Posting this here, so I can go ride my meat bicycle. It is a nice day today.
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Outburst
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"You already know, I've been concerned for a while now."
"Concerned over what?"
"For you and of him, y'know." Rebecca was referring to James. "You and him have been distant for quite a while."
"That kinda stuff happens, 'Bec. You know this." Irene waved it off, she sipped on her matcha tea. "James and I are just going through times where we lay off one another. We're pretty busy people."
"But we're on vacation." Rebecca said. "He should be spending more time with you."
On Rebecca's part, the doctor was right; James has been hanging around her but not as much as they used to. This was the conversation they were having last night, but Rebecca wanted to talk with her friend again this near-afternoon about it since it greatly concerned Irene. Irene and James would be inseparable back then, and now James is putting a hold on their relationship for now. Irene couldn't understand why, but she always assumed the best; mayhaps he still needs some time, since they did get into an argument some time ago.
Rebecca, outwardly, assumed the worst. She'll have to do some covert work, just in case if she finds James with someone else...
"He's just been seeing his grandaunt and being around his friends. I can trust Jay and Adrian, if something is wrong, they would tell me."
Rebecca knew that. "Still." She swirled her straw in her smoothie. "Keep an eye on him."
"Why are you so vigilant for?" Irene started to laugh. "I can assure you, there is no funny business going on outside of our relationship. That's not gonna happen." Irene shrugged with a chuckle. "Don't worry so much, first for Lexi and now James? Rebecca, relax."
For the past month and a half, Rebecca has been noticing Stark changes in the way Lexi is now. The model, at the core, was still herself, but now she didn't hang around Rebecca anymore. Most of her phone calls were with Ambrose now, her business meetings were becoming a regular part of her routine (save for now since she was on vacation), and whenever she's actually with Rebecca she can't help but talk about the events that have happened at Rose Corp so far.
"Okay the thing with Lexi is, she doesn't even talk with Jay anymore!"
"She does." Irene leaned forward. "She's still with him, you know."
"Yeah, but they seem distant now. Like, I don't want her to get real close with Ambrose, and then end up getting cheated on."
That is a weird placement of fault there. Of the two individuals, Lexi was more likely to cheat because of her involvements, Jay himself remains a loyal man, but Rebecca was looking out for the people she cares about.
"Jay would never cheat, Rebecca. He's not like that."
"He just… needs to have a talk with her at least."
"It's a business venture, though. It should be expected of Lexi to get amicable with Ambrose himself."
"Yeah, but not enough to not take her mind off of him!" Rebecca gave Irene a cross look. "I dunno what kind of shit he's swaying her to do."
"Who?" Irene furrowed a brow. "Ambrose?"
"Yes." Rebecca nodded. "It's not unheard of for a male business partner to wrap his female counterparts around his finger whenever he can. He's rich as hell, he'll do anything to keep himself on top of someone."
It's quite surprising to hear Rebecca speaking of Ambrose, despite not knowing him at all. "I'm sure he isn't even like that. From what Lexi tells me, he's a sweet and reasonable person."
"She's enraptured." Was all Rebecca had to say. "How could she keep that much interest in someone who probably lives sheltered away from everyone else?"
Oh, there is much you can garner from him. In fact, it wasn't Ambrose's fault for keeping Lexi interested, rather it was the other way around; the model subconsciously would pick the best, most attractive outfits to their meetups, she would get real close to him and she would try to push against him on her own accord. Ambrose on the other hand, would keep things under a strictly business manner, he wouldn't try to sway her in any other way.
"You're reaching again, man." Irene shook her head. "Lexi is smart. She knows how to handle herself."
"But Ambrose is much smarter." Rebecca narrowed her eyes. "He can manipulate anyone without even trying."
Part of her bashing came from the fact that she is now losing a friend to someone else, and she didn't like the idea of losing it to someone who was richer, geekier, and more than likely socially inept. It irritated her; what can he do that she couldn't?
"Rebecca, chill out." Irene held her hands up. "As I said before, Lexi knows how to handle herself. If something like that were to happen, she could just get Jay on his case."
That last part was jokeful, remarking that Jay would beat a trillionaire's ass for being sweet with Lexi was wishful thinking, not only because Jay liked Ambrose, but because Jay was at a disadvantage. If Ambrose wanted to, since he had lawyers upon lawyers upon justice officials that he's affiliated with, Jay laying a hand on him he will get sued. Not only that, but self defense is not a rarity, some people are stronger than others, some are weaker than others, and some of them are just hiding.
They don't know who they would be dealing with if a physical fight broke out.
Rebecca sighed. "Fine, fine. I rest my case." She chuckled lightly, her phone vibrating all of the sudden. She got a message from an unsaved number that she's been talking with; said number was temporarily stored as a private line, so it cannot be traceable by conventional means.
778-88-6783: Where? This city is weird.
While Irene went back to eating the rest of her food, Rebecca quickly took her phone in hand and replied.
Rebecca: Eastbound :).
She was only giving locations to a place this person needed to be. She didn't need to say much since the names of the area they were at weren't that hard to work with.
"Other than worrying about your friends, how is this resort for you?"
Rebecca turned her phone off at that question. "Oh, it was okay. Actually, pretty fun to say the least." She looked downwards. "I kinda wanna hang around Zamasu more, I miss his company."
Irene nodded and looked downwards. "Me too."
Rebecca frowned. "You miss him?"
"Why the fuck not?" Irene shrugged, she giggled as she tucked her curly hair back. "It's fun speaking with him, and seeing how angry he gets when I breathe."
"It's vacation, I'm sure he just needs a break from you." Rebecca smirked, earning a light punch from her best friend. " I think you two are starting to get along."
"Uh-huh." Irene scrunched her face up in sarcasm. "That guy can't stand me being around him." Which should give her incentive to piss him off more because it's funny, but she's had a few things lingering in her mind, namely James of course. There were tiny seeds of doubt planted in her thoughts on behalf of how their relationship will be, or rather if it will last. It seems to be falling, she didn't understand why; for the most part, she gave James a lot and expected much from him because that was what she gave to him. And he is an amazing boyfriend, don't get her wrong, but he feels that she isn't considerate enough for him.
