Opportunities and goals.

“It’s… uh… complicated? Or simple?” I groaned. “I don’t know, it’s… a personal thing. It feels strange to… accept this kind of deal. It feels like too much for too little. Being paid this much would help immensely, but… It’s like a solution to my problems falling on my lap all of a sudden. It’s too… convenient and it doesn’t feel right.”

The looks the girls gave me made me feel like I was a weird, disgusting bug. They looked at me in disbelief, like I was stupid, and… honestly, in their shoes, I’d think the same.

“Really?” Sarah asked. “You get offered an immense amount of money for an easy job and your reason to hesitate is because it ‘doesn’t feel right’?”

“This might be the first time I’ve thought you’re dumb, Oliver,” Grace said.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Alice said. “But it is a pretty… strange reason to think of refusing. I mean, it’s not like he’s asking you to do something degrading, right?”

“Oliver, if you accepted…!” Mila cut her own words short, pursing her lips. “N-Never mind…”

“I think that being doubtful of whether this offer is legitimate or not is fair,” Noelle said. “But to think of refusing because you don’t like how convenient it is…”

I bit my lip. I knew they were right, of course. Intellectually, at least, I knew. Still… This was the first time that I felt that the girls didn’t understand what I was thinking, where I was coming from. Maybe I really was like a weird bug. My reasoning was dumb and I didn’t have the will to try to explain myself. If I thought Mr. Allen was trustworthy and that the deal he was offering was good, then why even think about it further?

“If Mr. Allen had offered me my own bar, I wouldn’t have accepted his offer,” Diana said. We all turned to her. She had been quiet so far, and I knew it was because she didn’t want to influence my decision since she was already employed by Mr. Allen. “I’m sorry, but I’ll get a bit self-referential for a bit. Do you mind?”

“N-No, go ahead,” I told her.

“I have a personal goal, a dream. I want to own my own bar, a place I have full control over. I want to make a living out of it, to work at a place I built with my own efforts. I want to give that place my personal touch, to make it… ‘Diana’s bar’ in every way possible. But when Mr. Allen offered me to work as the manager at his bar, I didn’t think twice. You know why? Because I wasn’t being given my dream, but an opportunity to get closer to it. It’s a well-paying job, but more importantly, it’ll help me learn more about what it means to run a business like it. I need a lot more experience before I can achieve my goal.”

Diana smiled gently at me. “I think I understand where you’re coming from, Oliver. Being handed things on a silver platter doesn’t feel good. It makes you feel like you owe others, like you didn’t earn it, like you’re being given charity. The desire to climb your way up… I understand it well. But is that really the case here? I’m… not entirely familiar with all this magic stuff, but as I understand it, you’d be providing a valuable and rare key ingredient for a supernatural type of pharmaceutical, right? It’s not unlike selling penicillin for the synthesis of antibiotics.” She chuckled. “Though I suppose the motivation behind the creation of this specific remedy is more hedonistic than altruistic. But even more importantly than that,” she continued, “is that you need to think about your own goals. Are you being given what you want or an opportunity to reach your objectives? Opportunities don’t always present themselves and they CAN be wasted. Is this one you’re willing to let go of?”

…

Opportunities.

I remember feeling the same when Frey first came into the picture. An improved body, magical abilities, sexual prowess, and none of it truly mine. But over time… I feel I’ve made it mine. My efforts at the gym, the thought I put into satisfying the girls, my job as a waiter… Those are things I feel proud of. Would I have made those changes in my life if Frey hadn’t given me the opportunity of a head start? I probably wouldn’t. I’d still be locked in my room, unable to talk to people.

My goal has never been to earn a lot of money. I got possessed by a Spirit of Lust, after all. Not a Spirit of Greed. I think that should speak to my priorities. I want to stay with the girls. They are my happiness. I want to be the best version of myself I can be, for them and for myself. I fear stagnation, to go back to the days of apathy and silence. Money… doesn’t guarantee either. It will help me stay with them and threaten my own growth, but…

Yeah. I think my mind is clearer now.

“If…” I started, addressing my schoolmates. “If I was able to pay for your higher education, would that help us stay together?”

Their eyes widened, some of them let out soft gasps, some jaws fell.

Grace held her forehead and sighed. “Okay, that thing I said about thinking you were dumb? I take it back. I know how you feel now. Damn.” She groaned. “It’s one thing to have my parents pay for it, but you…”

“So… that’s what you both meant,” Alice said with a grimace. “About not liking being… indebted to someone.”

“It’d be like taking advantage of you, wouldn’t it?” Noelle said, fidgeting nervously.

“Ugh, and he could do it, too,” Sarah said. “If he gets paid that much, he totally could. And he would.”

“Huh. That’s funny. I thought accepting good offers was the smart thing to do,” I told them with crossed arms and a raised eyebrow.

“Alright, point made,” Grace said. “It’s just… Holy crap, Oliver. I didn’t expect that. I thought you’d use the money to start your music career or something.”

“Yeah, same here,” Mila said. “I was thinking that you didn’t want to buy your way into fame or something like that. Not that you were thinking of… this!”

Diana chuckled. “Really? I thought you would’ve seen it coming. I mean, I didn’t expect it, but it makes sense, doesn’t it? He loves you. Of course he wants to do anything to stay with you.”

“Don’t count yourself out of the group, Diana,” Alice told her, giggling. “He’s gonna drag you with us if he has to.”

Diana blushed, but didn’t retort. Should I take that to mean she would let herself be dragged with us if I asked?

“But…” Noelle started hesitantly, looking at Alice and Grace. “It… really is the solution we were looking for, isn’t it? If we don’t have to study where our parents tell us to… we can stay here, in the city, can’t we?” She giggled nervously. “Yeah, now I get it, too. It really feels like the answer just fell on our laps.”

“No, not… entirely,” Grace said, shaking her head. “Okay, let’s say Oliver’s deal with this Mr. Allen guy goes through. He starts earning that soccer-star level salary and we… accept his monetary support.” I took some satisfaction in hearing Grace’s less-than-pleased tone for that last part. All it took was to be on the receiving end of charity for her to understand where I was coming from. At least part of it. “Let’s say all that happens. We still need to plan things out. For as much money as it is, it’s not infinite. And even if Oliver can pay for our university studies, it doesn’t mean our parents will just let it happen. I know mine won’t like it.”

“That wouldn’t be a problem if you left the house, though, right?” Mila asked her.

“I was actually thinking along those lines as well,” I said.

Like that, the breakfast table became a planning table.

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