Page 42 of Derivation

“What’s in it?”

“Oh, no. That’s a secret. You have to live at the house for at least a year before I even reveal half of the ingredients,” Sarai said.

Gabi pulled out her phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Putting a reminder for the day the lease is up for me to ask for at least half of the ingredients.”

Sarai smiled, but then, she thought about the fact that when Gabi’s lease was up, she’d be moving out of the house, and even though that was at least a year away, that thought wasn’t one she liked the feeling of.

“So, you just want to be here for a year?” she asked. “I guess I hadn’t thought about the fact that you signed a one-year lease. We’ve all lived there for so long; I kind of forgot that people usually leave a rental after a year or two.”

“I don’t know. I planned on having my own apartment, but the ones in my price range weren’t possible, so I’m here now, and I’m liking it so far. I guess tonight is the first night I’ll actually be living with you guys, but I have liked coming over every night and having people around. I didn’t realize that I was a little lonely before. I don’t know if I’ll renew yet, though. I would still like my own place. Or, honestly, I’d like what Violet and Stella have.”

“The neck kisses?” Sarai joked.

“All of it. They seem really happy. I want that for myself: happiness with another person, coming home to them at the end of the day, just sitting in silence or catching up on work, or snuggling up and watching a movie. I want the date nights, the furniture shopping, the eventual inevitability of seeing each other pee.”

Sarai laughed loudly and said, “What?”

“Oh, come on. It happens to every couple. You always start out closing the bathroom door, but at some point, there’s that one night where you decide to risk it all and leave the bathroom door open and pee. Maybe your partner asks you, ‘What the hell are you doing?’ and you make up some excuse like you really had to go, so you just left the door open, but then, it’s started.” Gabi stole another chip. “From then on out, there’s a fifty-fifty chance that one of you is leaving the door open when you pee, but I guess that’s my way of saying that I want the whole deal.”

“The eventual inevitability of seeing your partner pee?” Sarai said with a smile.

“The weekend errands, the toothpaste cap, the pimple popping for each other; all of it.”

“You make long-term relationships sound so glamorous,” Sarai replied, laughing.

“That’s the thing – they’re not,” Gabi said. “Don’t get me wrong: they’re magical. Falling in love is great, and meeting the right person feels like a miracle, but you also have to want to have the day-to-day stuff, and sometimes, that stuff is less magical. Sometimes, it’s trips to the post office or the dreaded DMV, but I want all that stuff.”

“I guess I do, too,” she said. “And, well, I’d like really good sex to be part of that package.”

“Amen,” Gabi agreed.

Sarai then crunched on one of the remaining ice cubes in her glass and watched Gabi look down at the check that Jo had dropped off. She looked very focused, probably doing some mental math to decide on the tip, before she signed it.

“So, want to get out of here? I still have some clothes on my bed that I need to put away before I can actually sleep on it, and it’s getting late.”

“It’s, like, ten o’clock.”

“Sarai, if I wasn’t a big nightlife person at eighteen, what gives you the impression I’m that way now?”

“You invited me out.” Sarai laughed.

“For a drink, not to close down the bar like Arlowe, apparently, did last night.”

“She does that,” Sarai said before she stood up.

“You really think she still misses Eline?”

“I do, yes.”

Gabi stood and said, “Must have been some relationship, huh?”

She walked to the door and pulled it open for Sarai.

“I don’t know. I think sometimes, you can meet someone and know that it’s them. It doesn’t have to be a relationship. You can see that someone from across a room and just know.”