I'm your scab

"Of course you would think that, you're a man as well. You're all the same." said Lulu with a scoff as Benjamin just shook his head. Lulu could be so stubborn sometimes, especially with her thoughts and feelings, she was extremely headstrong about them. That was something he was starting to realize about her.

"Well maybe that's the case but for men, if we can't protect the people we care about so much... it kind of makes us a failure, and sure, maybe sometimes we don't outrightly say that we care so much and we worry, instead we prove stubbornness and dominance, but not all men can easily express their feelings." said Benjamin.

"True... I agree..." said Lulu as she nodded.

"So which man are you?" she asked as she looked at him.

"Pardon?" Benjamin asked not understanding her question.

"You basically said that there are two types of men, the ones that are scared and can't express their feelings of worry and the ones who can, so which one out of the two are you?" she asked him.

"Oh..." he said realizing her question.

"Well I...I...I'm the second one." he answered.

"Honestly?" she asked as he nodded.

"How come?" she asked.

"Well when you really care about someone, I don't think that anything should stop you from showing them that... even if you can't express your feelings fluidly, at least trying to communicate them will help." he said as Lulu nodded.

"Hmm I see... you're right." she said as she nodded.

"Yes... so you and your brothers all grew up together?" Benjamin asked, trying to change the subject, he didn't really like talking about himself.

"Yes we did, me, Dom, Charlie, Michael, Nine, Natasha and Lia, we all grew up together." said Lulu as she smiled.

"I know it sounds strange but we rarely had friends outside the group, we were like the closest group of friends in the neighbourhood considering we all lived a few houses away from each other." said Lulu as she smiled.

"I was the latest addition to the group and I am certain that for the longest time I was just Dom's annoying little sister who followed them everywhere." said Lia as she laughed and Benjamin laughed.

"So you grew up with Natasha?" asked Benjamin.

"Definitely, she was always like the big sister I never had, she always baked me cookies and played with me, and she was my favourite, and she still is. On the other hand I always disliked Lia, who knew that it was because she was a traitor all along?" asked Lulu as she scoffed.

"But I have so many fond memories growing up and I would never exchange them for anything. It's really nice to grow up around family, it makes you feel like you belong because friends can come and go, but family stays forever." said Lulu as she smiled and Benjamin smiled nodding his head.

"I agree with you... and most times you don't know how good it is to have family by your side until you don't have them anymore." he said, his tone sad as Lulu knew that he was probably thinking of his uncle.

"Yes true... but don't forget that some friends... like me, can stick closer than a scab." said Lulu as Benjamin looked at her with a funny expression on his face.

"A scab?" he asked in amusement.

"Yes, have you ever hurt yourself so bad that a scab forms around the wound and it's so painful and difficult to pull of?? Well that's me, I'm your scab." she said as she laughed and Benjamin laughed.

"What a...interesting way to put it... but I agree, you're definitely a scab, hard to pull off and get rid of." he said as he laughed.

"Hey, I know that you mean it in a bad way, anyway, you're not getting rid of me." said Lulu.

"Of course Louise, of course." he replied as a notification sound rang on her laptop as she checked it.

"Yayyy, the decorations and everything else have arrived for the party." she said happily.

"That's good." said Benjamin.

"Yes, so on Wednesday we need to start decorating the hall and everything, the party is closer than we expect." she said as Benjamin nodded.

"Oh and the banner I designed looks great, I can't wait to see it in person." said Lulu excitedly.

"Have you always wanted to be a designer?" he asked as Lulu looked at him.

"Well yes..." she replied with a small laugh.

"How come?" he asked.

"Well let's see... my grandfather had lots of expectations for Dom, lots of them. He literally planned his life from the school he would attend, to the degree he would take in college, to when and how he would get married." said Lulu.

"That's...wow..." said Benjamin as he did not know what to say.

"Yes I know... so you could say that Dom is my grandfather's best project." said Lulu as she chuckled.

"But why did he focus so much on your brother?" asked Benjamin.

"You see... in the early years of the business, things were rough, economical wise and so on, so my dad never finished college, there wasn't enough money for him to do that, so he started working fulltime at the company, then he met my mom, they married, had Dom then they had me." said Lulu.

"It wasn't until Dom was like seven that things started to improve better with the hard work of both my dad and my grandfather, the company was more stable, there was a steady income, and so my Grandfather wanted to leave a legacy and he needed a heir to leave that legacy too, he didn't want my dad to do it, because he had worked there all his life, and there was no one better than his first grandson." said Lulu.

"Dom had big shoes to fill from a young age. He's actually my grandfather's pride and joy, he's the first college graduate of the family." said Lulu as she smiled.

"That's a great achievement." said Benjamin.

"Oh it is, and Michael, Nine and Charlie are the second, third and fourth since they were all basically raised together." said Lulu.

"Dom knew that he would be the one to carry on the family business, so he really had no time to venture into other interests or hobbies, it was always business, business and more business." said Lulu.

"He was the responsible one, the kind one, the understanding one, and because my Grandfather wanted to make sure that his life was a perfect example to us all and outsiders, he planned that before he would hand the company over to Dom, he needed to get married first and that's why Natasha and Dom got married really early." said Lulu.

"My grandfather loved Natasha like his own daughter, so he saw no better person. And that was the beginning of the story of their lives." said Lulu as she shook her head.

"Anyway, Dom moved out and Charlie, Michael and Nine followed him not too long after, leaving me to be the only one at home." said Lulu.

"I always knew that Dom was the chosen one, so I never tried competing with him, there was no point, I would lose, he was ten years ahead of me." said Lulu as she chuckled.

"And I don't hate that at all because it gave me more time to develop my own likes and interests and hobbies. I saw what happened to Dom and how he virtually was pushed into this life that he never refuted since he was the perfect son, and he taught me a valuable lesson in vitality." she said.

"So that left me to decide for myself what I wanted to do, and I love art, I love designing, I love drawing, but since the family is in the business of business, I didn't want to be incapable of rendering my help when it was needed, so I also decided to venture into business." she said.

"And that's why I'm studying a degree in art and marketing, so I can use my love for art and design in a business sector so that way I can help my family while still doing something that I love." said Lulu as she smiled.

"You talk about your reasons with so much passion... I like hearing you speak so passionately." said Benjamin as Lulu smiled.

"Of course, the two most important things in my life that I am passionate about is my work and my family. I can't live without those two things." said Lulu as she smiled.

"What about you? Is there anything you are really passionate about?" she asked as she smiled at him.

"Well I would say that would be martial arts. I really love martial arts, especially because my uncle taught me everything that I know about it, and well when I practice it, I remember him." said Benjamin as he smiled.