I was sipping on some caramel vodka that I mixed into an eight-ounce bottle of orange juice when a message came in on the diary site just as I was about to log off.
It was Christian, asking if I was still around.
“Yes,” I typed and sent.
“I want to help you if that’s possible, so I have an offer for you,” he wrote back.
“Not sure there’s anything you can do from the other side of the world. Unless you can bring Greg back, I thank you very much for thinking of me.”
“Can’t bring him back, but I can offer you a fresh start in a whole new place—even though I’m aware of the fact that you don’t exactly care for cold weather or snow.”
Instantly, my curiosity was piqued. Just what in the world could he possibly be suggesting, that I up and go to Norway?
I read some more, and yes, he was actually asking me to join him in Norway.12Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWmT9hL89wg
“Are you serious? You’re kidding, right?”
“I wouldn’t do that to you,” he replied.
I thought about it a moment and realized that he definitely didn’t seem like the type to joke about such a thing.
But running off to a foreign country I’d never been to—not just to meet but actually live with someone I’d never met other than in cyberspace? Not likely!
“It’s totally your decision, of course, and you don’t have to decide right now. Give yourself time to let it sink in and really mull it over in your mind. I just thought that since you wrote about selling your place anyway, you might want a change of scenery altogether.”
I stared at the screen, still shocked by what I was reading, wondering what the catch was and feeling both amazed and grateful at the same time. Christian had always seemed like a nice guy who was intelligent and had a good sense of humor. However, he also seemed like he might be a bit of a player, and I didn’t know this guy after all—other than from our exchanges online.
Finally, I typed, “This is an incredibly generous offer, but I don’t think I could take advantage of you like that.”
“You’re not taking advantage of someone if they make the offer on their own,” he answered, “but as I said, it has to be totally up to you. You’re welcome to stay here with me and even travel to Thailand with me—as I do from time to time—if you feel comfortable enough doing so. Great way to escape the weather here.”
“Sounds exciting—minus the climate in Norway—but I’m not exactly rich, you know.”
“I know, and that’s okay. Not everything is about money. You don’t need money to enjoy life.”
“You’re absolutely right, but I couldn’t pay you much. As you probably know, Greg was the main breadwinner while I took care of the house and things like that, and the lawsuit is barely more than minimum wage.”
“Yes, I’m aware of that. You’re welcome to clean and cook here as well, because God knows I hate to do it myself, haha. I’m your typical bachelor slob—though I have seen worse. You can actually find a place to sit on my couch without having to move stacks of papers or whatever.”
“LOL. This is definitely something I’ll have to consider, as I’m still in shock and this offer hasn’t fully sunk in, but I think it’s safe to say it’s unlikely I’ll take you up on it, as generous as it is. Other than our chats online, you could be a serial rapist, for all I know.”
“Or I could be a mass murderer,” Christian replied with a bunch of crazy-looking emojis.
“Or you could not be—but maybe be looking for something I doubt I would ever want to give to another human being again.”
“I would never take anything someone didn’t want to give. There are others willing to give me certain things if I want them. But you take your time and think about it, and know that I’m here if you ever want to go ahead and set any plans into motion and make arrangements. If you do come here and you decide you eventually want to move out and get your own place, it’s not very expensive here. Just cold. Thailand would be better, since it has a beautiful climate and the cost of living is pretty low there. But hey, think about it, okay?”
“I’ll definitely be doing that tonight. I’ll fall asleep thinking, as a matter of fact, since it’s almost midnight here. Isn’t it eight hours later there?”
“Nine. I’m late for work. Sleep well, Nicole.”
I did anything but sleep well, although I certainly did do a lot of thinking—just as I knew I would. Such a tempting offer! Not because I felt life was worth living without Greg, no matter what the continent, but because there was just something adventurous about the idea that appealed to me. How many people got such an offer anyway?
As tempting as it was, I definitely had my reservations about the whole thing. He could hold me hostage and rape me every day until he got sick of me and decided to strangle me to death or something like that. I had absolutely no way of knowing what I might be walking into if I actually went over to Europe and decided to leave things to fate. But maybe that’s what I should do. If things worked out, great. If he did turn out to be some psychotic killer, then maybe I would be sent to join my Greg once again.
My mind pulled up a mental image of some pictures I’d seen of the younger Scandinavian, and he definitely looked the part. He had a slim build with sandy-colored hair, blue eyes, and nice full lips. Other than a slightly crooked nose, the guy wasn’t half bad-looking.
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