A Break Apart

CHAPTER 19. More Friction

He looked adorable, and relaxed in my fingers that kept moving around his neck.

"He's so cute..." I cooed.

William chuckled beside me, sitting comfortably on the couch in a sleeveless shirt and joggers. "I knew you'd like him," he said.

"You should have told me it was a dog." I continued petting the golden retriever.

"I wanted it to be a surprise."

I laughed. "Well, this is a good surprise."

"Even though I didn't think you were a dog lover," he added.

"There's a lot you don't know about me. What's its name?" I quickly asked, moving the topic away from me.

"Smart," he answered, going with the flow.

"Aw, and he looks smart," I said, then looked at William who held a smile. "So, you traveled to get a dog?" Smart climbed in our middle and perched his head on my thighs. I giggled.

"Wow. You see a pretty girl and then forget the hand that feeds you," William commented on his gesture, making me laugh even more.

"Smart has been with me since he was little," he answered my earlier question, and I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. "I moved in here a few months ago, didn't want to bring Smart along until I was finally settled," he clarified.

"So where has he been all these while?" I asked further.

"My family house." He rolled his eyes, like the word "family" was a joke.

"You sound as if you don't like home," I pointed out.

"That's because I don't have one," he said, almost overlapping my words.

"And I suppose it's why you decided to stay here? Alone?"

He sighed, as if my question had weighed him down. "It's a long story."

I frowned. "The last time I was here you said it's a story for another day. Well, today is that day."

He chuckled, then silence greeted us for a second. "The pressure from my dad started in secondary school. I wanted science, but he insisted that I be a commercial student for his business legacy. So school sucked, I lacked focus... became depressed. And with my dad being a workaholic, the only emotional support I got were from some spoilt rich kids in my class. They taught me drinking was a way to get over my problems, and I embraced it. My dad had no idea. He thought my only problem was money, and that, I got from him a lot, most of which I spent on alcohol.

"Secondary school passed, it was freeing and, at that moment I just needed a break from the whole school thing, at least until I was able to figure out my path, and what I actually wanted. You could say that I was on a soul-searching journey at the time. Along the line, I came across this gym guy on YouTube, and he became an inspiration. Through him I learned how to approach my feelings in a healthy way, and that helped with my addictions. It was then I knew I wanted to be a trainer, to own my own gym someday, and help people live a healthy lifestyle. For once I felt in control of my own life. It was a great feeling, and school no longer made any sense to me. Then the pressure started again when my dad chose business administration for me to study in the university. But this time I rebeled and told him I was no longer interested in school. He got tired of my attitude and gave me conditions."

"What conditions...?" I managed to say, feeling sorry for what he had to go through.

He laughed, as though it was something he still couldn't believe, and also something he was ashamed to say out loud. "Pay me off to do whatever I wanted."