Brand Marketing Fan Fiction: Title TBD -- Chapter 1 (Draft)

An unseasonably warm April morning sun cast a bright glow over the Hayward household.

Unlike most modern households, with family members' morning prep and breakfast schedules staggered over a few hours, all four Haywards typically overlapped for a half-hour.

Both kids had already been downstairs for a quick meal, accompanied by their respective devices, and retreated back to their respective rooms to get dressed and ready for school.

Alex Hayward was up early, as usual, having already caught up on several key industry newsletters, checked his email, and fired off a few triaged replies. On most days, the senior marketing agency executive overseeing the Wilmont Foods and Kenji Electronics accounts at a global holding company actually began his preparations the night before.

At 46, Alex was a man whose resume sparkled with the kind of achievements that young graduates dreamed of. Not that he'd updated his resume in several years. There was no need. Yet, as he pulled on a shirt and worked the buttons from the second one down, he turned to make sure that he took care of everything with a glance in the mirror over his wife's dresser.

No matter how others saw him, the reflection staring back at Alex bore the weight of unfulfilled aspirations.

Was this the career he imagined while growing up in another suburban neighborhood north of Manhattan?

It turns out he couldn't remember any specific, serious career aspirations. It was the question he'd always avoided.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Whether a relative at a family event, a guidance counselor, or even a friendly college professor, the answer always lacked substance, conviction, or both.

He didn't have a meaningful answer when he met Julia Schimmel, a first-year resident at NYU's Langone Medical Center, on a blind date at a bar in the East Village.

Not that it mattered. By then, Alex was already four years into a promising career as a strategist at a different, yet impressive creative agency.

Alex looked at the sunset beach picture of him and Julia from their honeymoon sitting atop her dresser and smiled.

"Do I still look like that?" she asked, standing in the doorway, startling him from behind. "Actually don't answer that. You have to take out the garbage before you go to the station."

He didn't answer but heard a notification chime on his phone on the edge of the bed, picked it up, and nodded with disapproval.

Julia now stepped past him and headed into the bathroom, also shaking her head at him with a mix of affection and concern.

18 years since they first met. 15 years of marriage. Two healthy, if not slightly anxious, kids. They'd both aged in different ways, but Julia has become much more worried about her husband.

She maintained a youthful beauty despite the first hints of gray hair, but her outlook on broader society had become increasingly frustrated over the past five years.

An accomplished epidemiologist, Julia had always possessed clarity about her life's direction. That is, until the first hints of the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent epidemic changed the world, and Julia, forever.

Any semblance of certainty seemed to elude Alex for as long as she could remember.

"Another big day?" she asked, her voice a gentle nudge in the quiet of the morning.

Alex managed a half-smile. "Just the usual. Meeting with our creative team, a lunch with a junior employee I've been asked by HR to mentor, then prepping for a client presentation in the afternoon. I should be home by 7."

Julia nodded, her eyes searching his for a spark that she knew had dimmed over the years. She moved closer, wrapping her arms around him in a silent show of support. "You'll be brilliant, as always," she murmured.

He appreciated her faith in him, even if he couldn't fully share it. Their two children, Emily and Nathan, were each in their respective bathrooms attached to their bedrooms, with devices still playing, increasingly shedding the innocence of their own youth.

Emily, a vibrant 13-year-old, had inherited Alex's creative spirit, while Nathan, a thoughtful 9-year-old, mirrored Julia's analytical mind. In them, Alex saw the perfect blend of his and Julia's best traits, a daily reminder of the beautiful, yet imperfect, life they had built together.

Alex finished getting ready, kissed Julia, and knocked on each of the kids' doors to hug them. He ambled down both flights of stairs into the basement mudroom, put on his shoes, got into his car, and out the driveway.

He forgot to take out the garbage.

As Alex drove the two miles to the NJ Transit train station that would take him into Penn Station, the familiar streets of the town seemed to blur together, mirroring the monotony that had crept into his professional life. The upcoming client presentation loomed large, yet it was just another task in the never-ending cycle of his job.

Deep down, he craved something more, something that would reignite the passion that had once driven him.

The train ride was forgettable, yet he got through another half-episode of a new sci-fi series on Netflix, fired off a few more emails, and shared an article he remembered from a newsletter email earlier this morning with his LinkedIn feed with a smart comment about the robotic boredom caused by "insights-informed programmatic media buying."

His Tuesday went much the same way, a predictable rhythm of meetings and brainstorming sessions. Alex's ideas were met with the usual nods of approval and enthusiastic handshakes, but the accolades felt hollow.

He spent the last 30 minutes of his day checking his fantasy baseball lineup for the night. As he was about to close his laptop and throw it into his backpack to catch the 6:21 train, his colleague, Dara, rapped on the open glass door to his small office and asked a question that would unknowingly alter the course of Alex's career.

"Hey, Alex, are you going to Miami for the Marketers Innovation Conference next week?" she asked. "My clients from Nurtel are speaking, and I know your Kenji SVP client is going to be there. If you go, can you check in with my Nurtel folks and just say hello? I'll send you an email with the key project updates just so you're not going in blind. Also, Kevin Hart and some other Hollywood and entertainment folks are going to be there talking about storytelling, and the rumor is Foo Fighters are playing the closing night party."

He hadn't booked a flight or hotel room, but flights to Miami are cheap, and the conference had a room block.

But the words struck a chord in Alex. Entertainment. Storytelling. These were the realms where his heart truly lay, where his creativity could soar without the constraints of marketing briefs and target audiences.

