Be Okay

Part One

A/N: This story's just been sitting in my drafts literally since the summer just collecting dust and I thought that I should just go ahead and publish what I have of it so far so here it is.

I opened my eyes to the world in my dark bedroom. I yawned as I sat up, the blanket sliding down the my waistline. The curtain was drawn shut so no sunlight could enter my room. Wearily, I dragged myself out of bed and trudged over to the window. I took the fabric in my hand and with one tug, my eyes were being assaulted by the intrusive light.

It looked like such a nice day today and everyone was out and about. I groaned.

I spun on my heel and sauntered to the closet to pick out my clothes for work today. I scowled looking at each of the shirts on the hangers in the cramped space. I didn't even own that many clothes, I don't know why it was such a task to just pick something. A basic sea foam green t-shirt and dark blue jeans would do.

Now it was time to eat a late breakfast. On autopilot I walked through the hallway of my very humble apartment, Palm Villas in El Monte, California, just twenty minutes away from Los Angeles. The walls were adorned with some framed aesthetic photographs I bought at some garage sale. I guess it had the essentials; a living area, a small kitchen, a teeny bathroom with a shower that spewed cold water if the water was even working, and a decent sized bedroom. I'm fortunate to not have a roommate; it was tough enough to live in this small space on my own.

I opened the fridge door and frowned at how desolate it was. I would definitely need to do some grocery shopping today. I settled for eating some cereal that was generic and tasteless much like myself.

After forcing all of the damp cardboard into my mouth, I dropped the bowl into the sink to wash... eventually. Hopefully sometime this week.

Now it was time to go to work. I stuck my hands in my pockets as I walked back into my room. There on my wooden desk was my computer, graphic pen and tablet. Now I was at work.

The good thing about working from home is that my social anxiety didn't get in the way of my performance. I didn't have to speak with anyone except through email. I just felt safer to say what I wanted when I had a screen in front of me.

I sat down in the revolving chair and fired up the laptop, going straight to Tumblr once it was on. Of course I wasn't going on there just to fool around; I actually had work to do. You see, I do freelance art for a living. People go to my inbox and ask me to draw things for them, I do it the best of my ability with my used tablet, and then they pay me an amount that is hardly enough to live off of. Drawing has always been my passion and it should feel amazing to have to do it everyday. It would be more fun if I didn't have to worry about making enough money just to get by.

Today I received three new commissions plus the other two commissions I was already working on. With a sigh, I put on my glasses, cracked my knuckles cringing at the noise, and wrapped my fingers around the stylus. I opened Photoshop and began illustrating.

Two hours later, I stopped and just looked at my construction lines, idly twirling the stylus in my fingers. I really hoped that I was holding true to my client's vision this time. I already had to start over twice in the past three days because my client was so indecisive and unclear of what they wanted from me. I sighed exasperatedly.

I took a screenshot of the progress I made so far and emailed it to my client. I needed to know if this was actually what they wanted or if I would have to start over once. It would be a while before they ever respond so I thought I thought now be as good as any other time to run errands. I also wasn't in the mood to stare blankly at a screen for another two hours.