Glossophobia

' Don't worry, I'm sure everyone will like your performance.' said the little girl who sounded braver than me. 'I-I'm not scared, I just am a little nervous.' I said . I'm not completely lying to her. I thought I would never perform again. After what happened last time. Not a chance. But that changed after my little girl persuaded me to perform for her birthday. I mean, I can never deny her puppy eyes. 'Daddy, why are you so scared. It's just a song. And you sing better than everyone else!' she exclaimed trying to convince me. I let out a heavy sigh. I kissed my daughter's cheeks and smiled at her. 'Even if I'm scared, my dear, I will do it for you.' She smiled back at me with a glee and with a tint of joy in her tone, she said, 'Ms. Lily is coming to see you too dad, and grandpa and grandma, and Mr. Jackson---'. She stopped there, regretting for mentioning those names. I stood there, a little shocked. Why is he here? Is he here to make problems again? he better not. He was always jealous of my voice and competed me several times. Unfortunately, he couldn't get to the spotlight. I'm not going to let him ruin my daughter's birthday, like the last time. ‘Reese, my child’ bellowed a familiar voice. When I turned back, it was a surprise. It was my mother along with father. I was apparently not clear when I said to stay away from my family. ‘What do you want?’ I asked, annoyed. ‘Now, now, that is not a good way to greet your parents-’

‘I’m sorry, let me stop you there, if you were my parents you would’ve been there for me, you would’ve helped me...’ I finished my sentence. I just couldn’t speak anymore. I stared at them angrily. ‘Now, now let’s not act like a bear with a sore head and discuss what happens next, shall we?’  beamed a voice from behind. I knew who it was. ‘Daddy, Mr. Jackson is here.’ She said softly. Oh boy! This is definitely turning into a family drama. ‘Sweetie, can you wait with Ms. Maria? I have some family business to solve.’ She raced further to another room. I closed the door and looked at them. ’What started as a pre-performance jitters turned into a family fight. ‘Ok, I know you’re here for a reason. So please get straight to the point.’ I glared. ‘Well, my boy, since you experienced a lot of...Tragic events recently, your brother and we are willing to give you an opportunity to show your talent.’ He said. I was furious. How dare they? They knew this was reason I left home. This was one of the reasons I got stage fright. They act all nice and peachy outside but only some people know what they are really like. ‘I appreciate the offer but I think I can manage by myself.’ I blurted out. My father looked at me in a cold and deep way, so deep that I can see through his thoughts. ‘My Reese, you were right, I shouldn’t have forced you, I should’ve been there for you, but think about all the money you could get, think about how your little daughter could benefit from it. Don’t act so selfish and foolish.’ ‘I know what is best for my daughter and for myself. Now please leave. I’ve got some rehearsals to do.’ I was about to exit when Jack, my idiotic brother, blocked it. He thinks he’s so charming and rich. What could I say, must’ve got it from my father. He was the leader of Stealthsnake, a finance corporation dealing funds for big charities and companies. Now the company should’ve moved on to his eldest son, which is me. Since I’m uncapable of managing huge amount of stress and power, it will move on to his second son, Jackson. I knew it wasn’t because of my capabilities. It was because Jackson was his puppet to easily keep up their secret trades and exchanges with the mafia and the black-market without getting caught. They knew I was too good to not to give over to the police so he made up an excuse. The only person who never left my side was mint, my partner. She was a victim and was bought to serve my family because her family couldn’t pay the loan back to my dad. Apparently, she was the sweetest girl I’ve ever met and we fell in love. It was a secret for abut 6 months until they found out. I knew she was in trouble. So, we left that hell hole for good. The first few months were very bad. We were devastated and homeless but some of my friends helped me. Then we got married, I took out my passion for singing as my career and we had a beautiful angel. Everything was good, until the incident happened. I was very nervous for this show, because thus was our big shot at winning the big prize $50 million dollars. Unfortunately, someone sabotaged my performance and everyone laughed at me. That’s when my wife had a car accident and I had to lose her. I fell in depression. I can’t believe it. I lost everything. Almost everything. I had my daughter. She is my everything right now.   ‘What do you want. Don’t you get it. I don’t have anything more to lose. I know you sabotaged the show and killed my wife.’

‘Aww... Reese, you’re cleverer than I thought. Are you sure you lost everything? You still have a daughter I presume, my my, she is George—’

‘Don’t you dare touch her!’ I sounded so desperate. I’m really desperate, aren’t I?

‘If you don’t want me to harm your daughter do what I say!’ he screamed. I have no choice but to do it. Is it too late to call the police? I wanted to stab all of them or slap them but they have guns. They won’t take no as an answer. Oh, why is this happening to me??suddenly a man in a blue uniform barged in with a gun and said, ‘Hands up in the air! I’ve got a gun and I will NOT hesitate to shoot!’ he said. Turns out, Maria, one of Mint’s friends heard the conversation and immediately called the police. She recorded our conversation and now they were arrested. Stealthsnake was not so sneaky after all. I let a sigh of relief. I might’ve made the cruelest choice of my life. I’m happy luck didn’t take their side. ‘Daddy, the show is about to start!’. ‘I can do this.’ I thought. I entered the stage, there were whispers spreading across the room. Suddenly everything went silent, the screen opened, and my heart followed the lead. You can do this Reese.