I Walked Away Seven Years Too Late But Right on Time novel Chapter 35

From Houston to Chicago, and finally to Denver, it was already late November.

After wrapping up their evening meetings, Gwen collapsed face-first onto the hotel bed, far too exhausted to even take off her makeup.

"I'm turning thirty tomorrow, and I'm out here working like a dog every single day—wining, dining, and forcing smiles. Those bastards take every advantage they can get, but the second we mention signing the contract, they play dead."

No matter how many motivational quotes she read or how much caffeine she chugged, this creeping sense of defeat always found a way to surface.

From Houston all the way to Chicago, they hadn't closed a single deal.

At dinner tonight, they had wasted all their breath and energy, and one particularly sleazy guy had made every excuse to touch their hands. Gwen had been so furious she wanted to crack a bottle over his head.

"Who do they think they are? Just because they have money, they get to treat us like dirt?"

She aggressively kicked her blankets into a tangled mess.

Sophie was aggressively tapping her phone screen, playing Whack-a-Mole. She imagined every single one of those disgusting clients was a mole, and she was bringing the hammer down on their skulls as hard as she could.

She needed an outlet too.

After slaughtering the entire screen of moles, she walked over to Gwen and patted her on the shoulder. "Get up and wash your face. Get a good night's sleep, and tomorrow we'll celebrate your birthday."

Gwen let Sophie pull her up, still fuming and muttering curses under her breath.

"When we're rich, we'll make them pay," Sophie said, pushing her toward the bathroom.

"With faces like theirs? I wouldn't even want to touch them to get my revenge."

At that, both women burst into laughter.

By the next morning, they had completely shaken off the previous night's despair. They applied flawless makeup, strapped on their heels, and stepped out to face a brand new day of battles.

Around noon, they grabbed a quick lunch at the university cafeteria with the local administrative staff.

Gwen looked around at the fresh, vibrant faces of the students and sighed. "God, it's great to be young. Just look at all that natural collagen on their faces."

Without missing a beat, she pivoted, "Do you think I need Botox?"

Gwen pulled out her phone, closely examining her own reflection.

Sophie didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but she understood. Every woman felt a certain wave of panic approaching thirty. In just four months, she'd be hitting the milestone herself.

"Back in college, I thought I was going to conquer the world and do something huge. Now look at me. Thirty years old, no husband, no kids. I wake up every morning to a mortgage, a car payment, and after kissing my boss's ass, I have to go kiss the asses of these sleazebags."

After mourning her lost youth, Gwen went right back to cursing her exhausting life.

"Keep your chin up. Once we finish this afternoon's pitch, I'm taking you out for Braised Pork Hock Pot. We'll get you all the collagen you need."

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