There isn't much that he has for her to consider other than him anyway. She shrugged. "Things will be fine."
Her off handed comment made Rebecca look back at her after a second contact number had hit her up. She knew Irene was still thinking about James, and she would need to reassure her friend that everything is going to go well. The redhead woman smiled kindly, her bright features were sincerely positive as she patted her best friend's shoulder with her left hand.
"Everything's going to be fine, Irene. Trust me…"
…|...|...|...|...|...
He dreaded this.
He dreaded ever thinking that a relationship was going to make him feel valid and complete, because it sure as hell doesn't.
Ethan, after leaving Rose Corp that evening, went to a catering place in downtown of South City. There was a reason why, though; he wasn't hungry or anything, he just didn't want to go to his house because his girlfriend just confirmed to be there. He didn't want to deal with her manipulative tricks or shit like that, and this was the first time, personally, that he could say he was tired of it.
He didn't know if that was an effect of working at a job that required confidence, and from the great people around him.
He also packs his laptop almost everyday, he sits at any coffee shop or even during his breaks just typing away. He extensively started learning how to code and how to comprehend algorithms over the past month and then some, and he was shocked, almost scared, to say that this was much easier than he had expected. In fact, it was much more fun when compared to writing articles of any topic, he found himself getting deep into it. He would spend extra time after clocking out talking with Evan and Chandler about… just coding.
Hey, it was much better than doing nothing, which was his life prior to working here for the most part.
He ordered a platter of cookies and a cup of water, even his eating habits had changed, and went to one of the booths by the window to sit. As he walked he came across a guy sitting by himself, looking like he was waiting on something. His cup (which was covered, fortunately) was too close to the edge. He had papers right beside him with a digital notepad, and he moved his arm to rest his other hand fretfully on his forehead, but the back of his hand pushed the cup over the edge of his table.
Quickly, since Ethan was walking right next to him in lieu of the action, Ethan held the cup at its body, keeping it from falling and spilling all over the place.
The man himself looked in alarm, but realized that Ethan had caught his cup before it fully dropped. "Thank you so much."
"No problem." Ethan nodded. "Are you alright?"
The man placed the cup away from the edge now, and he sighed. "Yeah, yeah I'm good and all. Just little things here and there, but I'm good nonetheless."
Ethan looked over his features. He tilted his head. "You sure? You don't look so good."
He seriously didn't know where this newfound confidence came from.
The man before him wasn't mean and asocial, so he regarded Ethan with a small pause before caving in. "... You'd be right." His Mandalan features made him have an eye smile when his lips would curve upward, but he wasn't masking his concern. "Things been a little shady lately."
Ethan raised a brow. "Like, job wise?"
"More like social wise." The man moved his pen away. "My job is fine, there is just been some things going on a friend."
"Really?" Ethan raised his brows. "Are they okay? Wait- can I sit?"
"Eh, sure, go ahead." He waved his hand dismissively. "And yes, she's fine. At least I would like to think that, but she hasn't spoken to me in a while."
"Oh." Ethan blinked, a waitress came by with a dessert platter of cookies and a cup of water. He threw in a suggestion. "So she's busy?"
"She works at the same place as me."
Ethan frowned. "Haven't you tried talking to her?"
"I have." He shrugged. "She doesn't sit down to talk with me at all."
Ethan can relate, heck his girlfriend did the same thing. "You know, if it makes you feel any better, I'm in the same boat too."
He took a sip out of his cup. "Really?"
"Yeah; my girlfriend is uhh…" Ethan looked away before snorting to himself. "Kind of an ass. She only cares about herself."
It was now the man's turn to furrow a brow. "Why don't you call it quits then?"
Ethan looked back at him, gesturing with a smile. "Why don't you call it quits?"
The man blinked, but the both of them had a moment of silent agreement. "Now that I think about it, I really don't know. She's just been in some trouble and I was worrying about her, but she is only a friend; I'm in less of a bond with her." He shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry that you have a shit girlfriend."
"I mean-okay, I made mistakes and… was desperate."
"I can tell." The man smiled. "You look really young."
"Huh?" Ethan frowned, and looked at the Mandalan man before him. What if this guy was like seventeen? "I'm only in my early twenties."
"See? Like I said." The man chuckled. "I'm a new 40."
"You're forty?" Ethan leaned forward.
"Yup, just turned forty like a week ago."
"Wow…" Ethan nodded, and then he narrowed his eyes. "Lemme guess; you had a party or something, she didn't come?"
"Well actually I did go out with a few friends for pool. She was heading out for vacation at the time."
Ethan nodded in thought. "I think she's just not rolling with you, man. Seems like a subtle way to end a friendship, I assume you guys have been close for a long time."
"Three years, to be relative." He smiled. "It was nice meeting you, by the way. I'm Terry."
"Ethan." The IT admin (yes, that's his title now. He's stoked to have it) shook Terry's hand. "Nice to meet you too."
Terry gave the guy a sweet smile. "What'cha got over there?"
"Oh, this is just my laptop." Ethan pulled his laptop up. "I was about to do some logging and stuff, just on the fly."
"Really?" Terry took another sip, already interested in Ethan's techy business. "Tell me more about it."
He did. What was supposed to be a solemn hour of him just coding and getting ideas out, turned into a solid hour and a half speaking with this guy Terry. They had a lot in common, in terms of the situations they were going through, and he learned that the man was a gynecologist. That's quite riveting.
When Terry had to leave, the two exchanged numbers having being relatable and amicable to one another. Ethan had bid him a farewell before opening his laptop and jotting some stuff down. He spent another forty five minutes sitting before leaving a tip and exiting the catering place to head back to his house.
He parked his car in front of his house, and went up to his door with his key in hand. He entered his house to see none other than his girlfriend relaxed against his couch. She didn't say hi, and this time Ethan didn't make the effort to immediately greet her, he just went to place his things on the counter table that divided his kitchen and living room.
"So you're not gonna say hi to me?"
And there she goes. "Hello." Ethan took off his jacket. "How are you?"
"I'm good." She didn't look at him. "Where were you?"
"At work."
"Work shouldn't be this long."
