Page 143 of The Rules Of Attraction
“Me too. I spoke at length with Chance Morgan himself when I saw the advert. I thought this would be a great opportunity for you so I lay all the cards on the table and told him all that had happened to you at Ashfords and the time out you had for your father. He read your CV, went as far as reading your thesis you did at George Town and is so interested he’s holding the position for you. It would literally be a meet up to sign the contract.”
I was so stunned I could barely talk. “That’s all amazing. What problem could there be?”
“The location.”
“But their based in Chicago.”
“Yes but they have offices all over the US and in forty different countries. When I saw the position I thought it was Chicago and it kind of is. But their looking for a Senior Associate to work at their office in Dubai. Someone who could live there for ten months of the year and come back to Chicago for their annual meetings. The want someone to run the place with a view to being senior partner in a years’ time. When I heard that and heard how interested and excited he was about you I had to at least run the idea past you. Summer it’s a great opportunity, but I know how much you love it here, and … how you feel about Alex.”
A feeling that I could only describe as anguish squeezed my heart as my spirits fell.
A suffocating sensation tightened my throat, squeezing out all the excitement I experienced moments ago.
We shared a minute of silence with me just staring at my friend in wonder and confusion.
Eilesh looked sad. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.”
“No, don’t apologize. I…” I brought my hands up to my cheeks and whipped away a tear.
“Oh Summer.” She sighed.
“It’s fine. I’m fine and thank you. It’s amazing news and more than I could have ever hoped for, ever.”
“But Alex…”
I smiled at the thought of him. “He asked me to move in and be his girlfriend.”
Eilesh gasped. “Oh my God. That is… my timing sucks. It really does.” She frowned.
“No, it doesn’t. I have to think of my career right? So I should consider it.”
“No. It’s just an idea. Summer.. we could go back to the original plan and focus on Chicago.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Am I crazy for thinking of staying? It’s a really great opportunity.” It was fantastic and my career would be set for life.
But to leave here. Okay it wasn’t the fact of just leavinghere.I had Eilesh here, and I knew wherever I was in this world we would always be friends. Location had never changed that and would never be a problem.
The essence of the problem was that during my short stay here I’d found something I wasn’t looking for and never expected to find.
Love.
Was it enough though to influence such a big decision?
“Chance gave me two weeks to come back to him.” Eilesh said quickly, probably seeing my thoughts rolling in motion. “He knew it would be a big thing to ask you to live in a whole other country so hey. We have two weeks.” She nodded.
“Two weeks.”
“So we can just shelve it to the back of the closet and I can look for something here as planned. You file it away, know it’s there as an option, but not your only option. Being at Sullivan’s has worked exactly the way we wanted it to. It’s the buffer. It shows trust regained.”
Okay, this sounded reasonable. It was an option that showed I had a chance. If Morgan and Ackerman could consider me then the door was open for other firms.
It just would have been nice to work with them.
I guess since I was already thinking this way it meant in my heart I’d already chosen.
