The Dream

She looked out the window at the rain pouring down. The gray day had started out sleepy enough but with one phone call the excitement had picked up. She felt ridiculous even contemplating it but…

She shook her head to clear it and headed to the kitchen for some tea. She needed to write this down, see what it looked like, see the numbers on paper. That would help her make some sense of this. 

She pulled a notebook and pen from her desk and carried them and her tea to the dining room.

In the notebook she made two columns. The first column was titled “C & O Assoc.” . The second column was simply titled “Europe”. 

C & O Associates had been her home for the last ten years. She had started as a temp working in the outer office and had worked her way up the ladder gradually. First up to a permanent employee then into the inner office. From there she had worked up to secretary to a junior partner and finally a research specialist for one of the three senior partners. She made right under a three figure income and lived in a two bedroom, two bath penthouse apartment in a residential high rise right on the edge of the city. It had a huge terrace overlooking the main city a few blocks away. It was within walking distance of everything she loved, her favorite coffee place, her favorite bagel shop, the club she liked to go to when friends came into town, her favorite Saturday brunch deli, and even a quaint vintage movie theater she would sometimes go alone and cry at some feel good movie. It was like therapy for her. The bottom floor had an amazing gym that although she visited far less than she should she still made use of. All of these things made it into the C & O column. Now it was time to start the Europe column. 

Europe. Who would have thought? She had never considered the idea of living in another country. Never considered, after all her hard work, of ever leaving C & O. She sighed and took another drink of her tea, letting it set in her mouth just a second longer than usual to savor the taste. 

Could she really do this? Could she really move to Europe, change her career and start over? Could she really take her lifelong secret dream and turn it into a reality? People would think she was crazy, that she had finally flipped her lid. No one walks away from stability. No one takes their entire life and turns it on its head, unless you had actual brain damage. Right? 

But she had always loved to write, ever since high school when she first tried her hand at it and wowed her teachers. She had then entered contest after contest, continually winning first place. But there was no money in that, right? 

Her salary had moved from the low thirties thousands to the upper nineties within one company in ten years. That was almost a seventy thousand dollar pay raise. Writing had no guarantee like that. Her position would come with a salary but nothing in those terms. Her possible royalties would add up though and make up some of the difference. She was sure her rent would be considerably different there too. From her understanding the cost of living all around could be less though. Could she really make this work?

She grabbed her laptop, moving it to the dining table with her and began to google apartments in Copenhagen. The magazine headquarters were not far from there and it was one of the prettiest cities she had ever seen. Granted she only saw photos for now but she was sure they would match what she would see in person. 

She paused, her fingers hovering over the keys. Was she seriously considering this? She wasn’t sure. But it wouldn’t hurt to look, right?

The available apartments looked amazing! Some were right on the canal with the view being of the water and stone bridges. That would be so wonderful to see every day! Her apartment would be smaller than what she had here. Probably a one bedroom, one bath with a kitchenette. But the ones she saw did have beautiful terraces. 

She knew getting a rental lease would be hard and she would have to establish residency there with her employment contract with the magazine. They would actually be vouching for her in order to get the apartment. Outsiders were put at the bottom of the list. Always. 

The rents were running around $1300 USD so it wasn’t bad. The magazine would be paying her deposit, first and last month's rent, and the media license fee for her to have a tv, laptop, and phone. Gas, water, and electricity would be on her. Some of them were paid directly to the landlord so no deposit would be needed for some. 

She added up all the expenses she had written on her notepad. According to the numbers it would actually be less than what she was paying now. Wow!

An hour of research later yielded her a list of different apartments available, their prices and the utility expenses and a list of the top three places she really wanted to visit as soon as she could. Some of them looked amazingly fun, others had tons of charm and beauty. 

First on the list was a day at the Tivoli Gardens. It was a giant amusement park full of all the old world charm but the excitement of carnival style rides. She couldn’t wait for the promised thrill of some of those rides!

She could take a tour of Amelienborg. It’s the Queen’s winter residence and they offer tours. She bet the inside was stunning! The outside had that old world charm that was always so beautiful.

Another place she found fascinating was the Stroget. It’s one of the biggest shopping centers in Europe and has only foot and bicycle traffic, no cars allowed. She could purchase a bike and ride it through. She had always wanted to do that with her pretty basket attached to the handlebars, all of her purchases resting inside. 

She was really getting excited about this. The income would be lower but how many times in her life would she be able to travel abroad? To work abroad? To experience a different culture? 

She had to do this right? As much as she loved the city she lived in, it was crowded and loud and slightly dirty as all busy cities tend to be. This move would be fresher air and on the water too! 

She would be making money by doing her dream. She would be an actual writer. Hadn’t she always wanted that? Hadn’t she always wanted that to be what was paying the bills? Her soul felt so much more peaceful when she would sit down and let the words flow. It was cathartic. 

She quickly bowed her head and sent a prayer up asking God for guidance on this decision. She could feel her heart trying to beat out of her chest in excitement. She raised her head and looked out the window. 

She took a long deep breath and let it out slowly.

She was doing this.

She was doing this!

She was doing this!!

She lunged for her couch in the living room, hopping on it with both feet, jumping up and down. Shouts of glee escaped her and she jumped harder, dancing around in mid air. 

She was going to be a writer!

She was braving a move across the ocean!

She was going to live her dream!

And she had never felt more ALIVE!