I never wanted to be part of the family business. But I knew I had to. My sense of duty overweighed my happiness. At least for the time being. I was being paid well and with a steal on mortgage rates, most of my paycheck went to my savings account. I was simply counting down the days until my father retired and would shutter the business. I didn’t have any intention of continuing the business and would instead strike out on my own. Having majored in English in college, I knew I could spin a good story and had many different ideas on how I could take my writing to the next level.
I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to go with the Journalism aspect of writing or to go with the novel side of writing. Along the way of working for the business I had written and been published with both sides – writing short articles for our small-town newspaper and having had a few short stories published in various magazines. My parents didn’t think writing was a ‘proper’ career which was why I was stuck in a dark building day after day. I longed to make my own schedule and sit in the sun as much as possible.
As I started counting down the days to my father’s retirement day and subsequent party, I started to get anxious. Nervous. Full of energy. I couldn’t wait to start my new life. My new chapter. Everything went according to plan until the party. When my father announced he was leaving the business and family legacy to me. I couldn’t help but scream.
Standing Room Only 