Behind The Desk, Under The Mask
The sounds of the main floor—the clink of glasses, the murmur of conversation, the distant pulse of jazz—faded to a muffled hum, as if we had stepped into a world entirely separate from the one I'd just left behind.
I kept my seat on the leather cushions, my hands resting deliberately on my knees. My heart thrummed a frantic rhythm against my ribs, a stark contrast to the absolute stillness I was trying to project. Through the slits of my black silk mask, I watched the stranger step fully into the space. Up close, his presence was even more overwhelming than it had been across the bar. The tailored midnight-blue suit fit him with a sharp, militaristic precision, and the structured leather ma