Aidan’s thoughts

Later that day, Colleen visited her upstairs neighbor. He was a man in his forties who smoked worse than a fire truck and smelled of whiskey. "The water will stop when it stops," he told the young woman before slamming the door in her face.

Not having the strength to scream or even protest, she goes to her house, locks the door and slumps down on the nearest couch. Her life unfolds before her in the most dramatic way possible.

She remembers Misha's words from a few years ago, before she cut off contact with her friend: "He's toxic Corazon, can't you see that? We don't see you on our Saturday outings anymore. Even Olga asks about you. She misses your cookies!". To which Colleen replied that Aidan was the best thing that has happened to her in a while and that her friend is jealous because she is still alone after all these years. After that conversation, the two young women didn't speak to each other again. Not even when Misha's mother died. Colleen simply sent her a card saying, "I'm sorry for your loss. Colleen and Aidan. "Aidan didn't even know his name was on a card.

Realizing all that has passed under her nose and all the sadness she has caused, Colleen sinks even deeper into her furniture. It wasn't enough that her heart was hurting because of her ex, her conscience had to come trample her self-esteem and spit all her faults in her face.

At this point, the only thing she wanted to do was to continue watching Bojack Horseman and not move from there. When she logs in, she sees that she has been logged out of the account. Ah, it was Aidan's account. Good thing Jack had passed her contact information, hopefully he didn't change anything because she didn't feel like calling her brother just to pass him her account information on a streaming platform.

This is how the young woman spent the evening, ignoring the calls and the numerous messages that her friends and brothers were certainly sending her. Her night was short and interspersed with sudden awakenings: the arm of the chair did not make a good pillow after all.

Aidan, still in Colleen's thoughts, on the other hand, was sleeping very well. His fiancée had just given him a new watch that would go well with the new suit his father gave him for his promotion. The wedding was still a few months away, but they decided to start living together now. He couldn't continue what he had with Colleen. No matter how it was defined, he had no time for such nonsense. He had already planned to end her situation, he had never planned to stay with her either. But not in this way. Of course, his father heard the news and asked

him to finish his stupid plans, his job at I-Tech and his relationship with Colleen Smith; in exchange, he would get everything he'd wanted for years: the position of marketing director of the European branch of Calypso, the family business.

It was the position his brother Patrick had held before he left for Prague six years ago. It was the easiest way to get out of the grip of the Choipatriarch.

In the meantime, he finished his studies and took extra classes to build a resume that no one could refuse. Two and a half years ago, he decided to take it upon himself to finally start his internship in the Seattle branch. Being the principal's son, no one wanted anything to do with him, his condescending and disrespectful temperament had preceded him. It was for the best this time. He came to the office from eight to noon and went home. After a few months, boredom took the place of infatuation and Aidan set out to put his computer skills into action: an advertisement in a newspaper page caught his eye and soon he became an application developer at I-Tech. He wasn't bad at what he did. But something was missing.

It was a rainy day when he saw her. She was knocking angrily on a door and seemed to be only paying attention to what she was doing. He had to tap her shoulder so that she could finally see him. He knew she was the missing piece of his new temporary life. He had to complete it no matter what. Aidan put his charms on the line and asked her about the post office, knowing full well where she was and that it was closed at that hour.

Colleen... So that was her name... He remembers as a kid always wondering how people came up with names for their children and those names ended up being a good match for the person.

That's what's happening to her here. Colleen is not too short in stature. Her chocolate skin reminds her of leather and her hair is like a lion's mane. Although, at that moment, the mane was wet and seemed to weigh down her head. She wasn't a bad girl, rather nice and very charming. Colleen sounded like that warmth she gave off and even though it was annoying to admit it to himself, he liked it.

He saw her again at the supermarket, weeks later. Very chaotic and he’s very organized. Everything was happening as he had planned it so far. Colleen surprised him by initiating contact with a dinner. Then another one. Then another and finally, the primary goal was achieved: he was dating Colleen. Only a few months were enough to put everything in place. Now he had to make sure she didn't find out that Aidan Cho, the young man fresh from Boston who had a few friends in the area, was not the same Aidan Cho, second son of Richard Cho, majority shareholder of Calypso Textile Enterprises. Erasing his social media profile was not a difficult thing to do; he had always been asked to do it after all.

