Chapter 23: A start

 Alice took some time off from her life. Her classes and work were all postponed under the compromise of her lecturer and boss respectively.

They understood her situation and repeatedly assured her of her spot. Having someone so important in one's life vanish in a blink of an eye wasn't something easy to deal with. They knew only time could heal the wound.

Thankfully, her dad did come back occasionally. She remembered being thankful when she woke up and found her dad sleeping on the sofa in their living room.

His body always reeked of alcohol, and his face was tinged red. Alice knew that her father was succumbing to this disaster, but she had nothing to help him with as he was as stubborn as a bull.

Once, Alice had tried to stop her father from going outside to drink, but was only met with his fury. He wasn't in the right state of mind to hear Alice's advice either. Thus, Alice made terms with him that he just needed to stay alive and come home at night.

A week after the death of her mother, Alice resumed her life. She knew she must go out and live, or whatever she was fighting for all this while would be thrown to waste.

She had worked way too hard for way too long to just stop and give up now. She needed to get things straight.

As she walked into her class, all eyes were on her like she was some animal in a zoo. Alice avoided any eye contact and sat down in a quiet corner of the lecture hall.

Seeing Alice in the class, Momo hastened her steps and hugged her shoulder to give her support.

"I'm fine, don't overreact," comforted Alice while jokingly making a face full of disdain from the touch.

"Hmphh, stinky Alice," Momo retorted but didn't stop hugging her. Alice felt grateful for this one friend of hers.

The class then went on as usual. Alice just quietly listened throughout.

Prof. Yu asked Alice to meet her after lunch, so Alice stayed for a while at the campus.

"You know, you cannot be like this when you work with me. My clients are all high profile and wouldn't want to see your sickly, unconfident face. So I'm asking for once, do you have what it takes to work in this role?"

"Sorry prof, I am confident I'll get into my best when I need to start later. Give me some time to adjust, I'm not feeling okay right now," Alice confessed.

"It's good that you know. I'll give you a chance, but that's all you get. If I see you in this condition again, you'll get kicked out," Prof. Yu firmly stated.

"I know, thank you."

Outside Prof. Yu's office, Alice held her face with both of her hands and wept. She was as fragile as glass right now, and very emotional too.

These few days were some of the most emotional days of her life. She'd get teary from the slightest memory, the familiar places, or when she found a piece of her mom's laundry left in the washing machine. She had never felt this weak to life before.

Alice used to brave life challenges thrown at her while taking baby steps to solve them. She had never allowed those challenges to hinder her from walking the path she had chosen.

No amount of insults could deter her spirits. But now, like any other young woman, she crumbled and was at her lowest.

Alice then took some time to adjust her emotions and made her way to work. She had already informed them that she'd be back today.

She was dazed throughout her shift. Despite that, she was able to complete her tasks, well, robotically. She wasn't aware of how she did it, but somehow it worked.

Like that, the days went by, Alice and her batch mate has completed their final exam. Alice would start working for Prof. Yu tomorrow.