Travels in Eire #41

The remainder of the day flew by for Cailin. She worked with the HR department to hammer out the details of her contract making sure she felt it was what she wanted and would serve both the purposes of her office and her needs. It was all typed up and ready for her signature when the realization of what she was doing finally hit her. She would be leaving all her friends here at work and basically working alone in her flat in Derry.

Cailin sat down at her desk a little maudlin thinking about all she would be giving up at her end. Up to this point she had only focused forward and her rush to be with Darren not considering what she would be leaving behind. Suddenly she realized that someone was standing in her doorway. It was Rob.

“Are you changing your mind, Cailin?” he could see the look on her face.

“I guess the reality of it all is setting in.”

“Cailin, remember, nothing is permanent at this point. This is a three month trial. You can always come back here. And mostly this is your choice.” Rob knew Cailin well.

“Rob, thanks for all of this. You've been so supportive.” Cailin turned to the signature page of the contract and signed her agreement.
Rob leaned over Cailin's desk to put his signature on the line below Cailin's. “Don't you thing we should go announce this to the rest of the staff?”

By the time Rob and Cailin walked into the meeting room, everyone else was there. You could hear the buzz of rumor suddenly hush as they walked into the room. Cailin took a seat next to Bonnie, and Rob got the meeting started. Everyone was very excited and supportive for Cailin and this new venture. There were more questions about Ireland and Cailin's reason for moving there than she could answer. They all decided on a bon voyage party for that Friday where Cailin would have time to answer questions and they could send her off appropriately. Her office loved a reason to party.

The remainder of the week went flying by as Cailin finished up research that she needed to complete and briefed Bonnie on how they would handle communication with the five hour time difference. Cailin started to work on communication instructions for the remainder of the staff, so they could reach her with assignments as needed. There would also be weekly conference calls, and Skype calls. As far as Cailin could tell, clients would not even realize that she was working outside of the office. She rarely had contact with the actual clients, other than a phone call for information, so this was not a problem.

Friday came so quickly that Cailin felt she was not ready. As the week had progressed she had been talking to Darren almost daily for information that she needed and support at his end. Her plane reservations were made for the following Friday. Darren would take the day off of work and borrow a car to pick her up in Dublin when she arrived. She could hear how excited he was that they were only apart for three weeks since she left Ireland. He told her that he had big plans for the two of them that weekend. Cailin was afraid to ask knowing that Darren would not tell her anyway, and finished that phone call with a big smile.

Cailin and Bonnie had boxed up any important documents that she might need in Ireland and set a time for them to be shipped off to Cailin's new flat. She wanted to make sure she was there before they arrived. Other than her work laptop, everything else would stay at her desk. Bonnie would FedEx anything else she needed. Cailin would purchase a fax machine in Ireland to accommodate the electrical and phone difference.

The work party was a blast, as all their parties were. Rob was very careful in choosing employees who would work well together. Even with age differences and personal lives differing, the staff all got along better than most, so parties were lively and friendly. Cailin mingled with everyone and answered as many questions as she could. She tried to stay away from questions about Darren and mostly explained that she felt a strong connection to Ireland and felt the need to move there for a while to see if it was something she wanted on a permanent basis.

Cailin said her last goodbyes to Rob and Bonnie and armed with her laptop headed back to her apartment in New York to pack up and move out.