"I did a little overtime." Ethan went into his fridge aimlessly.
"Why?" She stood up from her seat, now going towards the kitchen countertop to lean against it. "You're already making a lot of money, there's no need for you to stay there for so long."
Ethan turned to look at her. "I do a lot more than just take and note calls, you know."
"Like what?"
Ethan paused for a moment. "I kinda help with blueprints of stuff. Those take a while."
Ethan had inadvertently gotten better at wording, so now he wasn't cowering under her glare like he used to. She blinked twice, furrowed her brows and nodded slowly. "Hmm…" Then, just like that, she turned around and went back to her show on the TV. That had been happening a lot lately, and much of it stems from how much less bullshit Ethan's been taking from her; once she realizes she has nothing over him, she just leaves him alone. Even sometimes when she ignores how he was and just starts rambling about her own life, she'll notice that Ethan would now ask her to stop so that he could work on something.
He used to let her ramble on, over fear. Fear that he no longer knew the reason to.
Ethan watched her plop back down on his couch, taking his remote and turning the volume up on his TV. He shrugged to himself, he was already making enough to sustain his house very well anyway.
He went to his room with his jacket and laptop. He no longer needed a brief case because Chandler said that… well, one didn't really need to bring one to Rose Corp in the first place, unless if they were specializing in critical paperwork. Ethan quickly changed into his home gear, which was a pair of sweatpants and a regular shirt, then he plopped down on his bed and turned the laptop right back on. He cracked down on behalf of what he was making, it was an idea he propped up while sitting at the food court one day. Even though she had left him alone, Ethan still felt her negative vibes from here.
He wouldn't let that dower his ability to work. Hell no.
…|...|...|...|...|...
As for James, the basketball player had left the motel with his bros, and he was now in his one bar called Tatch. It was within reach of Intima, selectively far from the love hotel in regards to Zamasu, and just four miles away from their actual suite location.
Every one of the guys had picked an open, curved shaped booth that allowed them to see everything within the actual bar. James went up to the bartender to get drinks, and Jay for almost the first fifteen minutes into their arrival was nearly fidgeting happily over something.
"Are you okay?"
The Kaioshin looked kind of concerned for the Mandalan producer, even if he wasn't looking like he was in trouble.
Jay looked at Zamasu and stopped bouncing in his seat, shrugging. "Oh, nothing. Nothing at all."
"Are you sure about that?"
Now Jay was smart, he quickly cleared his mind of the thoughts in his mind before Zamasu could impeach his brain, even though that's not something Zamasu was going to do. "Yup."
"He's just excited because he gets to drink fine Zamayaki again." Adrian shrugged at his best friend hitting his arm.
"You're acting like I don't drink a lot."
"You don't drink a lot." Adrian clarified his statement, and Jay went silent because it was true. "Exactly."
"That's a good habit on your part, Jay." Zamasu regarded the producer. "But I can tell it's something else that's making him so jumpy."
Adrian looked up from his phone and smirked, weirdly enough Zamasu can tell that this was something they both were hiding. "I know why…"
"Why?"
Adrian looked back at the automatic glass doors along with both Jay and Zamasu. Several seconds later, an individual walked in wearing a velvety dark red fitted shirt and black pants of the same velvet texture. His black shoes were as shiny as loafers, and his long hair was pulled back into a braided ponytail. Zamasu's eyes went wide, and Jay's smile got so big his cheeks could be hurting right now.
"SHONA!"
The martial artist turned immediately at the sound of his name, and smiled brightly at the group of people that he was going to fight in four days. He went to sit by Jay. "Hello all."
"Shona." Zamasu couldn't help the smile on his face. "Why show up so early?"
"Because when I found out you all were in Intima," Shona shrugged, "I couldn't help it. I like the sights of this place."
"Fair enough." Adrian dapped Shona up. "How was the production team?"
Adrian was referring to the most Shona was going to be in. Since he is a major star, he knows the actual directors and screenwriters for what project he'll be in. "They were cool for the most part, a few of them brought MegaSoakers in and we all had a gun fight after the set."
MegaSoakers are Desna's SuperSoakers. If you remember what those even were, you were an awesome child.
"The type of shit that goes on behind the scenes…" Adrian shook his head. "Why didn't you invite me?"
"Aren't you all on vacation?" Shona narrowed his eyes.
"Right, but still." Adrian nudged Shona's shoulder. "Just for that, I'm not going easy on you when we fight."
"You're not going easy on me?" Shona blinked. The three humans heard a loud snort from Zamasu; this reminded him of the off handed comment Shona made back in the masseuse parlor, where he said that the men they were fighting 'looked strong'. He didn't know why he suddenly remembered that, but Shona's humbleness was almost comedic to him when it came to insults.
"Isn't Shona a reprised martial artist, Adrian?" Zamasu gestured to the older superactor. "What can you do to him?"
"He can scratch me." Shona said. "But not without breaking his nail."
Both Zamasu and Jay quirked up at that quote. Jay snapped his finger at Shona. "Don't bring Return of the Ancient quotes around here, boy-o!"
That was a movie Shona was once in, and that was a quote from his character. He shrugged. "Just saying. Now, what about you Zamasu? You've spent thousands of years studying martial arts haven't you?"
"More than you can fathom." Zamasu nodded.
"Are you sure that's not just book knowledge?"
Oh, so now Shona wants to rank with him too?He heard the sound of Jay and Adrian going oooo over his rebuttal. Alright. "I'm more than positive it isn't. You've seen what I was capable of doing."
"Not to the fullest extent." Shona smirked.
Zamasu shook his head. "Don't get too full of yourself."
Meanwhile, James had been saucing up orders for everyone's drinks. They did offer green tea and James had picked that for Zamasu since he is proper. He decided to stay and actually wait instead of going back to his boys, surfing stuff on his phone for the time being.
There was this female bartender who keeps eyeing him in a weird way. As Shona walked in, James had turned around to greet him since Shona had seen him through the tinted glass doors. All James did was turn around, say 'hey' with a tiny wave and once he turned back around, the woman was right in front of him.
"Good evening."
