"F-friend?" Frowning slightly, Leonardo searched his memory and was silent for a few seconds.
Friends?
This bastard's only friends were rich kids who were just as much assholes as he was and who on many occasions played dirty with him just for fun.
"W-who is it?"
"Jaison Brown."
"Oh..." Nodding with understanding, Leonardo turned his gaze back to the window and was silent for a while.
Jaison Brown, another rich kid who unfortunately has the title of the group's mascot.
Chubby body, somewhat shy and no matter when you humiliate him, he always comes back with a smile.
The only rich kid in the group who despite hanging out with them, never tried anything but booze and cigarettes.
"L-let him through" After thinking about it for a few minutes, Leonardo nodded.
"Right away."
"I-it's not bad to have a friend..." Closing his eyes, Leonardo continued to shiver and muttered to himself.
"You look like shit!"
Feeling a sudden scream next to him, Leonardo startled and looked quickly to his side, noticing that at some point Jaison arrived at his side.
Jaison is just as he remembered him.
Measuring around 173 centimeters, short brown hair, brown eyes and a rather plump body.
Of all Leonardo's 'friends', he is arguably the one who lives the best.
He eats in all kinds of restaurants, has traveled to several countries since his childhood, and best of all, the little bastard has all kinds of contacts with hot chicks.
Literally this little bastard has more connections than the whole bunch of losers Leonardo used to hang out with, always getting himself accepted into the best clubs and getting the best girls for everyone.
How does he do it?
Even Leonardo doesn't know how he does it, and honestly he never cared, since he didn't see this fat guy as anything more than a stupid guy who makes his life easier.
The only thing he knows about Jaison is that his father owns several factories and a small real estate company, but other than that, Leonardo doesn't even know how old this guy is.
"Don't yell" Frowning deeply, Leonardo rubbed his temples and muttered "I feel like I got an axe to the head."
"*Gulp*" Swallowing saliva, Jaison sat down across from Leonardo and stared at him for a few seconds, then asked with obvious concern on his face "Are you okay?"
"Do I look okay?" snorting weakly, Leonardo continued "I feel like my body is falling apart."
"Man, I'm glad you finally decided to quit that shit" After a few seconds of silence, Jaison smiled and continued "I told you many times that if you kept this up, you wouldn't even have the strength to play with girls"
"Fuck you" Rolling his eyes, Leonardo remained silent for a few seconds and asked "Jaison... I'm going to ask you a question and I want you to answer me truthfully"
Raising his eyebrows, Jaison just nodded silently.
"Why are you still dating us? I don't think you're such an idiot that you don't notice that you're being treated like a jerk and we didn't even consider you as our friend."
"..." Opening his eyes a little wider, Jaison stared at Leonardo for a few seconds and sighed, then smiled bitterly and replied "It was either hang out with you guys or stay alone... it's not like our social circle is very wide and aside from your group, no one gave me a second look. My father is not rich enough, not poor enough...the common people seek me out for interest, and the truly rich despise me."
"We were your last choice?" Raising his eyebrows, Leonardo chuckled and nodded "Not a bad reason."
Nodding silently, Jaison was silent for a good while as he stared at the haggard man in front of him, then commented "I notice you different."
"In what way?"
"I don't know, but I like you more now" Chuckling, Jaison continued "I notice you more... how shall I put it?"
"..."
Rubbing his chin as he thinks, Jaison opened his eyes a little wider and nodded with a smile "I notice you more alive, that's the right term."
"More alive?"
"Your eyes aren't as cloudy as they were in the past" Chuckling, Jaison continued "I honestly thought you were going to end up dead one of these days, but now I look at you and think maybe you'll die of old age instead of an overdose"
"You're a bastard, you know that?"
"My dad tells me that every day" Laughing, Jaison looked sideways and commented "I saw you were getting a gym set up".
"I'll start training"
"Fuck, you're really Leonardo!?" Opening his eyes wide, Jaison exclaimed in surprise "The bastard I know doesn't even have the will to carry his own wallet!"
"Don't yell" Hissing in pain, Leonardo waved his hand at the young man next to him and growled "One more and I'll throw you out of my house!"
"Fine, fine" Raising his hands in defeat, Jaison sighed.
"..."
"..."
Noticing the awkward silence, Leonardo turned his gaze to the fat young man beside him and watched him silently for a few seconds, then asked, "Do you want to be my friend?"
"What?"
"Be my friend."
"Aren't we already?"
"You know we're not."
"..." With strangeness in his gaze, Jaison stared at the scrawny young man in front of him and remained silent for a few seconds, then laughed and stretched out his hand towards him "Nice to meet you, I'm Jaison Brown, I'm 19 years old and I'm the fourth son of my family."
"Tsk, you shameful bastard" Stretching out his sweaty hand, Leonardo shook hands with Jaison and clicked his tongue.
"Haha~" Laughing, Jaison smiled broadly and turned his gaze to the window "Today's a good day"
"I'd like to say the same" Inhaling deeply, Leonardo continued "But I feel like shit."
"Better days will come, it's a matter of time"
"I remembered you more stupid"
"I tend to adjust my intellectual level depending on the group I hang out with" Chuckling, Jaison continued "I may be fat, but I'm not brainless"
"Heh" Snorting while smiling, Leonardo commented "I feel like I'm meeting you today for the first time"
"I can say the same" Laughing, Jaison pulled out a small golden box between his clothes and opened it, then took out a cigarette and placed it in his mouth "Can I smoke in here?"
