It had been a hectic few weeks in Asia. One week in India to meet with a representative from the Indian government. The minister of infrastructure no less, along with a smaller delegation. They wanted to form a contract for a major solar power plant in a mountain range in the southern tip of India. It's close to the equator so they hoped that it would pay off many times over within a few years. It was nice to see countries switching from fossil fuels to renewable sources. It was a massive job though.

After a week of going to the site to see it for herself, planning, taking measurements, looking up the infrastructure in the area. And from the traffic she was almost amazed that she had not been killed already. Despite the government blocking off most of the area around it, getting there was another thing entirely.

Next on the list was China. A new factory to supply materials for the Indian instalation. Possibly even more due to the high demand that just kept piling up. She had already planned one factory in Canada and one in Germany. It was nice though that the Chinese government were willing to sponsor the factory slightly since it was planned to be massive and bring in quite a few jobs. Not only that, they wanted their own power plant. Their announcement a few years back were finally coming into fruition.

After that it was Japan. She heavily relied on electronics from Japan to get everything up and running. In a way she was happy that her company had grown to the extent where she did not have to program and install everything, but that did not stop her from sticking her nose into things anyway.

Her plan was to get a few days of vacation in Japan before going back home. But that plan never came to fruition. The second day into her vacation and she was already swarmed by emails from sites all over the globe. Amanda had given up and just started working to get a shipment delay sorted out and calling the affected customers and different suppliers to work out a new timetable.

Finally though she was on her way home. But even that turned for the worse as her layover got delayed by a day so she had to spend the night in LA. At least it let her make a few phone calls to US clients and suppliers. 

Despite traveling as much as she does, she had never been able to sleep on an airplane and the layover was just a couple of hours. Not enough time to get a proper night's sleep. So by the time she arrived in Toronto Amanda was not in a happy mood. Not only that, but she had promised to spend some time with Lizzy once she got home, but the phone kept ringing. 

She turned her phone to quiet calls and took a few deep breaths as she stood by the bagging area. Finally some calm and quiet. *Beep* Amanda almost jumped as she stood when her phone went off loudly. She was just about to curse when she was who sent the message. She stared at it for a few moments before replying.

[i]"Yes. I'm heading over to the usual spot."[/i]

Amanda pressed send and started making her way over to the shop. She had a haggard look about her. Bags under her eyes and unkempt hair. Tired, exhausted, she waved at Lizzy, hoping to catch her attention.

Lizzy titled her head back as she let the last remaining drops of coffee fall from the paper cup into her mouth. The warm, bitter-sweet liquid warmed her to the core, casting away the cold brought on by the dreary and rainy day. She continued to bob her head gently to the music that filled her ears, only interrupted by the gentle ring signifying she had received a text. [i]"Finally."[/i] she muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes ever so slightly. 

She looked up to see an exhausted Amanda walking across the floor over to her, a sight she had seen more times than she cared to admit. Lizzy stood and reluctantly took out her earbuds, plastering a gentle smile on her face that may or may not have been genuine and began to walk over to her mother. [i] "Hey Mom.." [/i] she said gently, if not in a slightly cold tone towards Amanda, the words sounding foreign in her head. [i]"What happened? You were supposed to be here yesterday."[/i]

Not waiting for an answer, Lizzy walked over and took one of the bags from her mother and began to lead the way to the car, a mix of slight happiness and partial irritation visible over her face. It was supposed to have been her day out with a few friends, not picking up her [i] dear mother [/i] from the airport. 

Amanda sighed as Lizzy asked. "The pilot got sick, believe it or not. And they could not find a replacement pilot in time for the flight so they postponed it." She didn't even have time to say thank you to her daughter before she was already on the move towards the car. 

No sooner than that they got to the car Amanda's phone started buzzing. She gave it a tired look before putting it away. "I'm sorry Lizzy," she said and gently patted her daughter on the head. "I'll make it up to you." She didn't wait for an answer as she loaded her bag into the trunk and soon after sat down in the passenger seat. The car was a bit cramped for her tastes, but it was Lizzy's choice after all.

She leaned towards the radio and turned on the local news channel. To see if she had missed anything while flying and during the layover. Nothing too out of the ordinary, as her phone buzzed again. She decided to ignore it once again. She was going to keep the rule, she felt like she had to. It just felt like she was losing her daughter.

[i]"I mean, thats what you said last time.....And the time before."[/i] She turned and looked out the window as she backed up the car, then turned back around and put the car into gear. [i]"And the time before that."[/i]  She tapped the gas a little harder on purpose, before easing up and driving like she normally would.

[i]"So how was Asia? Or was it Europe this time, they all kinda blend together."[/i] Lizzy looked over her shoulder before merging back onto the highway. She glanced over to her mother briefly, before stating the obvious. [i]"You gonna answer that, or are you gonna just let it keep ringing?"[/i]

Amanda looked out the window and sighed deeply. "Asia; India, China and Japan. Things are progressing quite well. I'm even thinking about stepping down quite a bit of responsibilities. I know I've said that before, but this time I'm serious about it." She didn't even know if she trusted her own words after she had said them.

She looked at her phone when it was mentioned before turning it off and tossed it to the back. "No, not today. I'll drop by the office either tomorrow or the day after that. I guess I'll have a thousand emails to go through after that."

[i]"Right, and I'm running for Prime Minister next year. Seriously, you've been saying that since this business took off."[/i] She scoffed gently to herself and pushed on the gas, veering into the far right lane, before accelerating aggresively to around 130km/h. Lizzy shook her head and flicked on her music once again, gently tapping her hand to the beat of [i]X Ambassadors, Renegades[/i] and the gentle acoustic that came with it.

And then she began to sing along, her voice soft and quaint, contrary to the bustling and busy city that they lived in. She lost herself briefly in the music, calming her mind and clearing her thoughts. [i]"Where are you? Because you're certainly not here with me."[/i]

"Speaking of the PM, they called me and asked if I wanted to become an advisor for energy solutions." Amanda said and chuckled as she looked out the window. Her mind was so far gone that she didn't even notice the speed picking up high. Neither that the radio had switched from news to music.

Lizzy's question brought her back though. "I'm somewhere....somewhere far away...away from work, together with you. But whenever I imagine such a thing there is always a phone ringing or someone calling for me." She sighed deeply. "I don't know if you want to spend time with me Lizzy, but I've got at least today if you do. They should be able to last without me for at least a few hours."

Suddenly her emergency phone rang. "God damn it!" she cursed loudly before picking it up. "What!?" The annoyance was quite clear in her voice. The other side was quiet for a moment before speaking up hesitantly. 

"I'm sorry ma'am, but the infrastructure minister is outside of the house and wants to see you. Apparently it's quite urgent, and you did not pick up on your normal phone." Their live-in nanny and maid was on the other side of the line.

There was a long pause before Amanda spoke. "Tell him that we'll be home soon...." She ended the call before looking at Lizzy with an expression of resignation. "I'll try to get it over with quickly. Ok? We can do something after...."

[i]"Whatever, Amanda."[/i] Her tone was cold as she spat the name as if it were an insult. She turned the music up and went quiet, focusing on the road while she tried to hide a tear running down the left side of her face.