Page 43 of Here in My Heart (Here Together #2)

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Ade tipped her chin up, drawing her new confidence right to the top of her body. She hoped Fernando at the marine center would see the change in her. Gone was the cowering, mumbling Ade who sat in the corner and hid from company. Here was capable, strong Ade ready to take on the next job.

Worry nibbled at her stomach. What if he didn’t need her anymore? What if he’d found her work lacking? She banished the insecurities from her mind and strode through the lab toward the manager’s office.

“Ade, it’s great to see you. I was glad you reached out.” He sat back on his swivel chair and offered her the seat opposite. “What can I do for you?”

This is it . Her chance to change the trajectory of her career, and maybe more. “You spoke to me about a job opening. I’m interested.”

“Straight in there, Ade. No small talk. Just how I like it.” He tapped a few times on his laptop.

“Marina. Cool name for a lab technician. She’s going on maternity leave in eleven weeks, maybe sooner if things start to happen.

You never know, do you? It’s like an octopus. Things just happen when they happen.”

Ade replayed his monologue in her mind. “Sorry, was there a question you needed me to answer?”

“Can you start in three months and do some handover with Marina in the meantime?”

Three months would take her to Easter. “I’d have to carry on at the university for a little longer to make sure the students from Monterey finish what they need to do and get home. ”

“We can work out the details.” He searched under a pile of papers on his desk. “I have the job description and the salary details here somewhere... I can sponsor your visa for another year.”

“You don’t want to interview me?” Ade raised her eyebrow.

He grinned. “Let’s be honest with each other, Ade. Do you think you could tell me more about yourself in an interview than I’ve already seen in the past four months that you’ve actually been working here?”

Relief washed over her. She hadn’t wanted to face any questions she’d not prepared for or worry about how she looked or what her body was doing that she wasn’t conscious of. “No, I can’t tell you any more about myself in an average one-hour interview than four months of your observation.”

“Let’s settle it then.” He extended his hand, and she shook it.

Ade skipped out of his office but couldn’t leave without saying hello to some of her favorite residents.

She gravitated toward the deep sea tanks, itching to tell someone her good news.

“How’re you doing, fish? Looks like I’ll be sticking around a little longer.

” The angel fish floated away. “Sure, you go tell your friends.”

She looked up to Greg, holding a clipboard above the tank’s temperature gauge.

“I didn’t know you’d be in today.” Greg flashed his widest smile, looking genuinely pleased to see her. “Can I show you something? The new sand dollar cells have replicated.”

His enthusiasm was catching. Ade scrambled off the floor to witness his creation. “This is fantastic, Greg. You should be proud of yourself.” Even she could tell that she sounded like the mentor no one predicted she could be.

“Did you say you were sticking around? Did I hear right?”

Ade wanted to share this with Sylvie before anyone else, but he’d asked her straight out, and she couldn’t lie. “I’m going to be taking over as lab tech from Marina.”

“Does that mean you won’t be working with us anymore?” Greg asked .

“Of course I’ll be sticking with you guys. I don’t start for another few weeks, and I’ll work something out so we can juggle everything.” She’d need to convince Sylvie for that one to work. She hadn’t actually mapped out the logistics of taking on another job.

“But you won’t be coming home with us?”

Was Greg disappointed? It seemed bizarre that any of the students she’d traveled out with last September would actually miss her.

A couple of them had barely acknowledged her all year.

But Greg was different. “We still have a few months left until you go home.” Back in September, Ade had figured she’d crash out by reading week.

Now she’d signed for another year. Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket.

“I’d better go. Stick with it, Greg. You’re doing a fantastic job. ”

Outside in the parking lot, Sylvie leaned out of her open window. “Did you get it?”

“I’m not sure that’s the right term, but he offered me a job.

” Ade matched Sylvie’s expression, beaming across the empty lot.

She eased into the passenger seat and took Sylvie’s cheeks in her icy hands.

“I’m glad I can stay with you.” She couldn’t be anywhere else.

The idea of walking away from the one person who made her feel whole and understood was unthinkable.

“Let’s go celebrate,” Sylvie said.

“Wait. I have a little plan for you.” Ade fastened her belt. “Drop me off in town and meet me at your apartment in an hour.”

By the time she was done, dusk was beginning to spread its wings over the city, but the day had been blessed with winter sun and a relative warmth.

Sweat beaded on Ade’s upper lip as she jogged across to Sylvie’s apartment block.

She wiped it with her sleeve, wanting to appear put together and cool.

Her arms ached with the unwieldy package she carried, a collection of moments and memories of her and Sylvie’s time together. The butterflies in her tummy swarmed. Why was she nervous? Sylvie would love this reminder as much as she did .

Once through the main entrance, she made her way up to Sylvie’s front door and fixed her face into a casual smile.

“You’re back.” Sylvie welcomed her inside. “What was all the secrecy?”

“I wanted you to have this.” Ade thrust the box in her arms, then fidgeted wildly.

“What is it?”

“Nothing is wrapped, so it’s all just there.” Ade pointed awkwardly.

Sylvie tilted her head. “I don’t understand.”

“The postcard is from the beach where we first really talked. After we met at the marine center that day. It’s a good memory.

” Ade pulled another object from the box.

“This is the ticket stub from the movie theatre you took me to.” Her words stuck in her chest. This was an awful idea.

She must think I’m a psycho for keeping all this trash.

“This is a napkin. From the night of the recital?” Sylvie grinned. “You kept all this stuff?”

“I know it looks crazy, but these are all the things that have made me happy this past year.” The list had been getting longer since the long days of September; everything that Sylvie had brought into Ade’s life made her smile.

“I was keeping it to show my folks when I got home. Then I had the idea of sharing it with you.”

Sylvie shook her head. “This is my conference program from Paris.”

“I know. You came back buzzing from that, and it opened my eyes to how much you have to say about the world and our place in it.”

Sylvie turned over the postcard of the beach at Palavas. “To tomorrow and whatever history it brings.” She wiped at a falling tear. “Ade, that’s beautiful.”

“I’ve thought so many times that the present is the best place to be, and that it’s best to forget the hurts of the past and the worries about the future.

But you’ve shown me that hanging onto a few memories, however trivial they might seem, can be precious.

” She took Sylvie’s hands in hers. “And the future interests me more than ever. I want a future with us in it.”

“You know what, Adelaide Poole?” Sylvie kissed her. “I’m here for that future.”

Sylvie’s kiss anchored Ade. She didn’t need the world to understand or accept her when she loved herself.

With Sylvie, it all became possible. She grew taller to shake life by the hand, rather than shrink from its scrutiny.

A tear of utter joy traced a path down her cheek. This was love. This was everything.