Page 55 of Derivation

“Oh,” Enya said. “Sarai just downed a rum and Coke.”

“She did? Why?” Arlowe asked, surprised. “That’s not like her. She drove.”

“She’s acting weird, too. I think I’ll stay with her in case she needs a ride home.”

Gabi looked out the kitchen window and saw a woman she didn’t know walking over to Sarai. She held out her hand for Sarai to shake, and Sarai did. Then, Sarai laughed at something the woman had said, and that same woman handed her a cup of something. The plastic cup was clear, so Gabi could see that it was a dark liquid; probably wine.

“Who’s that with Sarai?” she asked, glaring because this woman had just handed Sarai a drink, and they were laughing together.

Enya and Arlowe followed her gaze.

“I don’t know. Must be one of Stella’s friends,” Arlowe said. “Are you ready?”

“Enya?” Gabi checked.

“Never seen her,” Enya replied.

“Gabi?” Arlowe asked.

“Yes, I’m ready. Enya, can you make sure that Sarai gets home okay?”

“Of course. I haven’t had anything to drink.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“We’ll see you later,” Arlowe added.

They left through the front door, got into Arlowe’s car, and the whole time Arlowe drove them home, Gabi could only think about the woman who had made Sarai laugh and how she’d wished that that had been her. Arlowe hadn’t seemed to want to talk much, either, and when they arrived, she went straight to her room. Since Gabi hadn’t actually eaten anything that she’d put on her plate, outside of maybe a potato chip, she made herself a snack in the kitchen, hoping Sarai and Enya would come through the front door soon, but when they hadn’t, she felt weird just sitting alone at the table with nothing to do after she finished her snack, so she went to her own room, changed into her pajamas, climbed into bed, and checked her phone to see if there were any missed texts from Sarai or even Enya, but there was nothing.

She wasn’t sure at first how late it was, but she woke up to the sounds of women laughing in the hallway. One of them was Sarai. She didn’t recognize the laugh of the other woman. Gabi rubbed her tired eyes and reached for her phone. It was after one in the morning. She heard the laughter fade. Then, she heard Sarai’s door close loudly, and she swallowed. This was a big part of living with roommates that she’d have to get used to. She lived with three single women, which meant that it was not only possible, but entirely likely that she would hear them bring home a woman and maybe even see that woman the morning after.

Gabi put her phone down and tried not to think about what was going on in Sarai’s bedroom. She didn’t hear another sound, but not wanting to risk it, she got out of bed, found her headphones, put them into her ears, and started playing music on her phone to help her get to sleep and prevent her from having to listen to Sarai having sex.

CHAPTER 15

“Are you ready?” Violet asked.

“It’s Saturday,” Arlowe replied. “I feel like if we’re going to be acting like a real business, we should stick to business hours for business things.”

“Says the woman who hates working business hours,” Sarai noted.

“She likes that when she works, we’re not there to bug her,” Enya stated.

“Yeah, what she said,” Arlowe agreed, pointing at Enya. “She gets it. And I thought we were done with the Saturday morning meetings since you don’t live here anymore, Vi.”

“We are, for the most part, but today is a special day. We’re going to check out the office space I found, and you’re going to smile as we look around because the agent was kind enough to give up her Saturday morning to show it to us.”

“Or, she wants that commission,” Arlowe suggested.

“Or, this was the only time she could do it,” Sarai said.

“Fine. She was busy this whole week. Then, next week, she’s at some convention, and this place is only going to be on the market for so long,” Violet admitted. “It’s small but not too small, and well, it’s cheap.”

“It would be because most companies are giving up office spaces because it’s not the year 2000,” Arlowe said.

“And we’re taking advantage,” Violet replied, ignoring the other part of Arlowe’s comment. “This one has enough space for us and a little space to grow. It’s a good option.”

“Okay. Then, let’s go,” Arlowe said.