Chapter Twelve
Morning came too soon, and I was exhausted since we had barely slept. Throughout the night, we would sleep for a bit until one of us woke up, and awakened the other with our hands and mouth. It had been a magical and soul-satisfying night, but now I was waking up with aches in muscles I didn’t even know existed.
“I feel like my body has gone through the wringer,” I groaned, as I propped myself up on the bed.
“Sorry,” Jason said, although his wry grin didn’t seem to be too apologetic. “Blame it on me being an energetic youth.”
I laughed, leaning over to kiss him. It felt amazing to wake up together. It was also amazing to shower together, and I felt a deep happiness and contentment settle over me. We took turns washing each other, and we soon drifted into other activities, taking a much longer shower than I had anticipated. My fingers and toes were all wrinkly by the time we got out.
After a relaxing breakfast, we left the hotel. When we got to my house, it was almost physically painful to part with Jason, but we made plans to meet up again later in the day. The first thing I did when I got inside was drop into bed and take a much needed nap.
When I woke up, the first thing I did was call Chloe. Chloe and I had promised that we would tell each other first when we lost our virginity. I had already heard all about Chloe’s experience at the end of her freshman year in college, when she started dating her still current boyfriend. I kept my end of our promise and told her it had finally happened. She squealed and demanded I tell her everything, although I was a bit less forthcoming with the details than she had been when she told me about her first time.
I was grateful that Chloe and I had kept our friendship throughout college, even though we were far apart. We had spoken on the phone all the time during our freshman year, but the calls had become less and less frequent as college went on, and we both became busy. Especially Chloe, since she was super involved in school activities and had started a serious relationship at the end of her freshman year with Gareth. Since her college was close to her grandparents, she didn’t always come home for the holidays and school breaks. Even though it was currently spring break, she was still in Florida staying with her grandparents. But we had our summers together. It was like time had never passed when we were together. Even during the school year, if we hadn’t talked in over a month, when we called each other, it was like no time had passed. And we still made sure we kept each other informed about important milestones in our lives. I had called her to tell her about Jason showing back up in my life, and she had called me when her boyfriend, Gareth, pinned her with his fraternity pin.
Spring break flew by and soon we were back in classes. Life pretty much settled back to normal, but I couldn’t help smiling to myself at random times as I remembered that night in the hotel room. Sometimes I would look at Jason and blush as I remembered what it felt like to have him inside me. I knew Jason could tell what I was thinking about by the lascivious grin he would give me in return.
If Shelby noticed us acting differently at all, she never said anything. She and I were walking across campus, idly talking about weekend plans, when she suddenly stopped and turned to me.
“I didn’t want to bring it up, since I knew it was probably difficult for you,” she said, her expression turning serious. “But do you know if Jason is going to accept the job offer?”
I looked at Shelby, completely confused. I had no idea what she was talking about.
“What job offer?”
Shelby’s face grew pale. “Has Jason not told you?” Shelby bit her lip, looking troubled. “I’m so sorry. I assumed he had told you about it.”
“About what?” I asked. I was starting to get alarmed. What did I not know?
“Jason got a job offer from a biotechnology company for after graduation. He’d be traveling to all different countries studying biofuels and environmental safety.” Shelby started speaking faster as she took in my confused expression. “The only reason I know about it is one of my theoretical calculus classmates was interviewing with the same company, and he told me that they were only offering the job to one candidate, and he found out it was a student named Jason Mayors. He didn’t realize that I knew who Jason was. Apparently, they offered him the job right before spring break.”
“Jason hasn’t said anything to me,” I said, not sure how I felt about it. It was Jason’s personal business, but I wondered why he hadn’t told me such good news.
“I’m so sorry,” Shelby said, looking crestfallen. “I shouldn’t have said anything. I just assumed you knew, and thought you would be having a hard time with Jason possibly leaving right after graduation.”
I shook my head. “I’m clueless. He’s supposed to leave after graduation?”
Shelby sighed. “I’m so dumb. Why did I say anything?” She glanced at me. “Supposedly, he’s supposed to fly to Argentina in June to start the job.”
I exhaled slowly. Is that why Jason hadn’t told me? Because he thought I would be upset that he had to leave for a job? Yes, I would miss him, but this sounded like Jason’s dream job. I would never want him to pass up on such an amazing opportunity just because I would miss him.
Shelby told me she didn’t know much more than that, and I had a hard time continuing on a normal conversation with her, because all I could think about was why Jason hadn’t told me. Shelby and I soon parted ways, and I went home. I knew Jason had a late class tonight, so I decided to wait until afterwards to talk to him.
