Beautiful Dreamer

39. Heartache

"Tell me, why do you keep pestering me about Ari's upbringing? It still surprises me he took you to her hometown, you of all people. Moreover, you saw everything; I can't say there is much to add or are you perhaps developing feelings towards my friend?"

"Not at all. I wish to understand Manager Ari better. She is quite indecisive and forgiving."

"Annoyingly tolerant to mistreatment as well, vacillating, irresolute, tentative, hard to move forward... Quirky..."

"Why is she like that?"

"Well, her maladaptive trait is birthed from constant worrying and anxiety. She equally has a history of recurring depression. Hard to tell since she is the opposite when working."

Rey nodded in agreement.

"Well, now you are aware her childhood wasn't exactly rosy. There is no definite record of her birth parents. All Ari remembers is the people you met a few weeks ago. I would know she had it rough since I used to live in that neighborhood, but Ari had no idea who I was. She still doesn't, and I intend to keep it that way. Understood?"

"Yes, Manager."

"That town is relatively small; therefore, word travels fast. Ari was pretty famous back then too since her adoptive parents made sure everyone knew she wasn't theirs by blood. A charity adoption of a dominant female toddler is said to bring good fortune. Unfortunately, they'd always argue about her welfare, especially since her psychiatric treatment was expensive. However, everything changed when she ran away with a neighbour's boy who was her junior by two years; an act that became a blessing and a curse simultaneously."

"What do you mean?"

"The thing with Ari is apart from being dithering, if she gets her attention on something, she foolishly broods over it, and as much as I've tried to change that side of her, Ari remains. The upside of that trait is unwavering loyalty, which is why she and I are friends to date.

Years later, I was lucky to have met her on campus. I didn't trust her at first since my memory of her was of things I heard about her being non-beta, and the tragedy that befell one of the neighbours because of her. Later on, I discovered she had been under a community welfare organization, and her match was skeptical about her since she had a pending attempted murder case to his name."

"What?"

"Hold your horses. I, too, was shocked to see a suspect on the campus. Nevertheless, there had to be a reason she was admitted as a regular student, correct?"

"I-I guess."

"I paid a considerable sum to her match to allow me to become the replacement, and as expected, Ari was devastated to be abandoned yet again. My objective was to play around with her considering dominant females can subdue several betas at a time, but then I figured there must be a reason that the boy ran away with her in the first place while in full knowledge of the stereotypes. Remember, our judgement of others can be compromised by assumptions we've heard from others, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt inspire of my hidden intentions. 

She didn't trust me at all; then it occurred to me. Ari never knew who I was.

Breaking the ice with her wasn't easy either, considering she is four years my junior. Additionally, no one ever treated her with respect or without selfish gain. I made it a mission to prove to her there are trustworthy people in this world, and I turned a new leaf.

One day, he got attacked by her first-year classmates when her secrets got out. She called me and opened up about her past. A part of me felt victorious when she said I was the first person that came to mind if she ever needed help. Finally, I had become valuable to her, and despite our small age gap, I somewhat treated her as a parent would their child. I grew up with absentee travel enthusiastic parents; therefore, I can't say I know how it feels to have a family. Well, things changed with Ari around and that was the genesis of our codependency.