A/N:
So here is mine piece to ME Fan Fiction. Hope you find it at least a little bit interesting. Keep in mind that this is an occasional thing. I have other things to do and other stories to write.
Thanks phnxgrl for beta and support.
All ME characters belongs to Bioware. No money made here, just doing this for fun.
Review, comment and enjoy the story.
...
My name is not that important. But you can call me Garth, I'm a writer. Or, I like to pretend that I'm. I wrote a couple movie scripts and a few video-game articles. At that time I was working with a life-style magazine. But that Monday, I felt like total nobody. I've got the third rejection from the editor's assistant. I was a beginning novelist who was trying to make a name for myself. As if you probably have guessed by now, I wasn't very successful at that time either. Fate or whatever entity is watching over us didn't seem to be in any hurry to change my luck.
Yeah, this woman this editor's assistant must really hate me. She wanted to clarify things for me. The truth was I wasn't her biggest fan either. Though, I had to admit aside from her persona her figure wasn't that bad. Her pair legs and eyes alone could be extremely suggestive. Though, I was nowhere to the level of Richard Castle. So, now it's official: 15th July 2013 sucks hard in my book.
C kind of crap, really…? We don't bother with this C kind of crap? What kind of crap? It is a crime story novel!
However, I guess no matter how often people bitching about it. Now days, they rather enjoy some fancy Hollywood story instead of a good read. At least she had the mouth to say that to me three times. I can give her this much. When I thought about it, it wasn't that bad. Books were still pretty high thing. It was just the public taste that was changing. I really don't know. At this moment I was standing in front of my car thinking what to do. It was Monday afternoon 3pm. I had a day off and my Sister had judo practice in 30 minutes. I had nothing else to do so why not just go to visit her?
Let me tell you something. The city's traffic could be pretty challenging. So, I was glad when I finally got myself to the gym. I admire judo or let's say Japanese culture in general. Mostly, because for their sense of discipline and their large amount of history. I never got myself into anime though. I tried to watch it with a friend. It wasn't something that could I find interesting. I know it's pretty immature to compare the whole of Japanese History with Anime. I certainly feel pretty lame right now. Hey, it's my opinion.
Watching Jenn doing her thing was refreshing. It helped me to forget all my troubles. Guys were practicing for a challenge. I had to admit seeing my sister being all badass made me g-d damn proud. I occasionally did some sparing with my baddy Mike. I also did some self-defense stuff for research too. Seeing her team spirit made me want to change things. I was 25. I felt like I had missed everything.
I was kind of an introvert, when I was a kid. I couldn't see myself as the centre of the universe. I was mostly just a guy who was mostly shallow. I was willing to help out others in the end. I was lucky to have the people who cared about me. These included my parents, my buddy Mike, my Sisters: Jennifer and Kate. They were both now 17.
These people were my solid ground. Since beginning of this year, everything went downhill. My father left without a word and soon after my parents got divorced. I got myself a job in the life-style magazine. It was a dead end I was going pretty much nowhere. Workers were paid pretty shitty. The boss seemed pretty light headed to keep the business running successfully. Also obviously my writing apparently sucks.
"Hey big brother…Is it another bad day?" My blonde sister questioned as she sat next to me.
I blinked. I was in such a deep thought that I hadn't notice that the practice ended.
"It is that obvious?" I replied not looking anywhere in particular.
"You never visit me at my practice unless you are distracted." Jennifer answers truthfully.
I genially had to smile at that. She always knew what to say to make me feel better. Don't get it wrong she also knew how to piss me off too. She was like most siblings but the light side was strong with this one.
"Tell you what, get yourself change then we pick up Kate and I will drive you both home okay? I'll wait for you outside?" I asked looking to see if she would respond.
"Right, since today is Monday and all…" Jenn smirked then got up.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!" I yelled after her.
….
I never understood need for a smoke. Some of my classmates found that amusing. I just never saw the point. I guess it was rare in my profession because every single person in my workplace was a smoker.
