Chasing Stars

Chapter 1 - LEONARD

The narrow corridor, neatly furnished and spotlessly arranged was illuminated by the lights outside the window. Leonard's apartment was the definition of perfect. The blue-white palette applied in the hallway contrasting with the brightened sitting room created a stimulating effect. 

The lock snapped and the handle turned. A gleaming red-headed man entered the dark hallway closing the door behind him. Leonard felt for the light switch and untied his shoes. He picked them up, opened the wardrobe and placed them neatly next to the other five black oxford shoes he always kept clean and polished. Leaving his briefcase behind he paced to the living room where he collapsed into the brown velvety sofa, which occupied half of the room's area. He let out a long sigh of relief. The cool breeze in his apartment that had escaped the world outside the half-open window ruffled his already scruffy hair. 

Leonard's view on life was very dull. Being a lawyer in London was not something he wanted to do. His dreams on pursuing art and literature had been out of the question. With strict European parents his career options were limited to either a doctor, a lawyer or an engineer, and as neither of these three paths seemed enjoyable, he chose to follow in his father's footsteps. Aurel, his twin brother loved his job. He became a successful surgeon and always brings joy to the family. With exceptional results at school to astonishing achievements in sports and competitions, he became the family's favourite in no time. Leonard on the other hand, was a shy, imaginative boy who always sat in the corner of the room re-reading a book for the 20th time just to avoid people talking to him. He loved to daydream about all the different worlds in his head without really living in the real world.His creativity exceeded the boundaries of his own mind and he always felt out of place.

While Leonard sat on the sofa, his phone rang. He reached for his jacket that he placed on the coffee table in front of him. When he saw who was calling he smiled to himself and picked up.

"Hey Leo!" a female energetic voice greeted him from the other side of the phone.

"Mya, hi! I didn't expect to hear from you so soon." He replied grinning. Mya, his best friend was a young rising actress who loved life and everything about it. She was everything Leonard wanted to be but couldn't.

"Well, I landed in Birmingham a few hours ago, so I wanted to check up on you."

"What? You didn't tell me you'd be here this weekend. We have to meet up!" Leonard's mood was suddenly ten times better. 

Mya laughed at his excitement and agreed to meet him in their favourite park in London. When they finished talking, Leo stood up from the sofa, suddenly extremely excited and walked over to the window. He watched the lights flickering in the moon light for a while. Smiling he closed it and left to the bathroom to prepare for bed.

Despite Leonard's efforts to create his life as enjoyable as he could, everything in it was controlled by his parents. Even the apartment he lived in was bought, furnished and cared for by them and he could do nothing to make it feel like home. Whenever he tried decorating it to make it feel more welcoming, his parents punished him by making it even more minimalistic. Leo's idea of a perfect apartment was a small mainly wooden place with only one room, one bathroom, one kitchen and a small living room. He would decorate it with colourful elements and pictures from adventures with his friends. He would make everything feel welcoming and practical. Even though he was a very sentimental person, hoarding wasn't something he'd do, so he would only keep the most important things. He would travel a lot and from the adventures he would bring souvenirs and exhibit them on a special shelf just for them. Daydreaming about the "perfect life" was one of the things that made him smile even after a long day at work. The other was his best friend Mya.

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 I hope you enjoyed it!

Love,

emminieh