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I reached out and held his hand. “I am happy. I love the job, and you offering me the employee relations position made it only better.”
“But it is not what you want,” he stated. I shook my head. “So, when do you leave?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I haven’t even thought about where I want to go first. And then I will need a way of supporting myself while I’m gone.” My father left me some money, but not enough to travel the world so I could experience different cultures. Heprobably figured I’d take a trip for a week or two and come rushing back home.
“What are you thinking right now? A week? A month?” he asked.
“I would think at least a month. There is so much I don’t have like a passport or a visa or whatever else I might need.”
“Ovi, I am not going to sugarcoat this. I don’t like it at all.”
“My leaving the company or the country?” I asked.
“The country. You’re a woman who will be traveling alone. You haven’t experienced what some of these countries can be like. They are not all welcoming,” he said.
“I grew up in Tabiq. How much worse can it be?” I stated.
“Traveling around the world to build the business has given me a vast experience with different cultures. Although Tabiq’s past is horrendous, there are countries where women still are not respected, or free to live their lives the way they choose. If you were to go to one of them and speak freely, you might not ever be seen again.”
I spent a lot of time with my nose in books. There were risks and I knew that. “I appreciate your concern, but I am not just going to go off blindly. I will do all the research first before I travel to a country.”
“Alone.”
“Yes.”That is what I am. Alone.
“I don’t like this,” he said again.
“Niko, it’s not your decision. It’s mine. But I won’t be leaving right away. I will continue to work for you until I have made all my travel arrangements.” He seemed to relax at that and I jumped right on that. “Don’t think that this means you can use that time to change my mind.”
“I wouldn't dream of it,” he grinned.
I crossed my arms and said, “Why don’t I believe you?”
“Not sure, but I believe you’ve worked hard on dinner, and we should go and eat before it gets cold,” he said, changing the subject.
“I think it’s a little late for that. But okay, let’s eat. Then we can discuss the company outing. It’s going to be so much fun.”
“Only if you’re not here to run it,” he said.
I huffed. “You can do it, Niko.”
“Yes, but not as good as you. I told you. I need you. They need you.”
And the guilt trip has started. “Well, you have me for at least a month. Enjoy it while you can,” I stated.
Because I plan to.
I knew that leaving Tabiq also meant leaving Niko. That was the hardest part of all of this. Seeing him every day had become a habit. I woke up thinking about him and fell asleep the same way. If I wasn't careful, my feelings would grow into love and then what would happen? I’d commit myself to a man who I knew wasn’t going to stay in Tabiq forever. He would be gone, and I’d be the one left behind. No. I had to go before my heart broke.
Guess I’m going to break his first.
CHAPTER 15
Niko
Last night didn’t go as I had planned. Probably not the way Ovi had either. When she dropped the bomb about leaving Tabiq, all I could do was think about ways to get her to change her mind.
It wasn’t that I wanted to hold her back from her dreams, but was that really what she wanted? There were so many changes in her life lately that she most likely was still trying to figure things out. She needed time to do that. I bet she never even dealt with the passing of her mother. And with her father taking off, I couldn’t even comprehend what she was going through.
