The Puppeteer

185. I find it amusing how you form relationships with people in general. For instance, your charming arrogance immediately places people on guard and at ease at the same time. Paired with the deadly combination of humor and wit and intelligence, I observe that you make people connect to you and trust you so easily. And this is the part where you attach your invisible strings, unbeknownst to them. I don't think anyone wants to be on your bad side because you tend to be so menacing and manipulative when provoked. When you pull their strings, they dance. They follow whatever you will. And they aren't even aware of it. Even I fall victim at times. The willing victim.  I'm constantly in awe of how you maneuver yourself in sticky situations, and it always seems that you know exactly what to say. In line of this I'm left with the curiosity of how you handled yourself in the past when you were younger. To the time when your confidence was still building up. And your handling of people, women in particular, was still being polished. Were you as manipulative and charming then as you are now? I wish I could see how you were in the past. I'd probably fall head over heels for you the moment you took your shirt off stage at that school beauty contest you won and probably abhor your innate cockiness. You told me recently that if I wanted to see how you looked then, I should look at your younger brother because he too participated in such events. My curiosity got the best of me and I did look at his pictures on facebook. He looked almost exactly like you except younger. Great genes, I thought. He won second place. Your family was so proud of him as they were of you in the past. As they are now of the man you've become. I sometimes get the feeling that you'd very much like to return to your glory days and all the attention-getting activities you participated in. Sports, contests, student council activities and your overly active love life. The boy with the golden tongue. The one with so many puppets at his beck and call. But you've changed a lot, you know. You're so much more mature now then you were then. I wondered what triggered this change of heart in you. Was this just a part of growing up and growing older each day? Or a conscious decision? Or something with regards to the environment? But whatever it is, this is for certain: that I'll love you just the same. After all, as a master puppeteer, you sure know how to pull good strings. Especially with my heart.