9 Goodbye

Ann thought of what had recently transpired and decided to let everything go. As the saying goes, 'the past is not the present, and the future is whatever you want it to be.'

Jeff the scumbag is now in her past and shall remain there. For her present and future, she will start concentrating on her college education to have a better future. She's a smart young lady, with a high IQ and she refuses to let this setback to drag her down. She will take it and just put it in her lesson learned file.

In the subsequent days, she started preparations for college. She went to visit the school to attend the mandated one week of orientation and got everything taken care off. After getting her assigned dorm and picking all the classes she needed for the semester, she headed back to her apartment to pack everything, talk to her landlord about ending her lease, and lastly to see her friend Lea and update her on the recent events in her life.

Lea was excited and sad at the same time. She wanted to be in the same school as Ann, but she did not get a full scholarship and ended up getting into the next best school instead.

Unfortunately, the school is in the next city, an hour away from Ann, and that made her sad. On the other hand, she was excited to hear what had happened in Ann's life in the past weeks.

Ann went into all the details of the events; they never kept secrets from each other even concerning the fake relationship. After finding out that Ann did the deed with Jeff, Lea teased her nonstop, which made Ann upset for a while. After promising each other to visit at least once a month and keep in touch as much as humanly possible, they said their goodbyes and went on their separate ways.

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Ann was finally adjusting to her college life. She was busy since she had a full load. She also had to find a part-time job off-campus working on the weekends and sometimes during weekdays when she had no classes. He schedule was packed, and she was functioning on autopilot.

From time to time she would accidentally think of a particular person, it still hurt, but she would shrug it off and continue working towards her goal a better future for herself.

A couple of months went by when Ann suddenly received a message. It was the coordinator of the talent (singing) competition.

Ann was in class when the call came through so that she couldn't answer it. She checked her phone as soon as class ended. The coordinator wanted to meet with her and discuss the possibility of signing a contract with them. "Is this for real?" She wondered aloud.

Ann called Lea excitedly "Girlfriend! You need to head out here; I have wonderful news! You will not believe it when you hear it."

"What is it? Tell me! You got me all riled up; you need to confess right now. Did you meet a boy, and are now pregnant?" Lea asked her jokingly.

"You're nuts. No! It's something else. It's about the singing competition I joined before, remember? Well, they contacted me and want me to sign an exclusive contract with them. Are you in as my manager?" Ann excitedly explained the details.

Lea did not even have to think about it; she agreed in a heartbeat. She had promised Ann that if she ever got into the entertainment industry, she would be her manager. It seems time had come to keep her word. Lea was excited for Ann. They discussed where and when they would meet, to strategize and do some research on what to ask for and what not to overlook when getting into a contract with companies in the entertainment industry. Keeping in mind that they had zilch experience in a contract signing Lea would probably have to look for some pro bono lawyer to give them advice.

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On the other side of the world, Jeff was on the phone talking to Mega International Agency's branch director of talents. "School is her priority; the rest is just secondary. You got that?" He sternly informed him.

"I understand. Rest assured CEO Go; her public exposure will be minimal. It will only be enough to pique people's curiosity. We will train, prepare, and get her ready for a full launch of her singing career after she graduates from college." The director of talents replied. "This is just a means to pave the way for her career."

"Hmm! You better not screw this up, or else!" Was all Jeff said before he hung up.