CHAPTER 20
A strong arm was wrapped around her middle, and hot breath was coming in long, rhythmic bursts against the back of her neck.
Eline smiled because Arlowe was holding her in bed.
Her Arlowe was in her bed. She’d always hated having to pick up or otherwise touch her phone to tell what time it was, so for years now, she kept a clock with small blue numbers on her bedside table, and according to that clock, it was just after eight in the morning.
It was also the weekend, and she didn’t have anywhere to be today, so she closed her eyes, wanting to go back to last night, when Arlowe had treated her to a perfect night on a boat with dinner and a view, and them holding on to one another as they took in that view.
Last night, she hadn’t been able to wait any longer for that kiss, their first one since their last, and it had been even better than she’d remembered their kisses being before.
They had kissed for long minutes on her couch, keeping things relatively innocent for the most part, and while she had wanted more and known that Arlowe had, too, they’d both seemed to understand that they should take their time and work their way up to that.
When Arlowe had made a move to lie her back on the sofa, Eline had suggested they go to bed, and that was when Arlowe had moved on top of her.
Arlowe’s lips had moved to her neck, making it harder for her to resist tugging at Arlowe’s shirt until it was on the floor, so she’d kept her hands balled up in it to keep herself from doing just that.
Arlowe had giggled when Eline’s hands had slipped under the borrowed T-shirt and grazed her back.
Eline had forgotten how ticklish Arlowe’s back was, and that had inspired her to roll them over.
She’d gotten Arlowe on her stomach instead, had lifted that shirt to be able to kiss all over Arlowe’s back, and let her giggle and tell her to stop, but in the way that Arlowe hadn’t really meant for her to stop.
They’d stayed like that for a while, with her kissing Arlowe’s back and neck, before she’d moved off her, and they’d rolled onto their sides, facing one another, staring, touching cheeks and lips, and pulling each other closer as they’d held on to each other and breathed each other in.
Eventually, they had fallen asleep like that, and now, Eline was waiting for Arlowe to wake up because it was Sunday, and they could have the whole day together, assuming Arlowe didn’t have plans.
“How fast is your brain moving right now?”
Eline smiled when she heard Arlowe’s sleepy voice for the first time in forever.
“Pretty fast,” she replied.
Arlowe tightened her hold, kissed the back of her neck, and asked, “What is it trying to process?”
“The fact that you’re here in my bed.”
“And is it processing that in a good direction, or…”
Arlowe’s hand moved under her shirt, staying splayed on Eline’s stomach, and that did not help the processing, or at least, it pretty much assured that it was heading in the good direction.
“It’s good,” she said.
“Good. I’m glad,” Arlowe replied before kissing her in the same spot again. “So, how long have you been awake?”
“Only for a few minutes.”
Arlowe took a deep breath and rolled away then, and Eline didn’t like the rolling away part, so she rolled to face her and watched Arlowe do her morning stretches, unable to stop smiling.
Something so simple, like someone stretching first thing in the morning, had Eline smiling and thinking about finally being able to have the life she wanted for herself: a life with Arlowe, working in engineering, and even living in the US, which hadn’t been part of her original plan but was now.
“I was wondering about something. What are you doing today?” Eline asked.
“Ah, shit. I’m supposed to visit my parents today. What time is it?”
“Just after eight. Do they live close?”
“When my mom retired, they moved about two hours away. They wanted to be even closer to me, I guess, so I was glad that my dad couldn’t find something here because I don’t need them that close, you know?
” Arlowe said as she stopped her stretching and rolled to face her.
“I was supposed to go there for lunch, and my mom wanted to take me antiquing after. Should be ridiculously boring, but I’ll let her have this one.
” She leaned in and kissed Eline. “Good morning.”
“Morning,” Eline replied.
“Want me to cancel on them so that we can hang out?”
“I do, but no.” Eline shook her head and ran her hand through Arlowe’s hair. “I want you to enjoy the day with your parents. Want to do something later tonight, though?”
“Yes, but can I see how it goes with them before I fully commit? I want to,” Arlowe said and rolled on top of her.
“I really, really want to, but if my mom has her way, we’ll have lunch, go to, like, five antique stores, she’ll cook me dinner, and I won’t leave until after eight or something. I’ll be back late.”
