Working as a video game developer is much more fun from what I had anticipated. Once and for all, I finally made the decision by not following my dads dreams. What were they, you ask? Joining the girls' football team, and competing for the rest of my life. I mean, he's crazy if he thinks I'm listening to him. Dad was never really there for me whilst growing up. He was too busy coaching for a team. We weren't close. We weren't close at all. Though sometimes I do wish we were. Mum left at a very young age, dad said she didn't die, she just left. I have no siblings either, its just me.
"Excited?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, super excited!"
I say to my colleague as I snap back into reality. My first ever game was about to be launched. Globally. My mind was full of emotions. Of course, I'm happy, really happy. I sometimes wish that my dad would be proud of me, I wish that he was my biggest supporter; he has no idea that I've even created a game. I ignored all of my other thoughts and went down to the main office to finally release the game.
"..anddddd the game has officially been released! Well done team, we couldn't have done it without you, but most of all let's give a round of applause to Eleanor!"
Butterflies filled my stomach. This is it. This is officially the start of my career, and it can only end 2 ways. Successful or a fail, but I didn't doubt myself, I never do. Im grateful enough for my team and their help, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for them.
"Thank you. Thank you everyone. I really couldn't have done it without you all. This isn't just an achievement for me, but for all of you too. I'm so proud of us, together, we can work harder as a team and become even more successful in the future."
Moments later, drinks had been served to us. We all celebrated and could finally rest, rather than staying up day and night working on the game. Im happy. Really happy, but something still feels missing. I don't feel as happy and proud as I thought I'd be.
And Everyone was still partying, I took this as an opportunity to leave and head straight home because of how tired I was. Fuck. My hangovers gonna be so horrible tomorrow. I shouldn't have drank that much. I get a taxi as it's really late, and the radio was on. I could hear that the 2018 World Cup is starting soon. Interesting. Would that mean my dads gonna be away in Russia for the time being? I mean, he is Zlatko Dalić, I'm not surprised, he's always out and about. We're practically strangers, I don't know why or how it's any of my concern.
"That'll be £20.25, ma'am." The driver says as he slightly raises his voice.
I pay with my card, jump out of the cab and quickly run into the house. At last, I whisper. I turned the lights on and took my shoes off, only to find the house empty. Dad wasn't at home. I quickly dig through my bag to pull my phone out and I notice that I've received messages from him.
"Pack your things as soon as possible, I'm heading out to Russia for at least 2 months, and I want you to come with me. Your flight is tonight at 2am. I had to leave first, so I'll send someone to pick you up at the airport when you get here..
- dad.."
I shifted my eyes to the time, it's 10pm. That gives me only such little time to pack. Do I even want to go? How is it that we never speak and he suddenly wants me to come with him to Russia for a couple months? Whatever, I'll pack whatever I can and I'll get another Uber to the airport.
I rummaged through my entire wardrobe and luckily enough most of my outfits were golden up, so I lifted them up carefully and placed them in a suitcase which I found laying under my bed.
—
"Finally" I say, as I zip up my suitcase and sit down, burying my head in my hands. I check my phone to see the time. 11:42pm. I took that long? I should get going. I made sure I had my passport, my wallet, my keys and my luggage. I called for an Uber and luckily enough there was one just near my street, so it got here within a couple minutes.
"To the airport, please."
The airport is about an hour away from my house, hopefully I'm not too late for checking in. I put my headphones on and played some music, I played it loud enough so I wouldn't be able to hear anything else. I felt so lost, why has he booked me a ticket to Russia with him? We never speak, and if we do it's probably only about where his trainers are since I sometimes wash them. I shut my eyes, not wanting to sleep, but just wanting a little bit of peace. I rolled my window down so I could feel the breeze on my face. It felt amazing.
"We've reached the airport miss."
The driver says, as he opens the door for me. It took me a while to process where we were as I'd just woken up, and the driver helps me carry my luggage inside. I paid with my credit card and rushed off so I could check in. I was lucky that I made it on time. The woman hands me my boarding pass and I walk off to the gate. God, I really need some water right now, I drank a lot of alcohol, my migraines started to kick in.
I reached the airport at around 12:30, which gave me enough time to check in and wander around for a bit. The boarding announcement went off. I happened to be sitting right in front of the gate, so I stood up and looked down at my boarding pass. Business, hmm. That's nice of him.
I got onto the plane, and I ignored everything and everyone. I wanted to just sit down, put my headphones on again and just get a good sleep. I don't even know how long the flight is. I closed my eyes and finally dozed off into a deep deep slumber.
—
Awakened by the turbulence, I grab my phone to check the time. I slept for 7 hours? How long is the flight? I pulled over a flight attendant and ask her that, and she tells me that we're just about to land. Great. I slept through the whole plane journey. I could feel the plane lowering itself to the ground, and we finally landed. Thankfully, I was close to the door so I was one of the first people to get off of the plane. I head to the luggage pickup, and my suitcase was pretty big and it was alight grey, so I could see it from far away. I pick my luggage up really carefully, and I noticed that I just received a message from my dad again.
"I've sent one of my players to come pick you up, he should be waiting just outside, he's wearing his football kit, and at the back of his shirt there's a number - 1. We'll be waiting for you when you get back to the hotel."
Number 1. Alright. As I'm walking out of the airport, I scan all the people around me, no "1". At a distant, I could see someone turned around, not facing me. He was wearing a red and white checkered fitted shirt, white shorts and long knee length socks. He had fluffy hair, very broad shoulders and was really tall as I continue to approach him. I politely tap the back of his shoulder, seeking his attention. He turns around, whilst holding a sign that my name was written on. I look up, only to see that it was him. He picked me up.
"Eleanor?" He spoke, shocked.
I couldn't process it. I couldn't believe it. There's
just no way, there's NO way he's here to pick ME up, right? I just froze. I didn't know what to say.
"Dominik?"
