“And you felt the same way.”
“Yes.”
A part of me was actually starting to believe my own story, and it made my heart ache.
“So would you say that’s when your relationship turned romantic?”
I nodded.
“Where did you go on your first date?”
“We ate lunch together at the office quite a bit,” I said. “But…officially? The Inn at Grenarnia,” I said. “It was very nice.”#p#分页标题#e#
“Do you remember the date?”
“I think it was…around the end of July?
“Were you concerned about your coworkers finding out about your relationship?”
“We were, for a while. That’s why we kept it quiet. But eventually we decided it was best to be open about things, and that I would quit my job as soon as it was feasible to avoid conflicts of interest.”
“How soon into the relationship did he inform you about his immigration difficulties?”
“Before he proposed,” I said. “He wanted to make sure I knew that it wasn’t about that.”
“And when was that?”
I looked down. “After a few weeks of dating for real,” I said. “He told me that he knew it was crazy…but the craziest part was, I felt exactly the same way. I was ready to take a leap of faith.”
“What made you decide to have a short engagement?”
“Well, neither one of us is particularly romantic. I didn’t want a big fuss and he didn’t either. So we figured there was no reason to let things drag out forever.”
“How did your parents feel about the relationship?”
I hesitated for a moment. “My parents and I aren’t…close. I invited them to the wedding, but they wouldn’t travel. Daniel’s parents have passed away.”
“Well, that takes care of my next question.” The interviewer looked up, smiling a little bit. Finally showing his human side.
I just kept breathing.
More questions came after that. About the wedding, the number of people in attendance, about who took care of the finances and what T.V. shows we watched together every week. He asked to see my keys, examining the one I said was for Daniel’s apartment. I wondered if he was trying to match them up from memory.
He wanted to know if I’d met any members of Daniel’s family, so I told him about Lindsey and Ray. I answered a long string of mundane questions about our home life - the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, when the garbage pickup came, and the color of the carpet.
Finally, he released me. I walked back out into the waiting room slowly. Daniel jumped up out of his chair when he spotted me.
I hurried over to him; he pulled me close and kissed me swiftly.
“We survived,” I said.
“Yes.” He put his arm around my shoulders. “Come on. Let’s go.”
I had to bite my tongue until we got back home, although I was dying to compare whatever answers we could remember. John was driving, and he didn’t know the truth.
As soon as the door closed behind us, I turned to him and blurted out:
“Did they ask you if you came onto me at our first meeting?”
He blinked. “I said that I was flirting with you, but being subtle about it. What did you say?”
I exhaled. “I said that I thought maybe you were, but I wasn’t sure.”
“That’s fine, then.” He pressed a quick kiss to my forehead. “I’m sure everything will match perfectly. There’s really nothing to worry about.”
“When will we find out?”
“I should get a letter in a few months,” he said. “If we don’t hear anything between now and then, we’re to assume everything’s going smoothly. Which I’m sure it will.”
“I’m glad you’re so confident.”
“Come on.” He laid his hands on my shoulders. “It’s all right. I know this isn’t the easiest thing in the world, with all the waiting, but everything will be just fine.”
I smiled, and then looked away for a moment. I wanted, very badly, to say something about the honeymoon. About the fact that we hadn’t really touched each other since. About the fact that I wanted, more than anything, for him to grab me and take me like I knew he really wanted to.
I knew he did, even if he wasn’t showing it.
“We had a good time on the honeymoon,” I said, finally. “Didn’t we?”
“Yes,” he said, a little hesitantly.
“And I’m not talking about the moon walk.”
His mouth twitched.
“Maddy,” he said. “Maybe we shouldn’t -“
“What - talk about it?” I touched the side of his face. “Do it? What difference does it make?”