“Yeah, of course,” she replied.
“And can I maybe kiss you for, like, another hour before I go home to get ready for my day trip where my mom will buy me something old that I don’t need?”
“I think that can be arranged,” she said, wrapping her arms around Arlowe’s neck and pulling her down for a kiss.
◆◆◆
Several hours later, Eline found herself wondering what she had done with her days off before Arlowe, which was odd because Arlowe had only been back in her life for days, not years, but now that Eline had her back in her bed on a weekend morning, she couldn’t recall a single thing she had done before Arlowe had re-entered her life.
After Arlowe left, kissing her goodbye at the door and promising to text her later, Eline had stood there, not knowing what to do with herself for the rest of the day.
Eventually, she’d decided to make herself some coffee and have Nutella toast, her favorite breakfast, and then do her errands.
She’d needed to grocery shop, so she’d taken care of that, and after returning home, she put the groceries away and checked the time. It was only two in the afternoon.
Arlowe had texted her a few pictures of the antique shopping – one had been of some bowl that her mother, according to Arlowe, had threatened to buy her, and there had been another one of a floor lamp that had gotten the same threat.
Eline had found herself excited to receive the next message, and they’d spent the rest of the day texting while she’d gotten some work done.
When she got a text that Arlowe’s mom had decided to cook her dinner, Eline knew that she wouldn’t be seeing her tonight.
She thought about asking Arlowe to come over, even if it was just to sleep, but decided against it.
They were taking things slowly, which probably meant that they should spend some nights apart, at least.
◆◆◆
Arlowe Romano: I missed you last night.
That was the text she woke up to on Monday morning, and it had Eline wishing that she’d asked Arlowe to stay over again after all.
Arlowe Romano: I love my parents, but all I could think about all day was that I wanted to ask you if I could come over, even just to sleep, after I got home.
Eline Claasen: I wanted that, too, but I thought we might want to take a little space to think about the other night.
Arlowe Romano: Space?
Eline Claasen: For the record, I don’t need any space. I want no space. We just took a big step on Saturday, so even though I wanted to ask you to come over, I didn’t know if I should.
Arlowe Romano: I don’t need space, either. I like what we’re doing, babe. Can I come over tonight? We can go out or stay in. I just want to see you.
Eline Claasen: I’ll text you when I’m off work, and we can figure it out. Can you pack an overnight bag and stay over again?
Arlowe Romano: No. I like borrowing your stuff.
Eline laughed at that and started getting ready for work.
When she arrived at the office, she got through most of her day pretty easily, but then around four in the afternoon, she noticed something going on outside her door.
Someone was with one of their HR people, and they were walking out with a box.
She hadn’t heard about anyone getting terminated, but she probably wouldn’t have unless it were someone on her team, so she got back to work.
A few minutes later, though, she looked up and saw another person with a box being escorted out.
Those two people were both on the sales team, so she suspected that they hadn’t met their quotas for a few months, but when she saw a third person, on the marketing team this time, Eline began to get concerned.
She stood up, planning to find her boss and ask what was going on, but before she could do that, Dave appeared at her open door, and he wasn’t alone.
“Hello, Eline,” he said. “You know Teri from human resources.”
“Um… Yes,” she said nervously. “Is something going on? I saw–”
“Have a seat,” Teri told her, motioning to one of the guest chairs and not the chair that was behind Eline’s desk, where she was currently standing.
Eline sat behind her desk, ignoring the motion, and Teri closed the door behind her and Dave.
Then, Eline noticed something that looked like a folder in her hands, but the reason she couldn’t comprehend what the woman was actually holding was that her heart was racing, making her thoughts a bit foggy.
“Eline, we need to talk,” Dave said, sitting down in one of the guest chairs. “Unfortunately, we’ve had to make some tough decisions in light of the data breach, and we’re eliminating some positions.”
“What?” she asked.
Teri sat down in the chair next to him and added, “Unfortunately, your position was one of those impacted, Eline.”
“What?” she asked again, her heart falling into her stomach instantly.
“We were going to make some organizational changes before this happened, so some roles would’ve been impacted anyway, but with the email hack and the outcome from that, we have to take immediate action,” Dave said.