Exes and Vexes

Once outside, Lena decided to scuttle around the corner to find a place a bit more quiet.

She was hardly expecting to find Gio, crouched on the ground and tearful. Yet, there he was. And it dawned on Lena she’d never seen a man cry before, but she shook that thought loose from her head.

“Are, uh, are you okay?” Lena asked gently, shuffling towards his crouching figure ever so slightly.

Gio looked up, surprised, and his face soured at the sight of Lena.

“You’re one of Zanthe’s friends, aren’t you?” He spoke like he’d eaten something sour, and wiped a stray tear from his face. “Lena, is it?”

Lena nodded, and glanced around for some sort of miracle cure for his sadness. She couldn’t find one, so crouched down beside him and looked at the floor.

“Do you need something?” He asked, too drained to speak with the level of animosity he had intended.

“No, uh…” Lena pondered the appropriate way to show her concern for him.

Was I even okay for her to be beside him right now? They were practically strangers. And her closest friend was his ex-girlfriend, which Lena assumed would make things more complicated… Lena looked to the side and contemplated leaving, lest she make things worse for Gio.

Gio, watching her wide eyed contemplation, let out an amused scoff.

“I can see why you’re friends with Zan, she likes to pick up strays.” He dropped himself fully, so he was sitting on the floor, and leant back against the building behind him.

Lena looked back at Gio; head tilted. She was friends with Zan because she was incredibly cool, kind and patient with her. She’d never wondered why Zan was friends with her until right this moment, and she couldn’t find an easy answer. Was Gio right, saying it was because Lena was a ‘stray’? Lena couldn’t quite refute this claim – she didn’t totally understand it – but also couldn’t figure out why this would be a problem. If Zan wanted to take her in and look after her, Lena would hardly complain.

“But be careful,” Gio said, eyes downturned and depressed, “She discards them just as quickly as she takes them in.”

“Oh.”

That hardly sounded like Zan, Lena thought, but it also didn’t seem like Gio was just making this up.

“Is that, uh,” Despite her best instincts, Lena decided to keep speaking, “Is that what happened with you?”

Gio looked at her, one eyebrow raised and another furrowed. “You don’t hold back, do you?”

“Sorry.” Lena’s mouth crumpled into a squiggly little line.

Gio sighed and pushed back a strand of black hair that had fallen out of his ponytail and into his face. “But yes, I suppose it was. Our relationship was good, healthy. But she told me she didn’t want to settle, when there was so much she had yet to see, and so many people she hadn’t met.”

“I… See.” Lena didn’t really get it at all.

“And it’s not like I was asking her to get married and settle down with me, she just decided I wasn’t enough for her! But she couldn’t even point out anything for me to work on, it was all just incredibly vague and selfish waffling.”

Yeah, Lena was clueless. He was obviously upset over it, but she couldn’t understand why, and she hated that she couldn’t relate. Gio mistook her annoyance at herself for annoyance at him. He rolled his eyes and got to his feet.

“Whatever, I’m a fool for thinking someone so close to Zanthe would care.”

Lena looked up at him, eyes wide. She did care! She didn’t like seeing sad people!

“That’s not-“ She mumbled so quietly that Gio spoke over her without even realising.

“And it’s clear you’ve never had a bad break up before, so how could you even have the capability to understand?”

Lena frantically got to her feet, a strange feeling rising in her chest. It was a feeling she’d spent most of her life supressing – Anger.

“You don’t even-“ She interrupted herself with a janky foot stomp. She had so many things to say, and little experience with operating in a state of anger.

He looked at her smugly, seemingly proud he’d been able to rile her up. Her anger bubbled quietly for a few more moments before it burst.

“I have had a bad break up!” She yelled.

Gio crossed his arms and looked at her condescendingly. “Really?”

“Yes! And it was worse than yours!” She rebutted, unsure of why she was choosing this hill to die on, but feeling satisfied, nonetheless.

“Worse than the love of your life looking you straight in the eye and saying you’re not enough?” He snarled, voice raising.

“Yes!!! My God, that’s fucking nothing!” Lena smiled as she shouted, liberated by the fact that she had just sworn and been blasphemous in the same sentence.

Her words served to rile Gio up, who opened his mouth to speak. But Lena was on a roll, and she continued.

“I left my fiancé behind when I came to New Sol!” She declared with a strange amount of pride.

Gio scoffed in disgust. “Seems rather selfish.”

Lena nodded aggressively in agreement. “I didn’t even tell him I was leaving! He would have locked me in his basement if he knew what I was planning!”

“He… What?”

“What?”

Every drop of anger left her, as Lena realised what she’d just told him. Her face which had been flushed red with rage was now pale, and her blood felt cold.

Gio blanked, trying to figure out if she was making some dark joke. “Are you being for real?”

“No!” Lena shook her head with great panic, clinging onto his question as a way to get out of this. “I was just joking!”

It suddenly dawned on him she was being very serious, and his skin ran almost as cold as hers. “But-“

“I was just joking!” She repeated loudly, shuffling away from him. “I don’t even know a Jacob. I made it all up, I’ve never been engaged!”

She forced herself to laugh, but Gio just looked at her with concern.

“Goodbye!”

Lena ran away.