She smiled sweetly, she was very attractive; her hair was very long and curly, but it cascaded like Adrian's instead of staying as an afro. Hr skin was a light coffee coir, she had gorgeous green eyes and an equally gorgeous smile. She had a finger tracing circles against the bar tabletop that she was leaning on.
"Uhhh, good evening to you."
"James Desmond, right?" She tilted her head.
People knew him, he was famous. "In the flesh."
"I have a brother who is an absolute fan of yours." She smiled. "So am I. He just got me into basketball."
"Really?" James smiled, not noticing the fact that she was leaning forward to show her cleavage. That wasn't what James was focused on.
"Yeah, like… I saw the last finals and was rooting for you." She smiled. "You here on vacation?"
A plus in his book was when a fan didn't excessively talk about his career. It is kind of weird when someone keeps… congratulating you on your talent; once is fine, but after like four consecutive times it just gets awkward. "Mmhmm, with a few friends."
"Ooh, where are they?"
"Over there." James pointed with his thumb, and she did this cute action of moving forward a bit just to see them. That was cute.
They looked like they were bantering. The smile on her face grew. "You all look like a funny bunch." She giggled. "How long will you guys stay here?"
"Like uhh… two more weeks and then some."
"Really?" Her eyes widened, brightening the hue of her greens. "So am I!"
Now it was James' turn to widen his eyes. "Really?"
"Yup." When she noticed the frown on his face, she explained. "Business trip. I like to travel, and work as a bartender in places around the globe."
"Ahhh, so you're a relocator?" James said. Relocators are people that take the same occupation in different countries and cities. "That's interesting."
She nodded. "Yup, I'll get called in for something else in another two or something weeks." That 'something else' was nothing that James needed to know. "Are you single?"
James looked into her eyes. She had really beautiful eyes, and her face was pliant, but it had a fiery side to her that only the men she's with can see. She held herself up very well, it was almost surprising to catch a fan who would be this way with him. She was gorgeous, she did her job very well (he can tell from the hiball she made for him), and her voice was something to die for as a female...
The basketball player shook his head. "Nah, in a relationship."
"Ooh, that's sweet." The smile on her face didn't fall. In fact, it got bigger. "How is your girlfriend?"
"She's fine, for the most part."
"For the most part?"
"We haven't talked in a while." James shrugged. "She and I have been busy."
"I can tell, you probably had many interviews and preshots you needed to go to after that game." The bartender shrugged. "Is she on vacation with you?"
For some reason, her attractive advances stopped, she was not engaging in getting to know him at least. Strangely enough, James was okay with it; it's not like this person herself was set out to ruin his life or anything. Most of the population doesn't give a fuck of your status unless you do something good. "She is."
"Then why not talk with her?"
"We're distancing. Getting our shit together, basically." He chuckled.
"Ahh, I get that, I get that." She nodded. "Shit happens, y'know."
"Exactly." He nodded; this woman was chill as hell. He gave her a smile and she smiled at him too, she had a really warm smile…
He noticed the drinks coming around by a server who was carrying them in a cocktail tray. She snapped her fingers at the server's direction. "I think that's yours."
James turned around to see the server place the tray of rich and aged drinks (plus the special tea) on their table. He turned back to her. "You're right." He got jump from the stool chair, giving her a nod in acknowledgement. "It was nice talking with you, umm…"
"Just call me B.A." She said.
"B.A, that's… that's quite unique." That earned a giggle from the pretty woman. "You're an interesting person." As in, her persona seemed interesting. B.A gave him a kind wave as he left her side, not as reluctantly as he would think so since his friends were here, and went to the others.
Away from where he and B.A were sat another woman who was intensely eyeing the basketball player. She, in contrast, looked like she couldn't contain herself.
"Looks like Shona and the bubs have arriiiived!" James raised his hands, making the rest of his group raise their glasses and teacups.
"You are late to the party." Jay shook his head.
"But I'm here." James sat down and took an empty glass, filling it with ice from their personal bucket and grabbing a bottle of Josu. "What did I miss?"
"These three were bantering again." Adrian said.
"You were in it too!" Jay pointed a finger at his bestie.
"Is it about the fight?" James narrowed his eyes. "You guys can't stop going on about that. Is that why Shona's here early?"
"Well, I love Intima. I used to come here a lot." Shona smiled. "I can't help the sights."
"Right."
"I'm serious!" Shona reasoned quickly. "But I wouldn't lie; a good combat is always something to reprise."
"You'd be right on that." Zamasu agreed, before something caught his eye. A woman he didn't know was walking to them with an elegant platter of treats for the five men. She seriously reminded him of Irene, except much more attractive, she even caught his eye.
B.A smiled kindly at the men, even though she was sort of confused as to why the green guy is here. She placed the platter down. "Your treats, gentleman."
James raised a glass in her ode. "Thank you very much, B." B.A gave him a quirky smile, an inviting one, before turning around to her bartending duties. Zamasu watched her catlike gait, that woman was fine. He looked down at the treats, which were jelly-like and shaped in cute little cubes.
"Guys look!" Adrian pointed to the mounted TV on a farther wall, placed in a position where almost everyone could see it in this portion of the bar. There was a game of contact dodgeball being played and boy, when Zamasu first saw this he was friggin' hooked. It was basically what we once knew as standard dodgeball, except the players themselves were very good at acrobatics and would do flips, bullet jumps, screws and cartwheels to dodge the incoming balls from the other team. The entire playfield had this insane layout with obstacles around as if this was freeform tag too, and trust me when you sit to watch this, it gets intense.
Back when he used to live with Rebecca, he went hours watching reruns of this stuff.
"Who's on who?" Jay leaned to the side to see the screen better. "Is it the Fangs against the Fists?"
Yes, they have teams too. Adrian nodded. "Yuuuup, this was the one battle that aired like a month ago."
"It still stands as the best episode of the season." James nodded. "Team Fang."
"Excuse you?" Jay stole Zamasu's favorite line. "Team Fist."
"Fang." Adrian frowned at Jay.
"Sorry Adrian, I'm on one with the Fists." Shona shrugged and smirked. The four males looked at the God, who watched them go at it before shrugging his shoulders.
"I am impartial." Zamasu smirked.
