Alexander Valentine

Alexander Valentine

What can I say that people don't already know? 
My name is Alexander, Alex to those who know me well and never Zander – why do Americans insist on that? I grew up with my younger brother, Joseph, in a small industrial town in central Scotland. It was a nice enough place to grow up in, if a little grey and boring – a massive Petro-Chem plant will do that to a town. I was never the popular kid in school, least popular is more like it. I was the bookworm, didn’t play sports during breaks and was branded gay before I was ten. Okay, they were right, but it didn't make my life any easier.
Both of our parents worked seven days a week and while we weren't poor, we weren’t well-off either. I think that’s something Joseph has tried to escape from, although we’ve never really talked about it.... we never really talk to be honest.
He’s the lucky one though. He met and married his wife, Robyn, almost five years ago, and they are still happy together.  No kids yet, but I know they are trying – and I don’t want to think of me as an uncle, kids are not my thing. They have just moved into a new house, which I am sure I’ll visit someday.
Me? I’ve struggled with relationships over the years. I give my heart out too easily and then it hurts like hell when, inevitably, I’m rejected. I also show my emotions too easily, which is weird given what I do. Why can I easily hide some things and not others?
I’ve a pretty great job. Being a professional photographer has taken me around the world a few times. Though it’s strange sometimes, at big events people tend to overlook me as just the photographer. Although this can have its advantages, the problem is that it can also leave me feeling quite isolated and alone. Feeling alone is something I struggle with all the time. I know it sounds cliché, but it really is that feeling of being all alone in a crowd.
That’s the bit everyone knows. But there's also part of me that I'm good at keeping hidden. I kill people – both for money and simply because I enjoy it. I am not sure if this life chose me, or I chose it, but it's where I’ve arrived at. I was determined that nothing was going to change unless someone or something came along to change things. Then someone... and something, did. Now everything is different.