Page 86 of Paradigm

“Yes, of course,” her dad replied. “And there are legalities to consider with having an employee there, even though you’re a citizen here, and the time zones, and– Well, you understand, I’m sure. He’s looking for an office right now, but it likely won’t be in Amsterdam proper. Outside of the city and near the campus is what I think because he’ll have work at the university until he retires.”

“I want to stay here,” she stated.

“I know that. I didn’t go looking for this opportunity for you. I was having a conversation with a colleague, and it came up. I couldn’t not bring up my daughter, who has been looking for a new job. He might let you work from there if he thinks he can make it happen and trusts you to do what he needs done. Maybe it’s not an issue. You’d have to check. I only know what he told me, which was that he wants someone here, but you might be able to convince him.”

“I can’t work from here for a Dutch company. I have to work for an American company to get the visa that I need to live here,” she reminded.

“I know, but you might be able to convince him to let you stay there until your visa is up. That was my point. I don’t think he’d mind it if you got the job and worked from there until you could get home.”

“I don’t know.”

“This could be important, Eline. I’ll give you his information so that you can look him up, but it’s a big opportunity for you to build a company from the ground up. You’d get to create the product from scratch, which I know you’re interested in.”

“I am, but I’d feel bad. If I get that job while I’m here, and my visa extension comes through, or I find another job here, I’d have to leave that one.”

“You’d really do that?” her dad asked. “If you got a job there after getting this one, you’d really quit here?”

“Yes, I would. I think.”

“But why? You’re not going to find something where you can do this there. Unless there’s something I don’t know, of course, but those kinds of companies won’t have the resources or the time to help you apply for another work visa. Besides, you’ve been applying for jobs but haven’t heard back yet, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I don’t understand. I know you like it there, but you need a job, Eline. I have the perfect opportunity for you. You can probably interview tomorrow without even having to apply, and I’m sure you’d impress him. You could be home working next week. Why would you continue applying around just to stay in a country that’s not your home?”

“Because I like it here. I wanted to be here, Dad. That’s why I took this job even though I applied other places, including home. I wanted to move. I didn’t know that at first; maybe not until I got here and was here for a while, but I saw the job posting, and I–” Eline stopped herself.

“You saw the posting, and what?”

Eline still wasn’t sure if she should tell her parents about rekindling things with Arlowe, but in her mind, she felt like she understood it now. Moving here had been an adjustment, and not exactly an easy one. She’d had to get a learner’s permit and take an adult driver’s ed class right when she’d gotten here because one needed a driver’s license here just to get to work or get around since there wasn’t reliable public transportation. She’d known how to drive, but she still had to learn the signs and laws here, and she’d never really wanted to drive; she much preferred trains and trams. She’d also had to figure out the measurements and use Fahrenheit instead of Celsius and the easily scalable metric system she’d grown up with, and even adjust to not having the good food brands or freshly baked bread in the grocery store, along with everything else that made America… America, but there had been something about the city or the company or just something that she’d felt all on her own when she’d applied to work at GoldStash.

She hadn’t thought much about it at the time, mostly because she hadn’t expected to get the job in the first place, but now, as she sat on her sofa, thinking about why she had wanted to move here so badly, she could only come up with one reason: her heart. Her heart had pulled her here. As ridiculous as it was for her to even think it, she had somehow known that Arlowe would be nearby without knowing it, and she couldn’t shake it. It seemed so obvious to her now why she’d been drawn here. Yes, she’d adjusted to living here and didn’t want to leave anymore, but she’d been drawn here because Arlowe was here.

“Dad, I saw the posting for the job I just lost, and it felt right. I didn’t think I’d get it, but I did, and now, living here feels right.”

“I understand that, Eline, but you don’t have that job anymore. How can you even afford to stay there beyond a few more days? You said they only paid you one more paycheck. You’ll have rent, food, and other expenses.”

“I know. I’m trying to work that out.”

“You spent most of the money you had saved just to move there because they only gave you a little to relocate to another country. Then, they terminated you after only a couple of months. Your mother is asking around, and I’ve also been looking for you. There are tech companies over here, too, Eline. Amsterdam specifically is growing with those businesses. Yes, you’d have to live outside of the city and commute, but I found five roles for you that could work just this morning. You know you’d get one of them, given your experience. I understand that you want to stay, but you might have to begin thinking about what you need to do. We can send you a little money to get you through, but it might be better for you to come back here, even if it is temporary. You can start a new job, and if you end up deciding to go back, you’ll go back. I’ll even buy your plane ticket then if you decide to do that.”

Eline didn’t want to admit it to her father, but money would become an issue, and soon. She hadn’t admitted it to Arlowe, either. She’d paid her rent for the month before getting fired, and her last check would help her pay it for the upcoming month, but that would be about all that it would cover, with only a little leftover for some food for the month. She knew that Arlowe was trying to help her out in that department without actually saying what she was doing because she’d gone to the store and brought groceries, trying to convince Eline that she was only doing it because she had been staying over and eating more of Eline’s food than her own, but Eline knew it wasn’t just that, or even that at all. Arlowe knew how expensive things were around here, and she was trying to help.

Her main concern at this moment wasn’t actually getting an extension on her visa, which the lawyer was helping her with, or even trying to find a new employer. It was the fact that she didn’t have enough money to stay for longer than a month, and Eline didn’t like credit cards. She supposed that she could get one, but she didn’t want to go into debt just to stay here for a little while, only to have to leave anyway.

“I’ll be fine, but I see your point,” she replied because she couldn’t not acknowledge that what her father was saying was true. “I know I have to make a decision soon. I’m working on something right now that might turn out. I… made a connection here… through work, so maybe they can hire me where they work. I don’t know. We’ll see, but I am keeping this in mind.”

“Will you at least talk to him? Maybe you will like the concept so much that you’ll want to move back.”

“Yes, I’ll talk to him,” she replied, knowing that it was the right thing to do.

“Good. I’ll send you his information when we get off the phone, and I’ll also send you the links I found for jobs I think you might be right for. Eline, you are a smart woman. You know that your best option is to come home. I looked it up. Normally, you can’t get another work visa there after an extension unless it’s been at least one year between them. I’ll send you that link, too, so that you have it.”

“I know that. I’ve done my own research.”

“But it’s different if you’re terminated. You don’t have to wait that year.”

“I’m sure that a termination won’t look great to the US government, so isn’t it better for me to stay here and try to find something else instead of going home and hoping they’ll let me back in?”