Page 85 of Derivation

“Because she believes in you like we do. Just do whatever you want to do, Sarai,” Violet said. “Trust your gut on this.”

“Which thing? Work or my love life?”

“How about doing both for once?” Arlowe suggested. “Now, I’m starving, so I’m going to make us all bacon and eggs, and we’re going to eat in the kitchen like civilized people. Then, we’re going to get to work, and, Sarai, you’re going to tell us in the real morning meeting all about your idea. We’ll go from there.”

“Also, I might have suggested that Gabi gives you some time before asking if she could break her lease, so don’t be surprised if she pulls away a little,” Violet said. “It’s because I wanted to talk to you first.”

“So, she didn’t just ignore me for most of the day yesterday because she wanted to?”

“No. I thought you’d be on that swing or in your room most of the day, so I told her to give you a little space.”

Sarai nodded and said, “Thanks.”

“No problem. Let’s go watch Arlowe pull eggshells out of the bowl.”

CHAPTER 23

Gabi was exhausted from work. It had been a long day just in terms of the actual work, but then, there had been an all-company meeting that had been a nightmare because only some of the company was in the office. The rest was remote, and trying to set up the technology so that everyone could see and hear took fifteen minutes. Then, of course, the meeting had gone over, and after that, there had been a birthday party. She had put in a quick appearance, but she’d been too tired to stay long. When she finally got home, it was after seven. She felt like taking a long bath and not a quick shower, so she hoped that neither Sarai nor Enya would be in the bathroom.

“Hey,” she said to Arlowe, who was sitting on the sofa, eating something.

“Hey. You’re home late. Want some ice cream? I picked up a whole thing earlier. In the freezer.”

Arlowe hooked her thumb toward the kitchen.

“I’m good. I just had a piece of ice cream cake, actually. Office birthday party.” She sighed and sat down next to her. “I tried to get out of there before the cake was passed around, but someone caught me on my way out, handing me a piece, so I had to stand around and finish it.”

“Ice cream cake is bomb. Why are you complaining? It’s ice cream and cake in one bite.”

Gabi chuckled and thought about how if she moved out, she’d end up missing moments like this one. Roommates saying funny things had become something she really liked, and soon, she would be alone in an apartment, have to go furniture shopping again because she’d gotten rid of pretty much everything, and she would spend most of her nights alone. The only hope was that she would be dating Sarai then, and they would have a place to go where it could be just them, and she’d still see Arlowe and Enya because of Sarai and the work, but it wouldn’t be the same. She knew that for a fact because Violet still ended up hanging around and missing her friends, despite seeing them for work, too.

“I like ice cream cake. I just hate office parties.”

“Our office parties are pretty good.”

“I bet they are.” Gabi chuckled. “Is Enya around?”

“Nope. She went out to eat. One of her language adventures. I had a frozen pizza for dinner, but there’s a slice left if you’re hungry.”

“I’m good. What about Sarai?”

“I think she’s out back. Why?”

“I wanted to take a bath and soak for, like, an hour, so I wanted to make sure that was okay.”

“They can always pee in my bathroom, you know?”

“Wait. Did you say that she’s out back?”

“Yup,” Arlowe replied.

“It’s dark,” she noted.

“Yes, nighttime often means darkness. I say often because of the Arctic Circle.”

“Of course.” Gabi laughed a little. “Well, I’ll just go… take that bath, then.”

“Just go outside and talk to her. You two are worse than Violet and Stella when they were trying to pretend like they didn’t like each other.”