"Well, thank you for coming, and good luck with the rest of the process."
Loan grabbed the woman's hand and gave it a shake. Solid grip. slight downwards tilt. Just like she was taught. "Thank you for giving me the opportunity. When can I expect to hear from you?"
The woman gave a slight smile. "If you're successful, we'll contact you within the week."
"Excellent, hope to hear from you soon."
The two of them said their farewells, and Loan departed.
The moment she left the building, she hesitated.
Then dashed off to the nearest bush to bring her breakfast back up and into it.
She grabbed a handkerchief from her bag and wiped her mouth clear. While her anxiety was still flaring up bad, it was a little better after that.
Shame it was something Liena had made for her.
Pulling herself back up and dusting herself off, she walked to the parked car.
Tapping on the door, her mother looked up from her phone and gave her a small wave.
"So, how'd it go?" Lori asked as she entered the car.
"Fine." She replied, softly.
"Just 'fine'?" Lori chuckled. "You puking in the bush over there says otherwise."
"A-are you mad at me?"
"What? No, of course not." Lori smiled, placing her hand on Loan's. She moved her hand away, and her smile dipped slightly. "I remember my first job interview. Heh, I was an absolute nervous wreck myself."
"Yeah, but..." Loan sighed. "I'm 21. I should have a job or have finished college-"
"Loan, stop."
Loan stopped immediately, fearing punishment if she continued.
"Look..." She sighed. "It's not your fault."
Loan blinked.
"I pushed you too much when you were a kid. It was wrong of me to do that, I should've let you do things at your own pace."
Lori placed her hand on Loan's again and held it. Loan's eyes widened a little and she locked up.
"I'm... I'm proud of you, Loan. I'm sure everyone else will be, too." Lori paused. "And your father would have been, I'm sure."
Loan remained motionless as her vision began clouding up.
How long had she waited to hear those words?
Loan sniffed, and felt herself begin to cry.
She turned to look at her mother, almost expecting some kind of cruel expression or chastising remark for crying like this.
Instead, she got a sincere and kind-hearted expression, a look she had only ever given her sister Rosalina.
Loan broke down into audible sobs, and pulled herself close to her mother as well as the seatbelts could allow, clutching her tight.
Lori did much the same, herself becoming quite teary-eyed.
Soon, Loan had regained her composure, and let her mother go. "S-sorry."
"For what?" Lori smiled, wiping a tear from her own eye. "Hey, because you did well, how about we go grab some lunch and you can tell me all about it. How does that sound?"
Loan smiled. The first genuine smile she had since... jeez, far too long. Her eyes were still wet from before and she was still sniffing. "Burgers?"
"You read my mind."