The youngest writer to have become one of the most richest in the world. A single 21 year old mother. A victim. A survivor. Zoe Harper. This is who I am now.
Every morning I wake up to the sound of the bustling city of New York. A city that I've come to love dearly. I go through my morning routine. Today was an important day. Like my secretary, Mrs. Brown has mentioned a thousand times for the past week. So, I went out of my way to wear a much too elegant and sophisticated dress that my secretary had picked out for this special occasion. Today was the literary interview for my most recent book which landed me to become the most successful and richest writer in the world. It was going to be a hectic day to say the least.
I walked outside and to my daughter's room. Walking inside and seeing her sleeping so peacefully, my heart bloomed with happiness and love for my sweet little Rose overflowed out of me. She was barely a year old but I knew she was going to turn into a beautiful and strong woman when she grew up. I smiled and kissed her forehead and drank her in. Everything that I did was for her. She was literally my everything and one day when she grew up, I was going to tell her everything and how because of her and her only, I had survived in this cruel, selfish world.
I closed the door softly so as to not wake her up and went outside to see who was there at the door but Anna, my housekeeper had already opened it. I walked closer to find that it was Jade, the babysitter. "Ah, perfectly on time as always Jade. She's still sleeping. I bet you she's not going to be up for a few more hours but just to be on the safer side. You know what I mean right?" I smiled. Jade was a brilliant girl. She had these stunning blue eyes and features that could get her any boy she wanted. Her intelligence was far beyond her years and she had a bright future ahead of her. I could just feel it. "Yes, of course Miss Harper. I completely understand. May I come in?" "Oh right. Come on in and please how many times have I told you. Call me Zoe. I'm only a few years older. There's no need for formalities." "Yes, Miss...Zoe." I smiled again.
I beckoned her to come sit with me on the couch. "So, how're the old folks? They bugging you about college?" She laughed joyfully but I could sense that tiny bit of pain and sadness behind it. "Yeah, they're still stuck on the college thing. Guess they're never gonna get it huh?" "Oh sweetheart I'm sure they'll understand one day and if you ever need anything just call me alright? I will always be there for you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a really important interview like Mrs. Brown says." "And that I am right about Miss Harper. Sorry to keep you waiting." "Perfect timing." Mrs. Brown was a strict-looking lady in her late 30s. She was short and had blond hair that were very close to white. I didn't know if that was just her age or natural. She was one of those women having a cold exterior and a very warm heart.
"Shall we?" I asked her, grinning from ear to ear. She just shaked her head and nudged me along to the parking area. We headed straight for my car. Sorry, all of them were my cars. We headed straight for my Rolls Royce Phantom. As we got inside, Mrs. Brown started going on about my schedule for the day. "You have the conference in about 30 minutes where they'll just ask you a couple of questions about the book and your current lifestyle, the literary interview is the most important part where you'll have to describe in detail about the whole writing process and how the book came to be and finally you have kind of a very fancy dinner." "Mrs Brown, chill. Everything is going to be great. Don't fret alright? Take deep breaths." "Of course. Now are you sure you don't need to ask me something or anything like that?" I just laughed and said, "Relax. Just let it go and save your energy because we're really going to need it today."
As soon as the car stopped and I stepped out, the paparazzi started flashing their cameras. I had gotten pretty used to this by now but it still overwhelmed me a bit. To the point where sometimes I had an inward spiral. Which you are not going to have right now. I internally scolded myself. Everything that was going to happen today was going to be in the same building. The conference, the interview and the dinner. All in one place. Impressive right? That's mostly because the building I was doing this at was the best in the entire world. Sure it was a 139-floor building that looked way to big if you looked at it from anywhere, especially up close. Every writer dreamed to have any kind of invitation to this place. Spark HQ.
One of the managers called Renee led us to the room where the conference was going to be held. I stopped, staring at the closed doors and breathed just like Dr. Wade had taught me. I opened the doors and looked at no one until I had reached to where I was supposed to sit. There were a lot of cameras and I felt like my every move was being watched. Actually, it was. There were hundreds if not more, sitting and staring at me like I was I don't know what. At the back, the general public was seated. I could see so many faces filled with awe and wonder that I just couldn't help but smile. I guess everyone took that as a cue to fire away with their questions because there was suddenly so much noise. I was quite taken aback that I didn't really hear myself being introduced and all that drama but I did get my cue to speak as well thankfully. "Hi everyone. I'm Zoe Harper. The author of 'A Writer's Story' but you all already knew that." I laughed, hoping it would ease some of the tension in the room. Some people laughed while others smiled. Good.
