Here All Along

chapter 31

The next morning, i woke up earlier than usual as i had to take aunt Irin to hospital. Win's dad could not be out of Naurburi for long, he had his job that demanded him to return soon so he was leaving that evening. It was a tough time for us, a fear of uncertainty always hovered at the periphery of our minds. The thing about hard times is they trigger minute changes in our daily lives that we don't even realise, until introspected properly. Win would rarely eat out, for instance. Adam pointed out that i was skipping meals more often. Phi Earth was having frequent arguments with his girlfriend. The only person who managed to stand unwavering was aunt Irin, strong like the woman she always was. When i went to fetch her, she was wearing a yellow dress, her eyes beaming with excitement as if we were going not to hospital but a wedding.

"Should I wear something more formal?" She asked hesitantly, feeling my long gaze on her.

I shook my head in a no, earning a bright satisfying smile from her. There she was, the prettiest woman in the world, going to start her battle to keep her place in the world.

"Are we ready?" I asked and she hooked her hand with my elbow.

"You can never be ready. You can only try."

That's what we did.

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I left the hospital once aunt Irin was admitted and phi Earth came to be with her. It was late afternoon and there was only so much Dew and Nani could do to save my ass in the office. I was grateful they were cooperative.

Sometimes in last spring, i worked with a popular teenage nonfiction writer under a contract with Orange Bricks.bkk through whom I met several budding writers. One of them was working with Joss Green, a very renowned storyteller and founder of Storians, one of the ten topmost online tales recitation sites of USA. I was a huge admirer of Mr. Green so when I got a chance to attend one of his webinars, i couldn't help but share it excitedly to Win. He shared my joy and suggested i ask Adam if he was an acquaintance of Mr. Joss green. I remember i had laughed, saying Adam was not a celebrity who knew other celebrities. Win had shrugged, saying we could never know. Turned out, Adam did know Mr. Joss Green from a party Mrs. Green had thrown for Asian Smiles Team before their inauguration. He told me Mrs. Green was a philanthropist and liked to hold gatherings for social activists.

"Do you think Mr. Green remembers your name?" I had asked.

"You really underestimate me, don't you? I'm quite popular in NewYork" he said, sulking playfully, "I know Joss. We have worked together with an NGO four years ago. His secretary Earn is my friend."

This conversation we had a few days before e said he'd only talk to Earn about me if i promised to send my works at Storians. I was hesitant at first but Win believed in my stories and now Adam did too. I felt encouraged and since then, I'd been preparing my application for a job as a content writer in Storians. Adam helped me to get a special counselling with Earn on how to lock my seat in Storians. She promised me to arrange a meeting with Mr. Green as and when his schedule freed.

Honestly, i did not expect Mr. Green to bother about a commoner like me. However, i did wish to work in a company like Storians where i could feel like i fit, unlike in Orange bricks wherein people were more interested in petty politics than tales. Things seemed hopeful for me, Earn had told me a couple days ago. Did i want to go to NewYork? Yes. Did i want to leave Thailand? No. There were things to be considered and most importantly, Win was here. He said he was praying for me to get a job in my dream company and that two or three years apart wouldn't really change anything between us. It did little to comfort me. So I refused to think too much about it and went with the flow. I did not even think I'd make it but in case i did, I needed to work extensively and more so as to finish my deadlines in Orange bricks before or if i quit. I still hadn't decided.