Luck By Chance

Chapter 1

Cody Thompson has spent his entire childhood following the footsteps of his famous parents. He tried being a good son, he tried being a good elder brother to his two-little sibling, tried to be a better husband, a better father, a better businessman. But he never did anything for himself.

He tried and always tried to keep everyone happy but never realised that he was the one who was unhappy behind.

One day Cody was at his job and he was flipping over the pages of some local magazine where he spotted an advertisement that caught his eyes.

“Are You the Next Singing Superstar?

Get a chance to be UK’s next superstar.”

Before Cody could read the complete advertisement, there was a knock on his door. His assistant was standing at the door looking worried. “Mr. Thompson, everyone is waiting for you in the conference room”, said his assistant Maria.

Maria had known Cody since he was a small child. She earlier used to work for his parents but when they decided to retire 2 years back, Cody thought it would be great to have Maria work with him. Afterall, she had more experience than him, plus she treated him like he was her own son.

“Maria, you know you can call me Cody. Since when have you started being so formal.” Cody said.

“C’mon Cody, Since the time you became my boss and I started to work for you.” She laughed.

Now get up before these gentlemen in the conference room start looking for you. You have got this.”

Cody, left his magazine on his table and begin to walk behind Maria.

I hope everything is alright Cody. You don’t look good to me”. Maria said concerned.

“Yes Maria, everything is perfectly alright. I am fine. Thank You. Now let’s do it. Cody said.

They opened the door and Cody started the presentation.

Chapter 2

It was past 1 am when Cody reached home. His kids were asleep so he decided to not ring the doorbell. His wife, Ashley was waiting for him in the dining room when she heard Cody’s car. She quickly went to open the door. She knew Cody worked so hard for them. Her face lit up as soon as she saw Cody. It was their 5^th anniversary and she had waited all day to for Cody.

“You are here”. Ashley said kissing Cody on his lips.

“I am. You must be tired. I am sorry you had to be up so late”.

“It’s alright. I was anyway reading my book and I wanted to wait for you”. Ashley said.

“And see that’s why I love you. Happy Anniversary sweetheart.” And Cody kissed Ashley on her forehead.

“Hey, you remembered. I didn’t want to bother you because I know you were tired. But I got something for you.”

“Oh, what is it?”

“So, yesterday I was going through this magazine that we brought last week and I signed you up for something. I know how much you love music and how much you miss it. So, I sent them your recording and signed you up. And guess what? They loved your voice. They want you to audition for them this weekend.” Ashley said excitedly.

“OHHHH MYYY GODDDD, what did you just say? I mean I am sorry but howwww????? Whennnn????? I haven’t sung in years and which recording?

Give me a moment to process all of this.”

“My darling, I know you haven’t in years but I miss that. Remember when we were dating and you would bring your guitar every time we met, and you would sing for me for hours? Yeah, I miss that. And you have such a wonderful voice and I think that it is time you show it to the world.” Ashley patted on Cody’s shoulder and said.

“Buttttt, I can’t do this. I am sorry but I have too many responsibilities on my shoulder. I don’t have time to even spare 2 minutes of my life.”

Ashley could see how much Cody wanted to do this but was taking a step back like he always did. She knew in her heart that her hisband wanted this singing gig as much as her but there was something stopping him. May be it was all the years that his parents denied him of singing or when he wanted to make a career in singing, his parents had never supported him or may be the unexpected responsibilities that came all together on his shoulder at a very young age of 21.

Ashley didn’t say anything. She left the room after kissing Cody on his cheeks. But she knew that she was going to make this happen for her husband.

Chapter 3

Next day was just like any other day for Cody. He woke up at 04:30am, went for a run, came back home at 6, and got ready for work.

Back on his mind, he was still thinking what Ashley had said to him last night. It was so sweet of her to go out of her way and do something for him. He knew how much she loved his voice and he missed singing too.

May be this could be the chance to do something. Afterall, what do I have to lose now? I have a beautiful wife who adores me, 2 beautiful kids who love their daddy despite all his flaws, and he is doing good at work. But there was something still holding him back.

He quickly got ready for work and left for office.

