4. Chapter 4
Chapter four
Roman
There’s something seriously wrong with me. I think I might be sick, because I’ve actually enjoyed Lance’s company today. All of it. The whole time. No arguing. No disagreements. Nothing. I lift my hand and press the back of it to my forehead. Nope. I feel fine.
“Have you ever noticed how all the couples around here seem to always be from the same blocks?” Lance asks as he slides into the booth across from me.
“It would be kind of hard for it to be any different, wouldn’t it? How often did you communicate with people from other blocks?” I ask before taking a sip of my coffee. I mean, it’s hardly coffee. More like milk and sugar, but I digress.
“I guess you’re right.” He agrees as he tears off a bite of his muffin. “You’re like the resident computer genius. Why don’t you make a dating app like Tinder or something?”
I glance up at him in confusion. “What is that?”
He stops what he’s doing and glares at me. “The dating app? You’ve never heard of Tinder? Did you live under a rock before you came here?”
“There was no dating where I came from,” I explain as I take a bite of my cheese danish.
“No dating? At all? How did people get married and have kids?”
“Marriages were a privilege, and only ever used for political advantages. Procreation was the main focus, and if you were gay…” I gesture around me. “Well, you see what happened to me.”
“You got sent here just because you were gay?” Lance asks as he continues to stare at me in shock.
I try not to think about the shitty place I came from. Do I like it here? Fuck no, but it’s eons better than where I used to be.
I shrug my shoulders. “Yeah. Could’ve been worse. At least they didn’t kill me.” Although if Maven didn’t offer something for me, they probably would have. Eventually. Why house and feed another mouth that refuses to give you more workers for free, huh?
“Fuck, man. You sound like Jett.”
I chuckle to myself. I sound like Jett because we came from the same place.
I don’t say that, though, because I’m the only person here who knows it.
I’m only privy to that knowledge because I have unrestricted camera access, and I heard Maven discussing it with Ollivander.
Jett also slipped up once and said the name of a maid that I used to know, but that could’ve been chalked up to a coincidence without the confirmation from Maven.
I’ve been in this prison a few years now, much longer than Jett, but I’ve started to speculate that we might also be related.
He has lighter hair and eyes than I do, but our facial structure is remarkably similar.
Same eye shape, same nose, same jawline.
I’m younger than he is, but there were multiple compounds and we never interacted with anyone from the other buildings.
It wouldn’t have been out of the question that we’d never have crossed paths.
I’m assuming that I was only traded off before him because I made it clear that I wasn’t going to be providing them with another breeding heifer.
I was surprised that Maven roomed Jett and me together with the risk of us being related, but in hindsight, it was a foolish doubt.
I sifted through the records, and there’s only ever been one set of roommates here that got involved with each other, which seems weird, but the odds were in his favor that we wouldn’t be interested in one another.
Of course, I already knew where Jett came from, so I wouldn’t have gone there anyway.
“You should definitely consider making a dating app. I think Maven would jump all over that idea. I could help you with the design or whatever. I used to do some illustrating years ago. Mostly for odd jobs, but I’m sure that could help with the design.”
I stare at him blankly as I put my food down. “You and me? Working together?”
He rolls his eyes. “Yes, Roman. I’m sure that we can act like adults long enough to complete a little bit of work. Then you could start dating someone and stop stalking me through the cameras every day.” He says as he distractedly balls up his straw wrapper.
I scoff before taking a sip of coffee. “Stalking you... Right. Saving the prison from your sexual prowess is a better description of what I spend my free time doing. If you spent less time trying to flirt your way into the bed of every person you met, then maybe you’d actually have the time to help me work on a project. ”
Pain flashes across his face before he jumps right back into his normal smartass self. “That’s pretty fucking judgmental coming from someone who spends so much time behind a computer screen that he doesn’t even know how to flirt.”
I roll my eyes. No matter how right he is, I would never give him the satisfaction of knowing it.
He takes the last bite of his muffin and crumbles up the paper bag it was in. “How about this… give me a few days. I’ll draw up a few ideas and write down some notes. I’ll bring them to you when I’m done, and we’ll see if you can make it happen.”
“I can make anything on a computer happen, Lance.” I reply confidently without bothering to look up at him.
“Well, it’ll have to work on phones, too.”
I wave the idea away. “Same concept. Tiny computers.”
“Great. Then I’ll talk to Maven and get the information to you later this week.” He declares as he slides out of the booth, tossing his garbage into the trash can.
My eyes follow him as he starts toward the exit. “Wait… I haven’t agreed yet.”
“That’s not what Maven is about to think!” He yells over his shoulder as he pushes his way out the door.
As I finish my coffee in solitude, all I can think about is the fact that he didn’t bother staying for dinner with me, and he didn’t even need another guy to convince him to miss it.