We ended up moving together, it was better, easier to split the cost of living, we survived on noodles and wheat bread , on hood days we had fish or vegetables , I hated it and sometimes when I looked at Diah...I felt guilty , I thought it was my fault , how we were living, how she lived now, if I hadn't made that wish she would have probably never met me.
We both didn't have time to write , our jobs took most of our time , we barely even saw each other except when changing shifts or when we went home which we just slept off, dinner.....", as I recalled everything memory I felt ashamed and disgusted with my life then, my eyes on my hands, " dinner...", I was hesitating, I heaved getting myself together, " dinner...was the leftovers in the resturant....., we didn't have time to cook for ourselves most of the time and then....one day, I got sick, very sick...., I didn't go round the hospital because that would add to our expenses , Diah wanted to behind to help me recover but...at the end of the day , what had to be chosen was the latter . I don't know whether I was derilious due to the sickness or it was something I hadn't known I had craved for so long but that day I picked up my laptop , went to my old page where I had written my last books and just...wrote , it felt like a trance, like I was flying , I felt so free , that day I wrote everything about I and Diahs life but I replaced the names, I wrote word by word, thought by thought, chapter by chapter, I don't remember how I ended it, I don't even remember when I had slept , it all seemed like a dream untill...I went to work the next day, for some reason everything seemed to be going great , an extra tip, nice customers and longer breaks, I don't know what it was about that day , everything just seemed to be going great and it felt like everything that had happened was just a dream untill that.
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EIGHT YEARS AGO
" Here is your order ma'am.....", said Rhea as she served a plate of nicely cut steak and a glass of beer, the woman flashed a smile as Rhea bowed briefly and left, unlike her other days it seemed peaceful today, she walked quickly to the kitchen , she needed a quick bathroom break before she peed herself , she had been holding it for too long now, she took permission from the head staff before hurriedly disappearing through the back door, she looked at the door for a brief second then her eyes drifted off to the floor, it was like an unspoken rule , if the toilet floor was wet then it was severely messed up and if it was dry then it was manageable but right now with the pungent smell and wet floor it was quite obvious that it was a disaster, she sighed as she dropped her hand halfway then without delay she whipped out an empty water bottle from her bag so non challantly , this wasn't the first time she had done this, she rushed to the door and quickly locked it to stop anyone from coming in , she opened up the bottle , slid off her underwear and raised her skirt up, she squatted down and carefully as to not cause any spill , she peed into the bottle , her grey shirt stained with grease spills and sauce which had dried up , her name badge was hanging loosely from the pocket of her shirt , her hair tied back with a few strands poking out and her eyes filled with that of exhaustion , deep dark circles underneath.
She heaved in satisfaction when she was done , she quickly closed up the bottle and shoved it into her bag to dispose if it later on but then....there was a ding , a message, probably Diah , that was the only number she had on her phone anyway , she dug through her bag , her face looked defeated , a deep weigh of despair clouded her face as she expected the expected , due water bills, electricity, rent, it had to involve money somehow , it was as good as they weren't working, she took out her phone , her screen lighting up, and then on display wasn't Diahs number but rather a strange unfamiliar number , Rhea looked puzzled, what was this ....., she tapped it and a message unbelievably untrue popped in on full display on her screen, which read:
" Dear astonished author Rhea, your work " cyclic rounds" has caught our attention , not only had it accumulated an outstanding amount of viewers in the past two days , it raw, beautiful and real , if you would like we would want to see more if you contact us immediately, thank you very much". At the bottom was a highlighted phone number. She scoffed, when did she write anything , it was probably a dream , eventhough ....this was probably a scam , she sighed helplessly as she switched off her phone and hurtled out of the bathroom.
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PRESENT
" At first I thought it was a lie , they were probably just scammers and I had almost become one of their victims , then....I don't know whether it was our of curiosity but I ended up on my old page and what I had thought was just a dream probably just my hallucination turned out to be real.....within a span of two days my ten chapter short story that I had written in total disorientation had amassed an audience of over ten thousand, without any promotion or editing, it had good reviews and each chapter had good comments on how beautiful and relatable the story was ...", I looked over at Denver , I was not sure of the kind of reaction I wanted to get from him but...I just watched him, " the short novel became an overnight sensation and it was still counting...., I wondered to myself that if I just get this be...if this little opportunity passes me by, I will never get the same opportunity again...., I remember that day , I had scanned through that crammed, moldy and damp apartment,empty noodle packs , envelops of due payments lying on the rather faded wooden table , this was certainly the kind of life I didn't want to live , I hated it.....so that night I made a decision that....I wasn't going to live like that anymore.
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EIGHT YEARS AGO
It all felt so unfamiliar, velvet cushion chares that cost more that all the money I can make in a year, scents of expensive cologne making mine smell cheap, marble tables and a shelf of books with the authors name that Rhea could clearly recognise, celebrity authors that she probably would never dreamed of sharing the same space with was just two rooms away nkw, eventhough she had dressed in her best outfit , compared to them she looked like a beggar, maybe she shouldn't have come , she felt so out of place , what if it was all a lie, what if it was just some big dream that she knew she could never reach ?, she was still in her thoughts when she heard a soft click. She didn't turn her head instead she fiddled with her fingers nervously.
" Sorry Miss Rhea for keeping you waiting, is there anything you will like, food, drink, snacks?, asked a rather cheerful man who looked like he was in his thirties as e took a seat, why was he happy?, she wondered , " n.....no thank you", Rhea muttered nervously , " hey...don't be shy here, you are a star", Rhea looked up, clearly confused , " excuse me?", the man scoffed amused as he pulled up a tablet and turned it to Rhea whose mouth fell slightly agape in surprise , her book audience was over thirty five thousand in just three days , " how?...", it barely escaped her lips , " thirty five thousand and still counting , it is very rare to have such stroke of luck or...can we call it talent....", Rhea just sat there, nit knowing what to say, still trying to process the numbers in her head , how was it gaining so much attention, some raw unpolished draft that she had written while sick was gaining this much attention, how was this possible , it felt so unreal, " it's a shame you didn't monetize it though.....", " I thought I was dreaming", she blurted out absent minded as she stared at the screen, it was true though.
The man smiled, " that is why we are going to help you.....", he said as he leaned comfortably unto his chair, Rhea looked up, " help me?", she questioned , " your potential can't be wasted , your talent is phenomenal , so tell me Rhea....", he leaned closer into his table , eventhough he was smiling you could easily tell he was being very serious , " do you want to be a star?".
It was an easy question that had a very simple answer and she knew what that answer was.