Chapter 1
Melina was sitting on the dinner table, surrounded by her family. The conversations varied from work related subjects, to failed hair color attempts and the subject she absolutely hated…people’s weight. She was not tall, blond and thin so she knew that sooner or later her mom, auntie and grandma would focus their attention to her and the fact that “She is beautiful but she needs to lose some weight for people to notice”, as they always were saying.
Melina was 5”5, with black hair, green eyes and a curves. She always felt she was allergic to any type of exercise, so her body was not toned, but she never thought herself as heavy or fat. If anything she was always getting attention from the male population, even though she was not really interested in it. No one was really catching her attention.
Surprisingly enough the conversation diverted from the weight subject to another favorite. Relationships!
”Nicky will bring her boyfriend over next weekend. They are together for a few months now” her grandma said. Nicky was her younger cousin. She was a relatively pleasant girl, but they were never too close. Her dad and Melina’s mom were siblings, but they were not very close themselves.
Argh! Melina thought she could do without discussing the lack of her romantic life, but at this point she knew that was just wishful thinking.
“Melina darling, you should try to meet someone as well, like your cousin. She told me he is tall and handsome” Her grandma said. Ah! The height. Another amazing criteria for a successful long lasting relationship according to her grandma.
”Maybe if you lose a but of weight, things will be easier” her auntie chimed in. You might think that this was a snarky remark. Nope. Her auntie was not the sharpest tool in the box. She was the youngest of her mom’s siblings, married young to a short man (according to her grandma’s standards), had a child straight away and became a stay at home mom, because despite the story that she wanted to focus on the upbringing of her son, the reality is that she could barely add 1+1 in a calculator. Melina lover her auntie, so she didn’t take offense.
”If my physical appearance and my weight is the only thing that matters to someone, then I am okay to be alone. I will be happy accomplishing other things in my life” Melina said.
Her grandma and her auntie looked at her and gasped, while her mother gave her a look of desperation. Her mother always worried about her, but all she cared about was for Melina to be happy. If that was by being alone, so be it. But, she could not cope with saying this in front of her mother and siblings. Long time ago Melina and her mom had a chat and her mom asked her to not bring up touchy subjects in family gatherings. Touchy subjects included the fact that she didn’t feel like having a man in her life should define whether her life was successful or not or the fact that she was identifying herself as an atheist (granted the first time she mentioned it, her overly religious grandma almost had a heart attack and her grandad decided to build a small church within his property to wash away her “blasphemy “).
Her brother sensed that the conversation was about to turn south, so he intervened.
”Melina I am about to go meet the guys for some drinks. Do you want to come with?”. She was grateful for the prompt save but also for the fact that he gave her a way out from the gathering. She loved her family, but they could be a bit too much. Greek families tend to be loud and have no boundaries.
”Actually little one, do you mind dropping me off home instead?” She asked her brother and he agreed.
She had made a decision for a while now, that she wanted to leave Greece and live abroad, but she hadn’t shared it with anyone. She couldn’t just book tickets and leave without a job, so she was spending all of her free time applying for jobs in New York, which she had decided she wanted to live. The thought of leaving her family and friends behind was devastating, but she felt it was the right thing to do. She had lived in Greece for all her life. She loved it and she was proud of her heritage, but she felt like that she would never accomplish what she wanted if she stayed put.
When her brother dropped her off at her house, she poured herself some ice tea, turned on her laptop and opened up her CV. She read it again and made a few changes. She was satisfied. Then she started checking job sites with ads for positions in New York and started applying. She knew it would take a while, since any employer will have to be willing to offer her a job visa, but she wouldn’t give up just because it might be difficult to get what she wanted.
She had a good experience in operational management and she was sure she would be an asset to any company that would give her a shot. She applied to a few more jobs and then checked her emails. It didn’t take her long to run through the many rejection emails and she almost missed the one that was about to change her life. She opened the email with moderate excitement (she didn’t want to get her hopes up) and she saw what she was looking for the past 3 months. An opportunity! The recruiter wrote in his email that the company was interested in setting up an interview. They thought her experience was impressive and if she was successful they were willing to offer her a job visa.
This is it, Melina thought. The interview was booked in 2 days time and she spent the rest of her evening researching the company, making sure she was well prepared to impress them in the interview and get closet to make her dream come true.