Chapter 2

I gave him my email address and instead of going back to bed I went and boiled the kettle and switched on the computer to wait for my email from Mario.

As I searched through the many junk emails the one that I am looking for pops in as new mail, it read as follows:

Good Evening Gill,

Once again please accept my apologies for waking you I hope you have managed to get back to sleep. As discussed, in advance of you receiving your official letter and contract please find below brief details of our offer to you:

- Start date – 29^th September 2008 (I note this is also your birthday, I hope this does not cause a problem).

- Salary - $132,000 per annum plus bonus and pension scheme. Annual salaries are reviewed every 6 months.

- Full medical cover.

- 4 Bedroom house all expenses paid (we will decorate to suit your tastes) which is situated in a very nice area of Pittsburgh close to other NHL staff and local services.

- A company car all expenses paid (unlike Scots law you do not pay extra tax on this in the US). You will receive a new car every 2-3 years.

- A season ticket for the Pittsburgh Penguins and travel to any away game you wish to attend.

- We will also help you relocate to the US and will pay for everything including the mortgage on your UK house if it is not sold by the time you emigrate.

- If you decide to accept our offer and take up this position we will start the ball rolling for you to receive your visa.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any further information.

Best regards and I look forward to talking to you shortly,

Mario L.

I could not believe what I was reading – it was such an amazing offer. I needed to talk to my family but it was now 0215 in the morning so I decided that the best thing I could do was try and get some sleep.

Throughout the next few days I discussed my job offer with family and a few close friends. I read the offer and my contract over and over again trying to find holes. I even asked one of Pauls best friends who specialises in employment law to read over it for me and there were no holes what so ever to be found, it was a dream come true, I was off to work in Pittsburgh for the NHL!!!

That afternoon I emailed Mario and asked if he could call me when he was free. That evening he called me back and I confirmed that there was a letter on its way to him with a formal acceptance of the job offer along with my signature on the contract. He was over the moon and said as soon as he was off the phone he would send away my visa application – he had already filled it out with the hope that I would say yes to his perfect offer.

A week or so after my talk with Mario I received my Visa, I could not believe how quickly it had arrived. I think he must have pulled some strings for it to be issued that quickly.

Now that I have been granted my visa it is a case of getting my house sold and booking my flights.