CHAPTER 24
She buzzed Arlowe into the building, got the door unlocked for her so that she could just walk in when she arrived, and went to the kitchen to get something for them to drink, having assumed that Arlowe would have only brought food.
When she set the drinks on the small round table that she had just off her kitchen, she heard the door open.
“Hey, can you grab this?”
Eline turned and hurried over to Arlowe, who was carrying a big, brown bag of food, along with her backpack and another bag.
“What’s all this?” she asked, taking the food bag from her.
“Backpack is for my computer and work stuff. Overnight bag is for, well, overnight.”
Arlowe dropped both bags onto the living room floor and closed the door behind her.
Eline smiled and said, “I thought you liked borrowing my stuff.”
“I do, but I figured I could maybe have my own toothbrush here, at least, and a hairbrush, too. Besides, I put stuff in my hair to make it look this good, so…”
Arlowe ran her hand through it as she smirked. Eline laughed, walked over to her, and waited for her to lower her hand before she moved both of hers into Arlowe’s hair and promptly messed it up.
“Hey!”
Arlowe laughed and took a step back, but Eline moved into her and wrapped her arms around Arlowe’s neck.
“I like your hair when it’s messy.”
Arlowe wrapped her own hands around Eline’s waist and asked, “You don’t like it when I actually do it?”
“I do, but you’re done with work, so it doesn’t need to be perfect, and I like running my hands through it now even more than I did back then. It’s shorter, and I can sort of…”
Eline moved a hand up the back of Arlowe’s neck and gave the hairs at the base of it a little tug.
“That can be useful,” Arlowe teased as she wiggled her eyebrows.
“Yes, it can,” she replied with a smile before she leaned in for a kiss.
Arlowe kissed her back and then pressed their foreheads together.
“I missed you today.”
“I missed you, too,” Eline said, trying not to think about the fact that they could be missing each other a lot soon.
“So, it’s okay that I stay over?”
“Of course, it is,” she said and kissed Arlowe again before she moved her hand around to Arlowe’s chest and rested it between her breasts.
“I know we still have a lot to talk about, and with everything going on with my job and the risk of me having to leave, we haven’t talked much about where we are with each other, but I want to… do that with you again, Arlowe.”
“Sex?” Arlowe asked in a high-pitched voice that Eline found adorable.
“Yes.” She chuckled. “We have done that before, in case you don’t remember.”
“Oh, I remember. I remember every single time we did that. You want to do that now?”
“Not now, no,” she replied and kissed Arlowe sweetly. “And what I meant to say was that I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. I want to – I always want that with you – but right now, I…”
“I get it,” Arlowe said. “It’s okay. We can wait as long as you want.”
“Are you sure?” she asked. “We have done that before, so I thought–”
“Eline, you have no idea how much I have missed that with you, but I will wait forever to have that again with you.” Arlowe cupped her cheek. “Are you bringing this up because you’re worried that we might rush things we’re not ready for since you might be leaving soon?”
“It’s something that I was thinking about today, yes,” she admitted and pulled out of their embrace in order to take Arlowe’s hand and pull her, along with their food, to the kitchen table.
“I called my parents today and told them what happened. My mom doesn’t understand why I want to live here, so she’s making up my old room as we speak. ”
“Your old room?”
“Just until I could find an apartment, which, if I look in Amsterdam proper, will be next to impossible, so I’d have to find something elsewhere.”
“What about you looking for a new job here and staying in America?”
“That’s still the plan,” she said. “I want to stay. I booked an appointment with the lawyer for tomorrow, but he said in his email that he can help me file for the extension. I’ll find out more when I talk to him about how likely that is and how long the extension is for if I get it.”
“I just wanted to make sure because I talked to Violet, Sarai, and Enya today,” Arlowe shared.
“You told them?” Eline asked as she pulled food containers out of the bag and set them in front of Arlowe and her own seat before she sat down across from her.
“Was that not okay?”
“No, it’s fine. I figured you would.”
