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“A game,” I said.
“Lovely.” Vivienne shuffled the deck and held it out to me face down. “Pick one. Whatever it says, we play.”
I drew a card. It said: STRANGERS.
“Ooh, a classic,” she said. “Here’s how it goes. I go downstairs to the hotel bar. In ten minutes, you come down and pick me up. You’ve never seen me before in your life. I’m not a professional, I’m a woman at a bar, and you’re going to have to work for it.” She smiled. “Or, if that’s too much theatre for a Tuesday, you pick a second card and we skip the acting altogether.”
I turned over the next card without being asked. It said: TOYS.
“Ah,” she said. “The other end of the spectrum.”
She lifted the wand vibrator out of the bag, plugged it into the wall by the bed and switched it on. It hummed like an angry wasp. She held it against my palm for a second and my whole arm buzzed.
“I can use this on you,” she said. “You can use it on me, which I’d honestly prefer, because I’ve been on my feet in heels all day and nobody ever offers. Plus the glass one. Plus your mouth. Very hands-on. Very educational.”
She switched it off. The room was suddenly very quiet.
“Stranger,” she said, “or toys?”