I also agree with Starsky in that in some cases - where affairs are hot and heavy - no one is going to make much headway. That is the whole point of dropping back, protecting yourself and abandoning overpursuit. However, many affairs begin to die of their own accord and this could very well be happening in the present case.
I guess that's impossible to tell without any good independent evidence in Zen's case. It's all just guesswork.
