CHILD'S PLAY, quentin beck

VIII. SLOW NIGHT

Josephine could already tell that tonight would be a slow night. For once, she had no homework to check or tests to grade in the evening, nor did she have anything else to do. Being in a foreign country also meant that Josephine didn't know any places to go, to waste her time. She wasn't bored, not yet at least, but she wished that she had brought a novel she hadn't already read dozens of times, or that her phone hadn't died. Perhaps she could go to bed a little earlier than usual, but she wasn't feeling tired.

She decided to take a shower as soon as the realization hit her that she had just spent multiple hours on a bus. Not that she smelled bad - thank God for deodorant - but she cared about basic hygiene. Surprisingly, the water didn't turn cold after ten minutes, like the showers back in Venice or the one at Josephine's apartment.

It was the knock on the door that made Josephine realize she was still sitting on the bed, wearing the softest robe she had ever worn and with a towel on her head, drying her hair. She knew that nearly all students had gone to their rooms already, although she would not be surprised if some of them had decided to sneak out. Her colleagues were asleep already, Josephine was sure of that. Making sure her robe was properly covering her, Josephine walked over to the door but waited a few seconds before opening it. She couldn't help but mentally curse the hotel for not putting peepholes in the doors.

The man standing right outside of her hotel room was probably the last person Josephine had expected to see tonight. Not really, of course, it would have been so much more unrealistic if it were Colin Firth or Ryan Gosling knocking on her door. Nevertheless, Josephine was surprised.

'Quentin?' Josephine stared at him for a few seconds before looking down the hallway. 'What are you doing here?' She noticed that instead of his usual armor, he was wearing normal clothing. Just a regular pair of jeans with a blouse. As much as she liked the suit he had worn the first two times they met, she preferred this.

There was a hint of amusement in his eyes when he realized the woman in front of him didn't expect to have a visitor, judging by the way she was dressed. 'I, eh, hope I'm not bothering you,' he said to her. 'I was walking around in the neighborhood when I realized Fury told me you guys would be staying at this hotel.' Quentin looked through the door opening inside her hotel room, it was a lot fancier than he had expected. 'He won't call you again, by the way, I managed to convince him.'

Josephine chuckled softly. 'It's okay, you're not bothering me,' she responded. 'Although if I knew you were coming, I would have put on some clothes.' She opened the door a little further, letting him know it was all right to come in. It might have been a little rude to leave him standing in the hallway. 'Thanks for that,' she said when he mentioned Nick Fury. 'He seemed very determined to put a teenager's life at risk.'

Quentin entered the room and, once again, looked around before returning his gaze to Josephine. 'Yeah, well,' he mumbled. 'I don't like it either, but we do need all the help we can get to fight these creatures.'

'Right,' Josephine said. 'So, did you come here for any specific reason? Or did you just want to say hi?' She crossed her arms, feeling a little awkward standing there in a robe and with a towel on her head. Not one of her best looks, if she had to be honest. Thankfully, Quentin didn't seem to care.

He smiled at her. 'Actually,' he began. 'I do have a reason for coming here.'

The two remained silent for a few seconds. While Josephine curiously waited for him to say something to her, Quentin thought about how he was going to say whatever he wanted to say.

'How do you feel about going out for a drink?'

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okay, so first of all, i am really sorry about the incredibly slow updates on this book: school has been hectic and to be honest, i have been lacking motivation and inspiration. but i'm back!

second of all, i would really love to hear you guys' thoughts on this book, all comments are so appreciated. hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter