Mai Chen had no knowledge or cared about motorsports in any way, simple. Her heart belonged to the piano, her hands moving to play the perfect melody to warm any heart. She had her difficulties but she never let it stop her.
She had no interest in l...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Truth be told, Mai Chen had prayed to the skies that life would be easier for her...that someone must be able to take away all of her problems and give her a normal tame life.
Her parents hated it. They'd always followed Buddhism as their path and it always had a positive impact on Mai and Huan, it made their parents better people and that was a large bonus as a child and an adult. However, Mai's parents also believed that just because Mai had issues others didn't, she didn't have to try to pray them away, she should learn to accept them instead.
However, trying to tell a ten-year-old girl that as she lay in bed missing half of her school and social life was impossible.
Now, Mai didn't try to change what she was going through but that didn't mean she had to say she wanted to live with it; she didn't but she accepted that she couldn't just wave a magic wand and that was enough.
Then out of nowhere, some random guy had come into Mai's life to tell her she'd never even lived a life of fun.
Mai's walls of content had come crashing down the moment she realised how much she was missing out on when she didn't have to be. The moment that she realised her content had turned into a barrier of things that were possible.
Life was complicated.
She trusted the so-called 'random guy', who was really called Pierre Gasly. He showed no sign of twisted intentions and he was so naturally honest with Mai despite them barely knowing each other; Mai hadn't quite reached that stage yet.
Pierre was incredibly patient, through all of Mai's moments of needing to sit down to when she was fully on the floor having a fainting spell. He was there with bottles of water and any medication she needed. At one point, Mai questioned if he had known someone who required the same level of care because it almost seemed natural. Of course, Pierre denied this but had echoed that looking after yourself was something he valued.
Sofia had been pushing Mai to tell Pierre more about her life — something about opening up so she didn't seem so stern all the time — but Mai disagreed. It was just too early.
"Popcorn, wanna go for a walk buddy?" Mai hummed as she attached his harness. "We didn't get out much yesterday, you deserve it."
Popcorn panted lightly as Mai locked up the house and headed into the shining sun of Italy, the street empty on a Tuesday morning.
Mai had a piano performance in the evening so she wanted to make sure Popcorn had some fresh air as well as Mai being able to fully stretch her own legs while she was feelings well enough to do so, making sure to stay out of the sun.
Deciding to be productive, Mai headed towards the row of shops near where she lived. She fetched normal everyday items as well as browsed the small jewellery stores' clothes. It was something she did regularly but now she could do it more without the risk of fainting too.
"Cute dog!" A young man commented as stood near her in the store.
"Thanks," Mai smiled.
"Are you from around here?" He questioned kindly. "You don't look like you'd speak italian..."
Sometimes, Mai encountered the occasional racist comments about her looks every so often. However, she didn't take offence at it and this particular person had a kind tone while asking so she didn't mind.
"I live a few streets up," Mai replied. "Been here since I was eighteen, I work for the Milan Conservatory."
"Really?" The man seemed surprised. "My son studies there! Armani Gallo."
Mai gave him a kind smile as she picked up a shining silver necklace.
"I know him," Mai nodded. "He is a brilliant cello player with very big dreams."
"So there is hope, no?" The man beamed. "My wife doesn't think he will go far..."
"There is a lot of hope for Armani, I promise," Mai replied. "It was nice meeting you, Mr Gallo but I have to go."
"Wait, I didn't catch your name?"
"Mai Chen and this is Popcorn," Mai replied.
She gave him one last nod before heading towards the desk to pay for her necklace, something she was buying for Sofia's birthday. Sofia adored anything that sparkled or made her look like she could show up to a gala at any moment.
Mai found it nice when people had a random small talk with her in the street since most people only cared about themselves these days or wanted to stay looking at their phone. Although, Mai knew she could be a hypocrite too.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Smiling softly to herself, Mai placed her phone on the coffee table. The journey home had been nice and finding the text from Pierre made her smile; she almost had to shake her head to get out of the emotion that arose. She wouldn't allow herself to feel anything more than friendship. Not for a guy she'd just met or anyone for that matter.
"Snap out of it, Mai," She whispered to herself, sitting down slowly.
Popcorn let out a soft whine and lay at her feet. Mai removed his harness so he could have a little free time around the house.
"Don't give me that look," She scolded the dog. "It's just a theatre trip."
Popcorn titled his head at her but Mai was too busy staring back at her phone screen.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
