2

The next day I skipped school and instead I walked around the river. It's the best place to go to if you want to release your anger and think about solutions to your problems. I liked walking with loud music on my headphones, watching people that never moved a finger doing some exercises to stay healthy. As you already know it's just a new trend to buy fitness clothes and go to the gym and brag about it on social media.

I sat in front of the river, too far from people and opened my book. I wrote a lot of songs since I was a child. I started writing about flowers and butterflies, and I ended writing about depression and loneliness.

I sometimes miss the younger me— the little girl who thought he could do anything he wants without limits.

I stopped for a moment to admire the beautiful landscape around me. The weather was nice and everything seemed so calm. A part of music, I liked travelling and capturing our world's different beauties with my eyes and heart. I went to some countries with my parents, but in the future, I would like to travel the world alone or with some friends, the friends who still don't exist in my life.

A sudden noise woke me up from my dreams. Someone was crying, I couldn't see, but I heard a man's voice crying and mumbling, "I'm really sorry mom for breaking my promise, but I have no hope left. I should leave." I've never heard a man crying as loud as he did. He must've had a hard time.

He appeared in front of the river, tall with a brown messy hair. He looked so young. He took off his shoes and his black jacket, keeping only his white shirt and pants. He hesitated for a long time before entering the water. I wondered if it was not prohibited to swim. It took me a while before understanding what he was trying to do. Shit.

I threw my book and my phone and ran to him. "Hey, don't do it! It's dangerous!"

I don't know if he heard me or pretended not to. I took off my shoes and socks and followed him. The water was so cold that my feet started hurting. The guy kept on moving farther away than me. I sped a little bit more then grabbed him by his shirt.

"Hey, please stop! I don't really think it's a good idea."

He finally stopped then turned to face me, his face was so pale and he had horrible dark circles.

"Please, go back to what you were doing. Don't mind me okay? Just mind your own business." He wanted to go, but I grabbed his shirt this time. I could smell alcohol on it. He must've drank a lot of beer.

"Listen, I don't know what happened to you, but what I'm sure about is that what you are trying to do right is really not the best solution. I'm sure we could find something else, okay?"

He chuckled. "And what does a high school girl know about life, huh?"

"Maybe I'm just a high school girl, but I know way more than you think I do." I muttered.

This time I grabbed his arm and forced him out of the water. "Sit down and drink some water before. You need to sober up, look at your state!"

I sat next to him and gave him the bottle I had in my bag. His huge hands looked so strong that I could see the veins.

"Hey, you play the piano, right?"

He furrowed and kept staring at me during five seconds. "How did you know?"

I smiled. "I can recognize a pianist's hand."

He sighed then turned to look at the river.

"May I ask you what made you take this horrible decision?" I asked him, hoping to receive an answer. He didn't say anything. After long minutes, he finally decided to speak. "I was a producer. A really good one I must admit. I was working with the biggest entertainment company in the country. I guess you know which one I'm talking about."

Top Star Entertainment.

"My boss was jealous of my work. He hated me because I was a better producer than he was, so he made a crazy plan to destroy me." He stopped for a moment. He looked so angry. "It's okay if you don't want to say more about it." I said, looking sadly at him.

He surprisingly continued speaking.

"He accused me of sexual harassment and paid one of his secretaries to play the role of the victim. I tried to defend myself, but he's too powerful. I lost." He started crying after saying this last word.

I'm not good at comforting people, but I always do my best. I caressed his arm so that he can feel better.

"Now, not a single entertainment company would hire me." he sighed. "I lost my job forever. I lost my dream forever."

I sighed, "You said that you are a good producer. It means that you are talented enough to make the best songs ever. Then, how about creating your own company? Your own empire?"

"What do you mean by my own empire?" He raised an eyebrow.

I smiled, "What I mean is that you can create your own company, produce and release your own songs. You won't need anyone to control you. It's going to be all yours. Isn’t it a good idea?"

"It's not that easy, you know."

"Hey," I sighed, "Nothing is easy in this cruel world."

"Then what do you suggest me to do, huh? Start a business then wait like a fool for luck to finally come to me? I was accused of sexual harassment. I was locked behind the bars during two long years. Do you expect people to trust me and come work with me?"

He was really annoyed. He must've had a really hard time. He doesn't look like a bad person. I don't usually judge people but something about him tells me that he's someone who doesn't deserve this pain. I wish I could help him, but how?

We stayed quiet for a long moment looking at the river, our eyes were looking but our minds were too far away.

"By the way, what are you doing here? Judging from your uniform you should be at school right now."

Oh shit, I forgot school. But seriously, who cares?

"I just didn't feel like studying, like at all."

He started laughing, I turned to look at him. He looks kind of handsome when he smiles, showing off his dimples.

"You remind me of myself when I was younger. I always skipped school and went to write music in a park."

"When I was younger..." I rolled my eyes. "You talk like a grandpa. It's not like you're seventy or something, you're still young."

He smiled at me. "But I'm still older than you!"

I laughed. "Anyways what's bothering you?" He asked me.

"My parents." I frowned. "They won't accept my dream. They want me to live my life like it's theirs."

After a few moments he asked me. "What's your dream?"

It was just a simple question, but it made my heart flutter. No one ever asked me what my dream was. No one has ever been interested in my life.

"I want to make music; to write songs and sing them. I want to share my feelings with people."

His eyes widened after listening to me, I'm sure he wasn't expecting me to love music as he does.

He pointed at my book. "You wrote some songs? Can I take a look?"

I nodded. "Here." I gave him the notebook.

He seemed so concentrated while reading my drafts. I was blushing so hard because it was my first time revealing what I wrote during these whole years to someone, and a professional above that.

I was nervous, I was afraid he would think it's ridiculous. He closed the book and gave it back to me then stared at my eyes.

"It's nice." His tone was so serious. "It's really good!"

I looked at him confusingly. "Really?" I wasn't expecting a positive reaction.

He nodded. "Yes seriously, I like how you converted a simple diary to a lot of songs. Can you sing?"

"Yeah a little." I said nervously.

Damn I never sang in front of someone. What should I do?

I closed my eyes, held my breath for a few seconds then started singing a few lines. My voice was shaky in the beginning, but I was less nervous after. I can't describe how beautiful it was to sing for someone, so I guess it would be way more amazing to sing for a thousand of people.

I opened my eyes. He was smiling at me.

"I have a question." He said.

I raised an eyebrow waiting for him to ask.

"Do you trust me?" What? I was confused.

"I mean, I just got out of jail. I have a criminal record. Will you still trust me?"

I know that he's a good person, I can see it in his brown eyes, I can feel it.

"I know that you are innocent, so yes?"

"What's your name?" He asked with a light smile.

"Juliette."

"Then Juliette." His voice was softer. "Shall we build our empire?"