New Life : A Second Chance

After that day, Joseph made a decision to distance himself from Kay even more.

At first, it was because he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed over the fact that he had caught her crying. 

After that, it was because he found himself being more and more attracted to her. The stronger the feelings grew, the more scared he got.

The last thing he wanted was for her to get annoyed by him. It's not like he was doing anything, but he still was worried. She was a successful, beautiful, matured woman and then, there is this gangly kid barely in his teens, having a crush on her.

He imagined it was like how a teen felt like when a toddler got attached to them.

Joseph was lying down on the bench press, putting his arms across his eyes. 

"Is everything okay, Master Joseph?"

Urgh.

Joseph opened his eyes, to see the gym instructor observing him. The Smiths were not only rich, they paid attention to such minor details. 

This gym instructor, for one.

When Delilah found out that he liked to go to the house gym, she got this instructor to monitor him. She was worried that he might injure himself and nothing he said could dissuade her from it.

"How can I face my son if anything happened to you?" Delilah had said firmly, taking his hand and patting the back of it.

She had looked at all the equipment in here and seeing how heavy they were, she had this sudden vision of the little Joseph being pinned under any of those weights. She shuddered at that.

"But …" Joseph stammered, feeling bad because they were spending more money on him. He owed them too much already.

"No buts," Delilah replied, cutting him off, "Just feel free doing what you want, and don't worry about it."

Joseph nodded, feeling touched … and guilty as well.

It made him even more determined to get rid of his growing feelings for Kay. What would Aunty Delilah feel if she knew what he was thinking and feeling? About her precious daughter?

Not to mention Kyle.

Joseph, thinking about all of this, sighed even more and said, "How many times do I have to tell you, Felix? It's just Joseph. Or Joey. I'm just a guest here and no young master or what-not."

"I can't do that, Master Joseph," replied Felix solemnly, "Grandfather would have my neck."

Joseph laughed.

Felix's grandfather was the Smith's butler. It had been a sort of tradition in the family. Felix's family would always serve the Smith family. Yet, Felix had gone against the unwritten rule and instead of taking up the mantle of 'butler', he became 'gym instructor'.

Butler Kim, though angry, had let him be. Traditional he may be but he was not the type to force his family to do what needs to be done. Then again, part of the reason he could be so accommodating was because there was already someone who was more than happy to take up the mantle after he retired.

Felix, being grateful to his grandfather for not insisting, would be far more compliant with the manner of speech and attitude that Butler Kim insisted on when serving the Smiths.

"You know, I've always wondered," Joseph said suddenly, sitting up and facing Felix, "If your cousin is being trained to serve Kyle, what about Kay? Are all the resources only being given to Kyle?"

He felt rather indignant when he thought about it.

Kay was Kyle's twin, and was even working as the CEO while Kyle wasn't around. Women weren't seen as being equal to men in his country but he had thought Country Tz was different.

Felix explained, "Our family serves the main head of Smith Industries, whoever that may be. If Master Kyle wasn't the CEO after Master Patrick, Erik would go and serve the one who will be CEO."

"Oh, so the resources go to the Head?" Joseph continued to ask.

"As the CEO, he would be dealing with many things and meeting all sorts of people," Felix continued to explain.

"A butler capable in dealing with the various intricacies of running such a household is essential. The Mistress would have to deal with a lot of things as well, so the butler is the key person in making sure both Master, and Mistress, can focus on what they need to do."

Joseph thought about it and felt it made sense. 

He had thought there was injustice in the way Kyle got things as compared to Kay. He felt that was strange because Aunty Delilah and Uncle Patrick looked like they weren't being biased in their treatment towards Kay.

It turns out it wasn't due to gender, but the position that Kyle held. 

"So, when Kay is the acting-CEO, Eric would serve her?" Joseph asked to clarify.

"Yes," Felix confirmed.

Joseph nodded in understanding. As the CEO of Smith Industries, there are many things that need to be handled. It wasn't just dependent upon the one at the top, but the well-oiled mechanisms below that help keep everything running smoothly.

Though Joseph understood more now, it also drove the message that Kay was 'not in his world' even more.

"Do you want to carry on, Master Joseph?" Felix asked politely after seeing Joseph gather his thoughts and calm down.

"Yeah, sure," Joseph replied and lay back down.

Felix picked up the camera and started recording while giving instructions, "Be careful that you don't jerk too much, or you would …"

Joseph listened intently to the advice of Felix as he did his moves carefully. 

This was one of the slightly more complicated dance moves for his TokTik video. It would only be a few seconds but preparing and doing it took much more time. It had to look simple, even though it wasn't.

Perhaps he should combine fitness with dance. People certainly liked his videos and he had Felix to guide him. 

It certainly was interesting.