I furrow my brow. I’ve barely had time to process the opportunity with Tate, and I wanted to tell Daisy myself.
Daisy wriggles out of my embrace, her arms still crossed. “I wish you had told me.”
“I’ve known all of five minutes.”
“You didn’t know about this until tonight?”
“I—” This must be what it feels like to be under a microscope. “My understanding of the position was all very abstract.”
Daisy leans against the building, her eyes trained on me. “You said the pop-up was to refresh your resume.”
“Eleanor mentioned a potential opening, and it was on my mind, but nothing was set in stone. I didn’t even know they’d officially started looking to hire, and I definitely didn’t expect that the person hiring would be here tonight. It’s not how I would have wanted to find out about it, and not you, either.”
These past few weeks, I forgot about the job. ButDesert Dazegave me more than this chance—it brought me Daisy again. She sighs and tilts her head upward, and I don’t care about the constellations, or the Milky Way, or how rich of a royal blue the sky is against the haphazard outline of the distant mountains. All I care about is her.
“I’m sorry.” Eliminating the space between us, I take her hands in mine and press my lips to each knuckle. “I should have mentioned the position sooner.”
“It’s okay. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks.” I kiss her forehead in gratitude. That’s not a phrase I grew up hearing much, and it means a lot coming from her. “Look, you are the most important, but we could give this a try. There are direct flights from LA and Vegas. The UK gets more built-in vacation time, so I could swing back here all the time. I can fly you over, too, whenever you want.”
Her head perks up, as if she’s surprised I’ve thought this through already. “You want to do long distance?”
With an uncomfortable laugh, I shift on my feet. Why else would I be suggesting transatlantic flights for the weekend?
Daisy’s head shakes from side to side. “You can’t say that you’ll stay one moment and then take the next great gig that comes along.”
“I wouldn’t call Tate Modern a gig.”
“Whatever. We aren’t doing long distance.”
I scan her face, from the stubbornness in the set of her jaw to the determination glinting in her gaze. She’s right—taking the Tate job would require a lot from both of us. We’re just at the start of our relationship, so if it’s not the right time, then I have my answer.
“Alright,” I say. “I’ll message Antoine and let him know I’m not interested.”
“Max.” Daisy slinks her arms around my torso, and I ease into her touch. “You’re gonna take the job.”
“So you wanna give it a try?”
“No.” Her face falls, and she gives a small shake of her head. “You’ll go, and I’ll stay.”
“What’re you talking about? Just this morning—”
“This morning, you didn’t have an unbelievable job offer dangling in front of you.”
It takes a moment, but her words punch me square in the jaw. She was all in, ready to take the leap with me, but this offer from Tate has scared her off.
“No,” I say. “No, no, no.”
“Yes, you want this—”
“Don’t tell me what I want.”
“You do, though.” Her eyes shimmer with unshed tears. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be doing mental gymnastics to figure out how to have it.”
I hesitate. While I don’t understand why I have to choose one or the other, I definitely don’t want the job if it means losing Daze.
“You can’t demand that I take this job.”
