His Bad Luck Charm

Dreams

"Being president isn't more important than your life," I retorted. 

"It is to me." And with that said, he returned to work. I felt frustrated by his carelessness. He didn't really believe that his life to be less important than a title did he? 

I angrily stomped back towards the legal office. 

"Azra," someone called out. I turned and came face to face with Nicholas. 

"Doctor Nicholas," I greeted, with a slight smile.

"Nick," he replied. After seeing my confused look, he explained, "You can just call me Nick."

"Oh."

"Are you alright? You don't look too good."

"I don't?"

"Your face is really red and considering the weather isn't very warm, I'd assume you're body temperature is higher than it should be."

He stepped closer and placed his hand on my forehead. Feeling uncomfortable, I took a step back and awkwardly smiled.

"I'm not feeling unwell," I told him, "just a little angry."

"Why angry, if you don't mind me asking?"

I did mind but answered nonetheless. 

"River is frustrating." 

Nicholas chuckled at my words, "River's really good at getting on everyone's nerves. You'll get used to it."

"How can he place his job over his own life? It just doesn't make sense to me."

"River is a workaholic. It's normal for him to choose his career over his own life. He wasn't always like that."

I was talking more about the fact that he didn't mind getting hurt as long as it didn't tarnish his image but I wasn't about to tell Nicholas that. I don't know how much he knows about the threats River is receiving nor did I want to discuss about it with River's biggest rival either.

"What do you mean?" I asked, as I took a seat on one of the waiting area chairs. 

"He was always a good kid. His grades were always at the top of his class but he had different dreams and he was living a care free life. His only worry used to be not getting home by curfew. That was until his parents passed away, of course..." he trailed off, taking a seat beside me. 

River's parents death was one of the most tragic things to happen in our quiet and well kept community. They were driving home from work one day when a drunk driver hit them. It was so bad that they had passed on the scene leaving their young son orphaned. They were really loved amongst our community and everyone had paid their respects to the family. I remember being forced to attend the funeral and although I was really young at the time, I could really feel the sadness in the atmosphere. It was almost suffocating. 

"You have mentioned that River had different dreams once before as well. What were his dreams?"

He turned to me with a smile, "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"He'll never tell me."

Well I hadn't tried but River wasn't one who enjoyed talking about himself and I was sure he really wouldn't tell me no matter how much I pestered. 

Nicholas smiled, "That's true."

I eagerly waited for a reply, trying hard not to make my eagerness obvious. 

"He was obsessed with aeroplanes as a kid and his obsession lead him to wanting to be a pilot as he grew older."

"A pilot?" I giggled. "That seems like every little boy's dream."

"He was pretty serious about it. His dad even signed him up to some courses for teens."

I couldn't help but laugh at how cute that had sounded. But then his current situation dawned on me and I felt really sad. Nicholas's words from our date echoed in my mind and I couldn't help but agree with him. River really was living his parents' dream rather than his own. He must be feeling so burdened but it all. Was he even happy? He was an over-achiever and everyone in the hospital seemed to love him but that didn't necessarily mean he was happy. 

And for reasons I couldn't comprehend myself, I desperately wanted River to be happy. And I would do anything in my power to make sure he really does become a happy person.

***

Hi everyone.

I'm so sorry for the wait. I have been really busy with my exams. My exams finally ended though so now I'm free! Like I said in the previous chapter, I really want to finish this book by the end of the year so I'll be posting more frequently. 

I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. 

Thank you for reading up until here! :)