CHAPTER 31
Arlowe sat on the train next to her girlfriend, who had her head against her shoulder and her arm through Arlowe’s.
They’d just said that they loved each other again for the first time in forever, and now, they were going to Eline’s apartment, which would be Arlowe’s home for the next couple of months.
Making this whole thing happen had been chaotic and intense at times.
First, she’d had to get all of Eline’s stuff out of the apartment, pay the cleaning person she had hired, and hand over the keys to the landlord.
She’d also had everything cleaned up in the garage in order to make room for Eline’s stuff, and that had taken most of the first day after she’d made the decision to come here.
The next day, she had spent working with Mitchell and Clay on how to handle things while she was away and interviewing three more candidates for Eline’s job.
She’d felt bad with each interview, but she’d been taking them seriously and had logged details on everyone she talked to, thinking that not only did she need to be thorough for the government, but if the candidates were good, they might want to hire them later.
The day after that had been much the same, but she’d booked her flight and sent Enya her portion of the rent for the next two months to make sure that she wouldn’t forget and end up leaving Enya in a lurch.
Then, the packing, sorting, and repacking had started.
All of that had been done around her talks with Eline every night Eline’s time, which was early her time, so they would talk briefly then, and then again during the night for Arlowe.
She’d spent all her spare time getting ahead at work, making sure Gabi was in the loop on anything she might need to do or know about, so she hadn’t slept much and was exhausted now with the jet lag, but she’d never been happier. It was all absolutely worth it.
When they’d gotten off the train that had taken them from Schiphol Airport to Amsterdam Centraal, the city’s largest depot on the water in the historic part of town, Arlowe couldn’t believe that she was back in the place where they’d met, and if they hadn’t had to lug all of her bags, she would have requested that they stick in the city and walk around it for a minute to take it all in.
Instead, they’d changed to a tram at the stop nearby and managed to find just enough space for themselves and her bags.
They’d had to transfer trams once, which had been annoying, given all her luggage, but they’d loaded her bags up again and about ten minutes later, Eline told Arlowe that this was their stop.
The neighborhood was over by the university that they had attended together and now where Eline’s father worked, as well as the professor Eline currently worked for, so Arlowe had walked these streets before, but it was a far cry from her dorm room or Eline’s old apartment, which hadn’t been in a nice neighborhood at all.
Arlowe got off the tram first, and Eline passed her the bags before hopping off herself.
Then, they pulled the bags about half a block down the road, and Arlowe was glad that it wasn’t the dead of winter because this would’ve been a lot harder to do then.
“So, I’m on the third floor, and there’s no elevator,” Eline told her when they turned toward the door to her building.
“What? Why didn’t you tell me that?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t think about it.”
“Eline, I could have brought, like, one bag and had the rest of the stuff shipped or just bought some here. I’m already sweating from carrying all of it this far.”
“You’re sexy when you sweat,” Eline said with a wink.
Arlowe hadn’t expected that, and it had her swallowing, but then she decided to pull off the light sweater that she’d needed for the flight and tie it around her waist instead, leaving her in a short-sleeved scoop-neck T.
Eline pushed open the green front door and turned just in time to see her lift one of her bags the few stairs in front of her.
“Oh.”
“Like what you see?” Arlowe teased as she set the bag down and flexed her small muscles.
“Yes,” Eline said. “I’ll get this one upstairs, unlock the door, and come back.”
Arlowe laughed and lugged the other bags inside, closing the door behind her. It felt like hours but was probably only ten minutes later that they had all of her stuff upstairs and inside Eline’s apartment.
“Well, what do you think?” Eline asked after she closed and locked the door. “Please keep in mind that I didn’t decorate it.”
“Wow! It’s nice,” she replied as she went to remove her sweater from her waist and lay it over a chair by the table in the small kitchen that was just inside the door.
“I know it’s way smaller than what you’re used to back home, but it’s good for just us, don’t you think?”
The living room was straight ahead and had a small sofa with a modest TV on a stand across from it, along with a table in the middle. There was some pretty standard artwork on the walls and a big window that faced out to the street.
“The bedroom is just through there, and the bathroom is in the bedroom, so this is pretty much it. Tell me you like it, because if you don’t, I–”
“Babe, it’s great,” she interrupted. “You know I don’t need much.”
“But this place could probably fit inside your entire bedroom.”
