“Please,” Harper said, a beat too fast. She gestured for Elise to take the empty space. Thankfully, laptop guy had retreated to another row of beam chairs and was lying on his back with a scarf covering his face. Harper had to keep herself from yanking Elise by the arms over the backrest. She needed her closer. Immediately. She even briefly wondered what the policy on PDA at the airport was, but told herself not to get ahead of things. Baby steps.
Elise stood up and walked around the bench. It felt absurdly long, like those few seconds stretched thin and tight. When Elise finally sat down beside her, Harper reached out and rested her hand on Elise’s thigh. She was real. This wasn’t a dream.
“I should never have let you leave without saying goodbye,” Elise said. She placed her hand on top of Harper’s hand and squeezed. Harper melted under that squeeze. “I actually ended up running after you.”
That was news to Harper. “Really?”
Elise nodded. “But you were gone. I couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“The cab was waiting for me,” Harper said. Her timing hadn’t been ideal. She’d ordered the Uber in the heat of the moment, despite the fact that her flight was only at one a.m. It was the moment after Megan had given the rose to Jamie, when Harper had spotted Elise sneaking away with a bottle of champagne and what looked like some sort of plate of food. It had been clear Elise didn’t want to see her again. Like she was sneaking away from her. And in that moment, Harper had decided to let her go… but then… not. “My stuff was already in the trunk. If I had known you were looking for me, I would’ve waited.”
“Would you have?” Elise asked.
“Of course,” Harper said, entirely sure of herself. Elise was the one who wanted space, not her. Harper would glue herself to Elise’s side if she had the chance. “I wanted to see you. Not just to say goodbye.” She inhaled deeply, letting the air fill every inch of her lungs. “There was a part of me that hoped you would open the door and realize we’re meant to be together. That we always have been.”
Then came the realization that Elise might not have heard Harper declare her love for her. Suddenly, her chest felt ten times tighter. Harper searched Elise’s eyes for an answer but got nothing.
Harper opened her mouth to ask, but she didn’t get the chance.
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t wait because then this wouldn’t be as impactful as I want it to be, and believe me, I’ve spent the last hour or so obsessing over this moment in my head.”
Harper wasn’t above admitting that she was confused. “This moment?”
Elise stood up. Then she reached a hand behind her.
“Wait,” Harper said. “What are you—”
But Elise was already bending down on one knee. She was already slipping a box out of her back pocket. And then she opened the box to reveal a pear-shaped diamond the size of a pinkie nail that glistened magnificently under the bright lights.
“Where did you…” Harper asked, shocked and suddenly breathless. In fact, she was just short of hyperventilating. Her chest was heaving up and down, trying to get in air. “Wait, is this…” but she couldn’t get the words out; they were stuck to her chest.
“I borrowed it,” Elise said quickly, as if afraid Harper might pass out—which was a very real possibility. “It’s actually the bachelorette’s ring. Megan was given the option to give it to Jamie at the final rose ceremony. But she decided to take things slow in the—” she cut herself off and flourished a hand in the air. “That’s not important. I’ll get you a real ring. What’s important is that I nearly let you walk away again.”
For a second it looked like Elise was going to tip sideways. But then Harper bent forward and cupped Elise’s hands. “So, you don’t want me to move back to London?”
“No,” Elise said, shaking her head. “I want you to move to Los Angeles. I want you to move in with me. You can work remotely forNational Geographic. We can turn my yoga studio into a darkroom if you want to.”
“I don’t want to change your yoga studio,” Harper said, shaking her head. “But I want to live with you wherever that is.”
Harper stood up and pulled Elise with her. Her hands were still cupped around Elise’s, and Elise was still holding onto the open ring box, so it looked like they were cradling some sort of creature they’d rescued from the terrazzo floor. But Harper didn’t care what they looked like to the few airport stragglers. She had tunnel vision. Elise was the only thing in focus. Therest of the world had reduced to a fluorescent blur and distant announcements in a language she didn’t speak.
Elise looked down at the box, at the ring. Then she glanced up at Harper, her face softening. “I want to marry you, Diana Harper Llewelyn-Abbott. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. It doesn’t matter where that is, or what we are doing. I just want to do it with you.”
“You do?”
“Does a titi monkey form a strong lifelong bond and become distressed when they’re separated from each other?” Elise asked, grinning widely.
Harper laughed so loudly that laptop guy looked up from his nap. “OMG, I love you.”
“Not as much as I love you.”
Harper could disagree—she definitely loved Elise more—but it didn’t matter. She pulled Elise closer and kissed her so hard Elise made a startled sound into Harper’s mouth, which Harper promptly swallowed and kissed her again, even deeper this time, like she was trying to make up for every second they’d wasted apart the last few days.
“Yes, I’ll marry you,” she said breathlessly in the middle of the kiss.
Then, somewhere nearby, someone cleared their throat pointedly, and Harper and Elise split apart just as a boarding announcement crackled overhead. “British Airways flight BA535 to London Heathrow is now boarding at Gate 12.”
“Did you buy a ticket to Heathrow?” Harper asked. The only thing Elise had on her person was that ring. A ring Harper hadn’t yet put on her finger, but she wasn’t in any rush. There would be more than enough time for that.