Page 111 of Paradigm

“We’re not dating, Mom; we’re together. Arlowe is my girlfriend,” she replied, placing her hand on Arlowe’s lap.

“She was your girlfriend before, too.”

“Yes, she was,” Eline said, wondering what had gotten into her mother.

The woman hadn’t exactly been overjoyed when she’d told her about Arlowe on the phone, but she hadn’t expected her to act like this.

“And she is again. I suppose we’ll see.”

“What does that mean?” Arlowe asked, finally speaking up.

“That you were together once, and now, again, but we’ll have to see, won’t we?”

“What is there to see?” Arlowe asked.

“Where did you get these?” her dad asked about one of the appetizers that Eline had placed out for them before he took a bite.

“Albert Heijn,” she said of the grocery store.

“Eline lives here, and you live there. Nothing’s changed, and you ended things with her before for the same reason,” her mother answered Arlowe.

“I didn’t end things with Eline back then,” Arlowe said and looked over at Eline as if to ask her to back her up. “We made the decision together.”

“She’s right,” Eline added. “And you know the visa application has been submitted for me to return.”

“To work at Arlowe’s company? Is that even wise?” her father asked. “You have a job here.”

“A job that bores me to tears, that I can’t wait to quit?” she replied a little louder than she’d planned.

“What do you mean, you want to quit?” he asked, finally giving her more attention than the food.

“He might be a better coder than me. Did he happen to tell you that when he mentioned the job to you?”

“No, but he works in computer science, so–”

“He’s a nice man, but he has to check my work at the end of every day, so he gives me stopping points, and I can’t work ahead. I don’t want that. In Arlowe’s company, I’ll be an engineering manager, and my goal is to move back into QE shortly after.”

“Yes, but you and Arlowe would be a couple and working together. Wouldn’t that be too much?” her mother joined in.

“No,” Arlowe answered for both of them. “She wouldn’t report directly to me, but to someone else, and we can be professional and still love each other.”

“It’s a little too soon for all that,” Eline’s father said.

“For what?” Arlowe asked.

“Love. You just reconnected.”

“We’ve been together this time for two months and last time for five. I knew I loved her then, and I love her now,” Arlowe said.

“I knew it!” her mother stated, shaking her head. “Arlowe is the reason that you want to live there instead of here. You have a beautiful apartment in a nice neighborhood with a good job, Eline.”

Eline was now growing angrier by the minute, and Arlowe’s hand on her back helped calm her some, but not by much. She took a moment and cleared her throat.

“I am thirty-four years old. I’ll turn thirty-five soon, in fact.” She nodded once for good measure. “I love Arlowe. I want to move back to America. I want to work at her company and maybe stay there for a while, but if not, that’ll be fine, too, and Arlowe agrees with that.”

“But you’d need a work visa again,” her mother replied.

“I wouldn’t quit until–” she stopped and looked over at Arlowe, who gave her a smile. “Until we’re engaged or married. I’m not saying that’s happening tomorrow. If the visa gets approved, I’ll have three years and another three if I file for an extension. So, you don’t have to worry about me asking Arlowe to marry me tomorrow. But if I did, that would be my choice, and it would be Arlowe’s choice to say yes or no.”