Page 29 of Derivation

“Oh.” Sarai looked up. “I didn’t know you were here already.”

“I got here a few minutes ago. What’s going on?” she asked as she walked over.

“I burned it. It said five to seven minutes.”

“And how long was it in the microwave for?”

“I think I might have put fifteen minutes on it by mistake. I went out to the garage and forgot about it.”

Gabi stared down at a completely and totally burned-to-a-crisp lasagna and said, “Well, you can try to remove the top, really bad part.”

“And probably end up with hard-as-a-rock noodles and burned cheese beneath it? Nope. Total waste. I was working on an idea and just spaced until the microwave yelled at me to come and get this mess.”

Sarai motioned to the offending microwave with her open hand.

“Do you have a backup plan?”

“For dinner? No. Who makes backup dinner plans?”

“I’m guessing someone like Violet.”

Sarai laughed, which made Gabi smile.

“You know her so well already,” Sarai joked. “And no, I don’t have a backup plan. I need to go grocery shopping, which was why I grabbed this out of the freezer. It’s not even mine. I stole it from Enya.”

“Want to order something? I haven’t eaten, either, and have no food of my own here yet.”

“I guess so,” Sarai said. “Let me see if Enya is hanging out tonight. I think Arlowe left already.”

“She did. Violet’s gone, too, and Enya went out to dinner to immerse herself in–”

“She went to the French place?”

“So I’ve been told.”

“And Italian for dessert. She might even go by the Armenian convenience store to talk to the woman who owns it. She loves the flat bread there, but she really goes to talk to the woman. She’s alone in there most of the time, and no one speaks to her in Armenian, so she loves it when Enya stops by.”

“So, it would just be you and me,” Gabi said. “For dinner, I mean.”

“What are you in the mood for?” Sarai asked.

Gabi swallowed and said, “Well, I have a lot of unpacking to do before the big move tomorrow, so maybe something that can get here fast.”

“Tacos?”

“Sure. From where?”

“The place down the street. They have pretty much everything. I’ll pull up the app on my phone, and you can order whatever you want. Shit… My phone is in the garage,” Sarai said when she realized it.

They walked out to the garage, and Gabi looked at the blank dry-erase board while Sarai pulled the app up on her phone.

“I thought you had an idea you were working on.”

“I did. It was garbage, so I erased it. Here you go.”

Sarai handed Gabi her phone.

“Is it possible that your idea wasn’t actually garbage, but that you’re being too hard on yourself?” she asked, scrolling through the menu to select what she wanted.