Life Without You

Chapter 79 - Moving On

Mrs Waltz was excited to see Ariel and Andy again that she did not hesitate to give each of them a tight hug upon their arrival. She made no secret that she had always been fond of Ariel. To see her now officially with her son who for the first time seemed genuinely happy, Mrs Waltz felt like her world was a step closer to being complete. Even their dog, Woofy could not stop wagging his tail and sniffing Sky, excited to see his friend again after such a long time.

"You've no idea how happy and pleased I am to have you both back here again! Brings more life to this big, empty house," Mrs Waltz laughed as she showed Ariel and Andy upstairs to their new room.

While she entertained them, Mr Waltz placed his hand on Leon's shoulder, "Well son, it's been a long time since I've seen you this happy in years."

"Been burnt out too long," Leon squeezed his father's hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, we saw your post. If I knew what you were really going through, I would've come all the way and pull you out, even if it means being crippled on the other side of my body!" His father almost choked in tears.

"Don't say that, Dad! You've already suffered more than your fair share of it," Leon reminded him of the car accident with the paparazzi that made him partially crippled for life. "Besides, I'm still here in one piece. I made it out alive."

"Me and your mum will never give up on you. You've always been in our prayers and thoughts even when you distance yourself from us for a long time. Thank the good Lord for His mercy on you."

"This time, I won't. Life's too short. I learn to treasure what's most important to me," said Leon.

"I'm glad you're putting priorities right in life. Stay and rest as much as you need. We're here whenever you need us."

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Less than a week after Leon published his post, his latest song "Reborn" garnered so much praise that fans pleaded for an official streaming release. He was so touched by the positive response that he decided to finalise the song's arrangement and production with the help of a few musicians he had worked with and hired a small video production agency to create his own music video.

No longer was there a major label team who were his convenient beck and call. Leon had to source everything on his own including negotiating with distribution channels and radio airplay. It was more work than he had done but it was very satisfying, especially now that he owned all rights to his song. With Ariel's blessing, Leon got Andy to act as his younger self in his music video, something Andy was very excited to be part of.

Unlike the lavishness and raunchiness of his previous music videos, "Reborn" was simpler,  minimal and straight-to-the-point. The video was set in the backdrop of mountains in a forest not far from his parents' place. No sexy dance, no bare skin, no pretentiousness and no thick make-up or gelled hair. Leon had toned down a lot in his dressing with casual, ripped jeans and a plain black winter coat. His hair was styled with a messy texture fringe and he spotted a stubble. Taking complete ownership of his image and his work without inputs or restrictions from Avon Music was liberating. Even though Leon was nervous about what the world would think of his new image and his new video, he was still excited about it.

When the video was completed and published, it garnered close to a billion views on YouTube within a week, topping the Billboard charts that exceeded every artist of that same year. Leon's newest single achieved the highest downloads across many streaming platforms which provided him much income as a newly independent artist. A blatant slap at Sheldon Avon who never believed he would make it on his own!

Tongues wagged over how Leon had changed so much and had crossed over to folk rock music. However, Leon chose not to confirm anything at this point nor did he have any plans to perform live anytime soon. He was purely doing it for fun and passion. By now, many people were very supportive of the new Leon Waltz and his new life, although there were a good number of people who still could not accept the change and begged him to return to his "roots".