Chapter 1
Moving day
The final painting was placed neatly on the top of stacks of boxes I had compiled in the corner of my old apartment, I was happier than ever to be moving into a bigger place to call home, but I was heartbroken to be moving into a new house.
There was a knock on my door, moments later, it opened. “Alex, darling.” The soft tone of my mum’s voice came echoing through the now empty apartment. “Are you ready to go?” She asked, walking over to me with a tear in the corner of her eye, threatening to fall.
“I am.” I responded, false confidence hanging off of the ends of my voice. “Let’s go.” I held back my own tears, reaching down to grab some of the final boxes, moving them out of my apartment and over to the elevator.
My mum followed with the remaining few boxes, and for the final time, pressed the button for the ground floor. She smiled at me and reached over to squeeze my shaking hand. “You will be fine.” She insisted, moving her hand to pat my shoulder instead.
“But what if I’m not?” I asked, feeling the oh so familiar overwhelming feeling of anxiety coursing through my veins. I hated doing new things, I enjoyed my set routine and followed it as if it was gospel.
“Then we will work through that, together. It’s time to step out of your comfort zone, darling. The good lord knows you’ve earned it.” She smiled at me, and the elevator ding swiftly ended our solem conversation.
I grabbed my boxes and followed my mother out to her car. My father was waiting with the boot already open for me to dump my things inside. “Shove them in, kiddo.” He said, patting my back. “I will meet you over there, okay?” He asked, not waiting for my answer before walking to his drivers door, pulling it open and gliding into his drivers seat with ease. He seemed to be enjoying his new car. I had bought it for him after his old dinger decided it wanted to give up on him last month, I bought him a brand new DSG volkswagen tiguan, large enough for all of his golfing equipment to go comfortably in the boot, and enough room for my mother and younger sister to fit all of their shopping bags in too. He seemed very pleased with his new motor, and I was glad to see it being used and looked after.
“Yeah.” I mumbled back in response, not sure of if he could hear me over the noise of his engine. “See you there.”
I posted my key into the key safe and attached a thank you note for my landlord with it. I had left him a nice surprise in the apartment, he had offered me deals on rent when I was struggling as a college kid, and often brought me round his wife’s home made left overs when all I could afford to live off of was ramen, I wanted to pay him back now that I could afford to, I left him a voucher worth £2000 inside the old apartment, hoping it would bring him as much joy as he brought me when I needed it.
I sighed and walked over to my car and pulled open the door, slinking into the drivers seat, I pressed start and listened to my engine roar to life, enjoying the raw power in it. I shifted into drive and made headway for the rural town of Fendville. It was a good half hour away from my apartment, but I had a good mind for doing it in twenty, hoping to beat my father and mother to the street. Baker Street. Funny, really, I used to think I was going to be a baker when I grew up, infact, I still sometimes make my old recipes, when I need cheering up, including my famous cheesecake.
I headed away from my old city, and felt the stresses of city life fading away from me, like a weight being lifted off of my shoulders, I smiled, a true smile, for once in my life, I couldn’t wait to be free to explore and enjoy myself instead of having to abide by curfews and strict quotas of old city life.
As I drove, I kept thinking about my past and how life had improved so much, and how much It had the prospect to keep improving, from a young anxious teenager who didn’t know if she was coming or going half of the time, to a broke college girl with some amazing friends, to a stressed out office worker with no friends and no social life, to finally, a vocal artist with passion for her work and enough upcoming movie roles to keep the grammies running for another decade. I had sacrified so much along the way, my friends and social life became non-existant, but hopefully now my life is stable, I can try and rebuild some of those missing factors,
I soon pulled onto the new Street, and pulled up right infront of my house. A stunning three story, detached home with a beautiful front garden and a driveway, no more fighting visitors for my parking spot! I looked up at what I had worked so hard for and couldn’t help but cry, It was beautiful, it was peaceful, and best of all.
It was mine.