"Oh, you think you're smug." Adrian narrowed his eyes.
"It's not right for a god to choose sides."
"Okay so, let's say you found out Irene was also impartial. Are you still gonna not choose sides?"
Zamasu furrowed a brow. "Why would that affect me?"
"Because Irene." That earned a snort from Jay and a chuckle from James, while Shona remained confused.
"What is wrong with Irene?"
"He doesn't like her." James answered Shona's question.
"Why?"
"I have barely any tolerance for stupidity." Zamasu shook his head. "Let's watch this for now, I think the match is almost over."
He had just noticed and realized two things; James no longer defend his girlfriend when Zamasu says something about her, of course that could just be him accepting the annoyance Zamasu has for her. But that fact was supplemented by another; Jay no longer talks much with Irene.
He barely keeps contact with her, at least as outwardly as he used to. Zamasu wondered if something happened between the two, or if there was more that Irene said in that one phone argument and Jay now knows about it. They may be two very meager observations, but it surely piqued a brow from him.
"Yooo, D is in, D is in!" Adrian pointed to the supposed D, who just jumped right in to the area ready for action. Pretty much everybody was locked in on the actual game; the guys themselves were leaning in, and James was damn near standing off of his seat.
The Kaioshin kept his eyes on the screen, there was only D versus Nu, the other team member from the Fangs. B.A was sitting on the countertop watching the scene with her coworkers as well. They watched as both D and Nu went into the opening each carrying two balls. They were now throwing and dodging at superfluous speeds, flipping and jumping just in time to snatch the ground from the ground.
There were sounds of people perpetually waiting for the winner to arise. At one point, the ball came at a close-shot with D, and he could not side step quick enough. He put all his leg power into a beautifully executed backflip while the ball went flying right beneath him, and he threw the ball in his hand, knocking Nu right out and leaving his team as the victor of the match.
That made an uproar go off in the bar as everyone who was for the Fists cheered on, James had jumped right out of his seat already hyped up by the fact that his team had won. Many of the people actually did this too, with Jay hanging back because the Fists did lose but he wasn't mad at all.
"You saw that backflip, man?" Adrian raised his hands. "It was fucking crazy!"
"It was clean too." Shona nodded. "The ball didn't even graze him or anything. It was perfect."
"You know what, you guys can enjoy your victory." Jay slow clapped sarcastically. Zamasu approached them too. "But the Fists are coming right the fuck back next season."
"Sure." Adrian placed his hands on his hips. "Alright now, James-"
Adrian turned the fuck around, expecting to see James all happy and elated over the Fangs' win. He did not expect to see some random woman, who had grabbed him by the collar with his hands against her waist, and her lips locked onto his.
Adrian fast walked straight to where James was while Zamasu, Shona and Jay turned around to see why Adrian was shocked. Whistles were heard everywhere, there was a flash that came from some other direction, and before James could rightfully pull away Adrian had yanked him by the back of his shirt away from the woman.
He pulled James to turn him around, the man looked mildly confused. "What the fuck's that for?"
"Dude, I swear on everything…" James quickly apprehended. "I was cheering and shit, and then that woman just pulled me into a kiss!"
"Did you guys see that flash?" Jay said. "Someone took a picture of that."
"Oh shit, shit, shit, shi-" James looked down, panicked. It wasn't on purpose, he didn't want to kiss her at all. She just yanked him into it!
Adrian can see that James did not actually want to kiss that woman, especially from how anxious he looks right now. "Okay okay, look- dude, calm down." He raised his hands.
Jay came in to reassure him. "It was an accident man. Where is that b-"
"Language, please. I know you're angry." Shona caught Jay before he could say something incriminating.
"Where is that woman?" Jay looked around and Zamasu scanned the area.
"She had ran once James was pulled from her." The Kaioshin frowned. "She may have even left this bar."
"Oh, for fuck's-" James breathed. "You guys gotta listen, that was completely unintentional."
"We can tell." Zamasu nodded. "Calm down, I'm sure that picture wasn't taken directly at you two. Keep in mind, everybody is in the midst of celebrating right now."
"Exactly." Shona agreed. "You're fine. It was just an accident, James."
It didn't sit right with him. Sure, fans are crazy but he's kept himself fortified enough for this to never happen. The one time he decides to go out without heavy security, and this happens?! This woman had left the entire bar afterwards too, none of this sat right with him. But he had to stick with the positive notes of this; to be fair, this wouldn't incriminate him in any way especially considering where they were at, and what had just occurred.
"Fine, fine. It was." James finally caved in. "Can we leave?"
"Fine." Jay nodded, not giving it a second thought. "We'll leave."
"I'll tip." James pulled out his wallet, and went to their table to leave a fat sum on their bill plus a hefty tip. Zamasu watched the quickness of this man; all of the sudden, he sees James worrying over being seen as a cheater by Irene. He knew that James was nowhere near that, the man had much to consider, but seeing him like this in this incident was thought provoking.
Because like James, Zamasu himself did not think this sat right with him at all.
"Alright." James picked his jacket up while the others did as well, minus Zamasu since the cold didn't affect him. The basketball player took a deep breath before turning to the other wary men. "Let's hit up another place."
…|...|...|...|...|...
Irene was chatting on the phone with Ashley, who was out with Lexi shopping for some clothes. The artist lounged back against a sofa with a bowl of chips in her lap, looking at the TV in front of her.
"So how are the guys, since Adri called you earlier?"
"Oh they're doing fine." Ashley smiled. "They're at this bar called Tatch-"
"They're at a bar?" Irene's eyes went wide. "-Sorry, I just haven't been to one in a really long time."
"You didn't know about Tatch?" Ashley shrugged. "It's like the most well known bar out here. I dunno if they are still there, though."
"When did Adrian call you?"
"Like two hours ago. They were in Tatch at the time but knowing them, they probably went elsewhere."
"Hnn." Irene nodded slowly. "That's gonna be my next catch. Alright, I'll see you later, hope you pick out something Adrian will like."
Irene could see Ashley's wink. The writer smiled. "Trust me, I got Lexi right next to me. I will." She giggled. "Alright, catch you later."
