Page 96 of Derivation

“What do you like about it?”

“I like that something didn’t exist before, but then, I build it, and it’s there. I like creating things. Software is cool, but it’s all inside a computer unless you use it to run something physical, like smart glasses, for example.”

“But you could be designing smart glasses for anyone and make real money, Gabi.”

“I don’t need more money. I’ve got a job that pays me really well.”

“How well, exactly?”

“Sarai Kaplan, are you trying to find out if I can be your sugar mama?”

“Yes, you’ve found me out: I’ve waited more than ten years to go on a date with you to find out if you’re rich.”

Gabi laughed and said, “I’m not rich. My mom is well-off, technically, but I don’t take any of her money. My dad left me some, but since I didn’t get a scholarship to MIT, I used it to put myself through school and pay my expenses until it ran out. I do make good money at my job, and I try not to spend outside my means. I want to save and have money for things I’ll want or need in the future. I could probably afford a down payment on a very small house, with how much I’ve saved up, but the interest rates are nuts right now, so I’m not about to do that, and renting an expensive apartment would just be throwing my money away. I set a budget and couldn’t find anything in my price range, so my plan was to go up with that budget if I had to, but I really didn’t want to. Then, I saw you at the bar, and now, I’m here, saving money on rent, on a date with you, which is way more important, and better off because of both.”

“Good one,” Sarai replied.

“It’s the truth. I’m way better off than I would’ve been otherwise. An expensive apartment might have been nice, and living alone gives me quiet and privacy, but living with you guys has been great. I somehow made instant friends, and on top of that, you and I are here.” She squeezed Sarai’s hand. “And I’m really happy, Sarai.”

“Me too,” Sarai said with a smile.

“Ladies and gentlemen, dinner is now served on deck B. Please refer to the table and seat assignment on your ticket and locate a steward if you need help finding your seat,” someone announced over the loudspeaker.

“So, what’s the verdict? Table with strangers, or stay out here and eat later?” Gabi asked.

“Let’s go check out the table situation,” Sarai said.

“Off to deck B, then.”

They made their way inside and down the stairs until they arrived at a large room with both rectangular and round tables. It looked to Gabi like bigger parties had been given the round tables, and the smaller parties had the rectangular ones lining the walls and windows.

“We’re table fifteen,” she told Sarai after checking their ticket on her phone.

They both looked around the room, much like the rest of the passengers, and Sarai pointed toward a table with the number fifteen on a sign at the end. There were already four people sitting there, and they’d taken the seats by the window and the outer seats, which meant that Gabi and Sarai would be squeezed between them.

“I’m sorry. This might have been a bad idea.”

“Is it a buffet?” Sarai asked.

“Yeah. Why?”

“One sec.” Sarai let go of Gabi’s hand and walked over to a steward standing nearby. “Hey. Do we have to eat at the tables, or can we grab our plates and take them elsewhere?”

“You can eat anywhere you’d like, Ma’am. You just need to wait for your table number to be invited to the buffet,” he replied.

“Great. Thank you,” Sarai said and returned to Gabi’s side. “Want to eat on the top deck?”

Gabi smiled at her and replied, “Absolutely.”

Dinner was decent, but nothing too fancy: just slightly rubbery chicken with scalloped potatoes and a salad. They’d grabbed themselves drinks before heading up the stairs and had the upper deck mostly to themselves before the influencers had arrived to ruin the mood once again. Luckily, they’d been basically finished with their food and neither of them had wanted dessert, so they had decided to walk around the boat again a few times, talking and laughing and stopping to take in the view every so often, but as much as Gabi had wanted to create another moment like the one they’d had when the boat had started moving, nothing presented had itself. People had been milling about after their meals, and she hadn’t wanted her first kiss with Sarai to be with strangers walking around them, possibly interrupting them, or even vaping and trying not to get caught. She’d caught some guy doing just that toward the end of the cruise, so she’d pulled Sarai away from the disrespectful idiot, wishing she’d just stuck with a normal dinner reservation. It had made her tighten up a bit, and she knew it, but she couldn’t pull herself out of the funk as she drove them back toward the house.

“Are you okay?” Sarai asked as Gabi pulled onto their street.

“Yeah. Why?”

“You’ve hardly said anything since we got off the boat. I thought you were just paying attention to the road at first, but you look tense, Gabs.”

“I’m okay.”