“I love you too. What else?”
“Then…” Rowan stopped abruptly at their gate and turned toward Juniper. “I’m going to show you the city the way I loved to see it.”
Juniper compressed what Rowan knew was a giddy smile into a regular one. “Yeah, I want to do that too.”
They settled into their seats at their gate. Rowan wrapped her arm around Juniper’s shoulders, and Juniper nuzzled into Rowan’s body to rest. Rowan rested her cheek on Juniper’s head and alternated between keeping an eye on their flight status and mentally reviewing their presentation until her cell phone buzzed in her lap. She turned it over to see an unknown New York City area code and answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Rowan! It’s Kevin.”
Kevin?
Juniper stirred next to her and sat up.
“Hey… Kevin. How can I help you?”
Kevin chuckled. “I saw you’re presenting at theInternational Indigenous Peoples’ Forum.”
Though not a question, his tone was expectant, so she supplied a confused answer. “Yes, with my partner, Juniper Banks.”
“That’s great. Everyone at the organization is excited to hear you both speak. Hey, do you have a minute?”
Still confused, she mumbled, “Sure.”
She removed the arm she’d hand around Juniper’s shoulders, balanced her phone against her ear, and held up a finger to indicate she’d step away for a moment. She weaved through passengers already lining up to board, leaned against a column across the walkway, and tucked one hand in her pocket. She grabbed hold of her phone again.
“I know it’s been so long since we talked, but I wanted to let you know we finally got all the moving pieces figured out and would love for you to come work for us.”
Rowan’s mouth fell open. She’d completely forgotten about that job interview.
“I thought maybe we could talk about the details more in person.”
“Uh, sure.”
Rowan tried to shake the fog from her brain. Maybe there’d be an opportunity to do something remotely. She could try to negotiate a smaller consultant role; keep herself more on the pulse of international work to better fulfill her obligations as a board member for Climate Justice Collective.
“Now boarding group 3. Group 3, you may now board Flight 2898 to JFK - New York City.”
As the gate agent announced their group, she watched Juniper stand up, shove Rowan’s book and water back into her bag, and attempt to grab both of their bags for them. Juniper smiled and waved her over. She mouthed ‘it’s our time.’
“Sorry, Kevin, my flight is boarding. Let’s connect after the conference. I’m going to be really busy.”
“Hey, no problem. We totally understand. If we don’t see you there, we’ll talk soon.”
Rowan hung up and stared down at her phone for a few seconds before pocketing it and joining Juniper. She slid her backpack from Juniper’s arm and stood behind her in line to scan their tickets.
“Who was that?” Juniper asked as she angled her head to look at Rowan.
“Someone from an environmental organization.”
“Yours?”
“No, a different one.”
Rowan wasn’t meaning to be coy, it just wasn’t the moment to have this full-on conversation about how she’d interviewed for another job only a month after moving home. Especially since the main reason she’d done it was because she’d realized she had already started falling for Juniper. Then, she’d risked falling into her old pattern of running away when things were too difficult. Now, she couldn’t bear the mere thought of losing Juniper.
“Another cryptic phone call?” Juniper’s tone was innocuous, but it still pulled at something deep within Rowan’s subconscious.