When he reached office, it was past 10 am and Maria was not at her desk. This was surprising because Maria was always the first to come to work and last to leave with Cody. He tried calling Maria but her cell went straight to voicemail.

“Maybe she was stuck in traffic”, Cody said to himself and absorbed himself in the huge pile of files on his desk.

It was 01pm when he received a call from Maria.

“Hey Cody, Maria this side. I am sorry I couldn’t come on time today. But there is a meeting with a client you need to be at. I will come pick you up in 10minutes.”

“What Meeting? Do we know these clients?” Cody said surprisingly.

“No, these are new but we received their call from the New York office last night after you went home. Now get ready and be down in 10”. Maria disconnected the call.

Cody immediately packed his laptop and went down to wait for Maria.

It was 1:30pm when Maria arrived.

“C’mon kiddo, sit quickly. We are late” Maria said.

“Would you please tell me where are we going and how come I have no information about these clients? They could be really important for our office and I am not even prepared.” Cody said anxiously. His one brow was up like every time he was upset.

“I would have told you but it was your anniversary and you were already late home. You can take time off Cody. You are allowed to spend some time off with yoyr lovely little family.”.

“Yeah, I know. Last night Ashley gave me the best surprise and I think I ruined it. She signed me up for some singing show and sent my recording to some producer. You should have seen her face. She was so excited”.

“OH Boy, that would have been great. What did you say to her? Or wait a minute, you said nothing? Did you?”

“Yeah, I didn’t. I feel so sorry. She wasn’t even there this morning. First, I thought she went to drop off the kids. I will call her” Cody dialled Ashley’s number but she disconnected. Maybe She was busy or was she angry. Well, it was not like Ashley” he thought.

They reached The Ritz London on St. James's, in half an hour.

“Are we meeting our clients here” Cody said looking at the tall hotel building.

“Yes, we are. Now let’s go before they go away.” Ashley said hurriedly.

They took the elevator and went to the hotel room number 105. Maria knocked the door.

A young man about half her age opened the door.

Come on in. You are here to meet Rick, right?

Yes, I am Maria and he is Mr. Cody Thompson.

They shook hands and went inside the room. It was room cum suite.

There was an attached kitchen, gym and 2 large bedrooms.

Rick arrived from the other room and Cody was shocked to see him.

“Oh My, you are Rick Gonzalez.” Cody looked at Maria with a surprised look asking what is this.

“Hi Mr. Thompson. It’s so nice to meet you finally. Your wife had sent me your recording yesterday and I was mesmerised by your voice. You have no idea how much we enjoyed listening to you”. Rick said looking at Cody.

“Thank You so much. My wife told me about this but I don’t think I am ready for this”

“Well, your wife said the same thing. But we want you. You have an exceptional voice and it would be our pleasure to have you with us. If you want, we won’t reveal your name.”

“That sounds good but would you allow me a moment to think about this, please? I understand everything but I have so many things going on at this time. And I haven’t performed in years.”

“We know that, and therefore we are willing to offer you small gig in our show tomorrow. I am performing after Elton John and after me, you could sing. It would be nice to introduce you to the audience. You can sing any song of your choice and we will see after that how to go about it.”

“ELLTTONN JOHNNN is going to perform tomorrow with you and you want me to perform” Cody thought he was about to faint but held a straight face.

“Yes, you heard me. So, let’s not waste time and we will meet tomorrow before the show, say at 7pm sharp?”.

“Okay” Cody was still processing this news when he saw Ashley’s call on his cell phone.

“Hey sweetie, would you mind coming down now. I have been waiting for hours outside the hotel. These stupid people won’t let me in”

“Where are you?”

“I am outside the hotel Cody.” Ashley said.

“Wait, I am coming”.

Cody and Maria took the elevator and ran to meet Ashley.

Cody looked surprisingly at both Maria and Ashley.

“So, you knew? And you knew this too?”

“Yes, we both knew and we both wanted you have this opportunity. We all know how much you have sacrificed for us. So now, lets get back home and prepare for the big day tomorrow”. Ashley said.

