1 Employed

1-Employed

In all her twenty-one years of life,

Alana Walters had one philosophy

that stuck with her constantly, "When

life throws curve balls at you, rise and

keep going." And life had thrown her so

many curve balls, she wondered how

she was able to still stand on her own

two feet until now.

From the moment she was born she

was doomed to be alone. Whoever had

given birth to her, abandoned her to a

nearby fire station, leaving a note that

only said, "I named her Alana and she

was born on September 18." That was

all that bound her to this mysterious

woman that was her birth mother.

Could Alana blame her? Of course, she

couldn't.

Twenty-one years in, she was learning

to forgive the mother that didn't want

her. Who knew what her circumstance

were then, and besides the woman

seemed to have cared enough to give

her a name and tell those who'd taken

care nf her the date of her hirthThe first four years of her life, she had

lived in all three countries: Wales,

England and Scotland in Britain. She

was fostered by different families,

learning all their different cultures

within their communities. It wasn't

until she was adopted by a selfless

loving couple, Margret and John

Walters, that she finally learned what a

true family was.

John and Margret had a little

cottage house right by the sea in the

neighbouring island called Isle of

Mann. For the next five years, Alana

had lived with them, receiving all their

love and kindness as their only child.

That was until life threw a curve ball in

a form of tragedy.

Alana watched as heartbreakingly, the

only father she'd ever known succumb

to pancreatic cancer at just fifty years.

The death of her husband took a great

toll on Margret. Alana had to start

growing up, so she could take care of

the only mother she had ever known.

Fortunately for them, they had a

great support system in the form of

Margret's childhood best friend, Mary

whom lived three houses down from

them. Mary, was also widowed and

knew exactly how to comfort the

heartbroken Margret. For years she

became a source of encouragement

and strength for Margret. Mary also

had a daughter named, Karla, whom

was a year older tharn Alana. Growing

up with Karla was one of Alana most

treasured moments.

Karla was her only best friend and

they did virtually everything together,

exploring all parts the isle of Mann's

could offer. As they grew up, they

shared a same dream and that was

to move to London and live together.

Although Alana had been everywhere

in that great big island of Britain

when she was younger, she couldn't

remember the families that had took

care of her during that time and the

places she had been to.

Although Alana grew up being loved

and cherished in the Isle of Mann,

she had always dealt with that feeling

of not belonging with them. She had

always felt she was different compared

to her small family. And though she

tried to bury these feelings, they always

surfaced at odd moments during

her life and haunted her most in her

dreams.

Alana had terrible nightmares of being

left alone, of the people around her

lkisleaving her one by one and ultimately

abandoning her. These nightmares

had manifested terribly when she was

seventeen years old.

The biggest curve ball of them all.

In the month of May of 2014, Margret

followed her husband to the grave

after being diagnosed with breast

cancer. It had been too late to treat it as

it had metastasised to her vital organs.

Alana had only a month with her

before her final moments. The worse

month of her life to date. The trauma

was still ingrained deep in her, the

toll of losing both parents so suddenly

barely in the course of ten years had

thrown Alana out of track.

"You're the only daughter, I ever had,

Alana, and for letting me be your

mother, I wholeheartedly thank you.

I love you so much. Don't forget that.

Even if I'm gone, I'll always love you.

Always remember that even when life

seems to be punching you in the face,

don't give up, keep fighting on." These

were the last heart-breaking words her

mother parted her with.

Alana took those words to heart and

promised herself to remember them

whenever nothing seemed to be going

her way.

It was fortunate her final secondary

education had finished that month, she

had the free time to be with her mother

during her final moments. Margret and

John left her their mortgaged cottage

house and five thousand pounds for

her to survive on until she decided on

her next course of action.

Because her best friend, Karla had

left initially a year before to London

to start her business courses in

Cambridge University, she had flown

back to Mann to support Alana during

her darkest time. Karla had brought

her boyfriend, Finn from Holland to

meet her. According to Karla they met

at campus and hit it off instantly. Since

they stayed at the same complex, they

basically lived together. They had

planned to officially move in together

by August and Karla was adamant on

bringing Alana along.

Young, naive, heartbroken and with

nothing else to lose, Alana had sold

off her parent's cottage house to the

highest bidder. Since the cottage house

was located on the rare part of the

island. It was most wanted by a Travel

agency that wanted to make it into

a holiday spot. They had paid her a

substantial amount of money in which

she put into savings account for rainy

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days

Alana had applied for art courses in

any University in London that could

take her. Since she could remember,

she always had a knack for vivid

imaginations accentuated by her vivid

dreams. Her dream university, the

Royal College of Art offered a place

for her study and paint to her heart's

desire.

By July of 2014, she had packed and

stored away her parent's furniture and

appliances, in case she needed these

items again. Her clothes and materials

amounted to two big suitcases in which

she took to London with her.

