AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER10
Alexa
* * *
Luke’s textshowed up at about 11:30.
I had just finished feeding Leif and had put him down for a nap. I was thinking about what to prepare for lunch. There was leftover lasagna from the previous evening that Luke had made, trying out a new recipe he found in a vegetarian magazine he discovered on the internet. We decided to go vegetarian two days a week, for health reasons and to do our part in reducing greenhouse gasses.
We also had lots of eggs, bacon and even some frozen hash browns in the freezer that I could whip up into a nice brunch. It all depended on how Luke felt. I intended to message him and ask what he wanted but he beat me to it.
I had to admit I was a little upset that he wouldn't be coming home for lunch, but I understood that he needed to stay and deal with the investors. Business before pleasure had always been Luke's motto, and I didn't want to be a bad influence on him.
I had to trust that he knew what was necessary to run the business profitably.
Leif was sleeping soundly at the moment, and based on his usual schedule, he’d be down for at least another half hour. I was sitting on the patio looking out at the ocean. Since I was going to be alone, I decided to have a poached egg on toast and some orange juice instead of going to any trouble since Luke wouldn't be there.
My cell phone chimed, indicating an incoming text or email and for a moment, I thought it might be Luke saying that plans had changed once more and that he would be out for lunch after all, but I was wrong. Instead, it was an email from Professor Helen Turner, who taught me international relations during my master’s degree and with whom I had a very good relationship.
Dear Alexa,
I hope this email find you well. I was just appointed to a position in Brussels working for the International Committee on Peace and Reconciliation, an independent agency of the European Parliament. I was hoping to hire you as my executive assistant and as a policy advisor. I know you're not finished your dissertation yet, but you could work on it part time and work for me. This is a great opportunity for me, and I want the best people to work with me in the office there. I'm sure the experience would be great for your dissertation. You would get to see the inside workings of the international peacekeeping effort.
I realize you just had a baby, so we would make sure to have childcare available for you on site and flexible work hours, sick leave, etc. That way you wouldn't have to worry about motherhood. I know Luke is involved in the aerospace industry, and the European Space Agency is located nearby in Paris. Luke could become involved with them if that interested him or was appropriate. The aerospace industry is booming in Europe.
Let me know if you're interested by next week, Monday at the latest if possible, and we can meet to discuss. I realize this is probably sooner than you hoped, given your new baby and dissertation work, but I could think of no one else I wanted to work with than you.
I read her email over several times my pulse thrumming with excitement.
Of course, I wanted to go and work with her in Brussels, Belgium. It had been my dream ever since I started studying international relations to work either at the UN or in Europe in some capacity. Brussels was second only to New York City, where the UN was located.
At the same time, I knew that Luke wasn’t going to like the idea of moving to Belgium. While it was true that the European Space Agency was located in Paris, Luke was an entrepreneur, not a technician or scientist. He wanted to develop a commercial space venture that would go to the asteroid belt and mine it for rare minerals that were becoming scarce here on earth and would be key to a switch to carbon neutral energy, such as solar. Plus, all our electronics relied on these rare minerals that were getting rarer by the month as demand surged.
The places he most wanted to be included California or Florida, where there were frequent launches. The European Space agency did launch from French Guiana, located in South America, but there were several locations in the continental US where private ventures could launch.
Luke definitely wanted to stay in the States.
We had discussed it before and had decided to wait and see what opportunities arose and that we would decide together. My PhD wasn’t finished and so I figured I would adjust my career around whatever happened with Astra Investments.
No matter what, Luke assured me that we would do everything in our power to compromise so that both of us were fulfilled.
“I don’t want you sacrificing any of your dreams for me,” Luke said to me when we agreed to get married.
“And I don’t want you to sacrifice your dreams for me,” I replied, slipping on the ring he’d given me.
We both meant it, but would Luke be happy leaving the USA behind? He could always fly to the US for important meetings, and could do the rest over Zoom or Skype, but would that be enough contact?
I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that this offer from Dr. Turner was like a dream come true for me.
I had to consider it seriously.
I called Candace.
“Hey, kiddo. How’s the kiddo?” she said, amusement in her voice.
“Leif is fine. He’s down for a nap.”
“What’s up?”
I sighed heavily. “I just got a job offer from a former prof who has been appointed to the International Committee on Peace and Reconciliation and wants to hire me as an EA and policy advisor. It’s located in Brussels.”
“Oh, geez…I suppose that means you’d have to move to Belgium. I don’t know if I like that idea. Bad move.”