"Do whatever you want" Waving his hand dismissively, Leonardo asked "What did you come here for today?"
"Isn't it obvious? I came to see you"
"I don't remember this ever happening before."
"You used to go every day to the club, so there wasn't the need. But I haven't seen you for several days and I was interested to know if you were alive."
"You came for fun?"
"That's what I live for" Taking a deep drag on his cigarette, Jaison laughed and continued "I'm the only one who came to see you?"
"Isn't it obvious?" with mockery on his face, Leonardo continued "The others must be too stoned to even remember me."
"You talk as if you weren't one of them."
"Fuck you."
"You want me to bring some girls? They'll help you clear your head" With another puff of the cigarette, Jaison casually asked.
"I don't even have the strength to stand up, for another day" Shaking his head, Leonardo asked "How do you know so many beauties?"
"One of my cousins works in the movie industry, and there are always girls who need easy money and contacts in our circle" Shrugging, Jaison continued "We give them what you want and we get what we want. You start by meeting one girl, then another, and then those two introduce you to more friends, and before you know it, you end up in a pool full of models and future actresses."
"What does your father think about that?"
"I'm the disappointment of the family" Chuckling, Jaison continued "I haven't even finished school, let alone am I planning to go to college. I hate working and I don't even know how to invest. It's very likely that one of these days my father will end up kicking me out on the street."
"And your mother?"
"She died when I was born" Shaking his head, Jaison continued "That's why my father is more accommodating to me unlike my brothers. You could say I'm the spoiled one in the family."
"You're the youngest."
"Mn"
"I understand."
"And you? I've never met anyone in your family"
"My grandparents died of old age, my parents in a traffic accident and other than that I don't know anything else. All I know is that I probably have some family in Italy on my grandparents' side, but they never bothered to visit and my parents never even named them, so I don't even know if they exist."
"They're sure to show up if you die, all families are like that" Laughing, Jaison continued "Don't you get lonely in this gigantic house?"
"I have my butler and the people who come to clean and cook" Shrugging, Leonardo replied.
"Don't you want some girlfriend? It would help you get through the night."
"You're a fucking pimp" Laughing, Leonardo continued "But leave it, for now I'll dedicate myself to get out of this shit and concentrate on working out."
"Your loss" Shrugging, Jason looked at his watch and sighed, then stood up and stretched his body "Well, I've got a reservation at a great restaurant"
"Just get out of here."
"We'll be in touch" Chuckling, Jason patted Leonardo's shoulder and walked toward the exit of the room, again leaving the potential drug addict to his thoughts.
"James, are you around?"
"Do you need anything?" Arriving after a few seconds, James asked with a smile.
"Tell the trainer I start my routine tomorrow, have him get everything ready."
"Is it ready yet?"
"I still feel like shit, but I can already keep my hands still for a while" Shaking his head, Leonardo continued "I'm sure with sport the process will be quicker and more bearable"
"I'm confident of that" With a proud look, James continued "Do you need anything else?"
"What day is today?"
"January 15th"
"I see" Nodding with understanding, Leonardo continued "Just that for now, thank you".
"10 more push-ups and we're done, animo!"
Gritting his teeth as sweat ran down his forehead, Leonardo thought 'Damn bastard coach, why is he yelling so much?'
After the last 10 hellish push-ups, the trainer next to him smiled with satisfaction and looked at his watch "As always everything went well, at this rate in a matter of a couple more months you'll already start noticing great results!"
Breathing heavily, Leonardo simply nodded and took a hand towel at his side, then wiped the sweat from his face and spoke "See you tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow is your day off, but I'll be back the day after tomorrow" Shaking his head, the man grabbed his bottle with water and his towel, then stood up and smiled "See you, call me if you have any questions"
"I will" Sitting on the grass, Leonardo took a deep breath and stared at the blue sky above him, while a satisfied smile formed on his face.
Another 30 days passed quickly, and finally Leonardo could say that he began to enjoy his life.
After 2 weeks, his body finally stopped torturing him from abstinence and the days became brighter and brighter, while his body felt lighter and lighter.
As requested by Leonardo, James hired a good personal trainer who did a complete job, including creating his high-protein diet.
According to the man, Leonardo has a perfect body for sports, having a body type called Mesoform, something that helps him easily gain muscle and at the same time lose weight quickly, as long as he does sports and has a good diet.
But his days are not only based on eating a lot and exercising in the mornings.
Leonardo took the health of this deteriorated body very seriously and apart from getting a complete examination, he followed the recommendations of the personal trainer and started yoga classes and even complemented his exercises with a couple of hours of swimming a day.
Training, stretching, a better diet, skin care and even guided meditation from time to time.
The changes in Leonardo's life have been so great, that the cornflower James has a smile from ear to ear every day and practically jumps with happiness.
How could he not be happy?
The boy he watched grow up and worried about so much, seems to have totally changed and has moved on to a much healthier life.
Sure, he still doesn't study or work, but what does that matter as long as he knows how to take care of the rest of the money he has left?
This is undoubtedly a thousand times better than him spending all his days in clubs and doing drugs.