Gauri woke to the faint gray light seeping through the thin curtains of Room 7. 

For a few seconds she did not remember where she was. The ceiling fan turned in slow, uneven circles above her, its soft creak cutting through the heavy stillness. The air felt warm and lived in, carrying traces of the night. His cologne lingered faintly. Her jasmine oil clung to her skin. Beneath it all was the unmistakable scent of closeness, of two bodies that had not kept their distance.