Chapter 16: When Life Throws Curves
It started with a phone call.
Crystal was brushing mascara onto her lashes when Justin's phone buzzed across the marble countertop. He picked it up with a distracted glance, still buttoning his shirt.
"Yeah, Marcus? What's up?" His tone sharpened. "Wait. What?"
Crystal paused, lowering her mascara wand as she caught the shift in his posture shoulders tight, jaw clenched.
"I'll be there in twenty."
He ended the call and looked at her, his expression unreadable.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Board meeting. Emergency. The numbers for the Dubai contract just came in, and they're not adding up."
Crystal stepped closer. "You okay?"
He gave her a quick kiss. "I will be. But this might be an all-day thing."
"Text me if you need anything," she said, smoothing his tie before he turned toward the door.
"I always need you."
He was gone before she could smile properly.
Hours passed.
Crystal sat through her PR strategy meetings, pitched to a new skincare brand, and juggled emails—but her mind kept drifting back to Justin. By 4 p.m., she hadn't heard a word.
She finally gave in and texted:
Crystal: Everything okay?
No reply.
Her stomach twisted, the silence louder than anything.
She told herself to breathe.
By 6:30, she stepped into their apartment to find him already home, tie loose, suit jacket tossed on a chair, sleeves rolled.
He looked up, a thousand thoughts behind his tired eyes.
"Hey," she said softly. "Long day?"
"The longest," he murmured. "But there's more."
He held up a thick folder, the Miller Industries logo gleaming in silver.
"They offered me an expansion deal. If I greenlight it, I'll be in Singapore half the year. New branch. New team. High stakes."
Crystal blinked. "Half the year? As in six months away from home?"
Justin nodded. "Not all at once. Maybe a few weeks at a time. But yeah it's big."
She lowered her bag slowly. "Wow. That's… huge."
"I haven't said yes," he added quickly. "They want an answer by Friday."
She sat beside him, trying to sort the swirling in her chest.
"I'm proud of you," she whispered. "Truly. This is exactly what you've worked for."
"But?" he asked gently.
"But we just got married, Justin. We're building our rhythm. I finally don't feel like I'm running a marathon between work and trying to keep up with you."
He looked away for a second, then back at her. "And I don't want to lose that either. I want this. Us."
Crystal hesitated, then said, "Maybe the real question isn't whether you should go but whether we go together."
He blinked. "You'd move to Singapore?"
"I didn't say yes," she teased, but her smile was soft. "I said maybe."
They sat in silence, the weight of decisions settling around them.
"I need to talk to my boss," she said after a moment. "Check if I could go remote or transfer if it ever came to that."
"And I need to figure out if expansion means evolution or escape."
Crystal looked over at him, her heart calmer now. "We'll figure it out. Together."
He reached for her hand. "Always."
Because life didn't always come with warning signs. Sometimes it came in the form of opportunity. And learning how to protect love amidst ambition.
Crystal sat at her desk the next morning, eyes flitting between the screen and the calendar reminder blinking at the top corner.
Lunch with Mira - 1:00 PM.
Her best friend and coworker always knew when something was off. And today, Crystal's mind was anything but focused.
PR reports. Campaign metrics. A possible life shift to another continent.
And a marriage still fresh enough that she and Justin were figuring out which side of the closet was theirs.
At exactly 1:00, Mira slid into the booth at their usual lunch café, brow raised.
"You've been weird all morning," she said, sipping her iced tea. "Out with it."
Crystal exhaled. "Justin was offered an expansion deal. In Singapore."
Mira's eyes widened. "Whoa. That's huge. But… Singapore?"
Crystal stirred her drink, watching the ice swirl. "Yeah. It's an incredible opportunity. But it means time apart or a possible move."
"What are you leaning toward?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "I mean, my job's finally steady. I like my team. I feel like I'm carving my own path for once."
"And you're scared to lose that."
Crystal nodded. "And I'm scared to lose us if we try to do long distance."
Mira leaned forward. "Then talk to your boss. See your options. If they value you, they'll work with you."
Crystal blinked. "You think so?"
"Crystal, you've saved two major campaigns and rescued a CEO's public image during a media meltdown. They'd be fools not to consider remote work or a transfer."
That night, Justin was already home when she arrived, barefoot in the kitchen, pouring two glasses of wine.
"I made pasta," he said.
She raised a brow. "You cooked?"
"Okay. I supervised the food delivery and added parmesan."
She chuckled. "Points for effort."
They sat on the couch, meals in their laps, a soft playlist in the background.
"I talked to Mira," she began. "She thinks I should speak to my boss."
Justin looked up. "About moving?"
"About working remotely. Maybe even transferring eventually. Just exploring."
He reached for her hand, rubbing slow circles with his thumb. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to."
"I know. But I want to support you, Justin. This is your dream."
He looked at her for a long moment. "You're my dream."
Her heart thudded.
"But I'm scared too," he admitted. "I've worked my whole life for this moment, and now I'm thinking more about you than expansion charts or Singaporean tax codes."
Crystal smiled faintly. "Is it bad that part of me wants you to say no?"
"No. It means you love me."
"But I don't want to hold you back."
"And I don't want to fly if it means leaving you on the ground."
They sat quietly, just breathing in the quiet.
Then Justin said, "I'm going to propose something to the board. A rotational expansion strategy. Instead of me going there full-time, I go quarterly, build a local leadership team, and retain executive control from here."
Crystal blinked. "You'd do that?"
"I already wrote the draft this afternoon."
Her eyes brimmed. "You really want to stay?"
"I want us. I'll find a way to make both work."
She wrapped her arms around him, heart full, chest light. "Then I'll talk to my boss too. Even if it's just opening the door. We figure this out side by side."
He kissed her temple. "Like always."