Breathless

36. "Its A Bad Day Not A Bad Life"

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I want to dedicate this chapter to my lovely sister Zahabia. I love you so much.

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"Riley are you ready?" I heard Natalie say as I quickly slipped into my top. We were heading to the airport. "Yes I am" I said wheeling myself out of the house. Mom helped me get into the car and we drove to the airport.

We got out and I turned to my mom. "I guess it's time" I said as I threw my arms forward hoping for a hug. She came closer and squeezed me. She had tears in her eyes. "I'm going to miss you Riley." She whispered into my ear.

"Mom it's just New York. I can come visit and so can you. And please don't worry about me. I'll be fine and plus I've got Natalie." I said ,letting go of her soft touch.

She wiped her tears and mouthed an "I LOVE YOU" to me. Nat dragged our bags inside and I waved to say goodbye to mom.

We waited at the airport for quite a while as our flight was delayed. We spoke about all the stuff we were going to do in New York.

After which the announcers finally asked us to board the plane. Just as we were going through security I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket.

I brought it out and accepted the call. It was Cam. "Hey! How's New York?" I asked without giving out any details about us arriving there soon. "It's great Riley! Umm I've got some bad news for you" he said as his voice softened. More Bad news? I thought to myself.

"What happened?" I asked. "It's about the music label. Remember? You sent your recordings to them?" He said. "Yeah I remember, what about it?" I asked eagerly.

"Well Riles, they don't want to listen to it at all. The label's head has already found an artist. He's heard her sing and he loved her voice. I'm really sorry Riley. I tried convincing him to give you a chance and hear you out but he's hell bent on signing this girl."

My eyes widened. "Wait what? He's already signed her?" I asked. "No he's not." He replied. I hung up without saying another word. This whole month had been terrible. What was going on?

We boarded the plane and as usual I sat near the window. I loved watching the city high up from the sky. It just made me wonder how tiny our existence really is. From up there, it was just a small town with minute people.

Everyone was the same. There was no rich or poor, fat or thin, pretty or not. We pay a lot of attention to how we look and how we showcase ourselves but does it really matter?

There was a small booklet in the gap between the two seats. I picked it up and it read, "Its a bad day not a bad life."  It made me think for a while before I drifted off to sleep.