Page 121 of Semantics

Stella looked down, eyes wide, as Violet lifted her dress slowly, inch by inch, and said, “Not fair.”

“You know, I think you’re the only woman who’s ever found me sexy.”

“No, I’m not. I might be the only woman who’s ever told you that, but there’s no way women haven’t found you sexy.”

“Should I stop doing what I’m doing?” she asked, moving her dress up higher and higher.

“No, but… yes.” Stella placed her hand on Violet’s now-bare thigh, so Violet ceased and left the dress where it was. “With that big client, I get a pretty big bonus.”

“That’s great. What are you going to do with it?”

“Well, I was thinking about being an investor.”

“Your bonus is that big? Who is this customer? The US military?”

Stella laughed and said, “Act like they could afford us. And it’s not enough to invest millions of dollars or anything. I would be a very small investor somewhere.”

“Okay. Where?”

“Babe?”

“What?”

“Violet, I’m talking about your company. I want to invest in your company.”

“My–” Violet hadn’t expected that. “My company?”

“It’s only two hundred thousand dollars. That’s what I can afford to invest right now anyway. It’s my bonus with a little of my savings mixed in. I know it’s not much and that we’d have to work out terms to make it official.”

“You’re trying to give me money?”

“No, it’s an investment. And it’s not for you; it’s for the company. I want to be an official investor, and I want to talk about–”

“Stella, no.”

“Just no?”

“I want to date you.”

“I want to date you, too.”

“I wouldn’t be able to guarantee that you would get that money back, Stella. That’s not okay.”

“It’s an investment. That’s what an investment is. I’m aware of the risks.”

“I can’t do that. Not with you. I don’t want money to come between us, kind of like it did back then.”

“Can I at least tell you why I want to invest before you turn me down?”

“Can you tell me why you had to bring this up tonight, when I was about to get naked on this couch?”

“I have never had money in my life. I could only afford to buy this house because it was in foreclosure. I have spent some money fixing it up since, but I only had enough for the down payment. That was it. I had to save and save just to get this place. I love it, yes, but let’s be honest: it’s a one-bedroom and isn’t anything fancy.”

“Your house is nice, and it’s yours, Stella. I’m renting.”

“When I bought it, that depleted my savings, so I had to start over again. I worked my way up. Now, I make really good money, and since the house was very cheap when I got it, it’s already paid off. My car is new, but I’ll pay it off ahead of schedule, and I have no other debt because I paid off my credit cards before I bought the house. My point is that I don’t need another house; at least, not right now. I don’t know how to handle the stock market, and I’d hate to just hire a financial planner because I’ve heard some people have bad experiences with them, and… I want to invest in something. I learned a lot about what you all do, and I like it. I’ve done my research. I’m interested in investing. I believe in what you all are working on. It’s not much money; I know that. If I get in now with what I can invest, I might be able to invest more later, but it’s more than that for me, Vi. I liked being in that garage with you and Arlowe, Sarai, and Enya. I know I can’t work with you guys, but if I invest, maybe I can join a meeting every so often and help out.”

“You can do that now. You don’t have to invest.”