A flicker of excitement sparked within him, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time.

"I might just do that," Alex replied, a hint of a genuine smile playing on his lips.

As he walked to Penn Station, he thought about the idea of going to Miami. He'd have to check Julia's work schedule. On the train home, he found some cheap flights, and the spark of possibility grew brighter.

Perhaps this was the sign he had been waiting for, a marketing conference that brought in key Hollywood executives. He knew enough of his agency and marketing network that would be there, and he'd be in his element.

This could be the push he needed to step out of the comfort zone of his career and make some connections in the world of entertainment.

Walking into the garage, Alex Hayward felt a sense of hope for the first time in a long time.

Then he saw the full garbage cans still in the corner and frowned. They'd have to stay there until Thursday morning.

That evening, as he shared dinner with his family, Alex couldn't help but feel a sense of detachment from the routine that had governed his life for so long.

Julia hadn't noticed the full garbage can, and her attentive gaze, as well as the lively chatter of Emily and Nathan, provided a comforting backdrop, but his mind was adrift, caught in the whirlwind of what could be.

Later, as he tucked Nathan into bed, his son's innocent question pierced through his reverie. "Dad, are you happy with your job?"

The simplicity of the question caught Alex off guard. He paused, searching for an answer that wouldn't betray his inner turmoil.

"I am, buddy. But sometimes, it's okay to want something different."

Nathan's eyes shone with a mix of curiosity and understanding. "Like how I wanted to switch from soccer to basketball?"

Alex chuckled, kissing his son on the top of his head. "Exactly like that."

As he made his way to the downstairs office, a sense of restlessness settled over him. He sat at his desk, surrounded by drafts of old client presentations, reports, campaign strategies, and a laptop that had seen better days.

Yet, his mind wandered to the possibilities that lay beyond the confines of his current profession.

He pulled out an old Moleskine notebook, one that he had kept hidden away, a secret repository of his dreams. Within its pages were scribbles of movie ideas, character sketches, and snippets of dialogue—fragments of a passion that he had long suppressed.

As he flipped through the pages, a sense of longing washed over him. He remembered the days of his youth, before the practicalities of life had steered him toward a more conventional career path.

He had grown up in a household where creativity was often overshadowed by the pursuit of academic excellence and financial stability.

His father, a stern man with rigid views on success, had always emphasized the importance of a stable career over artistic pursuits.

"Art won't put food on the table, Alex," he would say, his voice devoid of any encouragement for his son's creative inclinations.

The memory of those words still echoed in Alex's mind, a constant reminder of the path he was expected to follow.

As he sat in the near darkness, with just a desk lamp illuminating his thoughts, he looked at the bookshelves above the desk, which also included old college notebooks and even a few books written by former college friends and colleagues. They were reminders of his own unfulfilled dreams.

Looking back at his own notebook, Alex couldn't help but wonder what his life would have been like if he had chosen a different path. Would he have been happier? More fulfilled? The questions were endless, but the answers remained elusive.

He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Julia's footsteps. She entered the room, a gentle smile on her face, and took a seat beside him. "Lost in your thoughts again?" she asked, her voice hinting of sarcasm.

Alex closed the notebook, a sudden sense of vulnerability washing over him. "Just reminiscing," he replied, avoiding her gaze.

Julia reached for his hand, her touch warm and reassuring. "You know, I'm jealous of you."

"Me?" he asked. "You're the one who has everything figured out. A career, a stable job, and what seems like an endless supply of new germs and diseases to keep you busy for the next 100,000 years."

"That's all true," she said. "But I'm also trapped. I have no other options. I can't ever become a real estate agent or choreographer. But you? You have options. And it's never too late to chase your dreams. Life's too short to have regrets."

"I have no regrets when it comes to you," he said, as he flirtatiously wrapped his arms around her waist.

But her words struck a chord in him. For years, he had buried his true passions under the guise of practicality and responsibility. But here was Julia, the woman who had stood by him through thick and thin, encouraging him to take a leap of faith.

"You're right," Alex said, a newfound determination in his voice. "I think it's time I explore this side of me that I've kept hidden for so long."

Julia's smile widened, her eyes reflecting the pride she felt. "I'll support you every step of the way," she promised.

"Can you start next week?" he asked. "I have a conference in Miami I forgot to put on the shared family Google calendar."

"Of course, I'll see if Hunter from across the street can watch the kids until I get home on Monday, and your parents can come by on Tuesday," she said. "And I'm off on Wednesday."

That night, as Alex lay in bed, he felt a sense of clarity that had eluded him for years. The road ahead was uncertain, but he knew that with Julia's unwavering support and the love of his family, he was ready to think beyond his current day job.

While just a short 3-day trip, perhaps it might open up a new, longer journey—one that would allow him to rediscover his passion and, perhaps, find the fulfillment he had been seeking all along.

On the train the next morning, Alex booked all aspects of his trip, including registering for the conference. And he made a promise to himself: If he had an opportunity to meet the entertainment executives, he wouldn't hide or even play it cool.

Instead, he would take the first step toward bridging the gap between his current reality and his long-held dreams. The thought of venturing into the world of entertainment, of telling stories that could captivate and inspire, filled him with a sense of excitement he hadn't felt in years.

The rest of that week, Alex Hayward knew that he was on the cusp of something new, something that held the promise of reigniting the creative spark that had been smoldering within him for far too long.

Coming soon: Chapter 2