Page 75 of Paradigm

“You see about that, and we’ll take the necessary steps after that,” her dad said as if he’d be the one doing any of this.

“Yeah, you’re right. I should get going. I need to look for every single job that I’m qualified for and just start applying, even if there’s no hope.”

“Why are you so insistent on staying there?” her mom asked. “I don’t understand.”

“I told you, I like it here.”

“Fine. Fine. I’ll leave it alone.”

Her father knew about Arlowe being here, which meant that he’d already told her mother, so Eline was surprised that neither of them had asked if Arlowe was the reason why she wanted to stay. She didn’t want them to think that because they wouldn’t understand, but she was grateful that neither of them had suggested it.

“I should get back to it now, but I wanted you both to know.”

“Please keep us updated. We’ll get your room ready just in case,” her mom said.

Eline knew better than to tell her mom not to do that because it wouldn’t change anything. Her mom was probably carrying her phone to her old bedroom to strip the bed and wash the sheets as they spoke.

“I will. And thank you,” she replied. “I love you both.”

“We love you, too,” her father said.

“Yes,” her mother added.

Eline hung up the phone then and went to set it down, but before she could, she got a text message.

Arlowe Romano: Hey. How are you doing?

She smiled because, of course, Arlowe would check on her.

Eline Claasen: I just told my parents the news. They’re a little worried. No jobs applied for yet, but I’ve updated my resume, so that’s good.

Arlowe Romano: Babe, I just wanted to know how you were doing. I’m glad you updated your resume, but I want to know if you’re okay.

Eline Claasen: I’m okay. I’m a little lost because I’ve always had a job, but I’m okay.

Arlowe Romano: I’ll be there as soon as I can. Italian or Chinese? Honestly, you can ask me to bring whatever you want, and I will, but I thought I’d throw those options out there.

Eline Claasen: Whatever you want is fine with me, but if you get Italian, can you get extra garlic bread?

Arlowe Romano: No problem. I’ll see you soon.

Eline set her phone down and got back to work, applying for three jobs over the next hour and adding a few more to apply to later. Then, she finally got a response from the attorney, and he told her that he would need some more information to help her with the extension application, but that he was happy to help. He gave her a link to schedule an appointment, and she clicked it immediately and set a meeting for the next day. If she could get even a six-month extension, that would be a big help. A year would be better, she knew, but she’d settle for anything that was longer than fifty-eight days.

CHAPTER 23

Arlowe hadn’t been able to fall asleep as easily as Eline had, so she’d had hours to think and worry and process before she had finally fallen asleep. She’d also woken up early, remembering to turn off her own alarm, and then had taken a chance with Eline’s phone, expecting that she’d forgotten to disable her alarm now that she wouldn’t need it. The password that Arlowe had tried worked because either Eline had always had the same one, or she’d changed it back to her birthday upon their reconnection, but regardless of how long that had been the case, it had made her smile, and she’d planned on letting Eline sleep in as long as she could before she had to leave for work herself.

While on her drive to the house and then to the office, all she could think about was figuring this out. As a twenty-two-year-old, she hadn’t been able to figure out the distance between them, when everything with them had felt so epic and amazing but also impossible beyond her time in Amsterdam, but she was older and wiser now. She needed to solve this problem and keep Eline here. When she got to work, she immediately went to her first meeting, which Arlowe had no choice but to attend, but that didn’t mean she retained any of the information from it. She had even presented for a few minutes, but she had no memory of that presentation after. All she could think about was Eline and the risk of her leaving.

After that meeting had wrapped, Arlowe shook hands and forced smiles while they walked their guests out, but then, she headed to her office and started doing some research of her own. An hour or so later, she felt tired and needed some coffee, since she’d skipped it that morning, focusing on what Eline needed more than anything she might need, so she got up and went to the kitchen to make herself a cup.

“Hey, do you have a minute?” she asked Sarai and Enya when she saw them in there.

“What’s up?” Sarai asked.

“Can we go into a conference room? I’ll grab Violet.”

“Sure. I’ll get us a room,” Enya replied. “Is everything okay, though?”