Page 131 of Semantics

“No, one of those is hers. Mine is still in my car. I grabbed donuts, too, but I couldn’t carry them all in at once. I wasn’t sure if Stella was a donut or a bagel person, and the coffee is just a latte because I didn’t know what you drank. Hopefully, that’s okay.”

“That’s amazing. Thank you,” Stella replied.

“And I got Violet her triple chocolate on top of chocolate with extra sugar and chocolate thing she calls coffee.”

Stella laughed at first, but when she turned and noticed that Violet wasn’t laughing, she stopped immediately.

“What? That was funny.”

Violet tilted her head.

“It wasn’t funny?” Stella asked more than said.

Violet laughed, leaned in, and kissed her.

“You’re cute,” she whispered into Stella’s ear.

“You two had sex this morning, didn’t you? Violet looks flushed.”

“Enya!” Violet laughed.

“I’m going back to the car for my coffee and donuts. Can we start the meeting right after? I haven’t gone to sleep yet, so I’d like to get this over with and take a nap.”

“We’ll carry the bagels and coffee to the garage,” Sarai replied.

They all went about whatever tasks they needed to complete and, a few minutes later, ended up in the garage, where Violet stood by the big monitor and Stella sat next to Sarai.

“Okay,” Violet began. “We’re about to get investment dollars. Real money. For the first time ever. Which means, we need to act like a business that’s actually had money before and put it to work for us. We’ve already established our list of priorities, which includes hiring two junior engineers to work remotely and report to Arlowe, giving Sarai a little more marketing cash, and paying for contractors to help Enya with translations, so we’re going to start there, take stock, and then make more decisions. Today, though, I thought we could focus on what’s important and allow our guest to make a presentation of her own.”

“Huh?” Stella said with half a donut in hand.

“Yeah. What?” Enya asked.

“We’re going to learn more about a certain television show that’s near and dear to our hearts today.”

“Oh, my God,” Sarai grunted.

“This is important?” Enya asked.

“Very,” Violet said. “Stella, you have the floor.”

Stella laughed and replied, “Let me go get my laptop.”

With Stella out of the garage for a minute, Arlowe said, “I like you with a girlfriend. You’re happy, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I’m even willing to endure whatever the hell this presentation is about to be because you seem really good, Vi,” Sarai stated.

“I am. I can’t believe it, but I am. She makes me really happy.”

“Let the countdown begin, then,” Enya said.

“Countdown?” Violet asked.

“It was only a matter of time,” Sarai added.

“What are you all talking about?”

“We’re talking about the house, Vi. You’re already over there a lot,” Arlowe reasoned. “You and Stella spend most of your time there, which makes sense because she doesn’t have any roommates, but if you two work out, you would probably move in with her, so we’re on the clock.”