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He walked away as he talked to their editor, pacing back and
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forth. Mara thought she heard him raising his voice, but she bit her lip and focused on the departures board, patiently waiting until he came back.
She watched as David snapped the phone shut and walked back to her, his brow wrinkled again. "What did they say?"
"Well, it's sort of complicated." David looked down and started to play with the tag on Mara's luggage. "It's Saturday, and the post office is closed. So the earliest you can get it renewed is Monday, which means the earliest we can leave is Tuesday. We're supposed to have covered Brussels and be in Madrid by then."
"So . . . what does that mean exactly?" Mara wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer.
"The three days throw off their schedule completely. Everything's already pre-booked. And they've got someone who can cover for you. She's already in Brussels." David put a hand on her arm. "Mara, I'm sorry, but. . . they fired you."
Mara felt the tears start to bubble up in her eyes. He brought her in for a hug, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist.
"How could they?" she whispered, nuzzling David's shoulder. She stepped back and shook her shoulders, trying to regroup. They could still have a great summer. They were together, and that was all that mattered. "Well, it's not the end of the world. . . . We can still travel Europe together . . . and now we don't have to stay in all those dumpy hostels!" She looked up at David, hoping to find him smiling.
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Instead, he looked worried. He glanced down at his watch.
"You can't be serious," she said flatly, realizing there was only one reason he'd be checking the time.
"Mar--"
"I mean, you're still thinking of going? After they fired me for a tiny little mistake?" She felt herself go pale with shock.
"I mean . . . it's sort of a big mistake, Mar. And I did remind you to get your passport renewed," he pointed out. "About a hundred times."
"You know how busy I was!" Mara heard herself start to whine. "I had that story due for the magazine and my dinosaurs final!" Like many English majors, Mara was fulfilling Columbia's two-semester science requirement by taking a class on prehistoric reptiles. So far she'd only used the course information to compare her college acquaintances to the various species of dinosaurs. Her professor was a total stegosaurus--hunchbacked and scaly.
"Mar, I'm really sorry. But you know this is a huge opportunity for me. ... If I want to get a job at the Times after graduation, they're really going to look at what I did with my summers. I'd be writing a whole book!"
"It's a guidebook," Mara corrected, feeling herself start to pout.
"It's a start." He checked his watch again. "Look, if I don't go now, I'll miss my flight."
"It was our flight just a few seconds ago," Mara said, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice.
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"I know this totally blows, but I swear, if you were in the same position, I would understand. I wouldn't want you to miss out on this chance." He grabbed her hand, his eyes pleading. "Please, Mara. Its something I really feel I need to do."
"If it were me, you'd just let me go?" Mara asked skeptically.
David shrugged. "I would never get in the way of your dreams." He looked down at the floor again. "You know, maybe part of you just didn't want this that much. I mean, if you had, you would have remembered to renew your passport, right?" He looked up and into her eyes, and she watched him transform from loving boyfriend to ambitious young writer. "This is a job, Mara, not a vacation. Maybe you're just . . . not cut out to be a journalist."
Mara was speechless. Didn't want this that much? She was the one who had found the listing on the college job board! The one who had hounded the two of them to apply! She was the one who'd never been to Europe before!
David rocked back and forth on his New Balance sneakers, waiting for her to say something.
She sighed. "Go," she said finally.
"Yeah?" He tilted his head and looked into her eyes. "You're okay, right?"
"Just go, David." She nodded, a defeated half smile curving her lips. He was right. She didn't want to stand in the way of his dreams, and it was her fault for not being more responsible. It was totally unfair that one little mistake would cost her an entire
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