95 Betty 1

"Your essay was great! Very moving. Now, tell me more about yourself."

Sitting in a small room with a conference table that could seat 10, Liz asked this question to the young woman who had come to the headquarters of Happle for an interview.

She was very young, and her sunkissed skin made one think that she must spend a lot of time outside.

Liz could see the resemblance with the Mayor, especially in the cheekbones.

"Of course. I went to school in-"

As Betty began to speak about her childhood and schooling, Liz couldn't help but tune out for a bit.

She was going to do something a little cruel to this kid, but it was necessary.

However, it didn't mean that she felt happy about it.

The interview progressed normally for a few minutes, with the focus being on Betty's college life, where she had aced every test and published research that was worthy of a Tier-1 institute even though hers was only Tier-2.

This was all only a formality, so Liz only had half her mind on things as she pretended to intensely analyze Betty's qualifications.

Happle almost never hired those from Tier-2 institutes, so this was necessary lest it looked suspicious.

Finally, after 20 minutes of grilling, Liz clapped her hands together with a cheery smile and said, "All right! I've heard enough! I was right about you. Welcome to Happle! You got the job!"

"Oh my god, are you serious! YESSSSSS! I can't believe it! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Yaaayyy!!!"

On file, Betty was still only 21 years old, so when she saw the extremely girly reaction towards the end where she lost control and jumped in the air with excitement, Liz thought that it was normal.

However, what she said next wiped off the smile from Betty's face, and if Liz wasn't expecting it, she would have been shocked.

"Can I ask about your family? I saw that your parents are deceased, but what about your grandfather? There's a big house along with the job, you know, so its great for families. I should know. Before I got this job, I lived in the poorest neighborhood in the city. I used to be afraid to go out to get eggs! Now, I live in a villa, and my family is so happy!"

"My grandfather and I are…separated. I'll be living alone."

"Ah. That's unfortunate. Would you like to talk about it? We are waiting on some paperwork for you to sign anyway, so we have some time. How about it?"

After the smile had been wiped off from Betty's face, she had just sat down. Now, in response, she only shook her head and remained silent.

Seeing this, Liz sighed with sadness.

The girl had been through so much. She hated to poke and prod, but right now, if what she suspected was right, and if she wanted her plan to work, she had to do so.

Even if it hurt, she had to.

However, when Liz opened her mouth, she didn't know what to say.

Her initial plan had been to act according to the situation to get the girl to talk.

She had the skill to judge quickly regarding what was to be said, so she had just thought that a little nudging would be enough.

However, she had underestimated just how closed off Betty was.

Among all the things she could say now, all of them would make her cry, but none had a guarantee of making her talk.

Hence, for a moment, Liz was stymied, but she thought back to what she had felt in the Mayor's office weeks ago when she had made her deduction.

Loss. And regret.

The feeling of loss from knowing that there was no longer a 'tomorrow' to spend with someone.

And regret at having wasted all the 'yesterday's.

So, leaving behind all the things that she had planned, Liz just talked.

"Look. I know how you feel. You had reasons which led you to take your decision. I won't question them. But I will only ask you one question. Will those reasons matter in 1 year? 5? 10? After the person in question dies?"

Her tone held a measure of honest emotion that hadn't been there before, and as Betty looked up to look into Liz's eyes, she saw that there were tears swimming in her eyes.

Tears that seemed to be a mirror into her soul.

Tears that haunted her mind, and made her understand one thing: this woman in front of her understood her.

She didn't know how, but she just did.

For so many years, she had been to psychiatrists, counselors, doctors.

All of them had tried to help, but none of them had felt so…similar.

Shared pain. Shared loss.

None of them had had this.

So, experiencing this for the first time, Betty completely broke down.

She had been floating around in the sea with nothing to hold on to for years, but now, she had found a solid anchor.

Was such a level of empathy even possible?

Could such an understanding person even exist?

With questions like these revolving in her head, Betty began to talk.