𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢 - 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐚𝐮

𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐳𝐞

RICKY'S POV

i never really understood the idea of purpose until the day that i walked into my work building and thought 'all this pressure is on me.' it was that day that i really believe i grew up; maybe a little too fast for anyone's liking, but it was a necessary evil per say. i've known that work is my purpose for a while now. taking in information, writing it into some version of entertainment, and dispersing it into my community is what i was put on this earth to do and maybe that's it. maybe that's my task until the day i die and it'll be all i've ever lived for. 

but deep down, i feel that my purpose, which i saw so clearly, was fading and morphing into something different. 

that maybe living is a bigger purpose in my life than i realized. 

"stop staring at me, you're weird." nini spoke up, shielding her face away from me as she dialed numbers into her phone.

we were back at the apartment right now, one of nini's trained friends working in the cafe of today. i sat on the floor, playing tug of war to the best of my abilities with sadie while nini called up some of her friends to show off her new puppy. they'd be here soon, which meant i had to meet them too. i didn't like the idea; i didn't like it one bit. 

"sorry." i muttered sheepishly. "i was just thinking." 

setting her phone down on the counter, nini made her way over to where sadie and i were and sat down next to me. "about what?" she questioned while taking to dog toy out of my hand so that she could have a turn. 

"i'm not entirely sure." i shrugged aimlessly. "i was just thinking about what i was put on this earth to do. i mean, for the past five years, all i've ever thought i've meant for was work and work alone. but what if that's wrong?" 

nini's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "what do you mean?" 

letting out a sigh, i raked my hand through my hair. "i mean, what if there is more to life than that?" 

nini was silent for a moment, and i could basically HEAR her thinking. wait, no i couldn't, that didn't make sense, allow me to rephrase. i could basically her the SILENCE of me WAITING for her to be done thinking. that makes more sense. giving her a weary glance, i saw that she was biting the inside of her cheek and looking at me with a thoughtful expression. 

she hesitated, "are you okay with being vulnerable?" 

well, that's not what i was expecting. 

"i-i'm not trying to be weird or anything." nini added quickly, almost as if she needed a disclaimer for herself. "i just haven't known you that long, like, literally three-ish days and we are already really good at talking to each other, and if we are going to do what i'm going to ask you to do with me, i wouldn't want you to feel uncomfortable." 

i gulped hard at the vagueness of the whole sentence while my eyes widened with fear. "uh-" i blurted out. "it depends on what we are doing?" 

nini's teeth drew in her cheek again momentarily before she talked again. "here, we are both going to lay on our backs and just stare at the ceiling. okay?" 

okay, i don't really know nini to well, but i already know perfectly well that she's spontaneous, and certain levels of spontaneous are okay. this? this is just weird. 

"is this going to be yoga?" i groaned, my face contorting in disgust. "i hate yoga." 

nini giggled, laying on her back as her big brown eyes looked up at me. "just lay on the ground, loser." 

you can never argue with her, and i hate that. "yes ma'am." i grumbled, moving to lay next to her as my eyes drifted up towards the ceiling. 

it wasn't a lot; the ceiling wasn't. it was your basic, flat, white ceiling, but it was trimmed around the edges in a neat, almost column like pattern, while a light fixture hug in the center. it was a lot different than the apartments in new york. in fact, everything was different than how things were in new york, but in a way, that was expected.