Page 33 of Derivation

“We can’t afford her,” Arlowe said. “I don’t know what she’s making where she is, but I can guess, and it’s a lot.”

“She just wants to help out. It’s not a job,” Sarai replied and picked up a baby carrot.

“I don’t understand. She wants to volunteer for our company?” Enya asked.

“She said she would work on it in her free time. It’s like a hobby to her. I don’t even know what her credentials are, but she did go to MIT. Maybe I should ask to see some of her other work or something.”

“Does she have any experience in designing wearables?” Enya asked.

“Like I said, I have no idea. All I know is that she went to MIT for mechanical engineering, focused on products or something, and now, she works in software, which, I think, means that she can do both and probably well.”

“It does,” Arlowe said.

“Have you seen some of her stuff?” Sarai asked before adding, “Designs, I mean.”

“No, but MIT is no joke, so it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s really good. The fact that she just wants to help out and not get paid is great, but I’m sure Violet is going to tell us that there’s paperwork or legal issues or something that we have to consider. If she’s not an employee and designs something for us, it’s technically hers, which could be a problem later.”

“Right. That makes sense. I guess I’d have to ask Gabi if she’d sign something for us.”

“She would be handing over her intellectual property to us, and for free,” Enya added. “Are you sure she really said that? I can’t imagine someone, even someone nice, wanting not to get paid for something like this.”

“That’s what she said. But maybe we can work out some kind of deal where if her design becomes reality, she gets paid then,” Sarai suggested. “That’s fair, right?”

“I don’t know. Violet would know better than me. You should talk to her,” Enya replied.

“Yeah, I will on Monday. I think she and Stella are out with Jen and Haley today, looking at furniture.”

“They have furniture,” Enya said.

“Well, Jen and Haley need some, too, I guess. I don’t know. Either way, they have other friends to hang out with, so the three of us just get the scraps of Violet’s time now,” Sarai replied.

“We need our own girlfriends to go buy furniture with,” Arlowe suggested.

“I agree,” Enya said.

“Yeah, me too,” Sarai added just as Gabi walked into the kitchen. “Uh… Hey.”

“Hey,” Gabi greeted.

“How’s it going in there?” Sarai asked.

“Fine. I’ve got things out of boxes, but now, the room is a disaster, so I still have to organize everything. At least, I’m making progress.”

“You said you weren’t hungry before, but are you sure? I haven’t put the sandwich stuff away yet,” Sarai said.

“I’m okay. I need to go back to the storage unit today. My friend Chase is meeting me there to take what’s left off my hands, and then, I’m turning in the keys so that I don’t have to pay for another month. I’ll grab something on the way back and also go shopping for some food of my own. Do you guys need anything?”

“I’m good,” Arlowe replied.

“I could use some more flour and sugar,” Enya said.

“Any particular kind?”

“No.”

“She’s still adjusting to no Violet,” Arlowe offered.

“I’m thinking about baking a cake tonight,” Enya said.