At First Glance- A Marina Love Story

Chapter 28

The sun streaked into their hotel room, signifying that it was time to get up and pack for their flight home. Maya turned her head to look away from the sun and towards her beautiful girlfriend sleeping peacefully beside her. She knew their alarm would go off any minute, so she reached her hand up and rubbed her thumb up and down the side of her lover's tanned cheeks.

Carina slowly blinked her eyes open and squinted at the sun. "Buongiorno, bella," she said in a sleep laden voice. The Italian threw her arms up over her head and stretched out. Maya took advantage of this and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend's naked defenseless body.

"Good morning to you, my love," she said as she rolled on top of her. Maya pressed a soft kiss onto Carina's lips and then rested her head onto her chest. "I really don't want this weekend to be over," she whispered.

"Me either," Carina responded. She pressed a kiss into the blonde's hair and stroked it softly. "Have you checked your email to see if you've heard about the Captain position?" Maya had tried to keep her mind away from work all weekend, and she had been mostly successful. However, she would be lying if she said she slept much last night due to the anxiety of hearing who got the job.

"Not yet, I wanted to make sure you were awake first."

"How are you feeling about it all?" Carina asked. She took her hands from Maya's hair and placed them on her back where she traced small circles along her skin.

The blonde took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I don't know, truthfully. I have only been a lieutenant for a year, but I know I am better at my job than Jack. Firefighting is unfortunately a man's world, so I am trying hard to not get my hopes up."

"Well, bambina, whatever happens, know I am so proud of you for putting yourself out there." Maya closed her eyes and squeezed Carina even tighter. "We should probably get up and get ourselves together. Our car will be here in an hour." The firefighter slowly rolled off of her girlfriend, but not before pressing a few smooches to her neck. "We will definitely miss our ride if we start this," Carina said seductively. "You already kept me up until three in the morning."

"Fine, fine," Maya said as she sat up on the edge of the bed. "I really loved getting to spend all of this time with you. I hate that our schedules at home prevent us from spending much time together."

Carina scooted to the edge of the bed and wrapped her arms around Maya's neck. "I think there's a way we can fix that," she suggested.

"How?"

Carina hesitated a moment before she took the plunge, "We could move in together."

Maya's face went flush, luckily Carina couldn't see. She took a big gulp and then turned to look at her. "Do you think it's kind of fast?"

"Maybe a little. But I am certain I love you, and to me, that's enough." At this point Carina was very confident in her suggestion.

"I love you too, but I don't know if I'm ready for that. Can I think about it? Please don't take this as a sign of not wanting to be with you, because it's anything but that. I just don't want to do something we will end up regretting in the long run," Maya responded.

Carina understood. She knew that her girlfriend had never been in a serious long-term relationship and needed to take things slower. "The offer will always stand, bella."

"Thank you for understanding," Maya said. She placed a kiss on her girlfriend's lips and made her way into the bathroom.

--

Their flight touched down in Seattle at sunset, making the descent into the city breath-taking. Carina had a little anxiety during the flight, but Maya held her tightly and talked her through the rough parts. The pink and orange sky as they landed had distracted her fears away. The two women unclicked their seatbelts and turned their phones off of airplane mode.