The jet lag was taking its toll. It wouldn’t be until the second day of the conference that Rebekah Edwards would feel like herself again.
Until then, she was trudging amongst hurried bodies during the first session of the annual Sustainable Building Conference. After weeks of rushed planning to fit the three day event into her overflowing calendar, it was finally time to join the hand-picked crowd of global delegates in Singapore. Rebekah was convinced that this was exactly where she wanted to be; walking around and intermingling with names she’d only seen in industry journals and code books.
She felt pangs of nervousness as she looked around at their faces. Focused. Passionate. Her idols. Too bad she was too exhausted to even hold her pen in its upright position. God, I hope no one saw that, her eyes bulged. How long had she been scribbling nothing in her notebook? Perhaps Lady Luck would be on her side for once and no one noticed her zombie mannerisms. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder to double check.
She wasn’t exactly at the front of the queue when it came to being handed lucky cards. Civil engineering was still an uncommon career choice for young females in the United States. Rebekah had to fight more battles than just trying to master the concept of fluid dynamics. Nevertheless, it was her passion and she truly believed she was born for this profession, so when a colleague cancelled last minute, she gladly took advantage of their misfortune. Who knew when she’d get another opportunity to attend an international event of this magnitude? Convincing everyone else of this, however, was proving to be the difficult part.
The fatigue loomed over her body like a stalking thunderstorm and she was finding it hard to concentrate. Considering the time difference, jet lag couldn’t really be pegged as the only culprit―the sheer exhaustion from the trip across the ocean was also a suspect.
She cringed as she thought back to her flight. A creepy older man who didn't speak a word of English had sat beside her on the plane. Luckily he was in the window seat and she could lean into the aisle as far away from him as possible. He kept showing her pictures on his phone of a fancy yacht, pointing at her ringless finger, presumably asking if she was married. She tried ignoring him, and even put her headphones on, but he would always brush his pinky atop the bend in her knee as he shifted around in his seat. That simple touch alone was reason enough for her to suffer from dry eye and stare at the space between their bodies. Unfortunately, she was too polite to make a scene or bring it up with the air hostess. The journey north dragged on for hours, and she didn’t trust herself (or her neighbor rather) enough to sleep.
As soon as the plane landed, Rebekah had an adrenaline rush; it was go go go. She was happy to have had escaped Mr. Creeper, but most of all she was excited for what she thought would be an incredible event. Even as she scurried to check in, she hardly had time to drop off her bags on the seventh floor―her home for the next few days―before having to report for the day. What she wasn’t expecting was a grueling afternoon of site visits and a session of uninspiring, awkward networking. During the initial walkabouts in the factories and manufacturing facilities, she was just another face―albeit a tired face―pretending to absorb all the technical information flying over her head. It’s not like she was taking any valuable notes anyways. Idiot, she scolded herself again. Part of her considered sneaking out into the hallway, or even the bathroom, to take a quick nap, but the possibilities ahead kept her going.
While she was straggling behind, it was then that she saw a familiar face. She had met Akari on one of the shuttle rides between the earlier factory visits. Akari was a young female engineer from Japan, both girls were close in age. Rebekah had put Akari’s business card into her purse alongside the many others she’d collected during the ride. Except the difference between Akari and the others was that the two immediately clicked. After the initial chit-chat, she found the two of them had a lot more in common other than their mutual passion for engineering. Most of all she enjoyed Akari’s cheeky side comments and dry sense of humor.
When she returned to her hotel room, Rebekah hurriedly threw open her worn suitcase and pulled out scatterings of clothes, digging to find the outfit she had packed for the cocktail party. Finding the various parts of the outfit she had crammed in her suitcase was more of a mission than she anticipated. She eventually managed to pull herself together enough to look as though she belonged.
She tried to give a formal look to her shoulder length blonde hair that she tied into a bun atop her head, but it only managed to look disheveled. Her petite, athletic figure definitely looked chic in her red cocktail dress. Yes, this makes up for the hair. Unfortunately, no amount of makeup could make her piercing green eyes appear any less exhausted. She would make an effort to avoid the photographers for as long as possible.
She unsurprisingly decided to leave the cocktail party early, despite enjoying more thought-provoking conversations with Akari. Her body was crashing fast and the main conference events hadn’t even begun yet. She slipped away after her second glass of champagne and fell asleep almost instantly when her body hit the massive bed of clouds. The red dress was discarded on the chair by the window and she passed out in only her underwear.
The sleep had restored much of her vitality; the next morning she was slowly starting to feel functional. It was time to immerse herself fully into this conference and tackle the nerve-wrecking task of mingling with the successful strangers she wished to someday call her peers.
Rebekah glanced at the event program printed on the back of the name badge hanging from her neck. There was so much happening today and so many great speakers. The one she was most excited about, however, was up next:
Session 2: ‘Building Sustainable Communities for the Future in Developing Countries’ - Emile Martín, Head of Sustainability, Zenportech (Argentina)
This was her discipline and she was hoping to be further inspired by this great man’s work. She had read a lot about Emile Martín since starting her career and she was eager to hear him speak. What she wasn’t expecting was to be enraptured by more than just his passion for work.