I was counting the minutes until Jason’s class was over. He had texted me during class, and wanted to know if we could hang out afterwards. It was Thursday night, and he knew I had an early morning class on Friday, but he wanted to be able to see me for a bit. I agreed, because I thought I was going to burst from anxiety, not knowing why Jason hadn’t told me about his job opportunity.
Jason was all smiles when he picked me up at my house. He said his hellos to my mom and Keith, and then we walked out to his car.
“I’ve missed you,” he said when we got in the car. “I haven’t seen you since yesterday.”
I tried to smile back, but my insides were in turmoil. How was I going to bring up the topic of his job offer without sounding accusatory? I had to admit that I was hurt that he hadn’t told me, and I had to hear it from someone else.
Jason had suggested getting ice cream, and I was silent on the drive over, trying to figure out what to say. When Jason parked in front of the ice cream shop, I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I just blurted it out, because there was no other way about it.
“Why didn’t you tell me about your job offer?”
Jason turned the engine off and slowly turned to me, his expression unreadable. “Do you mean with Biotechnics Major?”
“I don’t know, are there any other job offers I don’t know about?” I didn’t mean to sound snide, but I was genuinely hurt.
Jason took a deep breath, closing his eyes briefly before opening them again. “How did you find out about it?”
“Are you serious?” My anger was mounting. “ That’s what you’re concerned about? How I found out?”
“Daphne, I’m sorry,” he said. He grabbed one of my hands, his expression sincere. “I didn’t know if it was even worth telling you, because I’m not accepting the job offer.”
My anger dissolved at his words. “Why not? It sounds like your dream job.”
Jason exhaled slowly, squeezing my hand gently. “At first, it was because of my mom. I didn’t want to be traveling while she was sick.”
“But she’s in remission now. She’s healthy. I bet she’d be upset if she knew you were turning down the job because of her, especially since she’s back to all her normal activities.”
“That was my initial reason for not wanting to take the job,” Jason explained. “But you’re right. My mom is healthy now and she would hate for me to pass up on this opportunity.” Jason sighed deeply. “But you don’t understand, Daphne. I wouldn’t just be traveling here and there for this job. I would be gone for a long time. I would be going to Argentina in June, and then it would be non-stop after that. I would probably be in Argentina for six months, and then straight away I would be going to Peru. And it’s endless after that. I probably wouldn’t be back in the states until after two or three years.”
I swallowed hard. This was more than I expected. I could handle Jason traveling, but I had assumed that I would still be able to see him. Two or three years gone? But Jason had told me about his dreams to be an environmental scientist, and he wanted to travel the world trying to come up with energy solutions that wouldn’t hurt our planet. Surely, even if he were gone for two or three years, we could figure out a way to still see each other.
“I know it’ll be hard for us,” I said, trying to push back my fears of Jason being gone. “But we could figure it out. Maybe I could come to visit you. I don’t know. But I do know that this sounds like a dream job for you.”
Jason pushed his hair back, making a sound of frustration. “Sure, it sounds like an amazing opportunity. But not at the expense of us being apart.” He grabbed my other hand, holding both of my hands in his, his expression earnest.
“Daphne, there will be other job opportunities. But I don’t want to leave you. This isn’t the right time. And it won’t be so easy for you to visit. It’s not like I’ll be staying in a city with hotels and airports. I’ll be in areas where hardly anyone is, in dense forests and jungles where I probably won’t even get reception, let alone be able to have visitors.” He paused, his expression tense. “Would you really be okay with not seeing me for three years?”
I didn’t know what to say. Of course I wouldn’t be okay. But I also wasn’t okay with Jason giving up this opportunity for me.
He seemed to read my mind. “I’m not doing this for you. I’m doing this for me. I’d go crazy not seeing you for so long. This is me being selfish, not me giving up something for you.”
I took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. I was so confused. What was the right answer?
“When do you have to tell them your decision by?” I asked.
Jason hesitated before answering. “I already declined the offer.”
“You should have still told me,” I said, trying not to show my relief. The truth was, I couldn’t imagine not seeing Jason for three years. It seemed unfathomable. Still, he should have told me. “If we’re going to be part of each other’s lives, we need to tell each other about the important things that happen.”
Jason squeezed my hands. “You’re right, I’m sorry. I should have told you.” He gave me a sweet smile. “Forgive me?”
I couldn’t resist his puppy dog look, and I laughed at him, giving him a quick kiss. Still, I couldn’t help feeling unsettled by him turning down his dream job, but I told myself it was because I had found out about everything so suddenly. I ignored the feeling as we got out of the car to go into the ice cream shop, and told myself to just enjoy the night with Jason.