Chapter 67

When the alarm rang.Amelie loathed the morning for coming.After her snoozing until her second alarm rang she finally got up and got ready for today.

Different from yesterday when they were spectators,today the participants were more active and a panair was organised for different companies of different countries to pull investors in with their brand new ideas.It was beneficial for both the country and the company,since this past year,Amelie's brand new ideas had been a success in her homeland so she was given the chance to participate here.Whether that idea would be successful world-wide,it was all on her presentation and persuasion skills.

The panair was a success.Their stall had managed to pull a lot of people in.

But she still had a lot to do and couldn't relax without this event being over.Amelie tried to create opportunities to meet a few of the important possible investors,but she was unsuccessful.No one was taking her seriously enough and no one was giving her any space to slip in.Soon she was cast aside and left behind.Amelie looked at the group of people leaving and looked at the floor for a moment.She had worked hard and had encountered a lot of success without needing to lower her head.Being rejected like this really took a huge toll in her pride.It wasn't the first rejection,but it didn't make it any less disheartening.

The event of the day ended so they were given some free time.Amelie gave Dennis her credit card to take the staff out and went to relax at the spa of the hotel.She had been standing on foot all day and had barely slept all night.Her body was screaming for a massage and her face for a mask.

Amelie was wearing a bathrobe as she entered a lounge.There she saw a lady in a bathrobe scrolling on her phone.Noticing her presence the lady raised her head and Amelie smiled at her,though inside she felt a bit awkward.Both waited on the lounge not speaking and scrolling on their phones.

The door opened and a young tall girl came out.Amelie opened a video and it started blasting in full volume,getting everybody's.Poor her was all jumpy trying to get the volume down as her hands trembled from embarrassment,her face all panicky and red.As if to make her situation more embarrassing,her clumsy self kicked in and the phone fell of her hands to the tall girls feet.

The tall girl looked down at her with a face full of annoyance.Amelie apologised as she picked her phone and then checked if her screen had broken.The girl snickered saying.

"They really be letting anyone in around here." And walked away.

Hearing that,Amelie turned her head and gave her a look.She then rolled her eyes and sat back down.

"There's no point in dealing with people like that." She mumbled under her breath.

The lady who had witnessed everything chuckled.

"There really is no point."

Amelie stiffened and her cheeks became red.

"So you heard that."

The lady put down her phone laughing at her reaction.

"Yes,I did....But she was right,"she looked at the door, her eyes a bit bleak."they really do be letting anyone in."

She then turned to Amelie and introduced herself extending her hand.

"I'm Lilly.You?"

"Amelie.Nice to meet you!"Amelie took it and shook it.

One of the staff approached them and told them that everything was ready for their treatment.

Both women entered the room and chatted excitedly about their beauty treatments, resulting in the bloom of a beautiful sisterhood.

As they were waiting for their sking to absorb the mask,the staff gave them a few beverages and both started feeding eachother with gossip.It was always fun to listen to other people's stories.

Amelie was particularly chatty this time.Maybe it was because she had finally met someone she could see eye to eye.An analytical and critical person like herself. Many people always saw that side of her as boring.

The topics changed soon going to their professional life where both had a nice discussion about their occupation and topics related to the conference,then it took a turn to their private life,marriage and family.

Lilly took a sip of her cocktail she lazily sat on the arm chair talking about her children.

"Many people discouraged me about the occupation I should take.They said that I should focus more on my family life and raising my children.That I couldn't have both a family and a career,but God wanted I to prove them wrong."she took another sip.

Amelie grunted.

"Ugh,I know how that feels like.It's not that my family tried to block my success,but they sure knew how to make me question myself constantly."Amelie's eyes became a bit melancholic."It was a complete turn of what they had taught me since childhood.They would constantly remind me to work and study hard to be successful,feeding my ambition,but once it came to the part of advancing my career,they wouldn't be as supportive anymore.They would just tell me to not take any work that would take too much time."

"Supportive,exactly.Everyone stops supporting you when you get to that point.They all start telling you to take it easy,not because of yourself,but for everyone around you.Children,husband parents,in-laws,somehow I always had to sacrifice for their wellbeing."

"Right.And you're always asking yourself 'What about me?' "Amelie then laughed jokingly."It was funny back then because my plan to settle down was nowhere to be seen in the horizon."

Lilly patted her hand and sighed.

"Don't try to fix the mood.It's as depressing as it sounds...Maybe even more."She said softly at the end.

"Yeah"Amelie lowered her head.

"But I have to thank my husband for proving those words wrong."Amelie raised her head and looked at Lilly.Lilly continued."He always made sure to be there and would lift me up when I started to doubt myself.It's really weird how just having even just one person constantly cheering on you can give you enough courage and power to prove the world wrong."

Lilly was silent for a bit."During my early years as a mother was the time when I doubted myself the most.Everything I had thought,everything I had done.I would cry everyday thinking I was a failure.The stress I had would make everything ten times harder,and the crisis at work made that stress worse,but what I cried the most about was how I couldn't always be there for my little baby.Everytime I saw him it felt like he had grown and I had lost the time to watch him grow.A supporting partner is really important.Despite his own stress my husband would always be there to wipe those tears and tell me what a wonderful mother,wife and colleague I was.When I missed a moment of my child he would go instead of me and always take enough picture so I wouldn't miss the moment and when he was the one not there,I would be there."Lilly looked at Amelie's and smiled."Sometimes Amelie it's about the people you surround yourself with.If you have someone like that in your life then everything will really be just fine."

"It's amazing to see something like that in real life."Amelie said.

"Then what about you?Are married?Any partner?"

She knew it was her turn."Yeah,I'm also married...."

"Do you work together?"

"No,not really.Each of us has their own thing dealing with...haha."Amelie laughed awkwardly.She didn't know how to describe her situation to people in another language no matter how fluent she was.

"Oh,then how did you two meet."

"...Work."

Lilly thought for a bit and understood.

"Not really something special,it just happened.Even I'm surprised,haha." Stop it with the 'haha' at the end.Amelie wanted to hit herself at that moment.

"You seem like a passionate person though,so it's a bit surprising that you have not so much to say."Lilly was a pretty straightforward person.

Amelie blinked.Her?A passionate person?That was the first time someone had said that to her.People would always say she was really steady and not emotive so that definitely took her by surprise.

"That's the first time someone said that to me,honestly."

"Really?I find it very obvious."