The Hotelier

Pt. 9 - Boulevard Of Broken Dreams

I laid on one of the couches next to the front yard, watching the kids and some of the adults play with the dogs. Both the puppies and the big ones.

They were all so friendly and playful, but the one with the straight fur was way calmer than the others. I think it was smarter than them.

However, I just laid there and wandered around in my pool of thoughts.

I was thinking about the breakup. I was thinking about what's going to happen with my life. Until now I always had dreams about my future with Dennis. We were going to start on our own animation studio. Well, it wouldn't have been only an animation studio, but mostly. He was good at drawing, I was good at scriptwriting, songwriting, and writing in general. And I was also good at figuring out the composition of the shot or the drawing we were doing. Yeah, I was good at the creative stuff.

I was decent at drawing too, but I liked to do it for fun. And when we started 'dating', I stopped enjoying drawing so much because he always put pressure on me and judged my drawings way too hard. Yes, I wanted to work as an animator at the time and I think I was pretty talented, but he was a bit pushy.

He on the other hand was the complete opposite of me. He was the one drawing all day, so he could draw our animation properly.

That was the other thing I thought about, which made me a bit sad.

He had the idea of this animation called Mallend (the explanation of the name is pretty complicated), and to be honest, it was trash.

I was the one who made his idea into real sitcom material. I think the script and the composition of the actions were a killer actually. And that was supposed to be our first big project at the Overthinker Studios. Yes, that was the name of 'our' studio. The name and the whole idea for the studio came from me too.

And what made me sad wasn't only the fact that my dreams were ruined and I broke up with the person that felt the closest to me, but that he continued on OUR projects ALONE.

All the scripts I ever wrote, all the sketches I ever made, all the ideas I ever had... It was all stolen from me. And from who? From the person I thought was always behind my back.

How did I know all of this? One of our friends, that is kind of in the animation industry too called me to ask me how are we continuing in the animation when we have broken up, because Dennis was talking to him about his progress.

I just hoped he fails with this animation, because I gave him probably the best foundation for a decent career as an animator. If he succeeded in this, it would've been because of my hard work and creative ideas. And I was probably not getting a single credit for it.

I just tried to not tear up, because I wasn't that type of a person. I always hated when people start crying when something goes wrong in their plan. Even more the ones who start doing drugs and whatever, because their life is hard and labidi-dabidi. And when your life is hard what? Sometimes you fall, but you gotta be able to get up.

That's why I tried not to cry, but to smile even more than before. I knew I could get through this. That's why I tried being around Michael more. He really does make me calmer and happier. But I don't think that's the case with him, so I'm going to keep a bit of distance for now.

At the end of the day, he was just a hotelier, and I was just a tourist. His life wasn't any easier than mine. And I just appreciated how he got through every situation with a smile on his face.

Whether he was happy or sad, angry or anxious, he was always bright and shiny. He was kind of my idol. I wanted to become that type of person too.

"Knock, knock" I heard an already familiar, soft voice "Why aren't you asking who it is?" He laughed

"Because I already know" I turned around and smiled a big one.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?" I sat up on the couch and he seated himself right next to me

I wasn't aware that I was crying until he wiped my cheeks dry.

"No, you're not. What's wrong?" He asked me and looked so concerned... It felt really intimate

"It's just..." Now I felt the hot tears roll off my eyes and go down my cheeks "I'm kind of walking on the boulevard of broken dreams"

He just looked me in the eyes, again dead serious. I got to like that look though. It made me feel safer when he did that frown with his eyebrows

"You're beautiful..."

"W-what? Umh, thank you." I heard him say and saw him blush and put a goofy smile on

Oh Gosh, did I say this out loud?!

"I'm sorry." I blushed immediately. I literally couldn't feel more embarrassed.

"Don't be" he grabbed my hands and looked me in the eyes again, but this time his eyes weren't worried. They were bright and smiley again. "I think you are too."

He started getting closer and closer to me. At some point, I felt it was inappropriate, because our foreheads almost touched.

The air between us was so tense, that you could've cut it with scissors. I felt like we were going to kiss. But of course...

"You know you're gonna wake up in his bed in the mornin'
And if you're under him, you ain't gettin' over him" I heard Olivia sing

I was going to get on her throat, I swear...

"I got new rules; I count 'em" Isabella shouted when Michael was already off me.

It felt so good to have him so close to me... But I thought he doesn't like me?!

"Sorry for that" I mumbled and lowered my head. I felt embarrassed for I don't know which time it was already in front of him.

"No problem" I heard him sigh heavily and scratch his neck. "I think I'm gonna go to the kitchen. I will check on the staff and ask the kids what they want to make after dinner"

"Oh. Okay, I mean, it's your job..." I said and felt disappointed, I think he just tried to come up with something to escape the awkward situation. I understand him though

"I'll talk to you later, don't worry" he stroked my arm and gave me goosebumps. That made me feel better at least, so I smiled at him. He returned the smile and walked away