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Katie had to admit, it sounded good. Annie tacked on that the school paid for her flights there and back, every year. They also paid for housing. Both of these things really caught Katie’s attention. Ever since last year, when she’d cashed in all of her savings bonds from her grandmother to go to broadcasting school, Katie had been living paycheck to paycheck. She had no savings and no hope of starting any savings with her waitressing job and her rent in Atlanta.

But no. She wasn’t going to move to the Dominican Republic. She couldn’t change her life that much. There was no way. She had so much here that she couldn’t leave behind- friends, family, Stephen. Well, she thought, I can leave Stephen behind.

Katie decided she’d tell her dad and let him say no.

But he didn’t say no. In fact, Katie had never seen her dad so excited about anything she’d wanted to do. Or not do, rather.
“I’ll drive to New Orleans with you! We could stop in Biloxi on the way back and do some gambling! You’ve never been gambling. Hopefully we’ll be celebrating!” Katie was stunned. This wasn’t what she was expecting.

She could easily admit that she wasn’t her father’s favorite. That was definitely her sister Molly. Molly was beautiful and motivated and had paid cash for her first car, in full, at only seventeen. Basketball was Molly’s current sport of choice, though through the years it had varied between horseback riding, swimming, volleyball, and track. She had excelled at all of them. Ruthann and Charlie McTeague were both highly competitive people and loved cheering on Molly at every event. They travelled around the county and state to attend meets and games, and even crossed a few state lines for all-star games and horse shows. Katie’s art was met with a little less enthusiasm. They went to her shows, but usually looked at her work and said they’d meet her at home. During college, they drove the ninety minutes to see her ‘stuff’ as they called it, and looked so uncomfortable that she usually gave them the key to her dorm room so they could watch TV while she stayed for the required few hours. Though she wasn’t sure either of them understood her art, Katie knew that Charlie was genuinely proud of her, even if he couldn’t express it by yelling and cheering for her at a show. Ruthann was a different story all together.

Charlie went out and bought a map the night Katie told him about the job. They found the Dominican Republic together, while he grumbled about the quality of education in the U.S.
“It’s not that far, honey. You could probably come home whenever you wanted,” he offered, far more excited about this than Katie was. She thought back to her first year of college when she went home every weekend, not because she missed home, but because the change was too much too handle right away. She had never been good at changes. Even after she had come to think of Brenau as her ‘home’, she cried every August when she got there and cried every May when she left. How was she going to handle moving to a whole different country?

Well, she thought, I’m not going to have to handle it because I’m not going.

Katie emailed Annie and Andrew the next day and two weeks later, she and her dad were on their way to New Orleans. Charlie, ever the penny pincher, decided to drive. On the way, they talked about the job and when Katie would have to go. Her dad was practically giddy and his excitement, she had to admit, was rubbing off on her a bit. Not that she was going to go, but it had been exciting to tell people over the last two weeks that she was interviewing for a job in the Dominican Republic. Most people responded the way she initially had- where’s that? She had told them, with the haughty air of one knowledgeable in all things geography. They seemed impressed. Her best friend, who was dating her cousin, knew better, though.
“You’re not going, are you? Like, for real?” Amelia asked, one night as they were bartending together.
“Probably not. No, definitely not. I don’t know.”
“I’d miss you if you went. But I think maybe you should.” Katie had been stunned!
“What? Why? You want me to leave?” she asked, a little too loudly. Several of their regulars stopped and looked at them.
“No, of course,” Amelia said. “But what are you doing here? Is this what you want?”
“No. I mean, maybe. We have fun here. I like working with you and Eric. And Awful and Jenny and Karen. It’s like a little family.”
“I’m not staying here after I graduate. I’ve only got two more classes and then I’m getting a job in a salon. Eric is graduating this semester and he’s already got a teaching job lined up in Coweta County. We’re probably moving out there in three months. So don’t stay here for us.” Amelia had stopped to make a drink and give Ed, one of their regulars, a beer. “And, I know you don’t want me to say it, but you need to get away from Stephen. Nobody likes him, or the way he treats you. The best thing for you would be to just move away.”

Thinking back on that conversation, though it had stung her sharply and even brought tears to her eyes, Katie knew Amelia was right. She couldn’t get out from under Stephen’s thumb. Even now, driving to New Orleans with her dad, and even though she hadn’t spoken to Stephen in almost a month, she wanted to call and tell him. She wanted him to know what she was thinking of doing, where she might be moving.

She wanted him to tell her not to go. But she knew he wouldn’t.

After the six- hour drive, a night out in the Big Easy with her dad, and a fitful sleep, Katie found herself getting ready for her interview. She fixed her suit, one she hadn’t worn since her student teaching days, almost two years earlier. Looking in the mirror, and then at the clock, Katie knew it was time to go.
“You look great. You’re going to do fine.” Charlie was up and showered and lying on the bed watching TV.
“Thanks, Dad. Okay, I’ll be back.”
“Hopefully with a real job,” she heard Charlie mutter as the hotel room door closed behind her.

Katie and Charlie had booked a room, completely by accident, just down the hall from Andrew’s room. Katie thought it was awfully strange that they were meeting in a hotel room, but didn’t question it. Almost three years later, she would learn that this was pretty standard practice in the world of international teaching, a world that didn’t even exist to her yet. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door of room 226. The man who answered the door looked like a pimp. Or at least what Katie imagined a rather preppy pimp to look like. He had one jeans, a polo shirt, completely unbuttoned, with masses of chest hair crawling its’ way to freedom. It in the center of the hair, which Katie could swear was moving, was a large gold medallion. What in the hell has Annie gotten me into, Katie wondered. Andrew extended his hand.
“Katie? I’m Andrew. It’s nice to finally meet you. Please come in.”

Three hours later, after they’d discussed what felt like every aspect of Katie’s life and education, after she’d sung a Reba McEntire song for him, because he wanted to hear her sing and it was the only song she could remember at the time, he asked her simply, “Do you want to know how much you’ll be making?” She was tired and overwhelmed and knew she was still going to say no anyway, so she gave him a shrug and answered, “Sure.” He smirked and looked up from her résumé.
“You understand I’m offering you the job, right?” His tone was light and his face was kind and more than a little amused. Her face was the opposite- pale and blank.
“Oh, uh-huh,” she replied, feeling about as intelligent as a tool box. His smile grew wider and, surprisingly, kinder. He leaned forward a little and asked if she would like to go get her dad. And, at 24 years old, on her first real job interview ever, Katie McTeague nodded yes, she did want to go get her father.