“Yes, Cody. Ashley is right. Don’t worry about the office. I will have Verma look into your work for today. That lazy ass has to do something Afterall.” Maria laughed.

They hugged each other and said goodbye.

Chapter 4-

The Final Gig

Cody couldn’t sleep last night. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know if he wanted to do this gig. He thought about the time when he was 17 and wanted to become a singer so badly. And how his dad had thrown away his guitar. He was always bad at studied, but we are all unique in our own way. His parents were never home as a child. Always visiting some or the other country. Music was the only thing that had kept him sane. He practically raised his twin siblings and they both flew to different countries after their graduations. He hadn’t seen them in 2 years. But when he met Ashley, things had changed. He wanted to pursue music. She made him sing, when they would sit in the park, he would lie down on her lap and sing for hours.

It was afternoon when he woke up.

“Dammit, it’s 2pm And I have to be at the show in 3 hours.”

He ran to the washroom and got ready quickly. When he came out of the shower there was a handwritten note kept with his clothes. He opened the note and it read, “Daddy, come downstairs”. It was from his older kid.

He wore his clothes and went down. His kids came running and hugged their dad.

“Hi baby, what is it that you wanted to show me”

“Mommy has something to show you daddy. Just close your eyes and behave like a good boy. Okay Daddy”.

“Hahahah, Yes, my eyes are closed.” Cody put both his hands on his eyes while his kids led the way and laughed.

They took him to the kitchen where Ashley was waiting.

He opened his eyes and his eyes started flowing with the tears of joy.

Ashley stood there with something in her hand that Cody hadn’t seen in years.

It was the same guitar that his father had thrown away.

“How did you get this?” Cody said walking towards Ashley.

Ashley wiped Cody’s tears and gave him the guitar.

“I had taken it from the garbage and got it fixed. I had been waiting to give it to you all these years and now it’s the time.”

“I don’t know what have I done to deserve you”

“I love you, Cody. And I want you to sing, not for us, not for anyone but for YOURSELF.”

“I love you, now let’s get ready.

They left home in half n hour and reached the venue in an hour.

From the outside they could hear Elton John performing ‘Tiny Dancer’.

‘But oh, how it feels so real

Lying here, with no one near

Only you and you can hear me

When I say softly, slowly

Hold me closer, tiny dancer

Count the headlights on the highway

Lay me down in sheets of linen

You had a busy day today’

They ran towards the backstage and Ashley kissed Cody.

“Goodluck Daddy”. His kids shouted.

It was Ricks turn to perform and he grimed at Cody. “Be ready, I will introduce you”.

Cody nodded and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He could hear crowd shouting and singing when Rick went on the stage.

“Hello Mumbai, Thank You for being here. It’s time. I want to introduce you to my friend Cody. Cheer Uppp for Cody”

Cody went on the stage and his legs trembled seeing lakhs of people.

He spotted Maria and her husband in the audience when she waved at him.

‘You have my heart, you have my soul

And I will always love you till the infinite times.

We got this time, we got this hour,

You and me against the world.’

The crowd went crazy as Cody sang this song. He started singing more and with confidence.

The show ended and Ashley hugged Cody. “Who was even up there? Was it my husband” Ashley giggled?

Rick came and congratulated Cody. “You were great Cody. I knew you had it in you. Would you be willing to sign the contract now?”

“OH, Yes Yes Yes. Thank You so much for this opportunity. I will.” Cody shook hands and they both hugged.

Suddenly Cody spotted someone coming towards him. It was his dad and mum.

“Hey Cody, Good to see young man. It was really you up there? We are so sorry; we didn’t know you could sing so well. Your mum and I, apologise for the time we didn’t allow you to sing.”

“It’s okay Dad. I love you.” Cody said and hugged his parents.

“Heyyy bro. You were lit up there”. Cody saw his twin siblings running towards hi.

“You guys how come all of you are here. You all came to support me?” Cody hugged his siblings tightly.

“Of course, we had to be here. But before saying anything, you should thank Ashley. She is the one who brought us here. You got an angel, brother.”

Cody looked at Ashley and their eyes met, “I sure Did”. He whispered.