Life's a Game but it's not Fair

Holly collapsed onto the couch in Viktor’s living room. She was exhausted. She never knew that taking the bus could be so tiring. She had no idea how people took multiple busses everyday for their whole lives. She was definitely going to have to get herself a car if she was going to be going back to school. She didn't know how exactly she was going to do that, but she would figure it out. Holly’s appointment at the University of Toronto had gone well. The dean of admissions loved her. He actually went as far as to say that she was very charming. Holly hoped that he actually thought that she was charming and not the fact that her last name was Lane. Holly had left with a few packages to go through in order to figure out what she wanted to do. She was leaning towards going into addictions counselling. Back at UVM she had touched on it briefly in a course that she had taken and she found it really interesting. She thought that it would be very fulfilling to help people every day.

Viktor came into the living room and flopped himself on top of Holly. She groaned and laughed as his body was squishing her, but she made no attempt to move him. He rested his head against her chest as he laid on top of her; his feet hanging over the arm of the couch. “What do you think about the school?” He asked her. Holly could feel the vibration of his voice course through her.

“It was nice.” She told him as her fingers made their way through his sandy brown hair. “I only saw a very little bit of it, but I'm looking forward to going back to do something that I actually want to do.” She told him as she continued to play with his hair. Viktor closed his eyes, the way Holly’s fingers were working his scalp was soothing and any minute now he would be out like a light.

“I'm so proud of you, Hols.” He muttered. Viktor found it admirable that Holly was brave enough to just walk away from everything. It’s not something he would have recommended that she do, but he knew exactly what Holly’s parents were like and he didn't blame her for wanting out. They had her life all planned out for her from the time she was born. Every activity Holly had ever been enrolled in as a child had some sort of purpose and Viktor thought it was nice to see Holly doing something for reasons that stemmed from within her.

Holly’s phone vibrated wildly on the coffee table and she groaned. She had been enjoying her little moment with Viktor and didn't want to be interrupted. “Can you grab that?” She mumbled. Viktor reached out and grabbed Holly’s iPhone and answered it.

“Hello?” He said into the phone but all he heard was silence. “Hello?” He said again.

“Who is this?” The deep male voice questioned.

“Viktor.” He replied. “Who is this?”

“Put Holly on the phone.” The guy demanded.

“I will when you tell me who I am talking to.” Viktor insisted suddenly overcome with the urge to protect her.

“Man, put her on the fucking phone!” This guy was getting frustrated and he wasn’t trying to hide it at all.

“Yah, I don't think I want to do that. You’re kind of hostile.” Holly shot Viktor a look and he shrugged it off.

“Put Holly on the fucking phone. Now.” He ordered.

“Who the fuck is this?!” Holly took the phone from Viktor as she heard the shaky tone in his voice that only came out when he was extremely pissed off.

“Hello?”

“Where the hell are you?!” Holly closed her eyes and laid back on the couch when she heard Paul’s voice.

“What do you want, Paul?” Viktor’s eyes widened when he realized that the guy he had just gotten into it with was Holly’s ex boyfriend, Paul.

Paul and Viktor had never seen eye to eye. From day one they had never gotten along. Paul was jealous of the relationship that Holly had with Viktor and he felt threatened by the fact that Holly needed Viktor in her life. Paul had tried endlessly to cut him out of Holly’s life and that infuriated Viktor. Paul had gone to school a few hours away from Holly in New York so he wasn’t always around, but when he was he and Viktor often had some choice words for each other. Holly always ended up having to play the peace maker role, but she always made sure that Paul knew that he was out of line being jealous of Viktor. That was yet another thing that had pissed Paul off. In Holly’s eyes Viktor was perfect. He could do no wrong. Finding out that his girlfriend had broken up with him and high tailed it out of there only to run to him made everything that much worse.

“What do I want?!” Paul exclaimed. “You tell me things are over and then run away and you want to know what I want?! I've been worried sick about you. Your parents are beside themselves, Holly!”

“Yah well...they’ll get over it.”

“You’re in Toronto?” He asked, knowing that Viktor had been drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs and was playing for their farm team. “When are you coming home?”

“I'm not. I'm staying here.” She told him quickly.

“You’re WHAT?!” Paul shouted. “Holly you can’t be serious! You're supposed to start work with..”

“I don't want to do that! I'm sick of people telling me what I'm supposed to do! I'm sick of that life.” Viktor squeezed Holly’s knee supportively letting her know that he was there for her.

“Holly just come home! You don't have to work at your father’s firm if you don't want to. You can do whatever you want! Just please come home! I miss you.”

“You know what, Paul? I'm not coming home. I'm happy where I am, and you know just as well as I do that my parents are not going to let me do anything other than what they've got planned.”

“That's not true, Holly! They just want you to be happy.”

“I'm not talking about this. You've got your head so far up my dad’s ass that it’s not even funny.” Holly told him causing Viktor to laugh. Holly glanced at him and he quickly tried to pretend that he was coughing but she saw right through it. She smirked at him and elbowed him in the ribs playfully. Holly’s dad had a sick little man crush on Paul and that was the reason that she had kept him around so long. She thought that she loved Paul, but then she realized that she loved the fact that he fit in so well with her family. She had so much pressure on her to be with Paul that she had grown to resent him. She believed that Paul loved her; she just also believed that he loved her father’s connections more. “We’re over, Paul.”

“Holly...come on. Please don't do this.” Paul pleaded.

“It’s already been done, Paul. Just think of it this way...now you have more time to be with my dad.”

“Holly..”

“Goodbye Paul.” She said, cutting him off before he could say anything else and then hung up. She handed the phone to Viktor who leaned to place it back on the coffee table. “Turn it off.” She told him. He nodded as he did as he was told and then turned to look at her.

“You okay?” Holly nodded. Viktor’s head rested on her chest once again and a smile formed on her face. For the first time in a long time she felt as though a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Everything was crystal clear.