Page 22 of Derivation

“Are you going to set up a desk in your room?” Enya asked.

“That’s the plan, yeah,” she replied. “I used to have it in my living room, but I think it’ll fit in my room here just fine. I’m not loud or anything. I’m usually just in my headphones coding all the time.”

“I hear that,” Arlowe said with a little laugh.

When they started the game, Sarai whipped around the board like a billionaire tycoon, buying and bidding on properties left and right, making handshake deals with other players to trade for their properties, and while she was cash-poor, she was asset-rich, and it hadn’t taken her long to start building the houses, upgrading them to hotels, and taking everyone else’s money until Violet was bankrupt, followed by Arlowe, and then, Gabi went down hard.

“Dark-side Sarai,” Arlowe stated as she stood. “I’m getting another drink. What game do you want to play next?”

They all decided on Cards Against Humanity, and when Arlowe and Stella returned from the kitchen, they took down the Monopoly setup and got the card game going, but Gabi looked around while Stella was passing out cards, and Sarai wasn’t there.

“Where’s Sarai?” she asked.

“And where’s Enya?” Violet asked. “How does she do that?”

“Do what, babe?” Stella asked.

“Enya is a magician. She’s there one minute and gone the next,” Arlowe explained. “She probably went back to her room. She’s the best at an Irish goodbye that I’ve ever seen, and that joke works because she is actually Irish.”

“Remember Briana? We never talk about her anymore,” Violet added.

“Oh, her big crush. Yeah, I remember,” Arlowe said.

“Whose crush?” Gabi asked.

“Enya’s. When we were still in Amsterdam, Enya went to Ireland for a week. It was a whole thing for her family or something, but she met an older woman there.”

“An older straight woman, who was engaged to a man. She’s an American, but he’s Irish, I guess, so they were going to live there,” Violet shared. “Enya came back from Ireland with a crush and then never saw her again.”

“That’s kind of sad,” Gabi said.

“Yeah,” Arlowe agreed softly, looking a little lost. “Anyway, let’s play.”

“Shouldn’t we wait for Sarai?”

“She can join us in the next hand,” Arlowe replied.

When a couple of rounds had gone by and Sarai still hadn’t returned to the living room, Gabi got up to get another drink and went into the kitchen. She happened to look out the back window and noticed something. Sarai was sitting on a swing in the backyard, staring off into the darkness, from what Gabi could tell. She was only lit by the moon and the little lantern lights that lined the sidewalk, splitting the small yard.

“Oh, that’s where she went,” she said and turned to see Enya standing next to her now. “I thought you left.”

“I did. I came back. I was working on something in my bedroom. When I get an idea that I just need to write down, I go in there. Maybe Sarai has an idea. Sometimes, when she needs to work something out, she goes and sits on the swing.”

“Is she okay?” Gabi asked.

“I’m sure she is. It’s been an adjustment for all of us this past year or so. A lot has changed. Sometimes, we all just need to take a break and process. Have you had a cookie yet? Do you think they need more salt?”

“I haven’t had one, but the brownies were great,” Gabi replied, giving Enya a smile.

“Okay. Well, have one and let me know. I’m going to go back out there.”

“Can you tell them that I’ll be right back? I want to go check on Sarai.”

“Of course.”

Enya then left the kitchen, but Gabi continued to stare at Sarai through the window. The woman was definitely contemplating something. Gabi found herself wanting to know what it was, so she pulled open the back door and let it close behind her.

CHAPTER 7