Months passed, then came the first year of their relationship. He had finished removing her from his entourage and securing her cover. Perhaps he had gone to extremes that were not necessary. Maybe he did. We'll never know. She was eating out of his hand now. And even at I-Tech, despite his basic job, he was even offered a position at the investor's table; even though he never spent a dime in that company.

Then he got an infection that forced him to take time off from I-Tech and his classes at the company. If his mother knew, she would send a ton of nurses to come take care of him. It should have been the first interaction he had with her in almost four months. It's very hard to be a rich man's housewife these days. That's when he suggested Colleen come and take care of him. It was getting out of his routine, but it was either that or registering his name on a hospital list and allowing his mother to have a way to come into his life and turn everything upside down again.

Aidan knew this annoyed Colleen. But he had to do it. So this was the first time she had seen her boyfriend's apartment in all this time. He claimed he didn't like having people over and that few people broke his rules. He even offered to pay her rent for the rest of the year. Even if it was just a hobby, he's not a monster after all.

It was while caring for him that Colleen, to Aidan's misfortune, met some of his friends. The ones who, indeed, break the house rules. There was Tayson, for one. A painter who never let his hair grow since after fighting and winning against cancer a few years ago. Then another day, Jack and Ian knock on the door. The gayest couple Colleen has ever had the chance to meet. On their second visit, they came with their son Dolan. Finally, there was Patricia and Peter. The latter, despite the presence of his girlfriend, did not hesitate to flirt with Colleen. And he did so without remorse.

Looking back, Aidan remembers that only Peter knew his plan to drop everything after he got what he wanted from his father. The others were far too sensitive and human for that.

As he rolls over on his bed, he notices that leaving Colleen and his job at I-Tech in the lurch wasn't as bad as he thought. No remorse, no tears, no questioning. Nothing. But also, it wasn't like he was much loved by his ex's family either. The two people who trusted him the least were Ella, or Elena; Jackson's girlfriend and Colleen's older brother, Emmett. The latter was ready to punch him in the face within minutes of their meeting. It's a good thing he didn't live in or around Seattle, or else a peaceful night's sleep wouldn't have been possible tonight.

Sinking into a light sleep, Aidan remembers that his father got him right on this one. Leaving everything was obvious. But not to go straight to marrying his ex from six years ago. He and Sarah Thompson dated in college. Through them, Richard Choi met Robert-Bob-Thompson, the man who made him even richer than he already was. Even after they broke up, their parents talked as if nothing had happened. So when his father gave him an ultimatum, he didn't take it as such. Marrying Sarah was never an option in the past when they talked about the future. So Richand put the job Aidan cherished on the line. His training would not end until the end of the year, and then they would discuss his advancement so that he could take on the role that would be given to him.

Sarah's presence changes everything. Quitting everything, marrying Sarah and immediately after his honeymoon, taking a seat on the Calypso board as marketing director of the European branch. It was much better than he had ever dreamed. He also had to remember to send Colleen an invitation. With that crazy idea, he fell asleep, already seeing himself on the streets of Prague or on a boat in Venice.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Emmett had just sat down in a restaurant not far from the hospital where he works. He is supposed to meet a friend from his college but the friend doesn't seem to have arrived yet. In the meantime, he sends a message to Elena to know how his sister is doing.

Elena: She was supposed to go to Ida's for dinner but she never showed up. She doesn't answer the phone. Jack went to check on her, he hasn't come home yet.

Emmett: Do you think she's depressed?

Elena: You remember the message that asshole sent her, right? I would have cried my eyes out if Jack did something like that to me.

Emmett: So there, three things. 1- He'll never do that to you. I mean... not by message. 2- He would be the one crying his eyes out since he would be the one hurting you (sadism is not his thing).and 3-You would have gutted him and forced him back with you before you shed a single tear Ellie.

Elena: ...

Elena: I hope you get lost in the London airport and miss your plane.

Emmett: I miss you too sis ;)

Elena: ... You're trying to buy me off....

Elena: Jack's home. Devastated. She was apparently sleeping. She had food, didn't touch her phone, and shut the door in his face. Poor guy went straight to the bedroom.

Emmett: Colleen closed the door on Jack?

Elena: Wep.

Emmett: She usually gets quiet in front of Jack's face.... Fuck.

Elena: I guess she's worse than we expected.

Elena: I love you very much but I have to go to sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Emmett: Yeah. Good night.