The World's Smallest Violin

What to do?

After that, Viola never contacted him again. Allen tried to go to her house, but was rejected. He tried in her clinic, but still got rejected. He was also blocked in all of Viola's social media accounts.

Again, he was alone, but he didn't stop performing. He was still looking for gigs to play, but no one ever took him officially. They didn't take him. It's not because he's bad or anything--- it was his attitude. When he doesn't feel like playing his best, he would not play his best no matter what. Sometimes, he doesn't even feel like playing at all.

His attitude towards others changed too. From the respectful guy, to the egoistic guy who thinks he is the best at his work. For months, gig after gig, he was still hopeless. He began drinking and doing drugs to hinder his loneliness. He drank every time he was kicked out of a show. It was becoming worse, day by day, to the point where he was just drinking for no purpose.

Every day, a bottle or two. He didn't even care anymore whether he would play or not, he just kept. drinking at his apartment, until he was broken. Viola, on the other hand, still doesn't know what to feel. She was hesitant whether she would talk to Allen or not.

June, 2021

Viola took five months to make a decision to visit Allen. She was getting anxious every step, as she walked up the stairs. Stopping on every floor, thinking if she will do it or not. When she finally reached the fifth floor, she was still hesitant.

She walked to his door and as she was about to knock at the door, the landlord shouted at her, "Hey! Do you know the guy who lives there?". "Yes, why?", Viola asked.

"He's getting evicted in the next couple of days if he doesn't pay. I'll kick him myself if he doesn't leave that room.", the landlord said, after cleaning another room.

"Wait, when was the last time... you saw him?", Viola asked, pointing at Allen's room. "That guy hasn't left that room for a week. I can't imagine how filthy that room is now.", the landlord responded disgustedly.

The landlord walked past her and gave her a duplicate key to the room. Viola was shocked and asked, "Why are you giving me this?".

"You ask a lot of questions young lady, just open the door if you want.", the landlord answered.

"I don't know what happened between you and him, but I liked it better when he was super nice.", the landlord added, waving her hand to go ahead as she leaves. Viola was relieved, smiling. She held the doorknob, putting the keys in and slowly opened the door.

As the door opened, she saw how filthy the room was. Bottles of alcohol were spread around the room. Viola held her nose as the room reeked in alcohol. Allen was sleeping on the sofa, holding a bottle of alcohol. Viola looks at him and feels disgusted by Allen's appearance.

When Allen woke up, he thought he was dreaming. The whole room was cleaned, the stench was removed, and Viola was sitting on the table in front of him, waiting for him.

"Viola? Why are you here?", he asked, holding her face. Viola kept silent. Allen thought he was still dreaming and tried to kiss her, but Viola was quick to react.

She had a glass of water ready beside her and splashed it on Allen's face. "Wake up!", she yelled, putting the glass down.

"What the fuck!", he yelled, wiping his face. "You're not dreaming, idiot.", she said, handing him a towel. "I also cleaned the house, so don't worry.", she added.

Allen snapped out, wiping his face with the towel and sat properly on the sofa. He didn't know what was going on and tried slapping his face. "Slapping your face won't do, but I can try.", she said.

"How... why... why are you here?", he replied, trying to clear his mind. "Well, you manage to fuck your life up, is it bad to help?", she replied.

"You left me... And now you're going to help my fucked-up life, by what? Going back here and leaving me again?", he answered. Viola sighed and slapped him.

"Why can't you just admit that you fucked up? Why can't you just say that you were wrong? I left you because you threw away the one thing that is important to you. You turned your back away from Jason and now you're here living like a drunkard!", she shouted, but Allen just looked away.

"I came back, because I thought you somehow managed to clean your mess up, but I was so wrong about you, huh? You became full of yourself and the only thing you care about is you.", she added as she stood up.

Allen kept quiet. Viola walked out of the room and left. Allen threw a bottle at the wall, shattering the bottle into pieces. He sat on the sofa all day, contemplating what happened to him.