CHAPTER 35
“It’s still being reviewed,” Eline said, closing her laptop. “It’s been six weeks. You’ve been here for seven.”
“I know,” she replied, wrapping an arm around Eline’s shoulders.
Eline looked over at her and said, “I know you booked your flight for next week, but maybe you could push it back?”
“Push it back how far?”
“Another week or two,” Eline replied. “Maybe it’ll be further along by then. It’s just been sitting in the same status for the past three weeks.”
“Okay. Well, let’s talk it through,” she suggested as they sat on the sofa together.
“If I extend my trip, that would give us fewer days together later if I have to come back. I’ll do it, if you want, but I also have to get back to work, babe.
The company attorney said that it would be harder for you to come and go, too, so he recommended that you not come back until it’s approved just in case. ”
“I know…”
“And I can’t exactly stay here longer than ninety days in six months unless I get a residence permit and something called an authorization for temporary stay to enter the country.”
“I know,” Eline repeated. “I did the research, too.”
“I just want us to talk it through because this is our reality, whether we like it or not. I can ask Violet and everyone if I can stay longer, but there are things going on back there that would be a lot easier if I were at home and in the office. We’ve got hardware prototypes going out to test, and I haven’t been as productive here as I’d like due to the time zones and my lack of sleep because someone loves keeping me awake.
” Arlowe smiled over at her. “I don’t mind at all, but it means that we’re behind at work because of me. ”
“I know,” Eline repeated.
“I can go and come right back if you want; stay there for a couple of weeks, which would still give us some time together here if we need later. I’ll even apply for whatever a residence thingy is if you want, but the lawyer also said that that might confuse USCIS if they see it on their end.
I don’t know how they would put it together, but maybe they would somehow because your work visa is through my company, so they could question why I’m applying to live here with you if you’re applying to work for my company there. ”
“I know,” Eline said again and sighed, leaning into her side. “You’re right. You should leave next week.”
“Do you want me to book something to come back before I go?”
“No, let’s wait. It’s been six weeks. If the status doesn’t change at two months, we’ll talk about what to do next. Maybe it’ll update, and we’ll be fine. I’m starting to regret not taking you up on that proposal, though.”
Arlowe chuckled and said, “Oh, yeah? What happened to wanting all that romance?”
“I wanted the timing and the reasoning to be right.”
Eline laughed a little and patted Arlowe on the stomach.
“I know,” Arlowe said this time. “We have to just keep hoping that your work visa will be approved and soon. Violet said that the lawyer did the best he could to make you sound like a badass that we’d be fools not to hire and that you would bring something unique to the company that we can’t get in the US. ”
“I wish that that were true. I still feel guilty about making people interview for a job they won’t get just so that I can.”
“You know, I talked to Gabi, Mitch, and Clay yesterday, and we all agreed that you were the best candidate for the job. Mitch and Clay didn’t even know who you were when you interviewed, so that means something.
Anyway, we were going over our hiring numbers for the year, and we’re probably going to hire at least four new US-based engineers.
Two will be junior roles, maybe three, so I don’t know if any of these people would be interested, but we have five candidates in mind other than you, whom we actually liked out of all the people we interviewed, so we’re going to reach out to them when we post those roles.
Then, we’re still adding internationally, so assuming that goes well, I might need another manager for that team, too, and one of them might be a good fit for that job.
So, it won’t be perfect, and they might all have other jobs by then, but I can at least try. ”
“You’re a good person, Arlowe Romano.”
Eline kissed her on the cheek.
“Well, I did still have a lot of people interview for a job they weren’t going to get, so hold that thought.”
“We do what we have to do for the ones we love, don’t we?” Eline asked.
“We do,” Arlowe confirmed. “And I’ll have to start packing soon, so I’ll need to untangle my stuff from yours in the wardrobe.”
“Look at you, calling it a wardrobe like a regular European,” Eline teased.
Arlowe smiled at her at first, but then she reached over and tickled Eline on her stomach, which she knew was one of Eline’s most ticklish spots.
“I’ve lived in Europe for a total of seven months in my life. I should get a little credit,” she said and playfully pushed Eline down on the sofa before she climbed on top of her and continued to tickle her under her shirt.
Eline laughed as she tried to swipe at her hands, but she wasn’t putting in any real effort.
Arlowe knew that Eline always wanted her hands on her, even if they were making her laugh because she was being relentlessly tickled.
She looked down at Eline, and her hands stopped moving.
She held herself up above the woman she loved and stared at her, earning that soft smile and those kind eyes that she’d always loved.
“I’m so glad that I took a chance on a semester abroad,” she stated.
“Oh, baby. Me too.”
Eline cupped her cheek gently and wrapped her other hand around Arlowe’s back to hold her in place.
“I never told you this back then because it didn’t matter, and I was head over heels in love with you, so I never regretted my decision, but I had the chance to do this whole internship thing my senior year.
It was at Stanford, and I could’ve completed coursework and done the internship at the same time. ”
“What?”
“School was annoying, but not hard for me; at least, not my engineering courses. I was doing really well, and a professor recommended me for this program that was designed to help prepare people like me for the world of work. It’s pretty well known at home.
They only accepted five people a year, but I got in. ”
“What happened? Why didn’t you go?”
“I had another professor who was Dutch. He grew up here and went to school here. He suggested that I apply for the program because he knew the person in charge of admissions and said it would help me in the long run.”
“So, you chose Amsterdam?”
“I wanted to come here, I guess. I thought it would be a better experience for me. I was already working on my own stuff, freelancing. I wanted to still be in school and not join the workforce just yet, so I chose here. I actually know two other people who got into that program that year just through certain circles. One of them gave up engineering altogether and runs some Etsy shop now. The other one still works in software but is a director at a massive corporation. I didn’t want either of those things.
