3 Convincing

Amelia went downstairs with a nervous look. Anyone who might undergo such huge changes would obviously be worried of others being suspicious about them. But it seemed that her worries were unnecessary, because the nanny and other staff members looked at her with only slightly surprised expressions and nothing else.

She asked nervously: "Is there something wrong?"

A young servant replied: "Miss, you look very beautiful today. Don't get me wrong, I mean you are always beautiful. It's just that today you look more beautiful than before."

Seeing that they didn't notice anything unusual, Amelia breathed a sigh of relief. But when she noticed staff's attitude, she was a little thoughtful. It seems that the past Amelia must have been quite rude with the servants, otherwise they didn't had to be so flustered when talking to her.

Jack was not at home today. He went to his friend's house, so Amelia had the lunch alone.

After lunch, she began to think about the future plans on how to convince Jack to give her permission to act. He is her guardian after her parent's death, so she needs his permission on major matters till she turns eighteen.

From what she has observed in the past few days, Jack Collins doesn't like hollywood. So convincing him might be a difficult task.

After making some preparations in her mind, when she finally met him at the dinner, she was quite nervous.

Jack looked at his granddaughter who looked a little special today, and complimented: "You look beautiful today."

"Thank you."

During the dinner, Jack found that the girl was looking at him from time to time, so he asked her lightly: "Is there something wrong, Do you want to to talk?"

Amelia nodded, and after finally gathering a lot of courage, she said: "I want to act."

Jack nodded: "Okay, you can talk part in the drama club or activities you want. If there are any forms for me to sign, then you can tell me. I will sign them." He was in fact happy that his granddaughter finally found herself a hobby. A little activity is good for her as it can keep her distracted.

"No, I mean I want to act in movies. Take it as a career." Amelia said her words in a single sentence, and then looked at the old man to observe his expressions. He looked stunned and seemed to be taken aback by the her words. But the next second, she heard an angry rebuttal:

"I asked you to plan about your future, not

to make such ridiculous jokes. What kind of bad joke is this. Don't even think about. Look for something serious and respectful."

Amelia lost all the words she had prepared to persuade him. She expected a rejection, but not one like this. This was clearly an insult. She lost her temper too, and replied back, and this time both her words and expressions were cold:

"Then don't give permission. Anyway I will be adult in two years at most, then I can do the things my way."

Completing her words, she stood up and ran upstairs angerly. The nanny seemed to have called her from behind, but she didn't listen and fastend her footsteps. She was too angry to listen to anyone at the moment.

For the next few day, Amelia didn't step out of the room even for a moment, and had her breakfast, lunch and dinner, all three in her room.

Finally after 3-4 days, Jack stepped on the second floor toward her room. She opened the door for him, let him in and pushed the things on sofa aside for him to sit.

Jack looked at his granddaughter, and he could see the shadow of his son and her father in her. He was the same, stubborn and doing everything he wanted without caring about the thoughts of others. After struggling for a while, he finally stepped back once again like he did years ago, and sighed.

"Have you really decided to pursue career in acting. You may not know, but Hollywood is not a good place, especially for women. The more glamorous it looks from outside, the more disgusting it is from inside."

Amelia nooded. Even if she was only a small Broadway actor before, but after working in this industry for more than ten years, she understand what he's trying to say. And he isn't wrong, because Vanity fair is really a place full of darknes and flith hidden behind by glamour.

But even after all this, it is also a place where millions of people chase their dreams, and she is also one of them. She replied: "I know, but I have the courage to endure and deal with it."

Jack was a little surprised by the unexpected answer, but then sighed. While leaving, he said: "I will tell William to contact you. He should be able to give some help."

Amelia nodded. She, of course would appreciate if William Collins can help her. He works in fashion industry, so he must have some contacts in Hollywood too.

...

While Amelia was immersed in her thoughts of finally having one hurdle cleared, another person was listening to the report from his assistant on the top floor of Collins Corporations.

"Sir, this is the report from the house in LA. Miss Amelia seems to be preparing to pursue acting career. Old Sir also seems to have agreed to the matter."

Thomas Collins nodded, with displeasure on his face: "She's just like her naive father. Always thinking about pursuing these ridiculous dreams and fantasies. Let her taste the bitter medicine, she will come to her senses by herself. Just keep a little eye on her, but there is no need to give any kind of assistance. We aren't in this industry anyway."

His tone was nostalgic when talking about his younger brother, but it was only for a brief second. It immediately changed back to the initial indifference along with his stern expressions.

Assistant nodded and exited the office.

Thomas Collins was left alone in the big office, thinking about the distant past.