Page 113 of Paradigm

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.