I know that’s a small sample set, but I learned a lot here.
On top of that, I met my friends here, and now we have a whole business that’s really starting to kick ass.
So, even if I hadn’t met you, I still wouldn’t have regretted it, but that trip to the bookstore that day is the best day of my whole life, Eline. ”
“Mine too,” Eline said. “I love you.”
“I love you,” Arlowe replied, lowering herself down to kiss her softly, and Eline had to know what was about to happen next.
They were both done with work for the day, so they’d just been checking the status of her visa, which they’d done daily as a new ritual that Arlowe hoped would end soon, but after that, they either would’ve made dinner or gone out for it.
Then, they would have walked a little bit before returning home and maybe having a small snack before spending time cuddled up on the sofa, talking or watching something on TV in Dutch since Arlowe was trying to learn the language.
She’d also started taking Dutch lessons in her own app to improve her comprehension, and her goal was to be able to talk to Eline and her parents in their native language one day, which she knew Eline appreciated.
They would be skipping the dinner for now, though, because Eline had clearly recognized the look in Arlowe’s eyes just before the kiss, and she had returned it with a look of her own that Arlowe had known all too well because when Eline looked at her like that, it usually meant that she was about to show her just how much she loved her, but Arlowe wanted to show Eline the same first.
She pulled out of the kiss to lift herself and remove her shirt, and Eline’s hands went immediately to her stomach as Arlowe pulled off her sports bra. She nodded for Eline to do the same next, so Eline lifted herself a bit, removed her shirt, and let Arlowe unclasp and pull off her bra.
Arlowe was wearing a pair of Eline’s sleep pants, so she stood up and pulled them off.
Her underwear came along with them, and she watched Eline taking her in for a moment before her focus returned to getting Eline naked as well, and once she had Eline’s pants and bikinis off, she climbed back on top of her.
“You know what I’m looking forward to about us living in the US?” she asked as she settled her hips between Eline’s legs.
“What?”
“Bigger everything,” she replied. “Much bigger sofa that we can both fit on and do more of this without your leg hanging over the side.”
Eline laughed a little and looked down at her right leg, which had to dangle over the side of the sofa in order to give Arlowe space.
“I want to be able to lie behind you and hold you while we watch TV together, or just hold each other without one of us having to bend in uncomfortable shapes.”
“That’s what you’re looking forward to?”
Arlowe went serious and said, “I’m also looking forward to us living together one day.” She rolled her hips down into Eline’s center. “Maybe even buying a house instead of renting.”
Eline wrapped her arms around Arlowe’s neck and replied, “Before I left, you said something about me getting my own place when I come back with my new visa.”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“Arlowe, I don’t want to find a new apartment. I will if you really want me to do that, but I want to stay at the house with you. I know it’s your place with Enya, and she’d have to agree, too, but until we can find a place of our own or take those other steps, I still want to live with you.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t seem sure before, which is why I said what I said then.”
“I know. But we’ve lived together for almost two months here, and it’s a pretty small apartment. I know we can be okay living together now.”
“If you’re ready, I’m ready,” she said.
“You’ll talk to Enya?”
“She won’t care, but yeah, I’ll talk to her,” she replied. “I can talk to her right now, if you want. I have no idea what time it is there, but she’s probably awake.”
“No!” Eline exclaimed and moved her hands to Arlowe’s ass, which she pressed down into her. “I wouldn’t want to take the chance and wake her up.”
Arlowe smirked down and said, “Oh, that’s what you’re worried about? Waking Enya?”
“Yes, I’m a very considerate person, Arlowe. You should know that.”
“So considerate that you’re going to let me touch you because you know how good it makes me feel to make you come?” she asked.
“I am just that considerate, yes,” Eline teased.
Arlowe rolled down into her and asked, “So, do I need to get you going a little, or–”
“No,” Eline interjected. “I got ready the moment you took your bra off.”
Arlowe laughed softly, leaned down, and kissed her.
A few minutes later, she slipped her hand between Eline’s legs and felt how wet she was for her.
She would miss this in their upcoming time apart.
She knew that Eline would be okay with phone or video sex because they’d talked about it, but that would in no way be the same as how good it felt to push inside Eline’s warmth and feel how turned on she was for her touch.
It also could never compare to how good it felt to kiss her through an orgasm, feeling Eline arch and twitch beneath her as she came, watch her mouth open and remain that way until she came down, and then press herself to Eline’s body and listen to her breathing return to normal.
Nothing on earth could compare to any of that, and Arlowe tried not to focus on that thought and instead, remain in the moment, where Eline was coming down from her orgasm, rubbing her hands over Arlowe’s back and still pulsing inside.
Arlowe knew that because she hadn’t yet removed her fingers, and if she didn’t want to be able to do this again in the next few minutes, she would’ve kept her cramping wrist in the same position, but she did, so she waited for Eline’s tremors to subside and pulled out of her, resting her hand on Eline’s thigh, which was still dangling over the edge of the sofa.
“Arlowe?”
“Hmm…” she mumbled against Eline’s neck.
“You know how we could solve this whole sofa problem?”
“How?”
“We could go to the bedroom, where we have a bed.”
Arlowe laughed and kissed her on the neck.
“I always knew you were smart,” she teased.
Then, she got up, pulled Eline with her, and with their clothes still on the floor, they walked into their bedroom that would soon only be Eline’s bedroom.
Eline wanted her to lie back, so she did, and she waited for her girlfriend to climb on top of her, but Eline moved to lie next to her instead.
Eline’s hand slipped into her folds, though, and she began stroking.
“I want to watch you,” she said.
Arlowe nodded and let Eline’s touch take her over the edge for the first time that night.