YOU ARE MY SYMPHONY

Alex “ALEXANDER THOMPSON'' for whatever reason had been sitting there, feeling the cold twinkles of terror coming out from her small computer screen as each blinking element kept reminding her that not much beat a smear page? "And guess what?" she exhaled, before continuing with the dead-body-motion of thoughtfulness.Her silence echoed through her tiny room in New Jersey. Her breath did too. Those echoes were just a reminder of the dreams that seemed to become more dim as each day went by.

The noises drifting upwards from the bustling metropolis below paled in comparison to the noise within her own mind, as it raced. Thoughts and memories competed for attention, swirling in her head - a jumble of both combined together. Her way from those humble beginnings to this standing before her had been anything but straightforward and riddled with impediments.

It had not been an easy journey. Her paltry income was barely enough to sustain her and whatever she managed was generally funneled into daily needs or academic necessities, all of which directly contributed toward becoming the best in her chosen profession.

She rarely bought new clothes and even if she decided to buy for once,she always made sure she purchased low graded clothes with a lot of discounts or a buy one and get one offer.She moved around with a lot of coupon cards and yet she had always worked her ass up for her peanut wages—a workaholic.

The memory of her mother suddenly came to her thoughts and hot tears burned through her cheek.Her mother has been a huge supporting pillar in her life.She was loved and cared for by her mother.Loosing her mother to cancer shattered her world.The pain of that loss was a wound that had never truly healed, a void that no amount of time or distance could fill.

A year later after her mother died, her father had returned home with a young girl almost the same age as her and a woman who was the mother of the girl..She was enraged because the scene was really clear that her father had been unfaithful to her mother when she was alive,a revelation that twisted the knife of grief even deeper. Her father’s absence at her mother’s funeral had been a painful mystery, now cruelly explained by his betrayal.

Alex has confronted her father in a fury and rage voice but instead of a real or pretense remorse and explanation,he welcomed her question with a slap that resounded through the whole house,a physical action of her father's contempt and rejection.Left with nowhere to go or turn,she resigned to fate.She endured the filthy family affection of her father towards her step-sister and step-mother.

Alex's step-sister refused to share the room with her which made her father order her to move her belongings into the store room that was so tiny,there was no sunlight and proper ventilation.She vowed to leave the house for them as soon as she could stand on her own.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months and Alex’s life became a stage of small battles and silent wars.Despite the fact that she didn't interfered in their affairs,her step-mother and step-sister always treated her with great disdain.They are always looking for a way to undermined her.The tension in the house because too high and she was suffocated.Everyday could be anything but not peace of mind.There was no traces of normalcy.

One unfortunate day,an argument with her step-sister blew up.Her step-sister had entered her room and scattered everywhere out of her disdain act.She also took Alex's money.This led to a volatile mix of pent-up anger.The step-mother intervened and sided her daughter,her voice dripped with malice.As the argument escalated, Alex's father stormed into the living room and gave her a very disgusted slap without asking for an explanation,his face contorted with rage.

“You're always rebellious as your mother”,he spat and his words cut through Alex’s soul.Your mother had you with another man but I took you in out of pity but now I see you're a senseless wench and a troublesome bitch like her.

The assertion left Alex staggered,the ground beneath her feet crumbled. The shocking revelation that she was a stranger in her claimed family,an unwanted remnant of her father's pity,a misplaced illusion she had clung to.The final words uttered by her father severed her last connection to the family.

Alex was so broken.She entered her room,packed her belongings, now that she know she's a stranger in the house,she left the house that night.She vowed to never return.She wandered and slept in shelter for two years.She navigated her life through harsh realities of life,until a charity program helped her and her friend to get an apartment where they started living in.

With the help of strangers and her wellness to work,she found kindness from strangers.She found solace in writing thereafter pouring her life and pains in a story writing that offered her a temporary escape from her harsh life whenever she came back from work.

Alex had learned a lot of defensive skills on the streets because the streets is always so dangerous.She learned boxing, taekwondo,how to shoot a gun and a lot more.Despite all the life challenges,she is still so pretty, frangible, always smiling —she just so excessively beautiful more than her real life realities.

Four years later,Alex decided to pursue her writing career as a successful novel writer and a screenwriter but life cheated her once again.Whenever she helped people to write a novel,it’s always a hit.But whenever she wrote the novel for herself,the novel always get rejected, from more than 20+ platforms and companies.She purchased different skill courses to helped her get better but all to no avail.

