Chapter 2

The next 2 days passed in a haze. Melina tried to keep her distance from her family and friends. She was very excited about the interview, but she hadn’t told anyone about her plans yet and she wouldn’t do it, until she had secured a job first. She knew that her family would support her on anything she wanted to do, but New York was on the other side of the world and it would be difficult to accept that she would be so far away. She knew that if she had discussed it with anyone first, they would have changed her mind. Everyone besides her dad. Her dad was a man of few words but he would never try to change her mind. He believed in her completely and he also believed that even if she made a mistake she would learn from it. But she couldn’t tell her dad, since he wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret from her mom.

Her parents were married for almost 30 years and they were still very much in love with each other. For her mom, her dad was her whole world and for her dad, her mom was his queen. No wonder she was still alone. How could she be in a relationship with someone that would be anything leas than her dad? I know what you think. It’s the standard psychological cliché, but it was the truth.

New York was 5 hours behind in time, so she had to take a day off from work to ensure that she would be able to attend the interview. The day of the interview she woke up, fully stressed but also fully determined. She went through her notes one more time and when the time came, she logged in the meeting.

The interview lasted a little longer than an hour. It was a very pleasant conversation and not an interrogation and when it finished she felt very pleased with how it went. They told her that they would give her an answer by the end of the week.

Melina didn’t want to take any chances so she continued applying for other jobs while she was waiting for the outcome of the interview. Before she knew it the end of the week had arrived and the email she was so much expecting was sitting on her inbox. She was very much dreading it would be another rejection but she had to know. She opened it and she stayed frozen.

The email said that they were very impressed with her and they wanted to offer her the job. The email included the official offer letter and an explanation that even though she had applied for a position in New York, they thought she would be a better fit in the same position in their Los Angeles office. If she was happy to accept that, then they would start the process to arrange for her work visa. They were also offering her the option to arrange for an apartment for her, in a discounted rate, and the rent would be deducted from her salary. If she was not interested in that, they could still help her find suitable accommodations.

Melina took a moment to think about the offer. Granted it wasn’t New York, but she would love to live in Los Angeles as well. She made a quick search for apartments in Los Angeles, so she can have an understand the price range and then looked for what else she would need to pay in terms of bills. Once she felt she had a better understanding, she emailed back to say she would accept the offer for Los Angeles and ask if she could see the apartment the company was offering in the discounted rate.

The response came fast, with a link for the apartment. The apartment looked amazing. It was on the 25th floor of a building, with only the penthouse above it. It had 1 bedroom with a walk in closet and it’s own large bathroom, 1 guest room, 1 office, 1 large bathroom and a large open space kitchen and living room, with enough space for a large dining table. The part though that Melina loved the most, were the floor to ceiling windows and the large balcony with a view of the city of Los Angeles. The building was secure and had a door man at all times. Once she checked the rent, she knew it was a no brainer. Her offer letter along with a very satisfying salary included a sign in bonus, high enough to cover her rent for a few months and also allow her to buy the furniture she needed for her new apartment.

Melina emailed them again to say that she would love to accept the apartment offer and to ask a few more questions about the rest of the process. Once she had all the information she needed and she had sent all her documents to the recruiter, she knew that she had to break the news to her family and friends. The visa would take around 4 weeks to be processed and her starting date was set for 6 weeks from the day she signed her contract, giving enough time for the visa and also time for her to travel to Los Angeles and settle in her new apartment.

Melina called her mom and told her she would stop by as she had news. She asked her brother to be there as well. She told them the news and as it was expected her family was very happy for her chasing her dream, but very upset that she would be so far away from them. Her mom was contemplating about moving with her, but her dad put a stop in these thoughts saying that this was Melina’s time to spread her wings and they would support her but they would not smother her.

Then she had to tell her 2 best friends. They as well were very happy for Melina, but extremely upset she would move so far away. There was a lot of crying and memories to be reminded, but at the end it was decided that instead of being upset they would just see it as an opportunity to travel to Los Angeles any time they wanted.

The next few weeks passed in a haze and soon Melina was in the airplane, ready to start her new life in a new continent, all alone.