Bound To You

Chapter 18: Balancing Expectations

A/N: Hello and Happy Valentine's Day! Here is an extra long chapter for you guys to enjoy! Would love to hear from you xo

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Expectations.

They are this thing in life that we somehow bound ourselves to in an effort to please someone or expect someone to commit the same amount of dedication we would for someone to please us as we would do them. But, they often fall short and lead us into a life of hurt.

What they don't tell is that expectations are a dangerous game that often leads to a downward spiral. Because you can do anything you want in this life, but you cannot do everything. Most people expect everything not anything.

Balance is the hope of expectations and the key to this life as expectations are the root of all heartaches. It is the key because they help us strive to find a common ground amongst these standards that are brought upon us.

All my life, I have been subjected to live up these so called expectations of my family. Ones that are entirely unrealistic in nature, but are demanding me of perfection when I am an imperfect soul. Those imperfections make me who I am, they are my own identity for better or worse.

Who is perfect anyway? It is near impossible to be without imperfections. What kind of life would that be?

I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, only the expectations that I hold against myself to strive for better. But, I will not sacrifice my identity to fulfill your expectations of me.

I will not.

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"Again." Cliff demanded Emilia to do another round.

Emilia glanced up at her trainer and groaned in protest. She brought herself to her feet and started the set one more time. The muscles in her body were aching, screaming out in pain but she pushed past that feeling visualizing her end goal of her standing on that Olympic podium with a gold medal wrapped around her neck.

"Good. Get deeper this time, Emilia." Cliff stood there with his arms crossed watching the princess carefully. "Now, hold it."

The muscles in her legs were on fire, burning with each passing second. Emilia concentrated on her breath and made her mind think of something else other than the pain. Cliff walked in a circle around the princess with a serious expression.

"We will be going to three training sessions a day. One total body and the other two will be spent working on your routines and jumps with Bandit and Pebbles. The trials are only a few weeks away and I need your best, Emilia. Mediocrity is not a word in my vocabulary when we are talking about the Olympics." Cliff informed Emilia of how the next few weeks were actually going to be a living hell for her. But, in some crazy insane way, this was what she craved and the competition was at an all time high.

Emilia had yet to qualify for the Illyrian Olympic team. The trials were to be held in London this year and she needed to be at her utmost best. Most people believed that she was a shoe in for the team, but she put those remarks to the back of her mind. The fact was, Emilia had something else to prove to the world, to prove to her grandmother that she could still remain a working member of the royal family and an Olympic athlete.

"Ok. you are done." Cliff's deep British voice spoke.

Collapsing down onto the grass, Emilia breathed out hard and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. Cliff was legit trying to kill her today. He kneeled down to her level, helping her sit up. "Good work, Mills." Her trainer sat down beside the exhausted princess, letting her catch her breath.