Irene hung up, smiling down at her phone. Ashley and Adrian were a cute couple, they were a loyal couple too; nothing could ever get in the way of their bond. She decided to at least check the website of this Tatch place. Luckily enough, Intima's search engine also had optimized image viewers, where those who search for a place will get recent pictures of said place from those who posted publicly. She typed in 'Tatch', which brought up the actual website and some of the pictures that were recently taken. The interior of the place looked very modern and smooth, many of the decorations and furniture had light around their outlines. There were pictures of people chilling around, the statue on the front of the bar's logo…
This place was quite nice.
Rebecca, out of nowhere, came nearly running down the hallway. Since the hallway was carpeted, her footsteps weren't loud at all. She paused, apprehensive, then slow walked her way to stand just several feet behind her best friend to see what she was looking at. She came at just the right time: Irene was looking at the sights images.
"Hey!" Rebecca came around the sofa and sat right by her friend. She placed an arm over her shoulder. "How ya been?"
"I'm good, I'm just checking out this one place Ashley told me about." Irene shrugged. "Tatch."
"Oh really?"
"Yup, that's where Adrian and the guys are, or were at today." Irene scrolled through the pictures.
"I'm sure they left by now, they've been away from this suite for a few hours." Rebecca leaned forward to peep the phone screen.
Irene was busy looking at the sceneries, so her voice started to trail. "I'm sure too… I wonder if I can find some recent pictures too. These pics were taken like two years ago of how the place looked, it might have changed by then."
When she reloaded the page, Rebecca went into the kitchen to get a random drink. A notification for new feeds popped up. When she did, there were like four new photos; one of the actual page, which only looked marginally different, and two of the others that showcased the bar's large selection of the best drinks.
One in particular caught the absolute, most perfect snapshot of James. This picture was not him jumping all happy like he was prior because she couldn't see his face.
Because some woman was kissing him.
Irene looked normal for the first two seconds of looking at the photo, almost not registering it as anything before it started to sink in. Slowly, her face morphed into one of a multitude of emotions; shock, confusion, irritation, and anger. This was a perfect still shot, as if it was taken from a movie, and the entire atmosphere looked like some giant party. She can sort of point of a sliver of Adrian's curly hair at the edge of the image itself, but this…
James had kissed another woman.
Irene instantly dropped her phone on the coffee table, and leaned back with her fingers on her temples. James told her that they were to separate, since they were having complications in their relationship but… is this what he meant? Maybe that's why he wanted to distance away from her.
What, is he too pussy to say that he doesn't want to be with me anymore?!
"So, I came across this thing right?" Rebecca was leaning by the kitchen's open exit. "And… Irene, are you okay?"
"Come here."
All Irene said was that, and she was serious. Rebecca cocked her neck back and blinked, tilting her head. "What's wrong?"
"That's what the fuck is wrong." Irene pointed at her phone. "Look at it."
Rebecca came closer to see the image of James kissing another woman.
Irene couldn't see her friend's face. "No way…" Rebecca sounded incredulous, how was this taken?!
"Yes way." Irene stood up. "He's been talking about 'Oh, we should distance for a bit to get ourselves together' and 'We'll surely be better by the' and then he goes out, and does shit like this?!" Irene pointed at her phone angrily. She was talking as if he's done this before, and in truth he hasn't, but once you've been cheated on…
You can't help but think they may have done this more than a hundred times.
Rebecca, knowing her friend group more than anyone, nodded. She had present evidence to support her grave suspicions, even though Irene wouldn't want this to ever happen to her. "Irene… this is rash-"
"No shit!" She started pacing. Rebecca knew Irene very well; Irene was one of those people who had never had bad intentions, nor had she ever had bad things done to her. She lived life in an inadvertently protected seal, so she can't handle when something goes wrong.
Rebecca took a step forward. "I could have expected this from him, but not in this manner." She shook her head. "I don't like this."
Irene took a moment to breathe. "Rebecca, you know how he's famous and shit don't you?" In the heat of her anger, Irene started to adopt the thoughts and concepts Rebecca had voiced to her before. Rebecca widened her eyes. "So he thinks he can just go off and kiss another woman and not get caught?!"
"Irene, calm down-"
Her friend grabbed her phone, saved a screenshot, and then pressed the home button and turned it off. "Just wait, wait until he comes back."
Rebecca looked downwards, keeping the scornful look on her face. "I just can't believe it, that that actually even happened…"
Despite once being in an abusive relationship, Rebecca herself has never been cheated on. She didn't have much moral support to directly give in this case, because that image only showed a direct breach of trust. "I can't believe it, that this was captured."
Irene sat back down, the fire in her was during. Her hands were shaking with the need to blow some steam off, and who better to do it at then the person who fucked you over? She propped her hand against her cheek. "I'm gonna fuck his world up the minutes he steps in this fucking suite…"
…|...|...|...|...|...
"That was a fucking cheat!" Adrian narrowed his eyes. "That whole damn game was a cheat!"
"What, because you can't match a god in accuracy, Adrian?" Zamasu smugly gestured to himself.
"Was this his first time bowling too?" Shona asked. Apparently, Shona himself never went bowling until now.
"...yes." Jay answered.
"You know what's really sad?" James started to laugh. "You two," He referred to Adrian and Jay, "got your asses handed to you by two dudes who have never played before."
"I'm not a dude." Zamasu retorted.
"Okay, then what are you?"
"I'm a god."
"You're a dude, still. Or like a dude-god." James shrugged. Shona facepalmed and kept his gaze on the limo's window.
Zamasu straight faced. "I'll pretend you never said that."
"I'm telling Ashley that you beat the both us." Adrian looked at Zamasu. "Nobody can best Ashley in bowling."
"Excuse you?" Zamasu cocked his neck back. "If I can beat the both of you, what makes you think I can't go against Ashley?"
"She's the best by a mile." Adrian said. "Was of the Top 5 in West City, and in the leading top 10s in all of Tycho."
"No ranking system could out match the mastery of me, Adrian." Zamasu snapped his fingers. "Keep that in mind."
"Fine, we're going back to the suite anyway." Adrian said. "Maybe next time, I'll get you to challenge her."
