"Phew..." Tyler let himself fall on the couch. "Another full day of work."
His gaze went to the small TV he had recently bought alongside a PS4.
"I'd rather just scroll... Too tired to game."
For a while now, his life had become like this.
Work, scroll, sleep, and work again.
Here are my ten BEST tips to lose weight and start looking your best!
The influencer's words cut like knives, and Tyler quickly scrolled away.
He had gained a ton of weight in the past six months.
Tyler had stopped working out, caring about what he ate, and all manner of activity he used to enjoy.
Tired of scrolling, he closed the social media app and moved to Dinter.
"As expected..." he muttered with a sigh. "No matches."
Still, Tyler swiped a bit.
He knew his pictures were terrible and that he didn't look his best at the moment. Still, he lacked all motivation to do something about it.
"Back to scrolling, I guess..."
His eyes were completely devoid of life, like he was slowly rotting, slowly turning into a corpse... A fat, bulky corpse.
Tyler closed the app, stared at his wallpaper for a moment, locked his phone, and threw it on the other side of the couch.
It was painful to look at, but he didn't have the strength to change it.
His wallpaper was the last picture he had taken with his mother, about a month before the car accident that took her life.
Every time Tyler thought about it, it filled him with anger. Anger he could do nothing with.
"Fucking asshole..." Tyler muttered under his breath, fuming. "Tsk." He picked his phone back up to scroll.
His mother had gotten into a car accident at around 2 am.
She had been woken up by a call from the cops. Her husband had been pulled over for drunk driving.
It was on the way there that, unfortunately, a truck driver, exhausted by the 15-hour drive, failed to notice her completely.
Six months had passed since her death.
Tyler could have recovered, were his father not such an asshole.
'Mom had to drive so late at night because he was out getting drunk. While he always complained to us about money, he didn't mind spending it on alcohol multiple times a week.'
Had this been the full extent of the situation, Tyler could have lived with it. However,
'What do you know, two months after mom's death, the asshole is getting married. Not only that, but he didn't tell me anything about it. Not about the marriage, not even about a fiancée or girlfriend.'
It is later, after meeting his step-mother Maria and her daughter Fiona, that Tyler would understand why his dad hid her.
'And what do you know? He wasn't just spending his money on alcohol. He was leaving super generous tips to one particular bartender.'
Basically, he drank a ton, left a ton of money to his favorite bartender, Maria, was pulled over by the cops, lost his wife, who was coming to help him, and married Maria two months later.
"Such a nice love story," Tyler muttered as his teeth ground so hard they felt sore afterward.
Even upon learning this, Tyler kept everything a secret from Maria, effectively becoming his father's accomplice.
Why?
Knock- Knock-
Tyler sighed, walked to the door, and,
"H-Hey." Maria waved, an awkward smile on her face. "Tyler, we were in the neighborhood and I thought we'd pay you a visit." She gulped, and pushed her daughter with an elbow. "Right, Fiona?"
"Right." Fiona nodded, not even looking up from her phone, which she held and typed on with one hand. "Plus, Mom was convinced your fridge would be empty again, so we brought groceries." She raised her other arm, handing him the groceries.
"Oh, thanks. Let me get my wallet so I can-"
"No, no! Please, see it as a gift." Maria had made it obvious she would never take money from him numerous times.
"Thanks..." He muttered, scratching his head.
As much as he wanted to hate Maria the same way he hated his father, Tyler just couldn't bring himself to do so.
At the time, Maria was a thirty-five-year-old single mother with an eighteen-year-old daughter.
The father was missing. He has been missing ever since Maria was eight months pregnant.
She raised the child with the help of her grandparents.
Having had a child to take care of so young, university and further studies weren't an option. She found work here and there, and raised her daughter.
It was after her father's death that Maria took up working at night as well for the needed additional income, and became a bartender.
That's how Tyler's father met Maria.
"Y-You should come by sometime. Maybe next week? Have lunch with us?"
"No, but thanks for suggesting that." Tyler nodded and stepped back, preparing for them to leave.
"I'm sure your father would really appreciate it..." Maria whispered.
"I doubt it." He said immediately. 'He hasn't called me since I moved out. Hasn't asked if I'm okay, or anything of the sort. In fact, I'm not even sure he has my address.'
Tyler couldn't bring himself to hate Maria.
"How about I cook you something? We've got the groceries, so..."
"No, really. I just ate so-"
Grumble-
"Hehe!" Maria chuckled. "Don't mind me." She said, before walking through the door.
Fifteen minutes later, Tyler was seated in front of a hot and comforting homemade meal.
"Nothing but frozen food." Fiona muttered while looking at his fridge. "And leftover junk food."
Maria laid a fork and a knife next to his plate.
"Go on, eat before it gets cold."
"Yeah..." He nodded. "Thanks for the food." Tyler was visibly embarrassed.
"So, how's work?" Maria asked with a warm smile. She always enjoyed seeing people eat meals she'd prepared.
Tyler couldn't bring himself to hate her.
After all, it often felt like she was the only person in the world to care about him.
"I'll go wait in the car," Fiona said and walked out. "Don't take too long."