FOUR YEARS LATER
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The little house by the lake looked very peaceful. On either side of it, some large trees provided shade and in the front yard, there was a small garden filled with flowers from every color. They looked so beautiful and well-cared for.
A young girl got out of the house and brought a watering can with her. She lovingly watered some of the small plants in the yard while singing. Her voice was beautiful and could make anyone who heard it stop in their tracks.
When she finished watering the small plants, she then returned to filling in her watering can and moved to the backyard and watered some vegetables and herbs. She did all happily. She seemed to really enjoy caring for her plants.
"Fae, please, just let grandma water it. You'll be late for work." An old lady's voice rang from the house. A few moments later, an old woman in her 70's came out of the house carrying a backpack and handed it to the girl who was busy watering the plants. "Come on .. you can't give a bad impression on your first day."
The girl called Fae nodded and smiled happily while receiving her bag from her grandmother's hand. She put down the watering can and hugged her grandmother.
"Alright .. I'll go now. Take care at home, okay, Grandma ..."
"Be careful on the road," said the grandmother.
"Will do, Grandma! Bye!"
Fae walked to the side of the house and took out her bicycle, which was parked in the small garage. She walked her bike over their yard entrance. Before long, she was already riding down the village road on her bicycle. She had to go around the lake to get to her new workplace.
Fae just graduated from school last month, and she immediately decided to apply for a job at the only resort in her town by the lake. Even though their village was located in a remote area, tourism in Rhine was quite attractive for those who wanted to find peace and destress from the hustle-bustle in the city.
The panoramic views of Lake Rhine and Mount Ygrit behind it provided a peaceful atmosphere much needed by people from big cities who were used to living under high stress. Rhine was a village by the lake with the same name.
Be it in spring, summer, and autumn, the place was always bustling with guests. Most guests who came to the resort were wealthy people from the Moravian capital, Almstad. That was one of the reasons why most village girls in Rhine wanted to work at the resort.
They thought the opportunity to meet a rich potential husband from the capital would be greater if they worked in the resort. However, for Fae, this was not at all the reason why she applied for a job at the resort.
She was very beautiful, and if she wanted to get a rich husband, she could just move to the city or to the capital and worked in one of the fancy restaurants to meet the many affluent men who ate there. They would be on their knees when they saw her beauty and grace and asked her to marry them.
That's what happened two months ago when she and her school friends traveled to the capital to celebrate their graduation. Along the way, Fae attracted so many men. Some confidently asked her out, and many tried to flirt with her.
Fae's friends couldn't stop laughing when they saw how her beauty created some accidents. A few men who were walking were mesmerized when they saw her. Their eyes no longer focused on their direction, so they ended up bumping into poles or cafe windows. At that time, Fae did not even wear any make-up, and her clothes were also very simple.
Her friends often teased Fae that her name should have been Fée, which means fairy. Fae's appearance did look like a fairy in fairy tales. Her hair grew all the way to her waist. It was light brown but seem to radiate like gold under the sun.
Her pair of bright brown eyes were big and round, glowing with intelligence. Her nose was small and tall, and her lips were naturally red.
Even though her family was poor and Fae never had fancy clothes, her beauty could not be hidden. Wherever she went, people would be charmed, and they just wanted to look at her again and again.
When Fae decided to apply for a job at the resort to stay close to her elderly grandmother, the HR manager immediately accepted her to work there regardless of her resume. To his great joy, the beautiful fairy from Rhine Village decided to work at his resort and not go to the big city as many villagers thought.
"If I may ask, what is the reason you applied to work at this resort?" asked Mr. Krause, the HR manager, after declaring that Fae was hired to work at the resort. He was really curious.
"Ahh .. I just want to be able to stay close to my grandmother, Sir. She is old and now often get sick. I can't leave her alone," Fae replied. "I think this resort is the best company in the area and I really want to work here. So, thank you for accepting me."
"Ah .. of course. No problem. Your teachers in school also recommended you. I know Miss Astrid. We went to school together. She only said good things about you. Well, you have to work diligently, okay. You will start at the reception, and slowly you will be rotated to work in another department. So you can learn all about hotel operations. From the receptionist to guest relations, Food And Beverage, Housekeeping, and so on. I am sure you have a bright future here," said Mr. Krause.
"Thank you very much, Sir." Fae bowed down one more time before excusing herself and telling her grandmother the good news.
The event happened two weeks ago, and today, Fée would start her first day at work. She was very excited and couldn't wait to learn a lot from the resort. Maybe someday she would be able to open her own small bed and breakfast.
The girl rode her bicycle faster and hummed happily.