Summary: Jude/Zero[Gideon] centric spin on S2E7~'Isolation'
Jude had been waiting for the Devils' practice to end. He'd left multiple messages and sent texts to Zero, to no avail; he was avoiding him. Jude was still pissed about what had happened at the Roast. Between the chaos of the Derek and Terrence bust up and the photo of a topless and drug addled nineties era Sloane, he'd been attached to Oscar's hip, doing damage control. He'd had no chance to confront Zero last night.
When Zero and all the other players noisily exited the court, Jude easily slid behind them and gently nudged Zero off to the side.
"We need to talk."
The others headed to the locker room, leaving them alone in the corridor.
"What were you thinking getting into a fight with Derek at the Roast?"
"He was out of control. He came at me…"
"This is me you're talking to," Jude interrupted as he gestured toward himself. "Derek's a client at my agency, too. You need to be more careful, or I have to deal with the blowback."
Derek was still riding the goodwill of 'Dersha.'
Zero looked around to make sure no one could hear. "Jude, you and I came into this with a plan, you need to trust it," he continued as he bent forward.
His now familiar combination of aftershave and perspiration engulfed the space between them and for a change, it didn't distract Jude due to his rising irritation. "Just be careful. I risked a lot for you."
"Relax," Zero whispered, as he leaned in, grabbed Jude's shoulder, and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I got you." He then walked away and into the locker room.
At that moment Jude's phone vibrated in his breast pocket. He took it out and looked at it. Finally, some good news. A short text from the agency confirming that Zero's endorsement deal with Jantz had come through. There was a whole ad campaign dedicated to it. Rom Com pater between he and Yvette Okon, a well-known comic, as they hawked for the nation's second largest rental car company. Located in practically every airport in America. It was the perfect family friendly deal to go with his 'Good Christian Kid' persona.
He looked to see Raquel coming toward him.
"You okay? You look a little tense," she said.
"I've had better days," he replied, hurrying away as he put the phone back.
"Well, speaking of better days, I was hoping we could have that lunch."
"Really?" While he liked Raquel and found her attractive, he was skeptical that she thought the same of him.
"How about tomorrow, you and me."
"Like a date?" He was confused. She was giving him mixed signals. One minute no interest, then a few weeks later, she wanted to go out with him.
"Well, I'm not dating Pete anymore," she said with a flirtatious smile. "Why not, right?"
He smiled. "I'll make us a reservation at Arianna's."
He backed away, still smiling. It might be nice to be with someone who wanted him, if only for an afternoon.
~~~
"What's so important?" Jude asked, as he slowly walked up to Lionel, who sat at the Devils Playground bar, nursing a dirty martini.
She swiveled around to face him. Actually, she glided. Somehow, no matter what she did, Lionel Davenport seemed to glide, Jude thought.
"I don't need that courtside seat anymore. I've come to my last game."
"What are you talking about? You're our girl!" He said, managing to keep his hands inside of his stiff pockets, instead of insistently gesturing. "You're Oscar's girl." He knew he was being a bit of a dick, but the last few days had really tested his patience.
"I'm nobody's girl. We both know that I was never doing it for Oscar, or for you, or my movie. Tired of chasing. Tired of pretending I can have what I want. So I'm saying goodbye to the Devils. The games, parties, press, I'm out."
"You can't back out; we made an agreement. You're the best press Oscar's getting. He's gonna be pissed. He's gonna be pissed at me." He knew he was showing panic. He needed to calm down.
"You'll live." She gave him a tight smile, picked up her black, designer bag and walked out.
Jude let out a sigh. Fuck.
~~~
As Raquel and Jude walked onto the outdoor, Greek bistro, the waiter showed them to their table, assisting Raquel into a rattan chair. Jude was on the phone with the florist, while holding his jacket in his right arm.
"I should hope so. I'm not spending a grand on orchids to make her feel unimpressed. I said exotic. Not tropical." He put his jacket over his chair, then sat down. "She's Lionel Davenport for Christ's sake."
It had been less than an hour that Lionel had backed out of their agreement. He was doing everything in his power to woo her back before he was forced to tell Oscar.
"What?" he asked. Raquel was giving him an amazed look.
"You invite one girl out to lunch while you order flowers for another," she said with a laugh. "There's got to be some rule against that. "
"I'm not doing this for me, I'm doing this for Oscar." He indicated his phone.
"You go out of your way a lot for him?"
"I guess." Jude put his phone in his coat pocket.
"You have any pics on your phone of you two?"
"Of me and Lionel?" He thought that was a weirdly unexpected question for a first date. Of course, the answer was no.
"Of you and Oscar." She gave him another stare.
" Funny. Oh, you were serious?"
"You really don't have any kind of relationship at all?"
She was looking at him with sympathy, and Jude wasn't sure that he wanted it.
"Every relationship is different Raquel. Knowing I'm earning my father's respect, and it wasn't just gifted to me as a child, proves it's genuine."
"It's getting chilly," she said suddenly. "I left my sweater in your car." She began to rub her bare arms. "Would you mind grabbing it for me?"
"Sure."
~~~
That evening, after Zero, Lionel, Raquel, Oscar, and another quick strategy session with Zero, this time about the endorsement deal, Jude sat again at one of the glass table tops in the Devils Playground. Working, of course.
Raquel came into the bar, and after handing the bartender a folio she looked in his direction.
"Hey, you owe me for lunch. Dinner tomorrow, on you?"
"Oh, I can't."
"Can't or won't?"
This didn't surprise him. At Arianna's, once he'd returned from getting her white sweater, something had changed. While still nice and polite, both enjoying the sweet wine, warm bread and roasted peppers, that they'd shared, he'd felt her interest wane. The story of his dating life.
"I had a nice time, it's just…Pete, I don't think I'm over him yet."
"Seems sudden. How many women in this arena does that guy have in his harem?"
Unexpectedly, Sloane appeared, side eyeing Jude. "I need to talk to you," she directed to Raquel.
"Sorry," Raquel said to him, then quickly followed Sloane.
What the hell? Jude couldn't wrap his head around it. One minute Raquel was jealous of Pete's feelings for Sloane, and now suddenly the two women were holding each other's hair back?
~~~
"Take Oscar down? I don't think my father would like that very much," he said interrupting Raquel and Sloane's conversation.