For two months she enjoyed the slightly

stuffier air compared to the free ocean

breeze of the island, and the busyness

of London. Although it made her

anxious to see such a great movement,

she started settling in with the help of

Karla and her slightly odd boyfriend.

However, since life really liked

chunking curve balls at her, as if saying

you can never settle and be happy.

Her only friend, the true friend she

had ever made, decided to follow her

boyfriend back to Holland to live with

him instead.

"It's love, Alana. Oh, how I wish you

knew that feeling. It controls you, takes

over you and you want nothing more

than to give your all to that person,

to follow him even if it's to the ends

of the world." These were words her

best friend had parted her with. That

childhood dream of living and enjoying

life together, all but forgotten.

***

***

For four whole years after the

only thing left of family abandoned

her. Alana had navigated this new city

and world on her own. She took the

course, the Royal College of Arts had in

place for her and it was very fortunate,

that she had an artistic talent and eye.

Promising herself to keep fighting

on, she mastered her skills enough

to receive her degree earlier than

warranted.

At only twenty years of age, she had

become the most sought-after artist.

She became famously known for the

eccentric way she presented and

painted objects, people and animals.

However, it was her "other worldly

beings" project pieces that became her

best sellers.

Buyers and collectors from around

the world sought her gift of depicting

beings from her imagination. The

humanised fairy people she always

dreamt of, with their magnanimous

coloured wings matching their eyes

and souls. These were her brightest

of paintings. She guessed buyers liked

these because of the colours she tried

to convey into paint. In her dreams,

however, these fairies had other

colours that were not visible on earth.

With the brightest of paintings also

unearthed her darkest of paintings.

The nightmarish monsters she saw

compared to the fairies. Buyers loved

these more, especially the different

breeds of the ugliest demons, ghouls

and goblins. It had been most difficult

to unearth these because these

monster's many layers of colours

that didn't exist in earth. No matter

how much she mixed, she could only

showcase an imitation of her dream.

Alana always wondered why she could

see those colours in her dreams and

not when she woke up. She deemed

it being her artistic eye of seeing

colourful pictures in the mundane

These paintings were what almost

got her famous. Had it not been for

her quick thinking of remaining

anonymous, she would be subject to

media play. She found it odd seeing

her paintings on her tv being hailed

so highly. Even movie directors and

animation studios sought her out for

her eccentric depictions.

Alana, however, refused to venture

toward that path, it was during her

finally year in the Royal College of Arts

until, almost two years ago that she

decided on the career path of a curator

instead.

She felt most comfortable in art

galleries than out there to the world

of the unknown. For a year, she

has worked hard at cataloguing,

assembling, managing and displaying

different types of arts and photography

for different clients. She was successful

in this and although her talent was

remarkable, she was still after all a

rookie.

It was during one of her commissions,

that she partnered up with university

mates, Jacob Bright and Pamela Brown

to create their small running business,

that offered themselves for clients to be

rOOKIe.

It was during one of her commissions,

that she partnered up with university

mates, Jacob Bright and Pamela Brown

to create their small running business,

that offered themselves for clients to be

used in many projects as curators.

*

It was the evening of June 8th,

a heat wave had struck London and

although this was a good thing, since

this country was plagued with constant

dark clouds and rain. The heat wave

was nothing they had bargained for.

Alana guessed wishing for it to be

warm again during the chilly winter

finally paid off. Only the weather

overpaid since the sun was basically

scalding.

She was in the stock room of the

biggest gallery in London she was

privileged to be curating. The owner

of the gallery wanted her team to

showcase underground young talents'

art pieces in one side of the gallery, in

the first floor, where viewers could buy

these artworks. At the top floor of the

gallery they wanted to showcase their

collection that weren't being sold.

It was during the process of learning

the artwork to be presented that

Alana discovered one of the art pieces

she had painted almost two years

ago from her "other worldly beings"

collection. It was such an honour to see

that the owner of this biggest gallery

had bought her piece and liked it so

much they were showcasing it in their

precious collection, not to be sold.

"We have star in our midst." Was what

her partners, Jake and Pam praised as

they saw her old piece.

Alana had felt odd seeing the painting

she'd long forgotten about. She still

remembered being reluctant to sell

it in the first place, since it was a

personal piece. Although the art subject

was of a ethereal woman she'd only

seen once in her dreams, this woman

had left a huge impression. There had

been something familiar about her,

something extra special.

In the dream, Alana had seen the

woman twice:

The first time, she was in

field of snow with the woman's back

to her. She followed the woman for

a long time, there was something

heartbreaking about the way she

walked on the frosty ground. As if she

was lost in bloom of snow flakes oon

the ground. Alana called out to her but

the woman didn't seem to hear her.

The cold had sipped unto her bones,

as the woman squatted on the ground,

her attention drawn to something.

When Alana looked she saw that it

was a blooming pink flower, defying

odds as it blossomed against the cold.

Alana couldn't tell what expression-

whether she was sad or happy-was on

on the woman. However, there was a

bittersweet feeling in her heart when

she watched her.