“I don’t think that’s true, and it’s fine, Eline. It’s much better than my dorm room or your old apartment.”
“Right, but we’re both going to be working from home.”
Arlowe turned and pulled Eline into her.
“How is that any different than us studying together on my twin bed? Besides, if I bother you, you can just kick me out, and I’ll go work at a café or something.”
She kissed Eline quickly.
“You won’t bother me. I’m so happy you’re here, Arlowe.”
Eline kissed her this time.
“Me too, but I feel gross, so is there any chance that this tour can take me in the direction of a shower?”
“Yes.” Eline nodded. “You can borrow my stuff for now until you get unpacked.”
Eline pulled her down a short hallway and into the bedroom after she pointed out that the door across from the bedroom was a small storage closet where the water heater was also located.
“Okay. So, this is our room,” Eline told her, motioning around the space.
“A full bed, huh? We’ll have to snuggle real close every night,” she said before she kissed Eline on the neck.
“Pity,” Eline joked, which made Arlowe laugh.
“Give me ten minutes, and I’ll be right out.”
Arlowe hooked her thumb toward the bathroom.
“Okay. Are you hungry?” Eline asked.
“No, I ate on the plane. If you want to get something, though, we can. I got a second wind, and I think I should probably try to stay up until it’s bedtime anyway to help me adjust.”
“Shower, and we’ll figure it out,” Eline said.
Arlowe gave her a quick kiss and moved into the bathroom, where she started the water and found a towel on the sink that, she guessed, was for her.
She stripped, leaving her dirty clothes on the toilet lid to deal with later, and hopped inside the shower, where she found soap and shampoo waiting for her.
Not wanting to leave Eline waiting long and also wanting to get back to her as quickly as possible, she hurried through her shower, and just as she was about to turn off the water, she heard something.
“Hey. Not looking… Just forgot if there was a towel in here for you.”
The shower door was glass and, therefore, see-through. Arlowe turned off the water and wiped the excess off her face before she looked at the door that was a few inches open in the other direction, facing away from her.
“There’s a towel. I’m good.”
“Okay. Yeah. Just checking.”
“Do you want to dry me off?” she asked and had to laugh when she heard Eline’s hand slip off the doorknob.
“Um… Sorry. What?” Eline asked.
“I’m standing here dripping wet. I thought you could maybe take care of that for me.”
“Arlowe…”
Arlowe swallowed and stepped out of the shower before she picked the towel off the sink and stood in front of the door, where she held the towel out for Eline to take.
“I told you that I was ready,” she said softly.
Eline’s hand reached for and took the towel, and Arlowe waited. Then, the door opened a little more, and Eline stood there, holding the towel tightly in one hand.
“You are?” Eline asked her, staring at the shower and not at all at her, which had Arlowe smirking.
“Look at me,” she said.
Eline met her eyes.
“I don’t want this because we’re trying to squeeze something in before either of us has to leave. I want this because I want you. I love you. I’m ready.”
“Oh, you’re…” Eline dropped the towel to the floor when she finally allowed herself to look down Arlowe’s body. “You’re so beautiful.”
Arlowe took a step toward her and said, “We can wait if you need to.”
“No. No more waiting,” Eline replied.
“Yeah?” Arlowe asked, hopeful.
Eline nodded as she continued to take her in.
“You like what you see there, Claasen?” she teased as a way to help with her nervousness.
“You’re still so…” Eline ran her fingertips over her still-wet skin between her breasts. “Just… mine.”
Arlowe took Eline’s hand that had been on her chest and brought it to her lips where she kissed each fingertip, one by one, as she stared into Eline’s eyes.
“Take a step back, babe.”
“No. I want to move toward you, not away from you.”
“And I’d like us to be in our bedroom, as you called it, not the bathroom.”
Arlowe moved toward Eline, who took a few steps back, and they kept moving until they were both in the bedroom. Eline reached for the hem of her sweater, but Arlowe put her own hands on top of Eline’s.
“No, let me. Please.”
“Okay,” Eline said softly.
Arlowe swallowed and, in some ways, felt twenty-two again as she lifted Eline’s sweater over her head, revealing a T?shirt beneath. She moved her hand back down to lift it up and over Eline’s head, too, and left her girlfriend in only her bra.
“I should… I’m still in my socks.”