“Junna! Junna wake up! Hey!”

Junna groaned as she felt Sasha shoving her where she lay cozied up under the blankets.

“Mmm, go-way, sleeping,” she murmured.

“They’re going to call in 30 minutes for that interview! It got moved up. Junnie, you gotta get ready,” Sasha insisted.

“Interview?” Junna frowned, brain not quite understanding what Sasha was on about.

“Yes! I messaged you the Zoom link. I have to go to the gallery to pick up some money. Apparently, some of my paintings sold yesterday! Dinner’s on me, okay?”

“Wait what?” Junna sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. Interview? Paintings? She had just been dreaming about something intense. Something with Ayan and a long corridor, and running from…

Interview.

“Oh shit!” Junna jumped out of bed and began to quickly dress herself as Sasha headed out the front door. She finished getting ready just in time to find an appropriate space in her room to Zoom from, and opened the message for the interview. She was immediately greeted by a man and a woman, seated side by side in their casual business wear, grinning at her.

“Good morning, Junna! We are so glad you could meet with us today,” said the man, Louis, in his thick French accent.

“It must be so late there,” Junna said, trying to be subtle as she continued to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

“We stayed a bit late. It is just past 6 in the evening,” said the woman, Regine.

“Forgive me, I thought the interview was supposed to be tomorrow,” Junna said.

“Yes, that is true. I know we said we would give you time to think on it, but something has come up. Our dear friend and co-worker Henri has had to leave to care for his father, and the position has opened sooner than we anticipated. Of course, that also means that if you are right for it, and choose to come work for us, you will do so on a much shorter scale,” said Louis.

“How short?” asked Junna, surprised.

“We would want you here within a month,” said Regine. “If that is doable for you, and you think this opportunity is something you would consider, we can continue with the interview.”

“It should also be mentioned that due to the stress of such a big move in such a short time, we would be adding a bonus of twenty-thousand US dollars for moving costs,” said Louis.

“Oh, wow,” said Junna, caught entirely off-guard by the suddenness of everything.

“Are you interested then, in continuing the interview?” Regine asked.

Junna took a second, thinking about Ayan, about Sasha, about her cats. She knew Sasha could help in the process of transporting her cat over there, so that wouldn’t be an issue. She also knew she was now looking at making more money than she had ever made in her life, with the prospect of working in France. It was an opportunity that she was well aware would not be coming along again.

“Yes, I’m interested,” she said, ignoring the whoosh in her gut at the prospect of leaving Ayan behind.

“Wonderful, now, tell us a little bit about yourself, and why you want to make a difference in the world,” Regine said.

Junna swallowed, then began.