A Talented Young Man's Biggest Fear (Short Story)

As he stood face to face with his most intimidating crowd yet his legs began to give out. Thousands of thoughts and questions race through his mind as he begins to cough up words. The mirror becomes the most haunting place in his room.

“I am Jordan Hill, and today I have put together a constructive powerpoint on my pitch for cove’s soda” he introduces himself.

This was Jordans fifth time today rehearing this line. Making his way out the door he double checks his bag three times. Once for his keys, twice for his phone, and the last time for his wallet. The dreadful thought of going into work today had a strong choke hold on his conscience. Mr. Stokes greets Jordan at the door as he takes his seat in the meeting. Crowds of people never were an issue for Jordan when it came to impressing. Jordan has this wow factor, star power that everyone but his own eyes saw. Today was pitch day for commercial ideas, and being his wit filled self Jordan had the best pitch. The meeting lasted about an hour and the team broke off for lunch. Lunch time was when Jordan would do most of his renovating of his website. Being multitalented is Jordans talent. As always, it was not long before self doubt crept its way into his mind. It lingered there for the entire hour break. Sometimes Jordan would try to silence his voices,but who would listen to someone that is afraid of himself? He gathered his things and made his way to his cubicle. For some reason small spaces helped his mind become bigger. It was like he knew his worth but there was some type of boulder holding his mind back from its full potential. Five o clock came faster than it ever has. Jordan packed his things and began the drive home.

“How could you be so stupid today?”, he asks himself as he starts up the car. “I did my best..I will try to be better next time”.

“There is not always a next time.”

“You blew it and now your pitch won’t even get considered.”

These conversations that he had with himself were an everyday thing. His car drives over so many potholes and speed bumps. He could avoid them by taking the other road home, but his stubbornness always keeps him on the same path. His car gets ruined almost every time he takes this way, you would think he tried a different route by now. Pulling into the driveway, Jordans' phone begins to go off. By no surprise it was Mr.Stokes. Panic made eye contact with his heart and self doubt joined in on the fun. Scrambling through his briefcase, Jordan picks up the phone and his heart begins to dance.

“I just know I blew it”, he says in his head.

“I should have practiced one more time like I told myself”

He is still running his mind crazy. Mr. Stokes answers with an eupeptic tone and breaks the news to him.

“Congratulations sir, cove loved your pitch and would like to meet next Friday to discuss further action.” Jordan sat with the most perplexed look.

From the outside looking in you would be confused on why he was so shocked at his astonishing work. But this was Jordan looking at himself, the man he feared failing the most. Jordans night time routine was pretty typical for a man his age. He threw some food in the microwave and grabbed a Cove soda from the fridge. Nights like this should be celebrated. Not in Jordans eyes.

“Today went so bad, how could I be so stupid and forget to upload my closing slide” ,Jordan said to himself.

Negative affirmations were usually how Jordan closed his night.

“You weren’t stupid, you just messed up that’s all.” Suddenly he gained a new voice within his consciousness. A new tone, new size..new everything. Hearing this voice sparked a new plug in Jordan's head. He quickly ran to the microwave and noticed he left his food in for too long. It was burnt.

“Do you see the comparison? ,he asks himself.

“What are you talking about now”.

“Your food was left in the microwave too long and burned.” “um ok?”, he responds irritated with himself.

“You let your negative thoughts over power you for too long and now your full potential got burnt.” Jordan snaps back to reality and comes to terms with his lifelong fear. Fearing himself only ever got him to see limited potential. The tv flickered for a while but stayed muted while Jordan finished his internal conversation. At around 10:30 he makes his way upstairs for his shower. During his sleep that night something changed with Jordan. The next morning he woke up on the other side of the bed, the right side of the bed. This time he took a different route to work. When arriving at work he took a deep breath of confidence and exhaled his past insecurities. This meeting was huge for him and he refused to let his fear take control. Mr.Stokes greets him at the door and leads him to the big corporate meeting room. Cove soda’s CEO and creative director had already set up the computer and projector. Getting started and through the presentation was not the hard part for Jordan. The hard part was doing this for the first time. Presenting with confidence and integrity.

“You got this,'' he says to himself. This time his thoughts slipped through his lips like a cracked ceiling that has been waiting to burst. His thoughts were said out loud. Nailing the pitch was just the start of Jordan's new life. The car ride home was smooth. His thoughts were smooth. Everything began to run so smoothly. Jordan was no longer a man that feared himself. Jordan was now the man that turned his biggest fear into his strongest aspect. Jordan was at his full potential.

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