Page 1 of Until I Have You

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ABIGAIL

Oh lord,please let it be good news.

I worry the corner of my thumb as my iced latte sits in front of me, sweating and untouched.

My heart has been lodged in my throat since I woke up this morning to a text from Moriah asking me to meet her today.

I gave her my resume and cover letter weeks ago to pass onto her supervisor, and I haven’t heard anything.

Until now.

My mind is all over the place, going through every possibility of what she might have to tell me.

The New York City Marine Life Center has been my favorite place in the city since I was a little girl.So, when she asked me to meet her here, I came earlier.

It always seems to lift my spirits to be here.

Except today.

I glance up at the towering, tubular aquarium to my left that serves as the center piece to the Coral Café.

As a child, I used to sit here with my mom, watching the fish explore the reefs with rapt attention as I ate my carrot sticks.This was better than any TV show.I was getting a front-seat view to the lives of all kinds of tropical fish from bright ombre Spanish hogfish to tiny, dartlike neon gobies.

Bethany, a beautiful, rescued sea turtle, navigates the cylindrical tank with ease, a graceful ballet of her green fins as she travels lower and lower until she’s eye level with me.

I smile.“Hi, Bethany.”

I like to think she recognizes me after all these years.

Bethany blinks her big, black eyes at me, then flutters away.

“Bye, Bethany.”

I sigh.

I love the water and everything that lives there.

And this place right here was where my dreams grew, and where I decided that I wanted to be a marine biologist.

They say do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.

Except I’m notdoingwhat I love.

Since I finished my master’s degree this past spring, I’ve struggled to find more than short-term research projects or aquarium maintenance work.

A jobherewould change everything.

This is my dream job.

A chair scrapes in front of me, and I startle, looking up to a very flustered Moriah, her dark hair woven into a slicked back bun.

“Sorry to keep you waiting!”

“Oh, no worries, I was just…enjoying.”

Moriah sits and smiles.“How’ve you been?”

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