The second time, she'd seen

the same woman lying in a round

bed inside a huge glass-like box.

She had looked surreal and utterly

breath-taking, with long flowing silver

hair against her shimmering dark

brown skin. Alana had watched the

woman for a long time until she had

realised, this woman wasn't waking

up anytime soon. She did everything,

trying to break the glass so she could

get to the woman. However, the glass

didn't budge, as if it was made of the

hardest uncrackable material-a glass

force field that ricocheted everything

she had thrown at.

Alana had woken up from that dream,

in sweats and panic. More panicked

than when she had woken from her

nightmares. She had quickly picked up

her paintbrushes and began painting

the woman while the dream was still

fresh in her memory.

It had taken the whole morning to

finish painting the two pieces. Her

first and second dream. And although

Alana had tried her best to bring the

subject alive through paint, when she

had looked at the finished product of

the second, she felt dissatisfied with it.

It hadn't been until Pam saw her

painting and pointed out how that

woman bore a striking resemblance to

Alana, that she finally figured out why

she had felt odd.

"It's so weird cos you're pale skinned

and she's dark skinned, your hair is

pitch black and hers is silver white,

and yet... there's a resemblance

between you two...Did you do that

thing where you forgot what you were

painting and ended putting yourself as

the subject?" Was what Pam had asked

her.

Alana had sighed in response and

wanted to destroy the painting right

then and there. If it hadn't been for

Pam persuading her otherwise, she

would have lost something important.

She stored away the painting of her

second dream and sold the painting

of her first dream. That first was more

colourful. A buyer had bought it for

a ridiculous amount of money. This

money she had used to start up the

partnership company she was now

working at.

Because of the heatwave, it was very

hot this evening. The stock room had

no air-condition and because of this,

she had hurried in finishing her task of

returning the failed piece, the owner

of the gallery didn't want to use. After

labelling them accordingly, she placed

them ata vantage point where the

deliver could see to return them to

their owners.

Since her company was an informal

business, where one didn't need to

wear office suits and heels. Alana had

worn a white tank top, jean shorts and

Vans and covered herself with a long

light-weight cardigan.

She was returning to the main officce

of the building when she heard the

conversation her fellow partners were

having. The event was about to start

and buzzing voices could be heard

in the main hall of the event. She

wondered why Jake and Pam werent

inside already, starting their work for

tonight.

"..Bloody good looking, so he was...his

voice to..." Pam spoke.

"Pam, you were busy trying to undress

him with your eyes to really hear what

he was saying-well, what his assistant

was saying." Jake admonished her.

"Hmmm... somehow, she looked

familiar, was it only me?" She frowned.

"Familiar how? You have never met

her before.. " Jake stated.

"No, there was wee bit of something

about her that seemed familiar, as if

Ive known her a long time." Pam was

determined to figure it out.

"Are you sure it wasn't you in

drool-land over the guy, to mistake his

secretary for someone you know."

Pam was about to smack Jake shoulder

when Alana entered their main office.

"Whose secretary?" Alana asked in

amusement, staring at them both.

Pamela was in swoon-land while Jake

was studying Alana up and down with

bulging eyes.

"Alana, you're still in your work

uniform?" He reminded her.

By "work uniform", he actually meant

her casual attire. It was an inside joke

of them, the fact that for their work

they were free to dress as they wished,

compared to those whom had to dress

in work suites for their 9 to 5 jobs.

1

"I texted Pam earlier, telling her that

the workload here took all day long, I

didn't have time to go back and change

for this evening. I thought-"

"I've got your dress with me here,

love..." Pam interjected her. "..I only

came to bring you this, Jake followed

me after I had stopped to admire that

yummy guy in Armani." Pam then

handed Alana the garment cover that

had the dress Alana had purchased

earlier for this event.

"Ah, you're a life-saver, Pam," Alana

instantly hugged the cover to her chest.

Although, she now considered herself

to be well off for a twenty-one-year

old, when it came to money, she was

still frugal. Their business did okay

however, sometimes for months on

end nere were ramy moments WInouu

clients. It was this reason alone,

that the partners were considering

relocating to somewhere like Italy

where art was very much appreciated.

"Anyway, I need to hurry...aren't people

already coming in for the event?"

"Yeah a few, but, the owner said right

now is just reception, we aren't needed

until.." Jake checked the time and

frowned. "..Nine-thirty."

There was thirty minutes until

nine-thirty, Alana sighed in relief

realising there will be enough time

to use the staff bathroom toilet to get

ready.

"Pam, you brought your make-up bag,

right?" Alana asked her friend/business

partner.

"Ready and equipped."

Alana smiled, nodding in appreciation.

She ruffled the garment cover she was

holding and said to them, "So what will

it be? Going back at reception to mingle

and drink? Or Coming with me to help

me get ready?"

Pam wiggled her eyebrows and Alana

instantly knew she had chosen the latter