allen disappeared around a corner, Zana tugged at Noah's elbow.

"Come on," she said, steering him towards a cozy nook in the lobby, "Let's sit down for a bit. Before you pass out from, you know, feeling hot again."

Noah winced inwardly.

Oops.

Yeah... she definitely didn't buy my story.

Well, at least she's not being nosy about it.

And that's enough for now.

So he let her guide him without protest, the towel hanging loosely from his left shoulder.

As Zana nudged him down onto one of the Chesterfields, Noah sank into it with a quiet exhale, shoulders loosening — the leather firm and grounding against his back.

God, I'm so damn tired, he thought as he grabbed the towel, scrubbing it roughly through his wet hair — droplets flicking around in lazy arcs.

"Wanna watch some TV?" Zana suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Noah blinked up at her.

A remote was already in her grasp — her thumb fiddling around the buttons.

When did she even get that?

Without waiting for Noah to respond any further, she pressed on the red power-button and a second later, the huge TV-screen mounted across the lobby wall flared to life, casting a bluish glow everywhere.

Zana propped herself against the Chesterfield, one hip pressing into the armrest as she skimmed through the channels, her eyes glued to the screen.

Noah leaned back against the sofa, head resting on the leather backrest, eyes half-lidded. He was drifting, almost teetering on the edge of sleep, when the lobby suddenly came alive with music — crisp beats, booming bass and an infectiously catchy rhythm.

Noah's eyes snapped open.

Raine Rozeel.

And it was indeed Raine Rozeel (Noah's childhood and also adulthood celebrity crush) on the TV, singing away in his new music video — his strong arms tightly wrapped around the waist of a sexy woman with skin the colour of rich dark chocolate.

"Is that—"

"Yep." Zana nodded, already humming along under her breath. "RR's new song."

"You a fan?" Noah asked, fingers tapping against his knees, syncing with the beat.

"Quite a big one actually!"

Noah huffed out a faint laugh, eyes following Raine's dance moves in the video, before muttering, "Yeah, me too."

The song continued to roll on and neither of them said anything for a while.

Just humming and tapping along.

Then the song faded out and the screen snapped straight into some loud and overly cheerful commercials, making Zana flinch.

"Ugh," she quickly lowered the volume. "Okay . . . that was really good!"

"It was," Noah agreed.

"Definitely gonna win the Solce this year!"

"No doubt about that."

As the commercials kept playing in the background with muted flashes of colours and movements, Zana and Noah settled into another phase of their awkward silence.

"You know," Zana spoke after a while, voice softer and gaze fixed somewhere ahead — deliberately avoiding eye contact with Noah, "Life can get pretty shit sometimes."

Noah's brow lifted slightly.

"One minute, everything's fine," she continued, choosing her words carefully. "And the next minute, it's all just—" she made a small, vague gesture with her hand, "—a big mess. Out of nowhere! Really!"

She exhaled softly, shifting her weight against the armrest. "But it doesn't stay like that forever! There are good parts too. Brighter — happier days! You just . . . have to stick around long enough to get to them. And . . . and you don't get to give up before that."

She turned, looking at  Noah directly now, "So . . . from now on, no more dunking your head under the water, okay?"

Oh.

She still thinks that I—

Noah dragged a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing at it and feeling mortified.

Of all the things, offing himself like that had never even crossed his mind.

But . . .

If I consider everything from her point of view . . .

Then, yeah.

Yeah, I can see why she would think that.

God, I don't know what to say.

After everything that had gone down tonight, he was feeling so damn tired, stressed, sleep-deprived, and also — a bit horny too, to be honest. (Thanks to that accidental booty-watching.)

So dunking his head under the fountain had seemed like a solid idea at that time — a quick way to cool off, clear his thoughts, and get himself back under control.

But clearly, not one of my brightest ideas.

Noah let out a quiet sigh, dropping his hand from his neck.

"Yeah," he said finally, voice low, a little rough around the edges. "Sorry. Won't happen again."

Zana watched him for a bit, like she was trying to check if Noah actually meant it or not.

Then she smiled, "Good."

"Also," she continued, rolling her eyes this time, "Sorry about Allen. He's just—"

"Nosy as hell?" Noah offered.

Zana snorted. "Too damn curious about everyone else's business is what I was going for," she said, tilting her head, "But yeah . . . what you said fits just fine."

"Curious is putting it too nicely," Noah muttered, "He was basically grilling me for information."

"Morbidly curious, then?" Zana said, lips twitching.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

They both let out a chuckle.

"Honestly though," Zana said, toying with the little dolphin charms of her bracelet, "The whole Conchessa is curious about you and Mr. Zieglers right now. So you can hardly blame it all on Allen."

Noah gave her a look.

She just shrugged, a faint smirk on her lips, "You guys are currently the hot topic of Conchessa's gossip mill."

Noah frowned, "Gossip mill?"

"Mm-hm," Zana nodded. "We've got one of those, you know. And guess who are the top suppliers? Allen and his wife."

"Wait, his wife too?"

"Yup, she works as a waitress here. And both of them are, like I said, morbidly curious about everyone else's business."

"Zana! Heyoo!" A sing-songy voice suddenly called out, cutting through their conversation.

Noah stilled, something about that tone snagging at his brain.

Why do I feel like I've heard this voice before?

"Damn, speak of the devil," Zana muttered under her breath, a subtle grimace flickering across her face.

Then she straightened, schooling her expression into a polite smile as she turned around to face the source.

Noah followed her gaze.

A curvy brunette with a halo of bouncy brown curls stood near the mermaid orgy fountain, waving at Zana with a wide grin on her face.

"That's Elena by the way," said Zana as she pushed off the armrest, "Allen's wife."

That name sounds familiar as well, Noah thought, blue eyes narrowing slightly as he watched the woman — his thumb absently rubbing along his chin.

Where exactly did I hear it?

Come on, Noah, think!

Try to remember.

Elena. Elena. Elena.

Ah!

Noah straightened with a jolt.

Elena!

Holy shit!

It's her!

The woman from room 7031 on the seventieth floor . . .

. . . who was giving a blowjob to someone that was definitely not Allen!

Because that man had a completely different voice and Noah had heard Allen talk enough times today to be able to compare and point out the differences.

Oh my god!

She's . . . cheating on him?

Noah's jaw tightened. He looked down at his hands, fingers fiddling with the edge of the towel as he felt a pang of unexpected sympathy for the nosy bellboy.

Sure, Allen had been irritating as hell, but . . . damn, no one deserved to be cheated on like that.

As Zana walked off to have a chat with Elena, Noah let himself sink deeper into the sofa, stretching out until he was flat on his back — the towel bunched under his head as a makeshift pillow.

What a fucking mess, he thought, draping his forearm over his eyes, shutting out the glare from the chandeliers above.

Could this night (technically, morning right now) get any less weird?

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*Raine Rozeel (RR) - A very famous singer, actor, song-writer in the continent of Zirkand! (People of Zirkand are crazy about him!)

*The Solce Awards - The biggest music awards show in the Zirkand continent. (Think of it like the Grammys, Oscar etc etc.)
(Pronounced as Sol and then Ce)

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A/N:- This story is purely fictional and written for entertainment purposes only. I do not intend to disrespect anyone. So, please don't feel offended.^^

CHAPTER WORD-COUNT - 1298