(Story begins here.)
``So, you wanna talk about it or something?'' Roger asked.
Eric went mum for a while. For a moment, Roger thought that he had once again hidden back into his shell, but really Eric was just considering the offer seriously. He weighted the pros and cons for telling Roger, and tried to figure out how the whole embarassment factored in. Roger stared intently into Eric's unblinking eyes for a few seconds before motioning to Joe for a glass of beer. Taking the opportunity that presented itself, Joe grabbed a glass and dispensed beer into it before walking to where Eric and Roger were and placed the glass on a coaster in front of Roger.
``Well?''
``Sure, why not. Maybe you may have some advice for me or something.''
Roger guffawed uncontrollably at that last remark before checking himself hastily. ``Son, I'm not sure if I am qualified to give you advice on women, seeing that I am already divorced three times at this point.'' Roger paused, saw Eric's disappointed face, and attempted to soften his words a little. ``But of course perhaps I may have sometihng to say after all. But I can't say anything till you've told your story, right?''
Eric took another big gulp of Yuenling. It really wasn't potent enough to make him tipsy or give him the well-known ``liquid courage'', but the act of chugging a little beer itself seemed cathartic. At this point, Joe was standing right in front of Roger quietly, and appeared disinterested as he started wiping dry some of his glasses and mugs with a towel. Roger knew Joe was trying to look busy while listening in, but it didn't seem that Eric realised nor cared if Joe was eavesdropping albeit in an overt fashion.
``You know I went to the US to study, right?''
``Yeah, I remembered you saying something like that and disappearing for around two years.''
``Right. So I was studying in the US for my masters' degree. I worked hard, spent lots of time in the lab I was assigned to, designing and running experiments for my master thesis. There was nothing else that I did there other than what I had described. Until roughly six months into the programme.
``I was starting to run a little nuts. Worked too hard, felt burnt out. Losing trains of thought, got depressed, you know the usual things that come with burn out. I went to the school counsellor for advice and he suggested I join some of the activity groups on campus. I've always wanted to mess with martial arts, but opportunity never showed itself, till then.''
(Story continues here.)
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