"I mean I wouldn't be offended if someone said we are a couple, you are pretty sexy - you got the looks and the brains, but if I was in a relationship with you, I wouldn't be dating you for your brains." Roth meaningfully looked down at Tristan's crotch and gave him a wink followed by a chuckle.
Tristan felt the temperature in the room rising, what the hell had he just said. Did Roth even have an idea of what he was saying? Could he really ever think of Tristan that way?
The troubled look on Tristan must have given it away, because, "Calm down! I was joking, duh, besides we are both painfully straight anyway." Roth clarified for Tristan's benefit.
Tristan licked his dry lips, "Of course, it was a joke, I know." Of course, he knew. Roth could never be serious about him.
"Sit down, I want to talk to you." Roth, now serious, pulled another rotating chair before himself and gestured to Tristan to sit on it. Tristan poured out two mugs of steaming coffee from the coffee maker and sat on the chair opposite to Roth, handing one of the mugs to Roth.
"So, what's it about that you want to talk to me?" Tristan inquired, resting his back on the chair and taking a sip from his mug of coffee.
"You, Tristan, I want to talk about you." Roth, on the other hand, placed his mug on the table behind, leaned forward towards Tristan and looked at him with that piercing look that made Tristan's breath quicken.
Tristan struggled to swallow the coffee - has he found out about me? What if he has figured it out? Roth eased his worries by continuing to speak, "I have noticed that you have been a little off lately. You spend most of your time in your room and rarely hang out with me. Is there something I should know of?"
"Oh," Tristan let out a sigh of relief, "No, no, it's nothing like that. You are with Ruby most of the time anyway."
Roth arched an eyebrow, "Why does it sound like you have a problem with Ruby?"
"No, why would I have a problem with her? As long as she keeps you happy, Roth." Tristan was quick to dismiss Roth's suspicions. He could never let him find out the truth, and so he had to pretend that everything was okay.
"Perfect, let's have dinner together tonight then! I want to make up for how much I had been abandoning you these past days." Roth said cheerfully, but he had an apologetic look on his face too. Without waiting for Tristan's response, he grabbed his mug, gave Tristan a pat on the shoulder and walked off.
Tristan heaved a breath and rested his head on the back of his chair. That's just how Roth was - making decisions for everyone all the time.
x - x - x
She was undoubtedly pretty, with her silky blonde hair which were currently tied up in a knot, and clear blue pair of eyes that were lovingly set on Roth at the moment. They were dining on a cruise with one side of the table against the railing and each three of them on the remaining sides, such that Roth and Ruby were facing each other.
Ruby's beautiful petite hand was on Roth's handsome manly hand that Tristan had imagined doing unspeakable things to him many times. She was wearing a dress that hung low on her breasts showing off some of her cleavage.
Roth had been unable to keep his eyes off her since he had seen her tonight. Perhaps it was the first time he had seen her in a dress. As they stared into each other, Tristan wanted to grab that knife in front of him and put it through Ruby, that's how much he loathed her.
How could Roth fall in love with that stupid mess?
The waiter arrived with their food just in time before Tristan could further contemplate poking that knife into her.
"We didn't order these onion rings, we don't want them, plus their smell gives me the ick, could you please take them away?" Ruby was saying to the waiter with that characteristic sweet smile on her face.
Tristan fixed her gaze on Ruby, "Yeah, and so what? Sometimes we don't want things or people but they still keep sticking around even though they know they give everyone the ick. Just like you, Ruby, no?" He heard these words come out of him before he even realized.
That smile was wiped off from Ruby's face as she stared back at Tristan. Not only her, Roth too stared at him with disbelief. He could not believe his best friend could say such a thing about his love interest even when he knew what Ruby meant to him.
Roth had somehow taken control of the situation back at the dinner, but what Tristan said continued to bother him. He decided to disregard Tristan's words as a joke delivered incorrectly, but Ruby was not doing that.
She had not spoken a single word since after that event, nor had she changed out of that dress from the dinner. She was sitting next to the window in her room staring outside at nothing in particular.
Roth walked up to her and put his hand on her shoulder, "He didn't mean that Ruby." He said quietly. He knew whatever he would say wouldn't resolve the effect of Tristan's words.
Ruby looked up to him, "Do you not want me? Am I just a fling for you like all the others?"
"I have never been in a relationship with any woman, but I am committed to you. Doesn't that say how much you mean to me?" Roth sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulder, "I am sure Tristan was not serious, and even if he was, whatever he said was not true."
Ruby kept looking down at her hands. He put his index finger underneath her chin and lifted her beautiful but tear-stained face. He lowered his lips down to hers and slid his other hand behind her back.