“Well, good, because we all talked about it, and I think I have a possible solution.”
“You do?”
“Yeah, babe. I own a software company with three of my best friends. You had to know I would talk to them about hiring you.”
Eline swallowed. She hadn’t wanted to ask, but she’d be lying if she said that she hadn’t thought about it. She’d never been a prideful person, but asking Arlowe to hire her just because they were dating again seemed unfair to Arlowe, her friends, and the company they’d built together.
“Arlowe, I… I don’t know.”
“I know it’s complicated. We talked about the details, and we posted a job today.
It’s a manager role, so not director-level, and not the same pay, I’m guessing, but if we go through the interview process and at least show that we tried to hire someone from here, we might be able to hire you.
I just don’t know about the timing. I know it can take a while to get this kind of visa approved.
I was thinking about it on the way over here, and you might have to go home for a little while at least, but you could come right back as soon as it’s all done, and you’d have three years.
By then, you could have your green card. ”
“Arlowe, I’d love that, but do you even need the role, or is it–”
“No, we do. We were just going to hire it later. It’s a little complicated because I had to post it internally first and no one expected it, but it’ll be fine.”
“I’d be taking a job from someone who already works there?”
Arlowe unwrapped the silverware that came with their meal from the plastic it came in and said, “No, none of them are eligible or ready for the role. I confirmed that with one of the existing engineering managers. Besides, you know software engineers: most of them don’t want to manage people.
I’ll talk to them if any of them end up applying, but none of them would’ve gotten it anyway. ”
“Okay, but you, by law, have to show that you looked at candidates who are from here. So, you’re going to do that?”
“Yes, babe. We’ll post it externally next week, and we’ll see what we get. Then, we’ll interview. We will do it right, I promise. I wouldn’t jeopardize your chance of staying or the company.”
“But those people won’t be getting the role. It would be a formality for the government so that I can get the job.”
“Yes, essentially. But I’ll be saving their information, and when I go to hire again, if anyone is a good fit, they’ll fast-track through the process later. I’ll even reach out to them myself.”
“That’s not really fair to them, though, is it?” she asked. “I’d feel bad, assuming this whole thing even works.”
“I know. But what other option do we have? You said you didn’t think you’d get a job quickly enough.”
“I could keep trying from home,” Eline suggested. “I don’t want to have to do that, but I could. I’ve already lived here. Maybe they’ll be more likely to hire me because of that. I’ll have to see how long the extension is for if they grant it.”
“But we can hire you. I know it’s not great for us to interview people and make them–”
“Think that they could get a job that they’re not going to get?”
“Well, yeah,” Arlowe acknowledged. “I know it’s not a good look, but it’s to keep you here, Eline. I want you to stay.”
“I want to stay, too, Arlowe, but–” She opened her food container and glanced down at it. “White sauce?”
“Yeah, you love it.”
“I know. I guess I’m just still surprised how much you remember sometimes.”
“You shouldn’t be.”
“Arlowe, if I went home temporarily, we could stay together until I could get back here.”
“We can, and we would, and if you honestly want that, we’ll do it, but if you want to stay, I think we should at least try this option, Eline. It’s either that, or–”
“Or what?”
“Well…” Arlowe began. “We could do the obvious.”
“The obvious?” she asked.
“We could get married,” Arlowe replied.
Eline’s eyes went wide.
“Did you just–”
“If we get married, you could stay. I don’t know if we have to get another visa for that.
I was going to look into it, but then my friends agreed that we could hire you, so I didn’t.
Since you’re already here, though, maybe we don’t need one.
We could just go down to city hall, get a license, and have the ceremony there, too.
Then, we file the paperwork, and you’ll be married to an American citizen, so you can get a green card, and–”
“Arlowe!” Eline exclaimed to get her to stop talking.
“What?”
“Did you just propose?”
Arlowe sighed and said, “It’s not how I thought I’d do it, but… technically, yes.”
“It’s not how you thought–” Eline shook her head. “Arlowe, this isn’t how you should do it.”
