Erasmus

mother knows best

Cécilia and her mother always had a rocky relationship. Ever since she was a child, Lili has been put under pressure by her mother to be the best. "You cannot be just the second Cécilia. You need to be first" or "If you don't graduate with honours, you can say goodbye to choir" were just daily occurrences back home. 

Her father was very different. Having been himself put under pressure by his parents to become a doctor like they were, he wanted his only child to be happy. Yet, no matter that, for him, happiness meant a "real job", not something artistic. "You can choose whatever makes you the happiest between Lawyer, Doctor or Engineer" he had always told her. 

All of this meant that Lili has always hidden the fact she wanted to be a photographer - her childhood dream. But like we say, strict parents create sneaky children. Not a lot of people in her family knew she wanted to do that in her life. Only one of her aunts - her father's sister - knew since she had been disinherited by her parents for pursuing a career they didn't support. 

"Money is the ruler of the world and arts don't make any money for you to survive" she had been told at an early age by her mother. 

No one in her family knew about her photography account on Instagram and she had absolutely no pictures of her on it and very few pictures of her friends. 

"How is school going ?" her mother asked her over the phone after barely asking how her daughter was doing. 

"School is going great, I have a great partner for all my projects with who I get along a lot as well. She's a Swiss Erasmus student so it's nice to be able to speak French with her. And Ljubljana is a beautiful city, I settled really nicely and made some good friends" Lili answered, trying not to speak only about her university degree. 

"Is she good ? Are you sure she won't bring you down ?" of course her mother's only worry was if her partner was good enough. 

"She's brilliant. She comes from l'École des Mines in Paris, the best engineering school in France and she graduated with honours" The daughter tried her best not to sound too disinterested in the conversation she was having with her mother.

"Good. I'm glad you have a good partner. Wouldn't want you to fail because of that" 

Lili couldn't remember a single time her mother has asked about her personal life ever since she was a child. Only school mattered. I hope she isn't surprised once I cut all ties with her when I graduate. 

"And the professors ?" How long will this conversation be...

"Very interesting. Most of them have brilliant careers" Her fake happiness could fool the older woman every time. 

"That's very good. I hope they can inspire you to do something else than working in motorsports" her mother commented. 

No matter the fact that Cécilia chose a path that her parents approved, they didn't approve of the only job that she knew she would actually enjoy in this path. For them, motorsports wasn't prestigious enough and so they hoped she would change her idea. 

"Well two of them are former head engineers in Formula One, one of them worked in IndyCar and one last worked on the prototypes for the hypercars championship in WEC" her mother sighed at what her daughter just said. 

"Have you found a good library to study ?" she tried her best to change the subject that would lead to another argument with her daughter. 

"Mariane and I go to a café to study, we find it more enjoyable" The girl already knew her mother would disapprove of their choice. 

"There's too much noise in a café Cécilia. You shouldn't go work there" This reaction was expected. 

"It's fine mother" she tried to sound not too mean to the woman who birthed her. 

"I just want you to be successful Cécilia" god how she hated that her mother called her only by her full name and not Lili like everyone else. 

lililaurent

lililaurent mother's call = mood at an all-time low. 

COMMENTS

marianesworld I'm coming over
↳ lililaurent there's no need I swear
↳ marianesworld you know I don't take no for an answer
↳ lililaurent nini... 
↳ marianesworld I have pizza, prosecco, red bulls and icecream  

krisgusti you good lili ? 
↳ marianesworld don't worry, I'll take care of her 
↳ krisgusti by her you mean lili or her mother ? 
↳ marianesworld for now lili, I'll deal with her mother later.