In Over Her Head by Elsie Russell - Parnasse.com

DICK SCHWANZ HAS A CHANGE OF HEART
Wrapped in the terry robe, she drew aside the drapes. Blue sky.
The pane was cold. Art students bustled in the small courtyard on the
other side of the building so it had to be around nine, schools were
universal that way. Where was Alessandro?
She dressed, the system was designed for speed, or for
maximizing one's makeup applying minutes. Penny used her makeup
minutes to make sure all her tech was recharged and ready for action.
Then she went down the hall towards the kitchen. The pictures jumped
out in all their tawdry banality. In the living room, Alessandro was
already pouring himself a drink. Dick marched up to him and stopped
not a quarter inch from his nose.
"I've had about enough of this, of you." He was drunk too.
They had the look of people who had woken up fighting. She
didn't want to know any more. Spotting Penny, he added, "Both of you,
I don't run a hotel here, you and killer elf there, yeah you, you gotta
clear out! Your stuff too. Brain zapper, all of it. Now, beat it!" He spun
on his heels and marched back into his quarters.
Alessandro didn't move. He glanced at Penny and Inez, who
had hobbled in from the kitchen. Inez patted him on the arm before
fading back into the kitchen.
This left the two of them, marooned on the white flotaki island.
He rubbed his eyes. They were red and circled in brown.
"Did I miss something?"
"Get your stuff, we go to the hotel, an improvement, I promise.
No ghosts," he said in a hollow voice.
Penny crammed everything into her carry-on, including the
hiking boots, and walked back through the hall to the door. She did not
look at the photos.
She stood by the door with her bag and looked out at the
Louvre and the yellow leaves shivering outside the window in the pale
morning sun.
He punched in a number as they waited for the elevator. He
kicked in his bag and leaned back against the etched glass. A few foot
tapping moments, someone answered.
"Quoi? Pas encore reveiller? Mais, putain, qu'est ce que tu
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