"Are you alright?" Kevin asked softly.
Upon her arrival at the table, Claudia burst into tears. No matter how strong she was, she was weak against Justin's words. No matter how brave it seemed like she was, she couldn't stand his hurtful words.
Not waiting for her to talk back, he continued. "I know my brother is a jerk, but can I plead with you to hold on just a little longer?"
"I can guarantee that he really really really likes you."
"I can't relate to how much you're hurting now, but I'll apologize on behalf of my brother. I don't want him to lose out on you, so I beg you to fight for a while more."
He really couldn't understand his brother. Didn't he feel guilty hurting the person he loved the most? He had waited for her to mature. He finally had the chance to get close to her. There was hope because she liked him too. Why did he back down all of a sudden?
He needed to get to the bottom of it before his brother did some unrepairable damage to his relationship with Claudia.
Crying Claudia heard Kevin's words, and she regained her calm. At least there was someone out there who appreciated my efforts, she thought to herself. She didn't know if there was a limit to her patience, but she wasn't going to quit.
Lesson 4: Never waiver!
"Thank you Kevin," she said, letting out a loud breath.
"I don't know why he's like this, so I have no idea what I'm doing wrong."
"I can only hope he comes around soon."
She just had to up her plan. It seemed like he couldn't keep his calm against the beauty trap. She just had to stick to that until he got tired of it. Kevin was glad to see her mood brighten up. They didn't linger for long before going their separate ways.
In the following weeks, Claudia didn't back down from her pursuit. Her deduction was indeed right. Justin was weak against her beauty plan. Thanks to Kevin's intel, she'd been on his tail more than ever.
Of course she did this after work. Her salon was still her first priority. She went to work as usual and got busy. Justin also worked and came home any little break he had.
Her pursuit did limit the time she had with her girls, but they were understanding. Unfortunately, after so many trials and errors, she had to sit with her girls to reason it out.