Page 69 of Derivation

“I’ll need to dive in, which means headphones and being out of this meeting,” Gabi said.

“Yes, she gets it,” Arlowe replied with a laugh.

“I’m going to grab something to eat,” Sarai stated and stood.

“And then what?” Violet asked.

“Work out a plan on the prize thing,” she replied. “And the marketing component of it, obviously, Vi.”

Violet walked over to her and leaned in a little.

“You can do that tomorrow if you need a break, Sarai.”

“No, it’s fine. Everyone else is still working. I should be, too.”

“You don’t have to. You can go if you want. I mean that.”

“Well, I’m in it now. I’ve got, like, five ideas that I need to write down. I just need a break, and maybe…” She turned to see Gabi and Arlowe still talking. “I’ll do that in my bedroom.”

CHAPTER 19

“What are you doing tonight?” Arlowe asked her the following Saturday afternoon while the two of them were glued to their laptops in the garage.

“Tonight? No plans,” Gabi replied. “Why?”

“I don’t know. I thought you might do something with your friend, Chase.”

“No, he and his husband are out of town this weekend, visiting the in-laws. Besides, we’re friends, but we’re not the kind of friends who hang out all the time like you and your friends.”

“You know you’re our friend, too, right?” Arlowe said.

“Yes.” She smiled. “I just meant that Chase and I aren’t like that. We knew each other in college and kept in touch for the most part, but we mostly talked on social and in texts until recently. It’s been nice, having him around, but you know how it is now that Violet has Stella. Chase is already married, and they’re planning on having a baby. His husband is great, but I’m still the third wheel whenever I go over there, and we’re kind of in different places in our lives. He’s talking about how Mark will react when they need to turn his office into a nursery. I’m talking about parking my car on the street and risking getting it hit because the driveway is packed at the house that I share with three women.”

“I get that,” Arlowe said. “Over the years, we all dated here and there, but it had never felt like any of us had found our people until Violet started sleeping with Stella, and we all knew what was going to happen next. Personally, I thought it was going to end horribly at first because those kinds of situations never work, but she surprised us. Their whole fuck buddy thing didn’t last long at all before it became more, and then, the countdown started, and now, we’re here. Violet lives in another house with her girlfriend, and I’m sure there’s going to be an engagement and then a wedding. Maybe kids. I don’t know what they’ll decide. It’s hard.” Arlowe shrugged. “I miss what we had before when it was just the four of us.”

Gabi lifted an eyebrow.

“No offense,” Arlowe added.

“None taken.”

“I feel like I need to catch up a little,” Arlowe shared.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, there’s a gay bar in the city. I was thinking about going tonight.”

“What does that have to do with catching up?”

“I sometimes meet women at the bar we go to here, but I’m at that point where I’ve already made out with most of the regulars who are interested in women, and I was thinking that I might have better luck at an actual gay bar.”

“So, catching up, in your mind, is making out with different women?” Gabi asked and closed her laptop, thinking they were probably done working for a minute.

“No, it’s more than that. I wouldn’t turn down a good make-out session if someone offers, but soon, Enya and Sarai will both be dating someone, like Vi, and it’ll just be me here. They’ll all talk about how I’m still in love with someone I dated for five months a decade ago, and I’ll still be here by myself, looking for random women to make out with or take home until I’m eighty or something.”

“Are you still in love with her?”

“I don’t know anymore,” Arlowe said and sighed. “I feel like things are unfinished, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.”