The Mistake [Completed]

Chapter Three

The early September wind picked up outside of her apartment window and Leigh laid in her bed not wanting to move. It was the first day in a long time that she had a free moment and she was living for it. Usually as the clock struck nine am, Leigh received calls non-stop until nine in the evening but not today! It was already half past nine and the first phone call hadn't come and that feeling alone was wonderful. Her freedom though, was only short lived when a familiar number flashed up on screen, it was a number she couldn't ignore. Leigh answered the phone and threw her arm across her eyes in frustration.

"Hello," she said in a monotone voice, an indication to the man on the end of the line that she did not want to speak.

"Leigh, it's Richard. What the hell happened yesterday?" He asked with a hint of concern in his tone. Leigh contemplated her answer for a quick second before answering. She hadn't officially quit yet, but not answering the call suggested with no doubt in her mind that she was fired. However, she'd done this once before, not answered any of the calls and when she finally did she still had her job- but that could have been because she had a power cut in her apartment and hadn't access to internet anywhere else. But now she was sure she wouldn't receive the same kindness she had before. "Leigh, you there?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"So what happened?" He repeated his question and by the tone of his voice Leigh knew he was tapping his foot in frustration and she could hear the irritating sound in her mind over and over as if it were the ticking of a clock.

"I can't do it anymore, Richard. I'm tired," she confessed. "You don't know what it's like being at someone's beck and call every moment of every day. I lived through that once and I don't want to do it again."

Richard chuckled. "I do understand and I was in the same place as you before I got this job. I learnt you have to work fucking hard in a company before things start to pay off."

Leigh found herself nodding in agreement, although what Richard was saying didn't apply to her line of work. She was a freelancer but worked under a company which employed her kind of people which meant that whether the word 'free' was mentioned it never meant what it should have. "I'm not working in a major company like you. I'm freelance and there's no where to move. There's no pay off for me."

"Yeah there's no pay off but the pays pretty good, we pay you a great deal of money for what you do. Isn't that enough?" He asked and she shook her head, even if it was only to herself.

"It's not enough. I'm not doing this for the money I was doing it because I loved it but I just don't anymore. Listen, I'm telling you this because you've always looked out for me...I have no social life and no friends because of this stupid job. I moved away from LA to work on my own music and escape from my life there. I moved here to get life but all I've done since I've been here is sit behind my computer in my apartment...I don't even know where the nearest gas station is."

"I know what it's like, Leigh. But this country life isn't you. I've known you since you were nineteen, I was right there with you making 'At The Top' and you're too good at what you do to throw everything away because you're bored," he told her the hard truth and Leigh knew he was right. She knew that you have to sacrifice to achieve your dreams but in truth, she wasn't sure that the dreams she'd had since she was a child were dreams worth pursuing. Especially as they came with as much baggage as they did.

"I'm not bored, Rich, I'm exhausted," she sighed in an attempt to make him see the physical pain she was putting herself through each and every day. "And I'm not throwing it all away. I'm taking a break to work on myself and my music."

"There's no changing your mind, is there?"

"No. Not this time."

"Well in that case," his tone was lighter and freer. "I hope you find your calling."