Page 119 of Paradigm

“You didn’t turn in your code until last night. I’d say you’re the one who cut things close, Romano.”

Eline leaned over in her uncomfortable airport chair and kissed Arlowe on the lips.

“I am glad you found yet more of my mistakes, but I’m ready to not work for the next two weeks.”

“So unlike you, but I love it,” Eline said, opening her laptop back up. “And I’m going to turn it off, so don’t close it on my fingers, please.”

“I won’t. I love your fingers. I want to protect them and keep them safe.”

“Oh, yeah?” Eline teased, closing the laptop lid again. “How do you plan to do that?”

“I was thinking we’d just keep them stowed in certain places.”

Eline laughed and put her computer inside her bag at her feet. They’d been together for a year now and living together at the house since Eline’s visa had gotten approved and she’d moved in, and even though Enya still lived there, the two of them really felt like they had their own place with how quiet Enya was and how much she usually kept to herself. It had been a nice test for them, and before they’d left on their trip, Arlowe had sat Enya down and told her that they were going to get their own place when they came back.

Their plan was to rent a two-bedroom apartment near the office while they saved up for a house of their own one day, but eventually, they wanted to purchase at least a three-bedroom place so that they still had an office that they could share and a spare room that could become a nursery when they were ready. If they chose to later, their shared office could be converted into another bedroom, but that would be a big if since they were both thirty-five and hadn’t even started planning to have their first baby yet.

When they arrived in Amsterdam, Arlowe let Eline take the lead since she was much more familiar with getting from the airport to the train station and to the trams before they’d walk to their hotel room, which Eline had insisted on getting because she hadn’t wanted to stay with her parents for two weeks. Arlowe hadn’t argued about that, of course, and while Eline’s mother had, it had been easy enough to convince her that this was their one and only vacation this year, so they wanted to have a space of their own. Having checked into their hotel, they’d dropped off their bags upstairs and decided to go out for dinner right after so that they could be in for the rest of the night and get some much-needed sleep because they were meeting Eline’s parents at their home the next morning for a breakfast, which would be more of a brunch, and they both wanted to be well-rested for that.

Their dinner had been in some place Eline had taken her to that only locals really knew about, and it had been pizza with Japanese beer for some reason, but Arlowe liked both the pizza and the beer, and after that, they’d taken a walk by a canal, just enjoying being back in the place where they had met. Both of them had been way too tired to do anything but shower when they returned, so they’d done that together before they’d climbed into the full bed, laughing about Eline’s old apartment and Arlowe’s old dorm room twin bed because now, they had a king bed at home with a lot more room. Arlowe didn’t mind snuggling up with Eline, though, and they’d done so all night – well, until Eline had gotten too hot and pushed her away, which Arlowe was used to.

When they woke up the next morning, they rushed to get ready because neither of them had thought to set an alarm, and it was already nine. They were supposed to be at Eline’s parents’ place at ten and had to take two trams to get there, so they hurried out of the room and into the elevator, where Arlowe pressed Eline to the side wall and kissed her.

“Since I won’t get to do this for a while today,” she said and pressed her lips back against Eline’s.

“I like the way you think,” Eline replied, pulling Arlowe back in for more kisses until the elevator dinged and the doors opened. “Hold that thought. I’ll be more awake tonight.”

They made their way to the tram stop, and four stops on one tram and three on another later, they were at Eline’s parents’ house, being greeted by the ecstatic parents who had missed their daughter.

“Arlowe, so good to see you,” Eline’s mom said.

“You too, Mrs. Claasen,” Arlowe replied, pulling out of the hug. “Mr. Claasen.”

She nodded at the man who had just pulled out of a hug with his daughter.

“Arlowe, how are you coming along with that algorithm for me?”

“Dad, we just got here,” Eline replied with a laugh. “Let the woman breathe.”

“Coffee?” Eline’s mom asked.

Twenty minutes later, Arlowe had walked Eline’s father through the algorithm that she had been working on for the math’s portion of their app, which wouldn’t likely roll out for another six to nine months. He’d seemed impressed, which had made Arlowe happy, and when he went into the kitchen to finish up cooking the food, Arlowe followed him, leaving Eline and her mother in Eline’s old room, going through some of Eline’s things that her mother thought she might want to take back with her at the end of the trip.

“Mr. Claasen?” she said.

“Yes?”

“I was hoping to ask you a question while I’m here.”

He stopped stirring and turned to her.

“I was expecting this.”

“You were?”

“Yes, I was. Her mother was, too. You’ve been together for what, a year now? And time before that as well?”

“Yes, Sir,” she replied. “And I have a ring. I want to ask her while we’re here so that we can all celebrate together before we go home.”