"Hmmph." Zamasu crossed his arms. They had reached the suite in around fifteen minutes, the guys getting off and each leaving a tip for the limo driver before walking off to their suite's entrance.
Let's just say the limo driver was happier than normal after that tip.
Adrian offered to open the door, and told Shona that there was an extra room if he planned on staying with them. The martial artist told him that he had already rented out a room for himself, so he was fine on that behalf. They walked in and were greeted respectively by their girlfriends and Rebecca, who stayed far away from coming anywhere near James. Irene was upstairs, so she didn't come down until a minute later. Lexi gave Jay a sweet kiss after turning her phone off, and Ashley whispered something in Adrian's ear.
One thing remained clear; the majority of the girls, save for Ashley, did not openly greet James the way they did with Zamasu and notably Shona. They just gave him simple hi's, and Ashley had a look as if there was something to discuss.
Zamasu frowned, and Shona raised a brow; they were the only three who noticed this action quickly. The atmosphere of the room had changed once James entered, and James in particular was trying to ignore that feeling in his gut that was telling him…
This isn't good.
Irene walked down the hallway the would lead to the stairs, throwing something back into the hallway nonchalantly as she did so. She waved at the guys, pissed Zamasu off especially by calling him 'Sour Green', and smiled as she did so.
The second Irene saw him, she approached him quickly with a nonchalant look about her. When she got up to him, James had his arms out to embrace her. She didn't raise her hands to return the gesture; instead, she reeled back and slapped him square in the face.
"So who the fuck is she, huh!?" She didn't relent, she started swinging right onto him, being as belligerent as she possibly can by throwing the worst of insults at him.
"Whoa, what the f-" Adrian left his girl and went to pull James away, while Zamasu instantly got pissed at sudden rampage Irene was making. Now, everyone was trying to pull the two away, Zamasu hooked his arm around Irene's mid section and lifted, literally throwing her off of him and making her fly back a several feet.
The guys, Lexi and Ashley went to go see if James was okay, because Irene's sudden jab literally made him fall over. Rebecca went to go care for her friend while yelling at Zamasu. "What the fuck was that for?!"
"I'd rather not have a fight break out in the midst of our vacation."
"Oh, so you'rein on it too?!" Irene quickly sat up. "You're defending the fucking cheater?!"
The guys got quiet for like two seconds. Jay spoke before Zamasu could. "Listen, Irene, he can explai-"
"I saw the damn picture already! There is nothing to explain!" She started going after him again. Zamasu gripped her arm as she passed by him. In her rash defense, she started trying to hit Zamasu even though he was dodging her only two blows before he pushed her back. He was being nice.
She scowled at him. "You're a fucking dick, you know that?"
"I'm a what?!" The second Zamasu raised his voice the entire room, including Adrian and Shona helping James with his jaw, went dead silent. "You think acting rashly like this is reasonable? Watch your tone-"
"Fuck your reasonability!" Irene balled her fists. "James kissed another woman and you all were there, and now you idiots want to defend him?"
Where did she get the notion that Adrian and Jay, her most trusted guy friends, who turn around on her if something like this were to happen on purpose? She would've questioned what had happened instead of just outright fighting someone she obviously can't win against. That was the most rational thing to do in this case, especially because they were witnesses. This made both Adrian and Jay exchange looks.
"Irene." Shona was shocked to see how rabid she was, since this was his first time actually having met her. "Please understand that you have more than three accounts of testimony for this situation; we all know that it wasn't something he had done on purpose."
"Suuuure." Irene rolled her eyes while saying that. "All of you, shut the fuck up." She waved her hands dismissively at every person in the room. "Let him say it was an 'accident' to my face! I wanna hear it from him."
Adrian shifted a little to let James look at his girlfriend. The right side of his face was reddened, and Adrian patted his shoulder. "Speak for yourself, man."
"Don't go supporting him, Adrian!" Irene yelled. "You're in the wrong about this too, you fucking si-"
"Shut the hell up and let your boyfriend speak."
Everyone turned to see Ashley, who looked more than peeved off at the fact that Irene was coming at everyone else in lieu of being upset, not to mention she was about to insult her man too. The writer turned to James. "Go ahead."
James stood up. "Listen, Irene, I swear on my grandaunt's whitebed that I did not kiss that woman on purpose." He explained to her how he and the other men were watching Contact Dodgeball and were celebrating the final episode of the season. While he was up, some woman had grabbed him and slammed her lips onto his.
Zamasu winced a little. Swearing on his grandaunt's whitebed, her hospital bed, was heavy. But that goes to show how serious he is about keeping this relationship under wraps; even as they were heading home, James still looked anxious.
Irene blinked like three times, before frowning deeply. "You expect me to believe that shit?!" She then waved her finger at his person. "With how tall and big you are, you really think I'll believe some woman could pull you in for a damned kiss! What, was she just as tall and as strong as you?!"
"Irene-"
"Was she prettier?!" She started walking towards James again, her fists were balled so that made both Adrian and Jay stand on guard. "Is this what you meant by taking time off of our relationship?"
"No, it isn't!" James stressed. "It was all an accident, I didn't initiate anything!"
"Irene." Jay, like Zamasu, was getting annoyed at the loudness of Irene's voice. This was a side of her they all never expected to see. "We were there, we saw; it wasn't James' doing."
"So?" Irene shrugged. "James could have went somewhere, chatted this bitch up without you knowing, and then have her come around to kiss him!"
Jay literally pinched the bridge of his nose. "Do you really think James is like that? Come on, you are his girlfriend, you should know that he tries his absolute best to keep shit between the two of you peachy."
"Fuck outta here, I feel like I don't know him anymore." Irene shook her head. "I saw the picture, why would it be posted on Tatch's image feed then?!"
That was how she knew of the kiss. Now Jay was standing up fully and approaching her. "You're going by some more-than-likely shitty picture that isn't even posted by him to verify his as a cheater?!" Lexi visibly flinched, she knew Jay didn't like irrational people, this was how heated he could get when crossing one of them. "You have us four; me, Adrian, Zamasu, Shona- we all know James didn't kiss that woman on purpose!" Then he turned to Shona. "I'm sorry for this, man."
