Concrete Jungle

Chapter 22

As she looked up at the sky from her window, Sasha couldn't believe she was finished. She quickly checked her watch and did the time zone calculations in her head and swiftly walked back to her laptop and messaged both Ben and Rahel in their group chat with a quick,

"I finished everything! Would you guys like to read them?"

It didn't take long for both to respond first with shock emojis and then with emphatic yes's. Sasha smiled in excitement as she sent all three documents over in Word files via email. She knew it would take several hours for them to get through it all. So after she was done, she made herself dinner and poured herself a glass of wine. Hell, she deserved an entire bottle not just a glass! Which is exactly what she did as she watched the sun set right in front of her window and she reveled in its magical glow. The stars were out by the time the beeping of her computer got her attention. She was just sitting in a comfortable lazy chair by the window and drinking her wine as she got lost in thought. She got up and walked over to the laptop where she saw video call messages from both and grabbing the thing, she went back to the chair, got comfortable and hit connect.

"Oh my God, Sasha. I have no words." Ben's voice cracked as he spoke with overwhelming emotions at the same time as Rahel blew her nose. Sasha just smiled.
"That had to be the most powerful story I have ever read in my entire life. Not to take away from the main story nor the poem. But 'Witness' takes the cake." He continued, while genuinely wiping his eyes of the tears cascading down his cheeks.
"I never thought you would let us read that part, honestly." Rahel said softly, shaken by the entire experience.
"How could I not? We had already shared so much together." Sasha said. She had always been planning to let them read Vasya's story now called 'Witness'.
"Well, I think I speak on behalf of Rahel too when I say this...that was a real honor, a true blessing." Ben said as Rahel nodded emphatically and blew her nose again for an added effect which made Sasha chuckle. Their reactions made her even more secure in her decision to write it.
"I know I'm young and inexperienced in many things, but that truly blew me away. I have never read anything that made my goosebumps have goosebumps before." Rahel explained candidly.

She didn't put on fake airs with them anymore and had grown a lot from their trip and since then. If before she thought working with and in a team was a headache, now she viewed it as a gift. Being able to work with Sasha and Ben had humbled her a lot and she understood that in their business, she had really been working with the best of the best. Rahel wasn't completely reformed as she was still quite arrogant when it came to her own craft, but she had definitely toned down a lot now and paid greater attention to what those around her said.

After chatting for a while, they decided that in a couple of days Sasha would go into the office and book a small conference room so that they could do a large video conference with the editors in DC. They wanted to lay out every inch of the issue together especially when there were so many photos and whatnot to go through. In the meantime, Sasha had the email address of one of the senior editor's in DC that she would send the three parts to, so he could read and give any feedback if necessary. The three of them agreed on a time that would work for them all as NYC and DC were in the same time zone while London was five hours ahead and Tel Aviv seven.

With that, they disconnected and Sasha began to draft the email to Joe the editor when she suddenly stopped. She clicked on the 'Witness' story and after scrolling all the way to the bottom, added a special thank you credit to both Benjamin Clark and Rahel Davidz; for understanding what the universe was trying to tell them and for being the most important catalysts for the dam breaking and this story to finally seeing the light of day. She also thanked them that after 29 years, allowing her to understand that she had to mourn properly. She knew they wouldn't see it until the issue was published and she wanted it to be a nice surprise for them both because of how much they truly helped her. With their support before they even knew they were supporting her, they had essentially changed her life and for the better. She then continued to draft the email and after checking it properly and attaching the three parts, she clicked send. It was just before 9pm that evening.