Page 139 of The Scientist
My stomach tightened. “I think we need to talk.”
His eyebrows furrowed, and I could see the worry on his face. “About what?”
I figured being direct was the only way to handle it, so I took a deep breath. “Did you get a job offer from Empros Pharma?”
He seemed stunned for a moment before his face twisted with anger. “Who told you that?” His voice was calmer than he looked.
“Does it matter?” I asked gently.
“No, it doesn’t,” he answered sharply. “Because I’m not taking it.”
He grabbed his plate and started to stand when I reached out to stop him.“We need to talk about this.”
He brushed me off. “No, we don’t.”
He was being stubborn, but I wasn’t going to give up that easily. “Is it true that this is the biggest deal anyone in your field has ever been offered?”
His eyes narrowed. “So?”
“So, if it’s going to make such a huge difference in the careers of your entire team, not to mention all the lives you could impact with your work, how could you not consider it?”
“I have considered it!” He stood up abruptly, the chair scraping loudly across the floor. He stood there seething for a moment before he shook his head and said more calmly, “I can’t do it, Hadley.” He brought his hands up to cup my face. “I won’t leave you. And I know you can’t leave your mom.”
“It would just be for a year,” I said, trying to sound confident but my voice broke on the last word.
“No,” he said softly but resolutely.
“Lex.” I covered the hands he had on my face with my own. “This is everything you’ve been working for. You could change so many lives.”
“It would change me completely not to be with you.”
“They don’t just offer this sort of thing to anyone. You’ve worked so hard,” I whispered. “You have to take it.”
He shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”
“I know it would be hard, but we can make this work. We’ll do long distance.”
He recoiled from me like I’d slapped him. “You can’t be serious,” he said, his eyes widening in disbelief. “You wouldn’t even try long distance with your ex when you lived in the same country. How do you think it’s going to be when we’re an entire ocean apart?”
“That’s not fair, Lex,” I protested. “I love you. You know it’s not the same.”
“It doesn’t change the fact that you’ve said multiple times that you don’t believe long distance ever works for anyone.”
I shook my head. “It’s different with us,” I reiterated. “Besides, what’s the alternative?”
“I stay here,” he answered simply. “Just like we talked about. I continue to do my researchhere… with you.”
“You aren’t thinking about the big picture. This job could cut your time in half if you have access to their equipment.”
He narrowed his eyes, clearly unhappy that I had these sorts of details. “You don’t understand.”
“Explain it to me then.”
He raked his hand through his hair. “The job I have now already pulls me away from you, and it’s nowhere near as demanding as the one at Empros will be.”
I moved to stand directly in front of him, so he’d have to face me. “I get it will be hard, but this is the opportunity of a lifetime for you. You can’t refuse it just because we don’t want to be apart. It isn’t fair to anyone.”
His expression shifted, eyes wide and searching. “Are you saying you’ll be okay with it? With us being separated indefinitely?”