Chapter 10 - Clare stayed in Seattle fourteen months.
Not ten.
Not twelve.
Fourteen.
The extension happened because one of the largest projects was delayed by permitting and because Naomi, who had originally been expected to become permanent regional director, received an offer from another company and took it.
Clare surprised herself by being proud of her.
Old Clare might have experienced Naomi’s departure primarily as abandonment.
New Clare threw her a dinner.
Then spent three weeks quietly panicking.
The company offered Clare the permanent Seattle role.
She did not immediately decline.
That frightened Alexander.
He told her.
Not strategically.
Not after waiting for the correct emotional moment.
He told her during a Tuesday video call.
“The idea scares me.”
Clare nodded.
“I know.”
“I don’t want to make that your problem.”
“It is partly my problem.”
He smiled sadly.
“Progress.”
She considered the role seriously.
That mattered.
For three weeks, Clare allowed herself to imagine a permanent life in Seattle.
She liked her team.
She liked the independence.
She liked the city more than she had expected.
She had friends now.
A grocery store where the cashier recognized her.
A running route beside the water.
A coffee shop where they started making her order when she entered.
Her life there was real.
That was precisely why the decision mattered.
Meanwhile, Alexander finished his six-month interim role exactly when he said he would.
The board tried twice to extend him.
He refused twice.
A new CEO named Priya Desai took over.
Alexander remained on the board and accepted a newly created position overseeing long-term engineering strategy three days a week.
He took Wednesdays off.
At first he had no idea what to do with them.
Clare suggested hobbies.
He built a dining table.
Badly.
The table leaned slightly left.
Alexander claimed the floor was uneven.
Clare pointed out that the floor was professionally leveled hardwood.
He stopped inviting criticism.
Their long-distance relationship survived.
Not elegantly.
They had three serious fights.
One involved Christmas travel.
One involved Alexander making a decision about an apartment lease before mentioning he was considering moving.
One involved Clare missing an important company dinner because she had written the wrong date.
No one cheated.
No one secretly planned an exit.
No one became a saint.
They hurt each other in ordinary ways.
Then repaired what could be repaired.
At the end of month thirteen, Clare flew east for a week.
Alexander picked her up at Logan.
No dramatic terminal reunion this time.
He was stuck in traffic.
Clare waited outside for eighteen minutes.
When his car finally pulled up, she opened the passenger door and climbed in.
“You’re late.”
“Boston is a failed transportation experiment.”
“I missed you.”
“I missed you too.”
She kissed him across the console.
Then they spent forty minutes barely moving.
Romance.
The next morning, Clare woke in Alexander’s Providence apartment.
He was making coffee.
Of course.
Two mugs.
Of course.
She walked barefoot into the kitchen.
Alexander looked up.
“You’re staring at me.”
“I’m assessing structural damage.”
He smiled.
“Original.”
“It’s tradition.”
Clare sat at the counter.
A folder rested beside her coffee.
She frowned.
“What’s this?”
Alexander froze.
Then looked at the folder.
Then back at Clare.
“That is unfortunately placed.”
“Why?”
“It’s not for you.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“That sounded suspicious.”
“It’s architectural plans.”
“For what?”
Alexander hesitated.
Old panic did not appear.
Curiosity did.
Progress came in strange measurements.
“For a house,” he said.
Clare blinked.
“What house?”
“One I’m considering buying.”
She stared.
Alexander stared back.
“You’re buying a house.”
“Considering.”
“Where?”
“Outside Boston.”
Her pulse changed.
“Why outside Boston?”
He exhaled.
“Because Providence made sense when my work was there five days a week.”
“And now?”
“Now I’m there three.”
Clare looked at the folder.
“Are you moving for me?”
“No.”
The answer came instantly.
She smiled.
“Good.”
“I am, however, considering geography in a life that includes you.”
Her smile faded into something softer.
“That was annoyingly good.”
“I practiced.”
“Thursday appointment?”
“Tuesday now.”
“Scandalous.”
Alexander poured coffee.
Clare opened the folder.
He did not stop her.
The house was modest by Alexander standards.
Which meant expensive by normal standards.
Three bedrooms.
Large kitchen.
Small yard.
Forty minutes from Boston.
An hour from Providence.
Clare looked at him.
“You’d commute.”
“Yes.”
“Why not stay where you are?”
“I could.”
“Then why this?”
Alexander set down the coffee pot.
“Because I think I’m ready to choose where I live based on the life I have now instead of the life I inherited.”
Clare looked at the plans again.
There was a small room labeled OFFICE.
Another labeled BEDROOM 3.
“Why three bedrooms?”
“One is currently being used as a study.”
“That was not my question.”
Alexander’s expression changed.
“Clare.”
She looked up.
“I am not secretly constructing a nursery.”
She laughed.
“Good.”
“I enjoy sleeping.”
“Same.”
“I also understand contraception.”
“Excellent.”
Alexander leaned against the counter.
“But I have imagined you there.”
The laughter left.
He continued before she could speak.
“Not permanently. Not as a condition. Not as a plan I expect you to follow.”
“Alexander.”
“I’m telling you the truth before I polish it.”
She went quiet.
“I imagined you there,” he repeated. “Your books. Your terrible music. Too many herbs. Probably six kinds of cheese.”
“Minimum.”
“And I liked the picture.”
Clare’s throat tightened.
She looked down.
“I got offered Seattle permanently.”
“I know.”
“I haven’t answered.”
“I know.”
“I think I’m going to say no.”
Alexander did not move.
She watched every instinct in him try not to react too strongly.
It was almost funny.
May you like
“You’re allowed to look happy.”
He exhaled so hard