So much for the life-style magazine...
How come that most of the people who work in high places mostly have no idea about what work is? Could it be they just lost their interest in the end? Was it because of the difficulty of work? Did people just give up and start using shortcuts more? Could it be they just don't care to cover it up anymore? Like Kate for example: She's doing gymnastics and working really hard on each practice. The Coach never uses her. Why? Simply, just because some other kid's Dad is a sponsor.
"Garth, are you going to drive or should I just leave you here?" Jennifer asked with a smile from the backseat.
Someone's stealthy today.
…
Did you ever felt like that you're got yourself into interrogation cell without knowing it? This is how I felt while I was driving with my sister in backseat.
"So, did you get knocked on your ass again?" Jenn asked curiously.
"Do you want to know how I got these scars?" I used my best Heath Leger´s impression while we were stopped at the red light.
"I just noticed a pattern here" my Sis points out. "Whenever, you're sparring with Mike your confidence is high up. Whenever you're doing something work-related, you're just barely hanging in there."
"Your point is?" I asked as the red light switched to green.
"Simple, your testicles don't functioning properly." She said kiddingly.
Blushing slightly, I just had to hit the accelerator hard just enough to throw her back in to seat. To think my Sister has that low opinion of me…Well we will see who the adrenaline junkie is.
…
I was grateful that the girls have their own things to talk about after we picked up my other Sister. After all, girls will always have stories. As for now it served as an enough distraction for me to recall some events. I just had to think about what Jenny said earlier. I was really hanging in there. The real reason why I was doing all this so called "research" like sparring with Mike, going to the shooting range and having my degree of psychology… All led up to my attempt to walk out of the 'Zone of Grey.' It wasn't an adrenaline rush per se. It was glimpse of purpose and each time I did it I felt content.
We finally reached our destination. I looked at the scenery. It was a peaceful place where people respected and cared for each other. It was to siblings, parents, grandparents and neighbors. I loved the view of the country side. When I got out of car I must stood in awe for a while. This was the place when I was born. I had so many memories being here. Some of them were good and others not as good. It was still a huge part of my life.
"Aren't you coming with us? Mom would be happy to see you." Kate asked hopefully.
I froze for a minute. Yes, I haven't seen her for a while. I also couldn't allow her to see me all mushy like this. She would see right thru me instantly. This kind of conversations also often brought up the tough subjects. I wasn't ready for it.
"Girls, another time all right?" I said feeling sick to my stomach. "I have to work tomorrow."
After goodbyes were said I could see tears that were just put it on hold in their eyes. I still managed to leave, not knowing that was probably the last time I would be able to see them.
…
You are the bigger idiot, than I thought you originally are. And I know myself very well…
This was my line of thought when I got to my apartment. It was a small flat. It was all I could barely afford on my salary. I was independent, hooray for me. After a quick shower I was made an attempt to make myself dinner. This included some really questionable looking pastry, couple slices of salami and a beer. I took a look around my kitchen, slash living room and slash bedroom. Under the couch was my obedient old keyboard. Perhaps I was too sentimental or just wanted to ease my mind as I reached under there to place it on my lap.
I wasn't exactly the virtuoso. Looking at this old stuff reminded me just how much I changed over these past few of years. Starting with the beginning riffs of Yesterday, I was smiling ear to ear. I remembered when I used to play this song with my father. More convenient song couldn't come to mind.
Suddenly, a crack of at door seemed to capture my attention completely. Rising from the couch then moving the keyboard off my lap I moved to the kitchen part of the room. The plan was to get shielded by the door and possibly surprise the attacker. Looking at it from the different perspective, it was pretty dumb move. Since the door was partly made from a glass whoever was on the other side could see my shadow move across.
In my defense, I have to say that I did react purely on instinct. I had only precious seconds to prep myself. Since, I assume you are able to read this. It meant that I survived somehow. …Right?
