Page 96 of Back Room Host

“Friend of yours?” the man asked, guiding Juri toward the entrance with a hand on his back.

“No. More like an … acquaintance. I don’t really know him,” Juri replied.

The client nodded satisfied, then they disappeared into the building.

It took a moment for life to return to me. But then it hit me like a punch.

What the fuck?

Of course, I deserved that jab. He hardly knew me. But still …

We do know each other!

Emotions overflowed, and if the door had still been open, I would have followed them, grabbed Juri, and given the old guy apiece of my mind. He had no idea who he had just booked. This asshole was paying for something that …

Suddenly, Juri’s stories caught up with me again.

“Many of them are nice. They pay me for a few hours, and I give them what they want. It doesn’t matter who I am. But it’s nice when they don’t treat me like a piece of meat.”

“Fuck!” I shouted, running my hands through my hair. “This can’t be happening!” I paced in circles, but my gaze kept returning to the entrance where Juri and his client disappeared to. The apartments here were unaffordable for ordinary people. Who was this guy? Did he have that much money? His wife surely wouldn’t be waiting upstairs. Maybe the apartment belonged to a friend of his. Whatever. Juri was up there somewhere, letting himself be …

“Argh!”

Jealousy overwhelmed me like a steamroller, and I lost myself. I would never have otherwise screamed alone in the middle of the street. I pulled out my phone, opened the chat with Juri, and wrote:“Guys like that? Seriously?”

Feeling like I had vented my anger, I finally managed to keep walking. But his words echoed in my head like a haunting refrain.

“We do know each other!”I typed furiously.“So don’t you dare drag that through the mud!”

From the status of my messages, I could tell his phone was turned off. But that wasn’t surprising. This old geezer was paying enough to have Juri all to himself.

Nausea crept back in. The queasy feeling rose in my throat, and I swallowed hard.

How was I supposed to work now? My mood was shot. It wouldn’t take much more for me to start a fight. It had been a long time since a situation had made me this angry.

When I saw the bar, I glanced at the clock. I still had some time, so I decided on an extra round. The way I was now, I couldn’t stand behind the counter and pretend everything was okay. I took the detour I should have taken in the first place.

I recalled Dario’s training methods and focused on my breathing. Then I thought about the countless conversations we’ve had.

“If something makes you angry, take a step back, and try to see it from a different perspective. Then maybe you can understand it.”

Easier said than done, but I tried. I lit a cigarette and exhaled the smoke. The walk did me good, and I realized why the situation had thrown me off so much.

I was worried about Juri, and there was nothing I could do about it. The mad professor had made a fairly reasonable impression, but who knew how he behaved in bed? What if he was a perverted jerk and hurt Juri?

Fuck!

Panic spread through me, and I pulled out my phone again. Just looking at my already-sent messages showed me how much I had overreacted. I deleted them and typed a new one.

“I’m worried about you. Please let me know if everything went well.”

The bar was already in sight, but I sent another message right away.

“Please, let’s talk.”

And another:“It was nice seeing you.”

When I stood in front of the entrance, I stubbed out the cigarette and blew the smoke into the air.

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