Nathan sat at the edge of his desk, fingers hovering over the keyboard of his laptop, but his thoughts were far from the blank page in front of him. The writing workshop had started in earnest, and assignments were piling up—short stories to write, critiques to offer on the works of his fellow participants, and hours spent discussing the intricacies of plot, character, and theme. Yet, no matter how hard he tried, his mind drifted elsewhere. Abby.
He sighed, glancing at his phone, where a notification from Abby's latest Instagram post blinked. She had been out exploring Shibuya that day, posting videos and images of the vibrant streets, fashionable passersby, and trendy cafés. Nathan admired her ability to throw herself into the city's chaos, capturing it for her followers as though she belonged there. But beneath her perfectly curated content, he could see the cracks—the restlessness, the way she always seemed to be on the move, searching for something that wasn't quite in reach.
Nathan had come to Tokyo for the writing workshop, eager to grow as a writer and find his own voice. He thought he knew who he was, what he wanted. Writing had always been his anchor, the one thing he could rely on to help him make sense of the world. Back in Manila, surrounded by his family, he had been clear about his values—family, loyalty, respect for tradition. But ever since meeting Abby, those values seemed to be shifting, unraveling in ways he didn't fully understand.
Abby's life was a whirlwind of independence and adventure. She questioned everything—authority, tradition, even the idea of family itself. Nathan had always been close to his parents, his siblings, valuing the sense of unity they had instilled in him. But Abby saw family differently. To her, it was a source of pain, a burden she had to escape from. Her legal battles with her mother had left scars that ran deep, and she had built her life around distancing herself from her past.
Nathan's fingers finally tapped out a few words on the screen, but they felt hollow, forced. He was supposed to be working on a story about identity, drawing from his own experiences as a Filipino writer in a foreign land. But the more time he spent with Abby, the less certain he felt about who he was. Her influence was like a quiet undercurrent, pulling him away from the shores of his old life and toward something unknown.
He remembered their conversation from a few nights ago. They had been sitting on the steps of a shrine, the city lights twinkling in the distance. Abby had asked him what he was writing about, and when he told her it was a story about family, she had frowned.
"Why is everything always about family?" she had asked, her tone tinged with frustration. "It's like we can't escape it, no matter what we do. Don't you ever feel suffocated by it?"
Nathan had been taken aback. "I don't know if 'suffocated' is the right word. I mean, sure, family can be intense sometimes, but they're also the ones who support us the most."
Abby had shaken her head, her gaze distant. "You're lucky, then. For some of us, family is just... toxic. They expect so much, but they don't really care about who you are. They just want to control you, keep you in this box of what they think you should be."
Her words had lingered with Nathan, gnawing at the edges of his thoughts as he sat in the workshop sessions, listening to his fellow writers discuss themes of home and belonging. He had always seen his family as his foundation, the people who had shaped him into who he was. But now, he wasn't so sure. Was it possible that he had been too influenced by them? Had he allowed their expectations to dictate his choices, his identity?
Nathan stared at the words on the screen again. They seemed foreign, disconnected from the story he wanted to tell. He had always written about characters who found strength in their relationships with others, especially their families. But now, for the first time, he was questioning whether that was really the truth. Was it strength, or was it a form of dependence? Had he relied too much on his family's approval, never truly finding his own path?
He closed the laptop, frustrated. The city outside called to him—the bright lights, the bustling crowds. It was easy to get lost in Tokyo, to disappear into the flow of people and forget about everything else. Maybe that's what Abby had found so freeing. In this city, she could reinvent herself, escape from the expectations that had followed her all her life.
Nathan grabbed his jacket and headed out. He needed air, space to think. The cool evening breeze brushed against his skin as he wandered through the narrow alleyways lined with lanterns and small restaurants. His thoughts drifted to his parents back home in Manila. He hadn't called them in days. Every time he picked up the phone, he hesitated. What would he say? That he was questioning everything they had taught him? That the values they had instilled in him no longer felt like his own?
He found himself standing at the entrance to a small park, the sound of the city fading into the background. He sat on a bench, staring at the sakura trees swaying gently in the breeze. What was he doing here? He had come to Tokyo to write, to grow as a writer, but it felt like he was losing himself in the process. Was it Abby's influence, or was this change something that had been brewing inside him all along?
His phone buzzed. It was a message from Abby. "Let's meet at the café tomorrow. I found this amazing place near Shinjuku. You'll love it."
He hesitated before typing back. "Sure. See you there."
As he sat in the park, Nathan wondered if he was becoming someone else—someone Abby wanted him to be. She was so different from anyone he had ever known. She was bold, unafraid to challenge the world around her, and that was part of what drew him to her. But he also felt like he was losing something in the process. His values, his identity—they were slipping away, replaced by questions and doubts he wasn't ready to confront.
Back in his small apartment, Nathan opened his laptop again, determined to write. He stared at the blank page for a moment before beginning to type. The story that emerged wasn't about family, or at least not in the way he had originally intended. It was about a man who found himself in a foreign land, caught between two worlds. A man who was torn between the values he had grown up with and the allure of a new way of thinking.
As the words flowed, Nathan realized that his story wasn't just fiction. It was his own. He was writing about himself, about the tension he felt between his loyalty to his family and the desire for independence that Abby had awakened in him. It was a story about identity—about the struggle to define oneself in the face of competing influences.
When he finally stopped typing, Nathan leaned back in his chair, exhausted but satisfied. The story wasn't finished, but it was a start. He had found a way to channel the confusion he felt, to make sense of the changes happening inside him. For the first time in weeks, he felt a sense of clarity.
But even as he stared at the screen, a nagging thought lingered in the back of his mind: What would his family think of the man he was becoming? Would they recognize him, or had Abby's influence changed him too much?
Nathan wasn't sure. All he knew was that the path ahead was uncertain, and the only way forward was to keep writing, to keep searching for the answers he wasn't sure he wanted to find.
YOU ARE READING
When Love Break Ties
RomanceIn the vibrant streets of Tokyo, Nathan finds himself at a crossroads. Sent by a Manila-based publishing company to attend a prestigious writing workshop, he is both excited and anxious, quickly overwhelmed by the city's grandeur and isolation. Str...