Stay with me

Amy had no choice but to stay at the gala a little longer than she hoped. Apparently, private sponsors wanted to have a word with her. Now that her research is done, most private executives all over Asia want her to work for them. Lost in all the job talk, Amy drank champagne after champagne until it was over.

"Dr. Amy, the driver is waiting outside for you," Jen said, concerned at Amy's level of alcohol consumption.

"Thanks, Jen, I n-n-need… to go to bathroom first, I might take… a while, so you go ahead," Amy said, composing herself.

"Are you sure? You've had plenty of champagne tonight. I can wait," Jen pleaded

"Jen, are you telling me you're gonna wait outside the bathroom stall for me?" Amy raised her brow. "You know I'm not p-particularly happy when I know people are waiting for me."

This is true. Within the four years of Jen working as Amy's assistant, she knows that Amy does not like when things are being delayed because of her. She values time like no other. Amy respects everyone's time and thus expects people would do the same thing for her. She hates last-minute delays and last minute cancellations, but most of all, she hates when people have to wait for her. Amy told Jen once that people unnecessarily waiting for her makes her anxious. Thus, Amy is always 30 minutes early for her meetings and never was she late.

"O-Okay-okay," Jen said, surrendering to Amy. "I'll tell the driver to be on standby. He should be on speed dial 4. If something's amiss, you know what number to press to contact me."

"Yes, mom," Amy said sarcastically. Hugging Jen goodbye.

Amy was about to get out inside the bathroom stall when she heard two women talking.

"I can't believe Dr. Cha thinks Dr. Amy will take the job," a voice of a woman said.

"Why so? I heard she's very passionate about neurology," another voice said, "so passionate that she has to leave her luxurious life to complete this research."

"Do you think a privileged kid like her wants to get her hand dirty and do a commoner's job? I heard she only accepted the job to move here to escape the drama between her ex-fiancé. Apparently, he cheated on her, which was all over the internet. I heard it was a mess. One article said the reason why his ex cheated on him was that she was very controlling. Little princess Amy always wants her way and throws tantrums if she doesn't get her way. Poor guy".

"I did hear about that." The other woman said. "Both her family and her ex's family are very well off. It was probably a marriage to strengthen their power and wealth; I bet the guy doesn't even like her. What's to like? She seemed so uptight and overly righteous. And because he was caught doing something that could ruin her perfect reputation, she came running here to save some face. Shame had her packed her bags, chose to act noble and work for GHO" the second woman chuckled.

"Daughter of BioMedical pioneers dumped publicly yet volunteered to work on GHO to gain sympathy. Now that would make a great headline, wouldn't it?"

"Did you see how she was talking to all the investors? What a show-off. Dr. Cha will see her for what she is soon enough" Both women laughed harshly and left.

'If only they knew what truly happened. ' she thought while wiping tears on her cheeks. After all this time, people still think of her as a joke- someone who just got away because of her parent's wealth.

Truly not fair. Amy wanted the job despite her family telling her not to do it. She wanted the job so much that she had declined Noah's proposal. Her life would have been easier if she had stayed, but a life of comfort is not what she wanted.

She worked tirelessly to hone her skills and expertise. She had given up her life back home to what? Being the center of these ladies' entertainment? She had made a name for herself and had no intention of letting people just get away after maligning her efforts.

Amy finding courage through alcohol decided to run after the girls.

Still with tears, Amy rushed out the door and looked for those two know-nothing women. She looked from corner to corner, door to door, until she found herself at the private parking of the building.

Feeling lost and defeated, Amy sat on the ground and started crying.

"Anyone…" Amy pleaded under her breath, "is there anyone?" She screamed and cried; her eyes swelled.

"Amy?" A familiar soft voice said.

Lifting her head, Amy saw Jim not too far from her, his car door halfway open. When she met his eyes, sensing familiarity, Amy stood up, ran, and threw herself on Jim. Jim, dumbfounded, caressed the little lady crying on her chest. "It's okay. It's okay. I'm here," he whispered.

Amy then lifts her head to look at Jim's eyes. His presence was very calming, his embrace as warm as a fur blanket on a chilly night, his eyes projecting anger as if he wanted to fight whoever made her cry.

"Please… stay with me," Amy said, still wrapped around Jim's warm embrace.

"I will… I will never let you go again," Jim whispered, tightening his embrace. Amy feeling safe under Jim's arm, smiled and closed her eyes.