"So, you just do this?"
I tied the bandage around Leonel's hand one more time before looking at his face that was staring right back at me. There was amusement in it like he was seriously enjoying me fiddling with the knots.
"I told you, you'll get it"
I chuckled nervously before moving an inch away from him but he only lifted up another triangular bandage.
"Now, the legs"
I glared at him but it seemed Leonel was so hell-bent on keeping me here, he just chuckled.
"Come on, we can both have lunch right after this"
I wanted to tell him that there's only 30 minutes left for lunch. Everybody else had gone and ate and it was just me and him left inside the room. He told me I needed to practice on the bandaging before the practical exam later this afternoon.
And he had took it upon himself to teach me.
"You do know that it's late to have lunch right? I need to buy it and that takes a lot of time"
"Who said you needed to buy it?"
I stopped on my tracks and looked at him who simply pointed at one of the chairs in the room. Right there on one of the desks were tupperwares of what I could presume was lunch.
I squinted my eyes at him who was only smiling back at me.
"You ordered food?"
"I made food. Now come on, legs"
He urged another time and I wanted to not comply to it but I was too hungry to be vindictive. I made quick work on the triangular bandage and raised my arms right when I was done.
"Enough I'm hungry"
I grumpily said but Leonel only gave out a hearty laugh before untying the bandage on his leg with one swift move.
"Alright come on"
He offered me a hand to pull me up from the floor and I gladly took it.
"So, you cook?"
I said as I waited for him to take the tupperwares out to reveal a hearty meal full of fried food, rice and vegetables as sides.
"I can, but sometimes I'm too lazy to do it"
He replied back as he offered me what seemed to be my portion of the meal. I raised an eyebrow at him and he seemed to have been able to read my mind because he said.
"Yes, I did it on purpose. I held you back so I can make you lunch"
I let out a chuckle before putting a spoonful of it in my mouth.
"They do say the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach"
On that I almost choked out on my food. It took me off guard, why would he even say something like that.
"You okay?"
He inquired as he stood up to offer me some water. I only held out a hand and drank it before glaring at him.
"That was so out of the blue"
He only gave a small smile before continuing to eat his food like nothing just happened. Like he didn't just rile up my emotions with that sentence. I grunted before putting a spoonful food inside my mouth again.
"By the way, I've been meaning to ask you but why Psychology?"
I looked at Leonel and squinted my eyes.
"Your topics are so out of the blue"
"Come on Qian, I want to converse with you so help me out here"
And there was that again, those subtle words that hold another meaning to it. I let out a sigh and just answered him. I'm not versed with being too quiet while eating anyway. I always wanted to have conversations while eating, I don't even know why I'm like that.
"It was the only course open"
I could feel Leonel gawking at me but I only let out a small laugh as I continued.
"You're aware that I skipped two years right?"
As an answer he nodded at me urging me to continue.
"When I got the results for that there were less open slots for all of the courses. The ones remaining were basically education, engineering, marketing or psychology"
"So you just went with Psychology?"
I nodded as I played with the vegetables on my container.
"That was the only course that piqued my interest"
"What about your dream?"
That made me stop. I looked at Leonel and his curiosity was so obvious it was so hard to miss. I gave him a soft laugh before smiling sadly.
"I don't have one"
His gaze pierced right through me as if he was examining every single cell in my body. It made me fidget a little as I clear my throat.
"As a child I thought I wanted to be a nurse, then a nun, then a teacher. When I hit highschool I thought I wanted to do engineering but only because it pays a lot. Then I planned this certain strategy of being a soldier because that would pin me into a stable life. But yeah, no dreams. I don't think I have the luxury to have that"
Leonel put down his utensils as he crossed his arms in front of his chest before directly looking at me.
"That can't be true"
I laughed at his serious face as I pointed my fork at him.
"It's my life, I think I would know if I had a dream or not"
"Yeah and I'm telling you that can't be true"
I looked at him one more time before he continued.
"I didn't dream of being an emergency officer right on the spot but when I saw what they were doing and I started to have fun in doing it that's when I realized that it had been my dream all along. So what about you Qian? Ever thought that the things you enjoy doing might be your dream after all?"
I had never thought of it that way, actually I've never even delve into that topic. All my life I had only thought of ways or occupation that would promise me a stable future but never of what my dream was.
Leonel must have taken my long silence as 'no' and continued.
"What do you enjoy Qian? I always catch you with your earphones on, do you like music?"
I chuckled.
"Everyone likes music but no I don't think my dream involves music"
"Then any other things you enjoy?"
"Books, movies, tv series, does that count?"
I asked back but Leonel only chuckled before continuing to eat his food. I watched him as another word pop up inside my head.
"Stories"
Leonel looked up his hand stopping in mid-air as his eyebrows creased up in the middle of his forehead.
"What?"
I stared at him and it felt surreal. Like something odd was building up inside of me as I slowly admit to him.
"I enjoy writing stories and novels"
I thought he would laugh at me. It was stupid, to even dream of something like being an author or a writer but Leonel only smiled softly at me. Those corners of his mouth tugging something inside of my chest.
"It might not be your dream yet but let me read your works one of these days"
I felt the heat coloring my cheeks. I've never truly admitted to everyone that I had written stories, not even to my family.
"Why bother? They're amateur works"
I muttered before finishing my food.
"Because they said a writer bares a part of her soul inside her works."
And I knew that was the start because one look from Leonel and I could feel everything inside me melt. To know that my works contain a part of my soul and to want to get to know each one of them meant a whole lot more to me than what he could ever imagine.
"I'll think about it"
I muttered in a small voice before his cheerful voice answered me and I felt myself smiling.
"I'll wait"