(tw: cancer)
[name_f]Donna[/name_f] [name_f]Annemarie[/name_f] Beltran (53) is the Assistant Manager of [name_u]Baby[/name_u] Lobby . [name_u]Austin[/name_u] was rather surprised when she showed up for an interview to work with people who are all nearly quarter a century younger than her, but was surprised at how qualified for the job she turned out to be. Having worked at manager-level positions throught most of her 30s and 40s, she suffered unfair disimissal and being discriminated against on the grounds of age. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though she filed a claim against her previous emplpoyer in an employment tribunal and won, she decided not to work there anymore and that’s how [name_u]Austin[/name_u] became her employer.
She has a motherly instinct that she treats the staff of [name_u]Baby[/name_u] Lobby with - maybe because they’re all a similliar age as her daughter, who just completed her undergraduate degree in psychology a month ago. She is very forgiving for mistakes and doesn’t tolarate people coming in sick - as she says " There are families with young children out here, do you want entire preschools infected next?". However, she also doesn’t treat it lightly when one of the cashiers is slacking off or being snarky to customers.
She talked to [name_u]Austin[/name_u] a lot about their family and understands [name_u]Lynn[/name_u] 's pain - having become a widow from her second husband a month ago. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though they had no children, he was her best friend who supported her career and all hobbies she had. They loved hiking and going camping with [name_f]Donna[/name_f] 's daughter from her first marriage when they were younger , but unfortunately her second husband was very weak and couldn’t do those thinkgs in his final days - having developed lung cancer due to long-term smoking.
Her first marriage was the result of an accidental pregnancy with her daughter when she was 29 and had been dating a work friend’s brother for 6 months. Both families put immense preassure on them to quickly get married and sort out a life together, but when her daughter was four her first husband decided to tell her the truth about his sexual orientation. It turned out he was gay and had been having an affair for a year with an older man from [name_f]Canada[/name_f]. It broke [name_f]Donna[/name_f] 's heart but being raised by open-minded parents, she knew she couldn’t change that about him and decided to divorce amicably , with no fights over property and such. Unfortunately despite promises her first husband broke off all contact with their daughter - contributing only alimony for the 14 years she had left to adulthood. [name_u]Austin[/name_u] admires Donna’s wisdom and experience in life, understanding why she devoted herself to her career after going through so much. [name_f]Donna[/name_f] eventually connected to [name_u]Austin[/name_u] 's mother [name_u]Lynn[/name_u] and proved wrong [name_u]Lynn[/name_u] 's assumptions about not being able to find friends later in life. [name_f]Donna[/name_f] wishes something could spark between [name_u]Austin[/name_u] and her 24-year-old daughter , but she knows it’s ultimately the young people’s decision to make.