"First of all, before we dive into the questions and everything, I want to thank my fans for all the love and support they have showered me with till now. I am truly grateful to have such amazing fans and I hope that you always continue to be this way. Thank you so much once again guys. I love you all. Now, I know you want your questions to be answered so please ask away." I smiled and looked at everyone in the room.
"Miss Harper, how would you say that you have achieved so much in such little time?" A guy in the front asked me. "Okay. Let me ask you a question. Have you read my book, Mr....?" He looked at me with a very puzzling kind of expression but he answered. "Ted and yes ma'am, I have and I think I speak for everyone when I say that your work is truly breathtaking." I heard a few agreements in the crowd and I continued, " I was very young when I first started writing. It was before everything else happened. Those stories were filled with innocence and childishness. After well everything and during that as well, I continued writing. It wasn't my intention to become famous or recognized or anything. I just did it because it brought me peace and I loved it. I still do. Over the years, I published more and more and one day, I decided to write a book that entailed everything that happened in my life. And when you go through that much you experience so many new things and then you realize that other people out there do too. So I wrote this book and people all over the world connected with it which is what I wanted and the rest is history or the present if you know what I mean." I laughed and Ted nodded, satisfied with my answer.
"Who is the person who inspires you and is that rock in your life that never changes?" Another journalist asked. "My daughter, Rose. It's because of her that I'm still here in front of you all so yes definitely her." I answered without any hesitation. A few thousand more questions were asked. All of which were pretty common but then someone from the back, the public section where everyone had mostly listened to everything asked. I squinted my eyes to find a girl, around 15 years asking a very unexpected question. "Was it hard for you to go through practically your whole life events again at the same time while writing this book, Miss Harper? Was there ever a moment where you wanted to give up on writing 'A Writer's Story'?"
"What's your name sweetie?" "Laura, ma'am." she answered. Her confidence wavering, clearly shocked to find myself interested in learning her name. It was clear she had struggles of her own like everyone else did. "Well, Laura. The answer to your much appreciated question is yes. There were certain moments where I wanted to give up because all of it was just way too hard to go through again. There were moments of doubt and anger and sadness but I went on because when life throws rocks at you, you crush those rocks and you let them fade away as if they mean nothing. But if you continue to let these rocks hit you in full force, it's going to hurt way more than it first did because they'll just keep coming at you over and over again." I smiled at her and the way she blushed and her eyes looked like tears were gonna come flowing out of them like a waterfall made me grin at her.
At last, after a few more very boring questions, the conference came to an end and I walked out of the room. As Renee was leading us to the room where the interview was going to take place, I heard my name being called out by someone. I turned around to find Laura running towards me. "Yes, Laura?" I asked. By the way her eyes widened at the mention of her name, I knew she thought that I would forget her name the second her question was asked. "I uh..um..I really wanted to thank you. For everything. I'm a very avid reader and your work is absolutely mind-blowing. This particular book has helped me in so many ways. You have no idea. I was also really, really hoping to sneak in your autograph while thanking you." She smiled sheepishly and handed me a pen and a paper. I laughed and signed it. As she turned around to run away again I called out to her, "Hey Laura?" "Yes, Miss Harper." She said with wide, hopeful eyes. I went to her and hugged her. Something she very much did not expect and whispered in her ear. "You're gonna get through this alright? I'm with you all the way." She stepped back and her eyes glistened with those unshed tears again. She ran away and as I stole one more look at her she mouthed 'Thank you' from where she was standing with her parents presumably.
Renee continued to lead us to the room after my exchange with Laura. When we stopped in front of the room, she turned around and smiled a true, genuine smile. "That was really sweet of you Miss Harper." And that was it. She said that, bowed and went away. Huh. I checked in with Mrs. Brown and she gave me a look filled with pride as I walked to where I was supposed to sit. Again. I really would have liked to stretch my legs a bit more than this but I guess I could work with it. Everyone took their places as soon as I entered and in a few minutes the interview began.
"Let's start, shall we?" said Tyler. The person who would oversee the interview as he said. His words, not mine.
"Yes. Yes, we shall." I replied with a smile on my face. A smile that said that I had survived and that I was still standing here. My life was perfect even though there were struggles and heartbreaks and some way too horrible stuff. I had lived through all of that and this. This was what my story was about.
A Writer's Story.