B
e
t
w
e
e
n
.
Between a doorway glowing N°79 and a bar that remembers every hand that rested on it.
Between first drinks and last looks.
Between the city breathing at night and the quiet that comes when two people finally hear each other.
Between glances held a second too long.
Between laughter that spills over ceramic cups.
Between chopsticks hovering, offering, trusting.
Between a skyline dissolving into charcoal air and a table lit by one small flame.
Between public and private.
Between hunger and tenderness.
Between the story we tell the world and the one whispered across a table, across a bar, across a room.
These images don’t move forward.
They hover.
They live in that charged, fragile space
where everything is possible
and nothing has to be explained yet.
“So…”
Dre looks up.
“So?”
“…What?”
Roman smiles.
“What gives?”
“What gives what?”
“How are you still single?”
Dre shrugs.
“I don’t know.”
“Oh, come on.”
“I’ve been busy.”
“You’ve always been busy.”
“I haven’t really been looking.”
Roman studies him for a second.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s the truth.”
“…Mm-hmm.”
“It is.”
Roman leans back.
“Okay.”
Dre raises an eyebrow.
“…Okay?”
Roman nods.
“I’ll let it go.”
“Thank you.”
A beat.
“It’s okay.”
“What?”
“I know you’ve probably got a few dead bodies in the closet.”
Dre nearly chokes on his water.
“I beg your pardon?”
Roman shrugs innocently.
“I’m just saying.”
“Saying what?”
“Nobody this good-looking stays single for no reason.”
Dre laughs despite himself.
“So now I’m hiding bodies?”
“I’m keeping an open mind.”
“You watch too much television.”
“You’ve got at least one mysterious ex living in another country.”
“I do not.”
“A secret fiancée?”
“No.”
“A second apartment?”
“…Roman.”
“What?”
“You’ve clearly rehearsed this.”
“I’ve had the train ride over to think about it.
Dre shakes his head.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“I’ve been told.”
Dre takes another sip of water.
“All right.”
Roman smiles.
“What?”
“My turn.”
Roman leans back.
“Go ahead.”
“How are you still single?”
Roman doesn’t even blink.
“I get bored.”
Dre stares at him.
“…You get bored.”
Roman nods.
“I get bored.”
“That’s your answer?”
“It’s the honest one.”
Dre folds his arms.
“That’s terrible.”
“I know.”
“You just admitted that like you were telling me the weather.”
Roman grins.
“You asked.”
“I did.”
“And I answered.”
Now I think Roman elaborates—not because he’s defensive, but because he realizes how bad that sounds.
“It’s not that simple.”
“No?”
Roman shakes his head.
“No.”
He looks down at his glass for a moment.
“I just…”
He searches for the words.
“I like discovering people.”
Dre listens.
“And after a while…”
Roman shrugs.
“…sometimes it starts feeling like we’re having the same conversation over and over again.”
Dre nods once.
“So you leave.”
Roman frowns.
“I don’t want to.”
Then Dre gets to do what he does best, observe. Not judge, observe.
“I don’t think you get bored.”
Roman looks up.
“No?”
“I think you stop being curious.”
Roman blinks.
There is a long pause.
“…Huh.”
Dre shrugs.
“You’ve always been curious.”
Roman is still thinking.
“I never thought about it like that.”
“I know.”
–