The same disappointment.

Well, what has to be done as being done, the video for the song has been shot.....not only that, it has been edited also. After the video shoot, it got edited the next day, and was released that same day alongside its audio song. Mark was very anxious, yeah, he was immensely nervous, would the song blow up? Ben, Dylan, and Jeffrey were anxious also due to the same reason.....was the song gonna rise Mark to stardom?

You know, that song was a very unique song to listen to, it isn't an easy task for a male singer to display his nice vocals and also rap in the same song, especially if he hasn't tried rapping before. Dylan taught Mark the techniques of rapping, and within some time of the coaching, Mark grasped the techniques of rapping.....not to its fullest though.

He fumbled at his words at the onset of his rapping, but when he gave it a second try, he nailed it perfectly, he rapped fluently, he blended singing and rapping flawlessly. That's the work that was put into making and recording that song, that's one of the reasons why it's a unique song. The song and its music video have been released, would it blow up? would it rise Mark to stardom? The stuff he did to fit into the style of a rapper, the chains he wore on his neck, and the rings he wore on his fingers, would they work out?.

Mark went straight to his apartment after the release of the song and video. A lot was on his mind, you know, the normal blowing up stuff and all that. He was really nervous, Dylan had spent a lot of money already, why can't their efforts just be fruitful? was the karma following him that strong?

Mark entered his apartment, and the first thing he did was to take off the green designer shirt he wore flinging it on one of his couches. He was left in the harmless white t-shirt he wore inside, black jean trousers, and sneakers. He took off the sneakers from his feet placing them properly on his shoe cupboard. After that, he entered his room and landed on his bed backwardly. He didn't doze up while laying on his bed, he wasn't feeling sleepy at all though it was getting very close to complete nighttime.....a person with so many thoughts on his mind wouldn't feel drowsy easily.

He wanted to check the number of streams the song had already gathered within the hours of its release on all streaming platforms. Not only that, he was also tempted to check the numbers of views the music video had already gathered on his YouTube channel, but he just held himself back. He promised himself that he wouldn't check the streaming numbers or YouTube views until tomorrow. According to his reasoning, checking it now was too early, it's not even up to a day since the song and video got released...so it's best to calm down.

Mark went to bed that night without eating much for dinner, he drank only coffee. Eating wasn't among his priority at that moment, to shorten the long story, he wasn't hungry. As early as 6:40 pm, Mark had already gotten up from bed, and the first thought that struck his mind was,

'Go and check the performance of the song'.

He stood up from his bed and sauntered over to where he kept his tablet phone, he bought the tablet mainly to check his songs and music videos performances, and also, for watching funny videos when he wasn't in the mood of watching TV or operating his phone. He arrived at the spot where he kept his tablet, took it, as he was about to on it, a voice in his head said,

'Go and take your bath first before checking it.

And that's exactly what he did, he dropped the tablet phone and dashed into the bathroom to brush his teeth and take his bath. After doing so, he dressed up in casual clothes and strolled back to where he kept his tablet phone.....at this moment, his chest was beating fast. He was really anxious as to what the result would be, as something big happen? or would he be faced with the same disappointment? It's more possible that he would be faced with the same disappointment, that's why he was really nervous.

He put on his tablet phone and clicked into the stuff he would use in seeing the total amount of streams his song had gathered on all music streaming platforms. The moment he set eyes on the streaming numbers, his facial expression converted into a sad one immediately, yeah, he was faced with the same disappointment. The streaming numbers weren't encouraging at all, it was just the same as the previous ones.

Though it hasn't been up to a day since the release of the song, judging from the streaming numbers, it was evident that it wouldn't blow up.....it wouldn't bring Mark to the limelight. Mark placed his palms on his hair with a type of painful smile on his face, his mind wandered in thoughts immediately,

'What was I expecting? the karma following me is really strong. Even with the rapping I added to the song, it wouldn't still blow up? Even with the uniqueness of the song, it wouldn't still blow up? Am I ever gonna blow up as an artiste? Am I ever gonna move from being an upcoming artiste to a famous artiste? Seems like it's not possible. Darcy that recently got signed to the 'Cool Boiz' record label is already making waves in the music industry, new young artistes are blowing up in the music industry from time to time, while I'm still here struggling as an upcoming artiste for the past four years. Life is really unfair'.

Depression was almost eating him up as he thought about all those, but he didn't allow it, at least, to a certain level. He checked the number of views the music video had already gathered on his YouTube channel, and there was nothing so big about it, it was the same, this one might not even make it up to 250 thousand views. The only good thing was that the YouTube comments were so positive, people loved the way he fitted into the style of a rapper, the chains and rings he wore, and the colorfulness of the video, people loved it and they expressed it in their comments.

But Mark wasn't that motivated by the positive comments 'cause most of the comments came from his already established fans, people that had been listening to his music for a long time. He needed more fan base, larger fan base, he needed his music to be heard by more people all over the world, so he wasn't stimulated by the comments at all. After all the jewelry he wore in the music video, after all the rapping stuff, the video wouldn't still reach out to more people....sigh!

Yeah, buying the jewelry is a waste, it's a futile effort, Dylan had wasted another huge amount of money. Mark didn't even know what to do at this moment, should he call Dylan and Ben and tell them about the low outcome of the song? or did they know about it already? He decided to call Dylan first, the depression that he was trying to overcome was engulfing him already.

He put the phone call through, and Dylan picked up immediately as if he had been waiting for Mark to phone call him,

"Sup Mark". Dylan said after answering the phone call, there was no enthusiasm in his tone of voice.

"Sup Dylan". Mark uttered, there was no enthusiasm in his tone of voice also. "Have you seen how my song is performing? both the audio and the video?".

"Yeah, I've seen it, not nice at all, but as for the video, the YouTube comments are so nice". Dylan stated.

"I don't f**king care about that, the fact remains that the song isn't gonna blow up, it isn't gonna raise me to stardom. Though it hasn't been up to a day since its release, it's evident that it wouldn't blow up. I'm f**king tired Dylan".

Dylan sighed, "I understand how you feel Mark, but please, don't give up, we're gonna keep striving".

"Ain't you tired of helping me at this juncture?". Mark inquired of Dylan, normally, a person should have gotten tired by now.

"I am not tired, and I'll never get tired of assisting you, we're gonna do this till the end. Would you like to visit my nightclub? the 'Rock and Roll' nightclub?'.

"Why?".

"I just want us to go there to drink, let me use the word, drink away our sorrows. Your sorrow is my sorrow, so as Ben also".

"I'll love to, let's drink away our sorrows". Mark said lastly over the phone call.