Romance Is Boring

Broken heartbeats sound like breakbeats

One week later. At a party.

-How's Jude? - Danny asked Zero, realizing that he as dangerously close to rolling his eyes,  quickly he bit his tongue and smiled instead

- Enough about him. How are you?

It was the smarmiest of smarmy lines and completely unconvincing to boot. No wonder Danny looked at him strangely.

-I'm fine - Danny answered, sounding slightly baffled. Pretending to be crowded from some people behind them, Zero moved a kitty closet to Danny. In the process, they almost accidentally touched. Zero's fingers lingered for a moment on the bare skin o Danny's forehead.

-Sorry. - Danny whispered, smiling apologetically. He stepped back and start looking around again. It's what he has been doing all night. He could not keep his eyes on Zero for more than a few seconds. And he could not stop talking about Jude. Right on cue, he turned back to Zero and asked him another question about Jude.

-I tough you said he'd be here.

-Nope, just me.- Zero pointed out Danny- distracted, disappointed- nodded, but suddenly his face lit up. Feeling apprehensive, Zero followed Danny's gaze. Hopefully, it wasn't Jude. Hopefully, Jude was the kind of guy that moped in his apartment. Alone.

- Oh, shit.- Zero mumbled when he spotted Lionel. She looked furious. And her fury seemed to be direct solely at Zero. She was stringing towards them with purpose. Without saying a word, Lionel snapped Zero's elbow and dragged in off into a corner. He barely managed to save his beer.

- What are you doing.- she demands. Amused, Zero straightened his clothes

- I'm not doing anything, except putting in a good word for Jude.- he bluffed. It was complete bullshit. He had been trying to pick up Danny and she knew it. Anyone at the party with half a brain knew it because Zero had been forced to practically thrown himself at the most clueless guy in the history of the world.

-Please, - Lionel scoffed loudly - Jude tells me everything.

Zero eyed her coldly.

- I doubt that. - He replied. Lionel glared at him with narrowed eyes. She doesn't trust him. Never had. Smart women.

- You know what I'm wondering ?- she added - Are you willing to sleep with men to make Jude unhappy or is sleeping with men maybe not such a hardship for you? - She whispered. Zero yawned before replying.

- I don't know what you are talking about.

- You know that Jude likes Danny. - she insisted

-Do I? Does he?- Zero mused, taking great care to look and sound disinterested. He peered at the bottom of his bottle while swirling what was left of his beef around. When he glanced up, Lionel was still there, looking equally bored. She appeared perfectly prepared to play this game all evening.

-So what?- he asked

- So maybe you shouldn't f**k Danny.

Zero's chuckles.

-What's this?- he mocked- Are you trying to hold me to some sort of bro code? I don't do that.

If Jude had told everything - like Lionel had claimed- the perfect come back would have been:

-There are a lot of things you don't do .- Zero didn't peg Lionel as someone who would pass up on an opportunity to stick the knife were it hurts the most. And what better place to jab than his stupid stance of relationship that had cause Jude to break it off with him? Since she said nothing of the kind, Zero correctly assumed that she wasn't aware of that.

- Jude likes Danny, back off.- she merely cautioned. Zero smirked at that. He drank the last of his beer and half-turned to face Lionel.

-Yeah, Jude likes Danny so much that he slept with him.

Lionel's expression didn't change. Her lips didn't quiver. She didn't blink. Noting twitched it gave anything away. Not a muscle in her face moved. Excellent poker face, Zero thought. He had realized that she had probably already known that there was someone.  If he had to venture a wild guess, though, he'd said that she was as stunned to learn that it has him.

-It's not my fault that it didn't work out between Jude and Danny.- Zero added- If Jude's gonna avoid all my random hook-ups then he's never get laid.

-Is that all you want? Is that all this is about? Are you, like eliminating a threat? - Lionel speculates. Her eyes narrowed to slits. Zero looked away.  How the hell could she figure out his intentions that quickly?

-You must either be cruel or desperate to be pre-emotively sabotaging his relationship. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're in love with Jude.- Lionel quipped. Zero had to work hard to look like she hasn't scored a direct hit and Lionel wasn't fooled. She allowed herself a little smile of triumph.

-Well, this was fun. Gotta tell a man about another man now.- Lionel informed him. Zero grabbed her arm to stop her. That seemed to become something of a habit. She raised an eyebrow and stared him down.

- Nothing happened with Danny and nothing's going to happen.- Zero promised to let go of her arm

- Are you asking me to trust you?- Lionel asked as if that was the most ridiculous request she'd ever heard.

-You can't tell Jude.- he said. She considered that. He wasn't going to stoop to begging this time.

-Okay, I won't. But you owe me big time.- Lionel warned. She turned to go but appeared to change her mind and paused.

- You know, Jude told me about this guy who only wanted to have a good time. That guy broke his heart. I hate that guy. Jude, on the other hand, is in love with that guy. You know that right?

Zero nodded, miserable. Unimpressed, Lionel regarded him.

- They man up and do something about it, this is pathetic.