"Well because I don't think I want to settle down in the city." Benjamin admitted. "The city is the last place I would want to set up a dojo." He added.
"Why?" Lulu felt her heart drop when she heard him say that he did not wish to settle down in the city, she did not know why, but it rubbed her the wrong way.
"Because wherever I set up that dojo is probably where I would live for the rest of my life." Benjamin said remembering he had a bowl of ice cream in his hand. "I'm not a fan of moving, so if I was to set up a dojo, that would be a huge commitment and I would like to see it through to the end no matter what happens." He ate his ice cream.
"So if I do set up a dojo, I'm not going to leave wherever I set it. I don't want to repeat what happened with my uncle's dojo." He said.
"I do understand that." Lulu nodded, it was a reasonable explanation for why he thought so, but she still did not feel very happy to hear it.
"Mhmm." He replied.
"So where do you think you would prefer to open the dojo?" Lulu asked, she decided to continue the conversation instead of focusing on the feelings she was feeling at the moment.
"Probably in my home town." Benjamin concluded.
"Don't you think that won't be like the best place for it?" Lulu asked.
"What do you mean?" Benjamin turned.
"I mean, before you left, your uncle's dojo was not doing that well. That was why you had to come to the city to find a job. People stopped bringing their children to learn." Lulu said.
"Do you really think that reopening a dojo in the same place it had to be closed down is a good idea? I mean that's business one-o-one. Is there an availability in the market?" Lulu asked.
"That was then, whenever I open my dojo would be now in the time, I don't think the same thing would happen." Benjamin said.
"Well I do not mean to be a pessimist, but you cannot always think wishfully and expected something good to come out of it." Lulu said.
"No, to me, it sounds like you are just against the idea." Benjamin said, he had to speak the truth, he did not know why, but ever since he mentioned the whole not settling down here thing, Lulu's tone had taken a serious turn.
"I'm not against the idea, hey, I'm a marketing student, business is my family's thing and I know a thing or two about making a business successful, now, if I was to be your advisor, I would advise you do not reopen the same business, in the same place, except you wish to do it for charity and not expect any money, then it's fine." Lulu said.
"It's not going to be a charity, it's a service business, and no, you're not my advisor so... no. I think it will be fine." Benjamin sounded so sure. Lulu could sense an argument coming, she did not wish to explode it any further so, she decided to move on.
"Alright then." Lulu said.
"Yes." Benjamin replied.
"So you want to move back to your home town?" she aked.
"Yes." Benjamin replied.
"When?" she asked.
"As soon as I save enough money, I'll leave." Benjamin replied.
"And have you saved enough money?" she asked him.
"Mhmm, I'm eighty percent done saving the amount I need to." He replied, it was true, for him saving for was not that hard. He had a good stable, monthly salary, he lived in a house where he paid no rent. He was allowed to use one of the cars whenever going out. The only thing he actually paid for was his food, and even then, when the maids were present, they made food for everyone.
He had to admit that living here was the best thing that could have happened to him, he was very comfortable here and he appreciated that a lot.
"So once you save enough money, you're leaving?" Lulu asked.
"Yes, of course I'm leaving. I am not going to waste a second here once I have the full amount. I'll resign and move back home." Benjamin replied swiftly. Lulu felt herself becoming sadder by the moment.
"Oh..." she said.
"But do you think that you could ever change your mind?" Lulu asked.
Benjamin laughed and threw his head back with a shake of his head he said no.
"Really?" she asked.
"Really."
"You would not stay back for a while?" she asked.
"No, I have no reason to stay back, nothing, no one, so I would not stay back for any reason at all." He said so assuredly that Lulu did not know what else to say.
"Oh... you would not even stay back a little bit? Even just for me..." She said in a soft tone. Benjamin looked at her, he did not understand what she meant.
"What do you mean?" he asked, he knew that was an idiotic question as soon as he had asked it.
Lulu took a deep breath and sighed, she put her bowl of ice cream on the table and stood up.
"Look, I honestly don't know what you think about me, but I at thought that at least we were friends... and we would be for a long time." Lulu said.
"And being friends means you plan for the future with the other in mind, if not fifty percent, then twenty five, but clearly with what you have said, you don't have me in mind at all, it's just you."
"I thought that we had become true friends, if I was you, I would at least consider that the person sitting beside me would not like to hear what I'm thinking about and I would stop right there, but you... you have made your plans clear." Lulu said.
"You do not even care about me." She said painfully. "You do not care that I thought we were going to remain friends for a long time, you do not care that I actually care about you to an extent, and certainly you do not care about the advice I'm giving you because you want to do your own thing." Benjamin tried to say something but she stopped him.
"But what's clear is that you certainly, and I mean certainly are selfish if you could not even consider saying something to cheer me up when I asked if you would stay back a bit for me." She said.
"I know where our so called friendship stands." Lulu said. "I'm not an idiot and I can take hints, I know when to stop pushing it, and it seems that now is the time."
"Look, I wish you the best of luck with saving your money and the dojo and everything else you want to do. I just can't continue being friends with someone who is not sensitive to my feelings and takes everything I say as a joke."
"Goodnight Benjamin, and goodbye." With that Lulu took her leave and the door closed behind her with a thud.
Benjamin just sat there his eyes wide open. He did not know what had just happened. He did not know that his words had set Lulu off the edge that much.
He got up and went to the front door, he opened it. She truly did leave, he could not see her anywhere.
He frowned, this was just too much. She had said a lot, quite a lot to him and he felt bad that she was upset because of what he had said. Most of what she said was not true, he did care for her, truly he did.
Benjamin closed his front door, knowing Lulu, she needed some space, if he went after her, she might cause a scene and shot. So instead he brought out his phone and dialed her number.
As soon as Lulu saw Benjamin's call on her phone, she declined and switched off her phone.
Benjamin looked at the declined call, he frowned and tried again when he heard that the number he was dialing was unreachable.
He facepalmed himself. He had spoken to much, he should have kept his mouth shut and read her expression before answering.
He did not know that she cared about him so much. It was worrying but at the same time heartwarming. She looked like she was about to cry when he said that he was going to move away as soon as he was done saving the amount he needed.
Benjamin sighed, he really messed up. He tried to call Lulu again, but her phone was still switched off. He sat down on the couch and looked at the bowl of ice cream she had left. She must have been really angry with him for her to leave without her ice cream.
He hoped that she would be calmer in the morning so he could apologize.