Alex wrote romance novels really well but her love life was a fairytale far from reality.Often,any novel she wrote and was rejected, whenever she sold it out.She would find them on a lot of platforms and few of her novel had been made into short-movie adaption but was can she do,she was just a writer with no name.What a bad luck! She mumbled.

Her thoughts was interrupted by her phone that buzzed.She picked it up and it was her former roommate and her friend,Rachel Lee.Rachel worked as a part-time assistant editor in a short-movie adaption company.She had tried to help Alex severally to nab a part-time job like her own in the company but Alex always end up being rejected.

Rachel never gave up on Alex for once,she always encouraged her and she also supported her with foodstuffs at times whenever she was too sick to work on writing or as a convenience store part-timer.

"Alex, you won’t believe what happened today!" Rachel exclaimed, her enthusiasm infectious.Alex smiled, grateful for the distraction. "What happened?”

I was invited to an incredibly exclusive charity thing this weekend And guess what? “I’ve got a spare ticket for you.” Rachel exclaimed. "But, let me tell you one thing. We partnered with big company some time back and that is how we actually gained some credibility." She added the big company is the one hosting this event,all the staff in the company were invited I'm sure you understand. There were many extra invitation cards so they told us to invite our friends,fiances,sisters or even colleagues from all over huh— she giggled.

Alex paused for a moment. "I don’t know, Rachel. "I wish I could come, but I can't get out of work, and honestly, I don't even have anything to wear to something like that."

"Come on, Alex! It’ll be fun. Also, you never know who you are going to meet. “This time, this might be a turn of luck for you to grab into some high profiling job with your skill.”

It took Alex just a second to understand that and quickly replied, "Haha, Fine then." "Alright, I’ll go. However, if I do turn out to be a train wreck, then it is all your fault.

"Rachel laughed. "I promise you, you are going to love it.

The call ended, and Alex sat still staring at her screen filled with a gulping concoction of excitement and angst. She checked her phone for the time and realized that she was already 10 minutes late to start her shift at the convenience store. She always walked 15 minutes because she got to the store, stood up abruptly, grabbed her bag and ran as fast as her short legs could get her to the store.

For years Alex had been going from gig to gig, constantly doing her best to work on being a successful romance novelist. While the rejections from publishers never ceased to leave her frustrated, she could not let her passions die down. Writing had been the only way for her to escape, more than that it was a place where things tended to make more sense — or less pain at any rate.

Her boss,Mr Jenkins is a feisty cat in human form, he's so notorious. She’s working there strictly because he pays more than any other store around these parts.” She cannot be arsed to deal with him, especially when her emotions are already all over the place tonight. Oh Lord, please don’t let me run into him once I get to the store as she prayed while she ran.

Finally making the convenience store, Alex pushed open the door, with a familiar jangle signaling her entrance. Mr. Jenkins glanced up from the counter, eyes narrowing into smile lines. Then his scowl deepened as he saw her. "Alex, you're late!" he barked. "Again."

"I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Jenkins,” Alex said, stepping back behind the counter. "It won't happen again."

"It better not," he grumbled. "You're on thin ice.”

As she settled into her shift, Alex couldn’t keep her mind from straying back to the conversation with Rachele on the phone and how they were going to tackle things at that charity event. An opportunity to escape from the cycle of monotony, a chance encounter with someone who might change her life. But it was difficult not to see the hand dealing so much of what even she could still recognize as reality. There wasn't hope, not with everything she had to do. But Alex held onto it anyway like the stubborn little girl that she was, juggling three jobs and her writing and still trying to balance a social life alongside all of that too.

Long into the night she had a steady stream of customers in and out. After her very long shift, Alex was really tired. She then closed down the store, the city seemed quieter now facing streets that weren’t as full. As she walked back to her apartment, she gave herself permission to dream about what the charity event might mean.

The night air was cold, and Alex wrapped her jacket tightly around her. The streets were so still which weren't but a few moments ago filled with activities. Though her footfalls clattered down the empty street and she picked up speed. She wanted to be back in her flat as soon as possible.

All of a sudden, she heard noise behind her. Barely a whisper, but enough to make the hair on her neck stand. As she looked back over her shoulder, she caught a glimpse of something,her heart beating very fast as she tried to escape.

The figure quickened pace, coming closer and closer. But Alex couldn't rest. The thought stuck in her head like a pressing weight on each one of her muscles and sent a tremor down to every bone she possessed. Turning the corner, she looked down to find an alleyway,thinking about how unwise this was, she darted down hoping to put distance between them but the footsteps behind were louder and closer.