Irene had it, she snapped again at the traitorousness of her guy friends and while Jay was turned around, she made an attempt to swing at him again. She didn't even get a chance to connect her fist with his face, Jay had caught her forearm with two fingers.
He pushed it away with such force that Irene stumbled backwards a few meters. "Did you really just try to hit me?"
"Listen, cretin," Zamasu also had enough of watching this woman berate her friends, "listen to us, instead of acting like a fool. What happened with James was not his doing at all, like we've said multiple times, we witnessed this." The Kaioshin approached and stood right beside Jay. "If you attempt to hit anyone else in this room, I will not hesitate in knocking you out, you understand?"
Irene gave him the darkest look he's ever seen on her face, but all he did was roll his eyes. She can't do shit to him. The Kaioshin regarded James. "James, go freshen up and sleep, it's been a long night. Forget about her for now, when she's open for reason and understanding, maybe then what you say will go through her thick skull."
Irene felt utterly insulted at the fact that Zamasu just sweeped her away like she was nothing. James was about to leave, but Irene quickly stood up. "You're gonna listen to him?"
"Irene look," James once again, was trying to be sympathetic, but Zamasu could see even his patience was wearing thin, "I've tried telling you that this was completely accidental. You don't trust in me?"
"I don't trust cheaters."
He cocked his neck in slight shock, she was not swayed at all. "I put it on my grandaunt's whitebed, I swear on it!"
"Your grandaunt's dying soon anyway, you can't swear on that."
What Irene said concluded what Zamasu had thought of her, that she had been so 'invincible' for so long and if anything bad were to happen to her, she would not be able to handle it. What she said made Adrian frown deeply, and it especially made Ashley and Jay very fucking mad. The both of them could vouch for James constantly checking on his loved one on his own behalf, it was not a chore that he had to do. He selflessly went out of his way to see how his lonely grandaunt is doing. What she said made Lexi cock her neck back with a look of awe, and made Shona tilted his head in disappointment.
James didn't even argue with her anymore. Her rebuttal got him in a bad place, and the last thing he wanted was to curse her the fuck out, because… because that hurt. His grandaunt was one of the happiest people who got shunned by the rest of the family for her lifestyle, she may be pale and old now, but she had a smile that could brighten a cloudy day. His grandaunt was technically his second mom, his friend, someone who he told many of his funny, shitpostlike stories to.
Irene had just implied that her life, in her condition now since he knows she'll live, didn't mean shit to place trust on. It was a direct spit in the face to her as a senior individual.
He took hold of his jacket which was one the floor, and walked away.
He left the living room and went upstairs to his own room, leaving the angry, stubborn artist surrounded by her now shocked, and definitely appalled, friends. Except for Rebecca, she went to stand by Irene's side once her friend had stopped being so rabid.
Zamasu took a deep breath, noting the twitching of Jay's eye. "Do not waste your time." Was all he said. "She's angry, she doesn't know what she's saying."
Irene snapped at Zamasu. "I know exactly what I'm sa-"
"That is not something that you would say. Clearly, you don't know." Ashley turned to he boyfriend, motioning for him to go upstairs.
The producer looked at his friend, who… pretty much wasn't afraid of hitting a woman to be honest. "Jay, leave it be. It'll sort itself out."
Jay turned to Adrian. That was Adrian's way of saying leave her the fuck alone, it's not worth your time. He gestured to Lexi and left the living room with her, already peeved off. Adrian turned to Shona. "Hey man, uhh…" He accidentally started laughing because poor Shona was just standing there all confused and clueless as to what he should even do.
"Yes?" The martial artist blinked.
"You wanna watch a movie with me and Ashley in the lobby, at least?"
Zamasu for some reason admired when Adrian was passive aggressive. Shona shrugged, and then nodded. "Yeah, why not…"
"Is there room for one more?" Zamasu looked at Adrian, who straight faced at him.
"Of course there's room from one more! Get the heck over there with us!" Bringing the humor back, Adrian smiled at Zamasu who smiled as well. The Kaioshin turned around without even sparing a glance at either Rebecca or Irene, he's had enough tea about the two. Adrian, Shona and Ashley left with the God, while Rebecca stood there watching them all leave. Shona was the last to exit, he did give them a tiny look back and Rebecca waved her hand allowing him to go.
He had no business in this game.
"Irene, it's fine." Rebecca patted her shoulder. "Just stay away from him, I don't think I can trust him myself at all. Let them continue to follow, I got your back hun."
Irene smiled at her best friend. "Rebecca… thanks, I still can't believe that even happened."
"What, them walking away?"
"Yes. Even Ashley and Lexi." She shook her head and stood up to walk away. "I need a breather, lemme go get like… a drink or something and sit down."
"To think about him?" Rebecca made her disgust obvious with that question. It swayed Irene to make a negative decision.
"Hell no, I'll sit down and think about the next thingy I'm gonna paint." Her waved her waved dismissively as she entered the kitchen. "Fuck him."
Rebecca chuckled a bit. "...Can I say 'that's the spirit'?"
She was being choosy with her words, but Irene came around with an enthusiastic smile. "No, it is the spirit! Just move right on, girl."
Rebecca really liked Irene's enthusiasm. "You're right… move on…" Some thing that she herself had a problem with doing because it was so hard…
To change and be a better person.
Rebecca followed Irene's movements while she spoke, preferably in present tense. "You're a good person, Irene."
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Oh no, James and Irene are no longer in that perfect, peachy relationship anymore, even though they technically haven't been ever since James' big win at the grand event. Whose side are you on, if you're even choosing sides?
Shona had the worst outta everyone else, he had no idea of how Irene is like in the first place.
In Tycho, Ethan had just met Terry, show tells him that his friend has been ignoring him. For now, Ethan does not know the gravity of the situation, but it's been dying down unbeknownst to the gynecologist. On the plus side, he's got a new friend! A better one.
On a point of Irene: Zamasu was right. That's all I have to say, now that she's shown a new side to her persona, how will she be treated now? Will Zamasu even try to bicker with her like he always does?
We all know he will, that's bound to happen no matter what.
Anyways, I'll hope to see you people in the next chapter :)