Lecture

Rebecca flipped her hair as if she’d been waiting for that all her life. “Well, that’s my label. And about your question of why he is linked to SoundWave I will ask him when he comes, okay?”

The class ooohed, which made her really proud. Really bragging.

The lecturer raised his voice over the class. , Emma Stanford.”

Emma’s head snapped up. Me?

Yes, you. You Please in my next class. Do not be late. With that, he turned and left, not without pausing in the entrance to look once more at Emma, and then he was gone.

Emma’s hands trembled while she was bringing all her stuff together, with various gazes on her. Rebecca was bragging about how she was signed to SoundWave as a dancer. Although she really wanted to sing though she does not know how to sing, she loves singing, but she can’t sing hence she embraced dancing more.

After saying that, she walked up to Emma’s seat, She stepped closer to Emma and

Well “Sometimes I don’t like what God does. He gave me the body, the money, and everything, the looks. Meanwhile, He was so… so.. on some people. I didn’t mention names.”

With that, the class erupted in laughter while each one of them left the class one by one, still laughing.

The class was finally empty just Emma and Romeo, the guy from earlier.

He walked up to Emma, staring. Emma could not even look up at him.

“You know, Emma Stanford,he said, I believe being intimidated in your first year is going to have a long way to affect your academics.

Emma finally looked up at him. She intended to move, pack up her stuff, and Romeo held her back.

Emma, if you really want to navigate this environment and surroundings, you need to believe in yourself. You ain’t so bad.” With that, he left.

Emma scoffed. "You ain’t so bad…" and yet you equated me to a woman earlier on, saying ‘if my child was inside.’ She said it to herself while packing her things so she could go to her hostel and get ready for the guest lecture by Alex Maradona.

**********

Under the streetlights, a black Lamborghini crept down the quiet stretch of Harrison Street.

Alex sat in the back, his face carved from tension. While Thomas drove.Detention wasn’t the right word, but it was what Thomas felt thick, heavy silence filling the car.

Thomas kept his eyes on the road. Only in the rearview mirror did he steal glances at his master, catching the sadness on Alex’s face as they passed the place he grew up. Thomas exhaled.

Alex stared at the street. This street was built on memory. Good ones with him and Joseph. This was the street where he’d built whatever he dreamed of. The street that once drove him.

But now, driving through it, the happiness was gone. He had an empire. Yet that old longing wasn’t there.

His mind kept cycling back to that day. The day he made the worst mistake of his life. The day he wished he could forget, but couldn’t.

He sighed. His eyes slipped to a park bench on the street. Children played around it, laughing. Jealousy flickered in his chest. What was the point of building all this, when they’d still face challenges in the future?

He looked at the children and sighed. “Thomas,” he finally said.

“Yes, sir,” Thomas answered, his heart pounding, bracing for the tension.

Alex said nothing.

Thomas just shifted his eyes to look at what Alex was staring at. That’s when he saw the kids playing, building bonds.

Thomas sighed.

He understood. Looking at it, he knew what it meant. he sighed again. His boss was a generous man. That’s why Thomas sometimes prayed for more light to come into Alex’s Lise ..

Outside Columbia University, media booths and journalists swarmed the entrance. Everyone was running around, waiting for him.

Alex sighed. He wasn’t ready for this.

Thomas did his best. But they kept coming. Persisting. Typical journalists. He muttered

alex was about to slide past them when a question was pose at him

" mr maradona no offense but you seems happy compared to few years back , care to share what changed ?

Alex froze ...

Thomas stepped in fast. “No comments. The guest lecture starts in ten.” He put a hand on Alex’s shoulder, steering him through the crowd.

Inside, away from the noise, Alex exhaled. “Thomas.”

“Yes, sir.”

You think moving on is .. I mean.. hmmm never mind...

ok sir lemme know if you have anything to say ' thomas said degected

Alex didn’t say another word. He just walked toward the auditorium.