Page 93 of Semantics

“And you like her for all of that, don’t you?”

Stella smiled and said, “I do, yeah. I’m a masochist, apparently, but she’s just… she’s totally uptight in the best way that really works for me now when it wouldn’t have back then. She’s beautiful, smart, kind, and she’s carrying that whole company.”

“What do you mean?”

“She’s keeping them in business. She’s paying for things out of her trust fund. It’s why I wanted her to talk to a VC: she can’t do that forever. And this company is important to her, but so are her friends. She’s doing everything that she can to keep it all together, and I think there’s something admirable about that.”

“That’s sweet, Stella.”

“She’s annoying, yes, but I think you need a little annoying in a relationship. Keeps you on your toes. Besides, she’d never let me off the hook. I wouldn’t let her off the hook, either, and I think you need a little bit of that, too. Am I crazy to think that it could work between us, given our history?”

“No, you’re not. You were practically kids back then,” Jen replied. “But what happened? You said she left.”

“She did. She said we’d agreed to sex and that that was it and left. You called me right after.”

“Have you talked to her since?”

“No. Well, sort of. I got an email from her with the signed agreement, but that’s an automated thing that happens when she actually confirms her signature in the contract system.”

“That’s it? That’s annoying.”

“She only had until today to send it back, or the pricing wouldn’t be locked in, so it was expected, but, yeah, it’s also annoying.” Stella laughed a little. “I want to talk to her, but I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t want to just sleep with her now, do you?”

Stella shook her head and replied, “I really want to sleep with her, but I think since there are feelings here now, even though they’re new, and I have no idea if we’d get beyond a first date, I probably shouldn’t, huh?”

“I wouldn’t recommend it, no,” Jen said. “You’d only end up sadder than you are now.”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “I’m kind of hoping she just texts me after the meeting. I want to know how it went, but I don’t want to bug her.”

“Maybe give her some time and then ask.”

“Maybe, yeah.”

Stella’s phone rang, so her mind instantly went to Violet, but when she looked down at the screen, she frowned because it wasn’t her.

“It’s Ant.”

“Ant?” Jen asked.

“The VC. Well, she’s a partner there. She must be calling about the meeting.”

“I’ll let you take it. Want to go to lunch with Monique and me later?” Jen asked and stood up.

“No, I think I’ll skip it, but thanks for the invite.” She picked up the phone. “Hey, Ant.”

“Hey, Stella.”

Stella waved at Jen as she left her office and closed the door behind her.

“How are you?”

“Good. Good,” Ant replied. “Listen, I wanted to say thank you for your email.”

“Yeah?”

“We met today. We got done about an hour ago, actually, but the meeting went really well. I got to meet their whole leadership team, and I’ve got a lot of confidence in them.”