Mal set her keys down on the kitchen counter along with her purse and sighed, relieved to be back in her cozy apartment after a long day of work. "E, I'm home!" She yelled as she simultaneously picked up her non-stop buzzing phone to turn it on silent for the rest of the night. Mal yawned, setting her phone back down.
"Evie?" She followed the sounds of feet shuffling and mumbling coming from their bedroom down the hall and slowly popped her head into the doorway. "Eves?" The sudden voice startled her, stopping her pacing for a moment. "Mal! You scared me!" She gasped, clutching her hand to her chest. "I didn't think you'd be home so early."
"Early? Evie, it's 7:00 pm. I'm two hours late." Mal furrowed her brows and gave her girlfriend a confused look. Evie's eyes widened and she looked back to her phone that she's been griping like her life depended on it. "It's already seven? Oh my god. Oh no, no, no." She put her hand to her head and started to pace again.
"E…" Evie continued to pace. "Evie!" Mal grabbed Evie's phone and set it onto the bed face down as she took the taller girls hands into her own. "E, if you don't stop pacing you're gonna burn a hole in the carpet. Now tell me, what's going on? Did something happen?"
Evie relaxed at Mal's touch. "No um- I mean- yes? Yes." She sighed. "You know that promotion I was hoping to get?" Mal nodded. This could go in two very different directions. "Well… I got it."
Mal squealed, wrapping her arms around Evie. "E, that's amazing! I am so proud of you. Is that why you're so stressed out?"
"Not exactly." Mal pulled away. "Wait, what do you mean? I thought this was what you wanted." She looked up at Evie with concern in her eyes. "It was. It— It is." Mal shook her head, still clearly confused. "Then what's the probl—"
Evie cut her off before she could finish her sentence. "M, I would have to be relocated. The office is in London." Mal's grin dropped. "Oh." She sat down on the bed and Evie mirrored her movements.
"See, now you get why I was—"
"You have to go." Mal's green eyes bore into chocolate brown ones. "What? Mal…"
"Evie, I'm serious. This is what you've always dreamed of. You have to go. Please tell me you didn't say no because of me." Evie looked confused. Mal wanted her to go? She pulled herself out of her thoughts, "I told them I'd have to think about it. They gave me until tomorrow. That's why I was stressing about the time…"
Mal took Evie's hand again. Tears were forming in both of their eyes. "M, I—I don't understand. You want me to go? What about the gallery and your art shows?" Mal squeezed her hand and gave her a sad smile and Evie knew what she was going to say. "Baby, you know I can't go too."
"Well if you're not going, I'm not taking the job."
"No… Evie, this job is all you've been talking about for the past 6 months. Finally being a big brand name designer. That's your dream, you told me yourself! I'm not gonna let you miss out on this because of me."
"But what about us?" Evie sniffled and Mal wiped a tear from her girlfriend's cheek and leaned in until their foreheads were touching. "I love you, Evie, so much. Even if we're apart for a while that's not going to change. We'll figure it out. Please, you have to go. Don't let me get in the way of your dreams." Evie nodded, her eyes shut tight. "I love you too."
It took another hour but Evie finally called and accepted the job offer. Mal was right. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. She had to take the risk.
[THREE WEEKS LATER]
Evie had just kissed Mal goodbye. She was crying but she knew she could do this. The airport speakers had just announced that it was time for her to board the plane to London.
She looked down at her passport and ticket and took a deep breath. Evie could have boarded the plane 20 minutes ago when they first announced B section boarding, but she wanted to spend every last minute with Mal until the last call. She was the last one standing outside of the gateway to the plane.
"Last boarding call for flight 733. Flying from New York to London."
Evie knew if she was gonna go, she had to go now. She handed her boarding pass and passport to the lady standing at the customer assistance and flight check-in desk. The woman looked over the papers as Evie turned around and scanned her surroundings to see if Mal was still in sight.
She wasn't.
"You're all set! Ma'am?" Evie was still searching for Mal. "Ma'am, are you alright?" Evie turned back to the woman and nodded her head. "Um, Yeah. Yes, thank you." Evie smiled at her and took back her passport. She turned and headed for the gateway that leads to the plane entrance, dragging her suitcase behind her.
This is my dream. She kept telling herself. It's not like it was a lie, getting her own label and becoming a big brand designer is her dream. She just didn't have this location switch in mind. Especially one that included no Mal. To make the situation worse, she wouldn't even be able to visit her every weekend. Maybe once every month if they're lucky. And how long would she be there? I can't ask Mal to give up her dreams and move to London after she's done all this for me. What about her dreams?
Evie stopped when she got to the plane door, where to the stewardess was waiting to greet her and a couple other last minute passengers that were there before her. "Hi, welcome! Quickly find your seat the plane is taking off shortly."
She tightened her grip on her suitcase that was still trailing behind her. "No." She deadpanned.
"Ma'am, please, find your seat. I can help you with your carry on if you'd like." The stewardess smiled even though she was clearly growing annoyed.
"No. I—I can't go." Evie shook her head. The stewardess gave her a puzzled look and Evie's head snapped back towards the gateway entrance where she could hear them shutting the doors. "I have to find Mal." Evie spun around and ran towards the closing doors that led back to the airport. "Wait! Don't close the doors!" She yelled.
The airport employee's looked up at her in confusion but opened the doors back up. Evie ran through the doors so quick she could barely get out a thank you. I'm sure they got the point. She thought to herself. Without thinking about it any longer she continued to run in the direction Mal left in, hoping that she would be able to catch her.
She pushed past crowds of families waiting to board their planes, knocking over a few things in the process. A few people gave her some perplexed looks but most just figured she was about to miss her flight.
She turned a corner and almost tripped over her own feet. That's when she saw her. "Mal!" Mal wiped a tear from her cheek, whipping her head around to see who had called her name.
"Evie?!"
Before Mal could get out another word, Evie was in her arms and wrapping her legs tight around her. Evie buried her head into Mal's neck, breathing in the scent of her lavender shampoo.
"I missed you so much, M."
"I missed you too, Evie" A few seconds passed by before Mal's eyes went wide and she said Evie down. "Wait. How?" Mal pointed her fingers in the direction of her plane taking off and then back to her girlfriend, confused.
Gasping she playfully slapped Evie on the shoulder. "Evie! You're supposed to be on the plane! What happened? Are you okay? Did you forget something? You're gonna be late on your first day! There are no more flights until tomorrow!"
"Mal, I'm fine! Really, I'm okay." Evie placed her hands on Mal's shoulders to try and calm her down. "But… Now that I think about it, I did forget something."
"Well, I hope it was something important! Your boss is gonna kill you, E! What did you forget anyway?" Mal tilted her head to the side, still worried about Evie's job.
"This."
Mal opened her mouth to protest but was stopped when Evie's lips crashed into hers. Mal relaxed into the kiss and threaded her fingers through Evie's soft locks. Mal deepened the kiss, pulling Evie closer to her. They pulled apart but were still close enough that their foreheads were touching.
"E, I love you, but I don't understand. What about your job?"
Evie leaned in closer so that their noses were touching. "Finding a job: that's easy, M. Finding someone you truly love and who truly loves you, that's the hard part. Sure, I would love to go to London and share some of my designs someday. But I want to do it with you. You were right, that is my dream— but you forgot the biggest part. You."