Page 84 of Play Room Actor

“Okay. I’m shutting it down.”

I threw on my leather jacket, grabbed my stuff, rushed to the garage, and hopped onto my motorcycle. Alex lived across town in Puls 5. After we’d met at the theater, I’d done a light installation there shortly after, and he’d invited me over for a beer once. At exactly 11:30, I was standing at his door, ringing the bell.

Alex opened the door. “Hey, come in. You okay?”

“Depends on how you look at it,” I said grimly. I was here to get some answers, after all.

He closed the door behind me and guided me into the living room. I liked the warm lighting that created a cozy atmosphere in the room, with its bare concrete walls and black-and-white photographs. Noé sat on the black leather couch, scrolling through Netflix, which was projected onto a screen by a beamer.

“Hey,” he greeted me.

I nodded at him briefly, then turned back to Alex. “Well? What’ve you got for me?”

Alex smiled and headed to the kitchen. “Want something to drink?”

“No. I want to know where to find Livio and why you linked him to Dominic.”

The usual calm demeanor Alex radiated was disrupted by the way he adjusted his glasses and ruffled his brown hair. “Livio,” he said, sighing with reluctance, as though he was carefully considering how to approach the topic.

“He was at the theater on Thursday, talking to Dominic. They clearly knew each other. Since then, Dominic’s been acting completely out of control.”

“Did he go to Livio’s party?”

“Probably. He was invited, at least.”

“Shit,” Alex muttered. “That’s not good. Have you tried reaching Dominic?”

“He’s ignoring me! Now tell me what’s going on! You two clearly have some kind of connection. How do you know each other?”

“From Livio’s parties,” Alex said with a shrug. “Well, I only met him there once. That was my last night at a party like that. It took Dominic a little longer to pull away.”

“Pull away? What are you talking about?”

“Livio hosts chemsex parties.”

“What’s that?”

“Parties where people get high on drugs and have sex.”

I froze and stared at Alex for a moment, my jaw slowly dropping. “This … is a joke, right?”

“I wish it were,” Alex replied, rubbing his arms as though he were cold. “Listen, I spoke to Dominic. I told him to reach out to me if he wanted to talk. I don’t know what happened, but I’m not surprised he—Livio has this thing about him.”

A disbelieving scoff escaped my lips as I shook my head dismissively. “Thing? The guy seemed like a junkie to me.”

Alex’s gaze remained steady on me. “It’s something you can’t understand unless you’ve experienced it. The guys who come and go from Livio’s place are all broken in one way or another. With Livio, they get to feel whole.”

“You were one of them,” I muttered, as if I had to remind myself. After all, Alex had said he’d met Dominic at one of Livio’s parties. “Shit, this is all … And now Dominic’s there! Fuck! This is insane! Give me the address.”

“I’ll give you the address,” Alex said, “but, please, keep your cool when you get there.”

“I’m not going to lose it.”

“You’re already about to snap.”

“Alex,” I growled, stepping closer, “give me the damn address, or you’ll regret it.”

Alex opened Google Maps on his phone. “Just because he’s there doesn’t necessarily mean anything,” he said, zooming in on Zurich. “Maybe he’s trying to prove something to himself. He’s acting like a typical addict—someone who’s made progress but then slips up.”