“I know that.”
“If and when we do that, it should be romantic. It should be because you want to marry me.”
“I do want to marry you.”
“What? No, you don’t.” She stood up and walked away from the table. “You just want to keep me here, and you think this is a way to do that.”
“I also want to marry you.”
“Arlowe, we’ve been on one actual date. You can’t–”
“We dated for five months and used to talk about marrying each other, Eline. Right before I left, actually, we were still talking about possibly doing that.”
“And we decided against it because you were leaving, and we shouldn’t get married just because one of us is leaving, Arlowe. That applied then just like it applies now.”
Arlowe stood and walked over toward her.
“I’m sorry. I know this isn’t how it should go. I would much rather there be candles, flowers, and soft music, but I’m trying to find a way for you to stay. I just found you again… We can always do the real thing later.”
“Real thing? Arlowe, we would be married. It would be real.”
“You know what I mean. We could have a bigger ceremony, fly your family over here for it, and have a big party later. We could go on a honeymoon. Whatever we want. I’ll even propose again and make it so much better than this one, I promise.
” Arlowe moved to take Eline’s hands in her own, but Eline took another step back from her. “Babe, at least think about it.”
“Our love story deserves more than this,” she replied.
“I agree, but this is what we’ve got. I can interview other people and, hopefully, hire you eventually.
You can pursue the whole extension thing while you look for other jobs.
We can do both just to cover all of our bases, but we can also get married, Eline.
You can move into the house, or I can move in here.
I don’t care. I said it wrong before: it would be real.
I’d want it to be real. I want you to be my wife, Eline.
I’ve wanted that since we both reached for that book. ”
“If you want that, then we have to do it the right way. I can’t just marry you, Arlowe. I want that romance. I want it because we’re both ready for that. I mean, I told you that I wasn’t even ready for us to make love again yet, and you’re proposing.”
“This isn’t the 1700s – we don’t have to sleep together on our wedding night to consummate our marriage, Eline. We need to do this to–”
“You can’t have it both ways, Arlowe. You can’t tell me that it’s real and that you want me to be your wife, but then say that we’re just doing this now to let me stay in the country.
I’d rather go home. I’d rather us be long-distance until I can get back here, and if we decide to do that as an engaged couple, we do. ”
“You’d rather be in a long-distance relationship with me than marry me?”
“Because of the circumstances, yes,” she said.
Arlowe nodded.
“Babe, I–” She walked to her and took Arlowe’s hands in her own, letting them dangle between them. “I’m falling in love with you again. I want all the things that you want.”
“And I am in love with you again,” Arlowe said. “But I always have been.”
“I know, but we’re still getting to know each other now. I believe that you and I are meant to be. Do you believe that?”
“Yes,” Arlowe replied.
“Do you believe that we’ll get married one day?”
“Yes,” Arlowe answered.
“Then, we should try to do what we can to keep me here, but I don’t want us to get married until we are both ready for that.”
“I understand, but I just got you back, Eline. Now, you might have to leave, and as much as I want what you want, I don’t see the harm in us doing this to keep you here.
We had an existing relationship, and we have evidence of it, so they should believe that when you moved here, we restarted this and wanted to get married. We–”
“Arlowe, no,” Eline stated, dropping her hand.
“Okay. Fine,” Arlowe replied, but she was clearly upset.
“Let it out,” she encouraged. “I know you have something you want to say.”
“No, it’s fine. You’ve made your decision.” Arlowe ran a hand through her hair. “I have to accept it. It’s whatever. We’ll do whatever you want, and I’ll drop you off at the airport if the time comes. Then, we’ll plan a trip for me to visit and just take it from there.”
“You’re angry.”
“I’m upset. We should just eat dinner.”
“We should keep talking,” Eline replied.
“Fine, but… not about this, okay?”
“Arlowe…”
“You might think it was just a… proposal of convenience, but it was still a proposal of sorts, so I don’t really want to talk about it. Just… tell me about the jobs you applied to or something. Our food is getting cold.”