Chapter 14

Spending my Sundays would usually mean editing, reading, and writing my personal collection of works in progress. Though today, I made an exception as I decided to help out review Brendan's new novel.

I was sitting down at the Sleeping sheep again just taking my time. During the daytime, the Sleeping Sheep would turn into a cafe that served different kinds of crafts coffee and cheese. A strange combination but that's what Ojisan envisioned for this place during the day. They'd even rotate the liquor cabinet like a wheel just to show the coffee bean samples.

Zeke is here as always. He's just like me in a way, he doesn't get to enjoy his day offs because his relaxed mode is when he's doing work. Things just loom menacingly in the background when I don't do anything. Though sitting in a calm area alone does help satiate that feeling of anxiety.

The smell of the coffee in the air certainly helps me focus. Everyone always has this vision of working in a coffee shop to be more productive but in reality people just don't want to waste money in a coffee shop so they force themselves to be productive. So I guess that works out in the end. I personally find it a bit stupid. Just work or something!

Zeke: Mako, here again I see.

The old man had taken a seat already across from me and I didn't even notice. He held out his boxed lunch, guess I've sunk my time into this too much. I pulled back to stretch then looked out at the bright view of the city. This novel has certainly made me dump too much time down the drain. Work is work but this is a bit annoying.

Zeke: It's a bit too early to arrive, Mako. Is something bothering you or maybe you just had a fight with your boyfriend?

Mako: It's much more complicated than that.

Zeke: Well if you need an experienced ear then I'll be right here. If you don't mind, I'll be eating.

Mako: Go right ahead, old man.

I smiled as I lifted up my phone again to read Brendan's novel. As the start goes, this novel is about a female lead that joins her love interests group. Going through these pages, the story begins to unravel about each of the characters. Everyone that's been established has their own character arc which makes them feel unique. However, this also feels a bit wrong in a sense because this doesn't make it a romance. Instead, this feels good slice of life novel. Each character even has their own set of conflict of interest characters.

Stories like these can easily be disguised as romance. In the end, they're actually just focusing on the group to hide the fact there's no actual chemistry with the female lead. This reminds of that anime about getting a message from the future to save the male interest. In the end, it didn't matter because the story was about the guy rather than developing the female lead's chemistry with the guy. Though there were sprinkles of it, in the end, the story was more about the friend group than the romance and it's dynamic.

A romance novel focuses on the troubles of the two leads as they progress their love either through conflict of another party or the conflict within themselves. This novel doesn't actually do that.

What's worse is that halfway through the novel, the female lead suddenly loses interest in what she does. Whatever happened to those ambitions? Everything in her path just seems to lead her to the male lead. I mean it's a romance but it's not a realistic one. Creating a conflict based on reality makes a romance engaging. People want to read something they can hopefully perceive themselves doing. Or that's what I think people want...

In the end, this novel was written with the core idea but was never able to expand on it. The female lead loses herself in her own love while the male lead doesn't even develop himself but rather develops himself for the sake of the plot. A story that just has too many things that it wants to do. It will only reward longer standing readers which isn't something that a novel should do. It should land exactly on its feet after the first flip. Engage the reader from start to finish.

I rubbed the temple of my head because this was just frustrating to read on an objective level. Things were just mishandled to the point the overall outcome just didn't feel recognizable. A girl losing herself huh… I can't tell if that's realistic or not because it can happen.

Mako: Hey, old man. What do you know about romance?

Zeke: Love? So it was a fight with your boyfriend?

Mako: I guess you could say that. I'm just having a hard time trying to understand the concept of it in written works. Have you ever read some romance novels before?

Zeke: Certainly. Before all of these machines took over some of the earlier aspects of life, old people like me had no choice to read.

Mako: Can you tell me about it? Like what it actually feels to fall in love with someone and if it's enough to forget who you are.

Zeke: That's a pretty deep question for a girl your age.

Mako: I'm not like girls my age. I'm the protagonist.

Zeke: Hahaha, so be it. Well it very much depends how madly in love you are with the person. Are you willing enough to drop everything for them? But it's also a gamble on whether or not they'll do the same with you. That's one of the reasons why people say love is blind.

Mako: Falling in love will only result in a change in a person huh.

Zeke: In most instances, yes. Though in the purest form, neither changes because they accept the other for who they are. Be it in a bad sense which results in deviant couples. Or those in a good sense when those couples encourage their good behavior. Love is a complicated thing after all. It cannot be easily explained in its overall scope but rather on a case by case basis.

Mako: An interesting take from you old man. But is there anything from experience?

Zeke: Well, my wife was a different story entirely.

Mako: I'm sorry if it's too personal for you old man.

Zeke: No, I think it will be alright. It's the job of the old to bestow lessons to the young after all hahaha. Besides, we don't talk much do we.

Mako: No, we don't. But I don't mind talking to someone else who's seen life if you're not comfortable.

Zeke: Don't put me on a pedestal now. I've done things that I'm not proud of too in these stories.

Mako: I see…

Zeke: Well where do I even start? Hahaha. I guess I can give a simple idea of how things started. She was an old fling of mine when we started in high school. Obsessed with the notion that we needed to get rid of our purity. Though I'm not actually talking about my wife.

Mako: Oh… It's one of those stories…

Zeke: I think it's important to teach these lessons at an early age, even if it might sound a bit vulgar.

Mako: Of course. I just didn't expect a story such as that.

Zeke just let out a simple smile that showed a clear sense of nostalgia. He looked at the view as if he was looking at the past. Eyes that were filled with a complex emotion that I would never understand. How could I when I haven't actually experienced love.

Zeke: She was one of those curious ones that always wanted to know how the world works. It was only natural that she would be interested in how love would too. At first, she thought it was just the sexual aspect that created love.

Mako: Was this your first love?

Zeke: My only one.

Mako: So you two didn't end up together huh...

Zeke: Not exactly.

Mako: I'm sorry, I just assumed it when you put it that way.

Zeke: A complicated matter isn't it?

Mako: Tell me more about her.

Zeke: A smart one. Someone that only knew about the world through her own lenses. Nothing changing. Or maybe she refused to change.

Mako: Don't you have a family right now, old man?

Zeke: I do which pains me to say these things out loud. She was the one that got away. One that I deeply regret. Though I would never say that I didn't love the life that was given to me. I love my sons and granddaughters. Regrets will always come in your life, no matter how you try to avoid it. And I think that's an important lesson. Taking action so you don't regret it later on. So when you do have regrets, it's not as much.

Mako: Where is she now?

Zeke: That I don't know. I just wished that I kept up with her. That's just another part of love isn't it? The big ifs and sorrows. Everything isn't always all that fluffy and bright that novels make them out to be. They'll never know what it feels like to undergo the pain themselves.

Mako: Romanticizing the pain certainly isn't good but it does make it a good presentation.

Zeke: Being this old, your memories start to falter. But no matter what, I can always remember her face.

Mako: Love is a strange thing isn't it, old man?

Zeke: Indeed it is. This was nice. Though I wished I could have told a better story rather than mine.

Mako: I think that story was perfect. It caught the simplicity of what love can do. And I think that's the important part. What love can make you do. Thank you. That gave me some in depth knowledge about how to proceed with this novel.

Zeke: No problem, Mako.

Mako: Tell me more some other time. I think it would be better if I knew more of the context.

Zeke: It's quite terrible though.

Mako: But it's real, and that's what matters to me.

I took my final sips of my coffee then stood up. Zeke waived as I left the bar.