"They are offering me a promotion in Seoul!" My husband gushed on the phone. It was 10 AM and I was at work. I could hear the fire engines in the background and faint whispers of pedestrians hurrying towards their destination 20 floors below. My office still smelled of the burnt coffee and egg sandwich I had gotten from the corner deli. The only way this could be more New York was if you added a large glass window with the view of the Empire State in the background.
But this wasn't stereotypical New York. This WAS the real New York. And so my office window faced another office window across the Madison Avenue with approximately 5 inches of sky visible in the space between two more sky scrapers in the background.
"They are offering you a promotion of what?" I asked, thinking "promotion to soul" sounded like a weird thing to offer to people.
" Promotion! Like more responsibilities, better pay, the works. But guess what, it's in Seoul, so I get expat pay, house, car and an additional moving bonus!" Although I couldn't see him, I could imagine him bouncing on the sidewalk, more fire engines blaring in the background. Why was something always burning in New York City?!
"Congratulations honey!" I exclaimed, without bothering to ask what "promotion in soul" really meant. That wasn't important. What was important was the fact that my other half's hard work and dedication had paid off. No, what was more important was that I acknowledge his achievement. Because no matter how well both of us were doing in our careers, such small moments of pure validation and elation were rare and fleeting.
"I can't believe we will moving to South Korea!" I heard my husband's disbelieving voice on the other side of the line.
Time stopped for a second as I digested this information. Suddenly it clicked. My husband wasn't getting a promotion in soul. He had been offered an opportunity to move to Seoul. And he had already accepted it, without discussing it with me.
Small moments of pure validation were fleeting indeed.
YOU ARE READING
Seoul Cafe
Romance"How does one describe the aroma of coffee? Or the sensation of hearing a new language for the first time? Or the feeling when you see what's most important to you drift away? There are no words to perfectly describe pain or concisely explain loss...
