Bleeding Expection by Ada Andrews | #TheWattys2023

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE

DAPHNE

"The soul is getting wounded day by day. My life is a mess. My pain and loneliness dashed all my hopes. All of a sudden, I was empty inside."

Daphne, July 8th, 2008

My hands were sweaty, my heart was fluttering, and I was nervously toying with the straw. I took a deep breath, shutting my eyes and going back in time. The sound of the clock on the opposite wall ticked back to the first time I was about to step on the stage. That was the opening night for someone who always hid in the wings. Back then when I was a little girl always holding a notebook and a pencil. This reserved and taciturn girl who fought shy of people, and was too scared to defend herself. I could never imagine that my life would take this turn. Taking one last sip of my juice, I got paid and stood up. It was my moment, the moment I would meet my dream — at long last!

The girls and I took some fast paces. I dashed like a marathon runner to achieve a long-deserved win. My knees buckled as I got in the hall. That very moment, I realised how serious things were. Did all these people come here because they'd read my book? I wondered. My self was stunned by the truth that hit me in the face. They read you, they loved you, and you helped them. You managed to change and lighten up some lives out there, Daphne!

"Get off your high horse! Stop fantasising and get real, Daphne! You're overreacting! Sometimes, dreams don't come true."

I recalled the words of several people in the past, there at the entrance of that multi-purpose venue. Yet, that day was proof enough that everything's possible. That was an answer I had to give them, so as to prove that all of them had a right to dream. Even 'invisible children'.

I waved at my publishers, we all took our seats, and the introductions were made. My premiere began, as I counted down to my book presentation.

STRATOS

"A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it."

Fontenelle, 1657-1757, French author

I was tapping my pencil on the table, trying with difficulty to put up with my buddy's constant babbling. I snorted, praying for him to shut up, but in vain. He kept yawping. Not even my mother, who was always on my case for not wearing 'my jacket', was that stubborn!

"Come on, Stratos! I beg you! That daft photographer left me in the lurch at the last minute! It's very important that I cover this book presentation. What else should I do to make you come? Kneel before you, marry your sister, or fix you up with a chick from that model agency?" he implored.

"You're a bozo, pal!" I mocked him for disgracing himself. "What can I do at a book presentation? I'm a travel and road photographer. I don't do book presentations," I stated, chafing at his whining. "Why all the fuss about this event? You're acting like a baby who doesn't have his way!" I grumbled.

"A Wattpad writer's presenting her book. I read it and we contacted each other. I wanna go exclusive, I want to meet her and, above all, I want my blog to be the first to interview her. She's really worth it!" he confessed with passion and sat beside me. "Please, pal!" he pleaded with me, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I let out a sigh. He must have had a good reason for huffing and puffing like that. That author's case must have been really interesting. Elias obsessed only over shocking hot issues. He was unconventional. Apart from being a famous police reporter, he also tackled current affairs on his blog. He wrote about things that unsettled certain groups of people. They had tried twice to hack it as he brought to light some disquieting truths.