“I don’t have any experience working in a supermarket.”
“So? You have a degree. You don’t need experience if you have a degree.”
“I’m not sure that’s true,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Nonsense. Your degree is relevant. They’ll train you up, and you’ll get experience on the job. You should apply.”
“I don’t want to be the manager of a supermarket.”
“Then what do you want to do?”
“I want to be a model.”
She tutted. “There’s no future in that. You won’t be young and”—she hesitated as she looked me up and down—“prettyforever.”
I rolled my shoulders back and lifted my chin. There was no point in arguing with her. We were never going to agree. My parents wanted me to be successful. They didn’t want me to struggle. To win them over, I had to prove that I could make a living as a model. I hoped I could.
“I’m going to finish getting ready to go.” I kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you later.”
She sniffed and turned her attention back to food preparation. I trudged upstairs, somewhat deflated by our conversation. I shouldn’t have expected anything different, but was ‘good luck’ too much to hope for?
* * *
“What if I’ve forgotten something?”
“You won’t have done,” Dillon assured me. “But if you have, I can post it to you.”
“Thank you.” I hugged him. “What would I do without you?”
“I have no idea.”
We were at the train station, with fifteen minutes until my train departed. Sadly, Dillon couldn’t come onto the platform with me, so I had to manage my luggage the rest of the way. It was a good thing I’d halved what I was taking.
Dillon rubbed my upper arms. “Take London by storm, Jae. Show those model agencies what you’re made of. You’ll have a contract by the end of the month. I know it.”
“I hope so. Oh! How did your job interview go?” I felt awful for not remembering earlier.
Dillon smiled wanly. “They offered me the job.”
“That’s amazing.” I tilted my head. “Isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“You accepted?”
“Yup. I start training on Monday.”
“So soon?”
He nodded.
“Congrats. I’m sorry I can’t go out to celebrate with you tonight.”
“It’s okay. Mum and Dad want to take me out for a meal.”
“That’s nice of them.”
“Yup.”
