Her life isn't exactly a fairy tale

Christine Cheng paced the length of her sparkling fifty-metre indoor pool, breathing in the heavy chlorine smell it emanated, her heels clip-clopping against the concrete floor. Her advisor, Catalina Carrillo stepped in, a concerned look on her face. “Are you okay Christine? You’ve been pacing for hours, surely you can sit down now.”

Christine sighed and stepped out of the double-doored entrance of the pool, gratefully accepting the seat Catalina held out for her. She cradled her head in her hands and exhaled slowly. She was just so stressed. She had a talk in just thirteen hours, and she still hadn’t decided on what to say to the audience. Fifteen thousand people were to attend. Fifteen thousand pairs of eyes and ears all trained on her.

She sipped a mango coconut daiquiri, feeling the cool drink slip down her throat, and let it refresh her. Catalina waited patiently to discuss the talk the next day opposite her, nibbling on a strawberry that had been speared on the rim of her strawberry limeade.

“Sorry Catalina”, Christine breathed, “I know I should be preparing my script for the talk tomorrow, but it’s just so tiring. I have no idea what to say, and I stayed up all night preparing chapters twelve to fifteen of Snow-White and the Seven Enchanted Quests for review.”

Catalina sighed, “But you’ve never had this much difficulty before- maybe you’re just weary? After all, this year has been especially tough, should we go to the lounge and discuss ideas?”                                                         Christiana only nodded in response, but got up and followed Catalina to the lounge, the sliding doors releasing with a hiss as they approached.

An hour later, they were seated on the sleek leather couches in the lounge, the blue tinted glass of the coffee table between them reflecting the blinding sunshine. They were busy discussing ideas for tomorrow’s talk, but nothing had seemed quite right. That was until Catalina suggested that Christine shared her life story.

At first, Christine was reluctant. She sprung out of her seat, and began to swiftly back out towards the door, her mane of ebony hair swaying behind her, before she was halted by a solid hand on her shoulder.

“Stop”, Catalina said firmly, “You can’t just run away from something you don’t want to do. What’s wrong?” 

Christine lowered her gaze, staring at her flaming red heels, her face a similar shade. She looked away “I-I’m……… embarrassed.” She sighed eventually.

Catalina was puzzled. “Embarrassed?” She asked, half laughing but also slightly concerned, “Christine, talk to me- Why are you embarrassed?”

Christine pulled away and muttered something about past and history.

“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you, could you repeat that?” Catalina asked in a light tone, but her face giving away how uneasy she really was. She did work for Christine, but she was also her dearest friend. She had never seen Christine so worked up before, but then, she had never asked about her family life before either. Maybe there was something going on?

Christine whipped around. “I said I’m embarrassed about my history! Now just leave me alone.” She stalked out of the room, tears welling up inside her eyes, but she was determined not to cry. Well, at least not in front of anyone else, that was. Once she got into her private suite, she collapsed onto her bed and let the tears spill onto her face.

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She had calmed down, and, looking back on the past hour, she felt terrible for taking out her feelings on Catalina, and decided to apologise as soon as possible. But she was already stressed and frustrated from preparing for the talk, and family was a bit of a touchy subject for her. Okay, a lot of a touchy subject. But, she decided, she should at least share with her best friend, if not the whole planet.

She shuffled into the lounge, red-faced and apologetic. “I am so sorry Catalina! I wasn’t thinking and I-” Catalina held up a hand to silence her.

“It’s me who should be sorry Christine, I shouldn’t have asked- it’s obviously a touchy subject for you, and I should have known”

“No.” Christine stopped her in her tracks “You couldn’t have known- I never speak about my family- How could you possibly have known? Listen, I’m going to tell you everything, and I promise I won’t leave any details out, and try not to break down. Sound good?

“Try not to break down?” Catalina asked, half laughing “Is it really that bad?”

“Yes Catalina, yes, it is.”

Catalina got comfortable in one of the velvet armchairs, and Christine sat in the other. That’s when she began her tale.

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“I was born in Hong Kong when it was still under the British reign, but only two months after I was born, the British reign ended, and the country was handed back to China. My parents didn’t trust that China would let us be an independent country. We fled with my Chinese grandparents and aunt to Australia.

We were safe here, but made fun of, and very poor. My mother’s father was German, and her mother was Hong-Kongese. They were staying in Germany. My mother had met my father on a work trip in China, and that’s where they fell in love. Anyways, my German grandparents had visited us here in Australia and helped us start a small business.

From there, we did okay. My German grandparents stayed with us for a few years, and my grandfather was always telling me fairy tales, and my Chinese grandmother would tell me Chinese versions. And that’s where my love of fairy tales began. Because we were poor, I didn’t manage to get a proper education, my parents and grandparents taught me instead. But I did manage to get a scholarship for a university, and I studied law. But I didn’t spend much time actually working as a lawyer. I was busy writing my fairy tale adaptations. I published my first book, and it was a huge success.

From there, my life curved uphill, but just as it was at its peak, a tragedy occurred. My two grandparents, who had been living in the German alps had been killed in an avalanche. And from there, the deaths just kept snowballing. Next, it was my grandfather. He had been sick with tuberculosis for ages, and although he had known, he insisted the traditional Chinese medicines would save him. They didn’t. My grandmother died of grief soon after. My father died a month ago of plain old age and I just kept going, a fake smile plastered on my face. You see, my life isn’t exactly the fairy tale I want everybody to think it is. In fact, it’s the opposite.” Christine finished, tears welling up behind her now-shut eyelids.

Catalina said nothing, instead, just held her friend lose, and gave her a much-needed hug. “Shhh… It’s okay Christine, it’s okay” She crooned softly while waiting for the sobs to subside.

She sat there for half an hour, as her friend gradually calmed down. Unmoving, although her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. So, this is why Christine has been acting so strange lately…

Christine eventually got up, wiping her tear-stained face.

“This is nothing to be ashamed of,” Catalina said to her, “In fact, it proves just how strong you are”

Christine smiled and hugged her friend tight. “Thank you for being the best friend I could ever wish for. For being so strong and guiding the way through the stormiest seas.

The next morning, Christine stepped up to the stage with a confident smile on her face. “Thank you for being here today” The host beamed. Christine laughed. “I couldn’t have done it without my best friend.