Page 60 of Hail Marry
I sigh, resigned. “First of all, I have nowhere to move. Luca’s busy enough with everything else that we haven’t looked at places yet. Second, enough is up in the air with his contract that I don’t want to do anything rash. It’s called financial savvy. Third, his entire summer is basically going to be taken up by training, so it’s not like we’ll get much time together if I move right away.”
“So, what, you’ll just go down to see him every weekend?”
“Yep,” I say, with no intention whatsoever of doing that.
It’s days before I see Luca next, and the occasion of our meeting is another call with Preston at Zach’s office.
“Great news, Luca,” Preston says. “I got word your EAD was officially approved.”
Zach does a fist pump, and Luca’s shoulders sag with relief.
It’s the last piece that needed to fall into place for him to be eligible to attend rookie mini camp. It starts in two days, so he’s been waiting to see whether he needed to head to San Diego tomorrow or not.
“I got the marriage certificate in the mail yesterday,” Luca says. “Do you need that?”
“Absolutely. In fact, can you overnight it to me?”
Luca nods.
“Wait,” Preston says, “actually…Tori, do you have time to pop over to the Social Security Office and the DMV and get your name changed today? Then overnight the certificate to me after?”
My gaze flies to Luca’s.
“We were thinking she’d keep her last name,” he says.
“A lot of people keep their own last names these days,” I offer, as though Preston might be unaware of this modern development.
“Definitely,” he replies. “But, and hear me out on this, I don’t think that’s the wisest course here. With Luca getting drafted and with his record, we can expect a bit more scrutiny on your immigration papers than usual, so we want to make sure everything’s airtight and we’re not giving them reason to flag your file. Sharing a last name may feel old-school, but it sends the type of message we want them to receive.”
Luca grimaces, then opens his mouth, but I cut him off.
“That makes sense. And it’s no problem. It was mostly a laziness thing. I hate the DMV.”
“You’re in good company,” Preston says jovially. “All right, well, look, after we get this stuff submitted and we get the lease with your names on it, we’ll have a little break until about September.”
“Is that when I get the green card?” Luca asks.
“I wish,” Preston says. “You’ll have your interview with USCIS at that point, then maybe 1-2 months afterthatyou’ll receive your green card. It’ll be what they call a conditional green card since you’ve been married less than two years. You can apply to have that conditional status removed ninety days before you and Tori celebrate your two-year anniversary.”
My gaze is fixed on Luca, whose wide eyes sweep to me. He looks like he just got gut-punched. Just like I thought, he had no clue. How does he feel knowing we have to stay married that long?
I don’t do relationships. And he just found out he has to be in this one a lot longer than he thought. He can’t be thrilled.
Zach thanks Preston for all his hard work, then wraps up the call.
“You guys did it,” he says. “Once you get that name change done and the certificate to Preston, you get to take a break from all this.”
“Yay!” I say because Luca is completely silent.
Two people stop in the hallway in front of the glass wall of Zach’s office. One’s in a suit, while the other is a massive guy in a polo and slacks.
Zach checks his watch and swears. “It’s later than I thought. I’ve got a client meeting. Sorry to give you the boot like this, but we’ll be in touch, Callahan.”
Luca doesn’t even respond. He gets up like a zombie and follows me out of the office.
“It’s too late for me to make it to the Social Security Office or the DMV today,” I say in an upbeat voice as we get in the elevator, “but I’ll go first thing tomorrow morning, then get the certificate sent off right after.”
He’s silent.
