Page 8 of Semantics

Violet still looked the same. A little older now, yes, but the long, brown hair was the same, and so were her hazel eyes. Stella remembered staring at them from her seat in one of their classes. Sitting behind Violet by one row and to the right, Stella had gotten a pretty good view, and that had included a view of Violet’s long legs because, even in winter, Violet had worn skirts to at least half of their classes. Stella had been a baby gay back then, but even so, she hadn’t been interested in a relationship with anyone, especially not the very stuck-up woman with that silver spoon. She’d felt the tension forming between them from moment one, though, and it had only grown the more time they’d been forced to spend together in and out of the classroom.

Stella had had to work twice as hard just to get into the program that Violet had been admitted into because she had known someone who’d known someone, or because her parents had. Stella, on the other hand, had had zero connections and had worked her ass off in school just to get an entry-level job in sales when she’d graduated. Violet had probably been given money from her parents to start the company she was now the CEO of, and while that wasn’t fair, it was often how life worked, unfortunately. Violet had even had the perfect girlfriend waiting for her back home when they’d been in school, whom Stella had overheard her bragging to her friends about in the dorm cafeteria once.

“She’s just so smart and so pretty,” Violet had shared loudly as if she’d wanted everyone in the place to know that she’d had a girlfriend for some annoying reason.

Stella hadn’t had a girlfriend, but not everyone wanted one, either. During her time in Amsterdam, she had been so focused on school that she’d only allowed herself to have a little fun. She’d gone to the pubs, had a few drinks, and she’d even kissed a couple of women, but it hadn’t gone anywhere beyond that as she hadn’t been interested in starting something lasting when she’d known that she would be leaving the country at the end of the semester. She’d been tempted to go further once, though. Her last night in Amsterdam, she had been grabbing a drink at the bar, and she’d seen Violet there with Arlowe, Enya, and Sarai. That night, a woman from the art program had walked up to Stella, introduced herself, and they’d shared a couple of drinks. An hour later, that woman had invited her back to her dorm room, where they’d kissed, but when the woman had suggested that they do more than that, something inside Stella had stopped her. She had never really understood the reason why she’d stopped where the night had clearly been headed, but she’d turned the woman down and had left.

The next morning, she had finished packing everything she’d brought with her and had left for the airport, and when she’d gotten there, she’d been surprised to see Violet on the very same flight. Not even acknowledging her existence at the gate, Violet had boarded first because, of course, she had, and Stella had kept her head down as she’d gone by Violet’s first-class seat to her own, way, way back with the plebs in economy.

“Hi. Stella, right?” Amber asked.

Stella smiled warmly at the knockout of a woman standing in front of her in the lobby of the restaurant.

“Hi. Yeah. It’s nice to meet you,” she said and held out her hand.

Amber and Jen had gone on exactly one date about six months prior, and after that, they’d stayed friends, but Stella had only seen one photo of her in that time, and while flattering, it didn’t do the woman justice. Amber had beautiful blue eyes, jet-black hair, and tanned skin, and she looked like she put the hours in at the gym, which wasn’t a requirement for Stella, but it didn’t hurt, either.

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Amber said, giving her a soft smile back.

“Shall we?” Stella asked.

She told the host that they were there for their reservation, and they were walked back to their table, where they exchanged a few pleasantries and decided on a wine for their meal.

“So,” Amber began once their wine had been brought over and poured. “Jen tells me you’re the SVP of sales at the company you both work at.”

“Yeah, for about six months now.”

“And you enjoy working in sales?”

“I do. It wasn’t my original plan, but once I found my footing, I really liked it.”

“What was your plan, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Oh, which one? I wanted to be an astronaut, a nurse, a teacher, a lawyer, and a botanist at some point.”

“A botanist?” Amber asked.

“My mom had a garden,” Stella explained. “She told me that there were people who studied plants, and I thought that was the coolest thing until I realized how bad I was in science, so I gave up on being an astronaut and nurse then, too.”

Amber laughed a little and replied, “Well, as a scientist, I can say that it’s not for everyone. Sometimes, it’s not even for me.”

“What do you not like about it?” Stella asked and lifted her wineglass.

“Part of me wishes that I’d gotten a job in a lab somewhere instead of going into teaching. College students are the worst sometimes.”

Stella chuckled and said, “As a former college student myself, I am deeply offended.”

She winked to let Amber know that she was kidding.

“Hey, I was, too. Kind of had to be to get my doctorate. I’m sure my former professors thought that I was the worst at times, but it’s exhausting, teaching at a small college when all I want to do is work on the actual science.”

“Why do you keep doing it, then? You could find a job elsewhere, right?”

“Because, as much as I complain about my job, I also really enjoy it. I get great students every semester, too, and I love inspiring them to go into sciences, especially the female students, showing them that it’s possible to work in a male-dominated profession and thrive.”

“That’s amazing,” Stella replied. “And I get it – I’m in a similar boat in sales. I’m also the only woman on the leadership team at my company, which, unfortunately, is still pretty common in tech.”

“Hopefully, not forever, right?”